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1 Copyright (c) 1985 Free Software Foundation, Inc; See end for conditions.
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2
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3 You are looking at the Emacs tutorial.
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4
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5 Emacs commands generally involve the CONTROL key (sometimes labelled
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6 CTRL or CTL) or the META key (sometimes labelled EDIT). Rather than
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7 write out META or CONTROL each time we want you to prefix a character,
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8 we'll use the following abbreviations:
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9
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10 C-<chr> means hold the CONTROL key while typing the character <chr>
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11 Thus, C-f would be: hold the CONTROL key and type f.
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12 M-<chr> means hold the META or EDIT key down while typing <chr>.
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13 If there is no META or EDIT key, type <ESC>, release it,
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14 then type the character <chr>. "<ESC>" stands for the
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15 key labelled "ALT" or "ESC".
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16
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17 Important note: to end the Emacs session, type C-x C-c. (Two characters.)
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18 The characters ">>" at the left margin indicate directions for you to
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19 try using a command. For instance:
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20 <<Blank lines inserted here by startup of help-with-tutorial>>
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21 >> Now type C-v (View next screen) to move to the next screen.
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22 (go ahead, do it by depressing the control key and v together).
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23 From now on, you'll be expected to do this whenever you finish
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24 reading the screen.
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25
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26 Note that there is an overlap when going from screen to screen; this
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27 provides some continuity when moving through the file.
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28
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29 The first thing that you need to know is how to move around from
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30 place to place in the file. You already know how to move forward a
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31 screen, with C-v. To move backwards a screen, type M-v (depress the
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32 META key and type v, or type <ESC>v if you don't have a META or EDIT
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33 key).
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34
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35 >> Try typing M-v and then C-v to move back and forth a few times.
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36
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37
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1375
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38 * SUMMARY
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39 ---------
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40
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41 The following commands are useful for viewing screenfuls:
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42
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43 C-v Move forward one screenful
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44 M-v Move backward one screenful
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45 C-l Clear screen and redisplay everything
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46 putting the text near the cursor at the center.
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47 (That's control-L, not control-1.)
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48
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49 >> Find the cursor and remember what text is near it.
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50 Then type a C-l.
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51 Find the cursor again and see what text is near it now.
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52
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53
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1375
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54 * BASIC CURSOR CONTROL
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55 ----------------------
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56
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57 Getting from screenful to screenful is useful, but how do you
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58 reposition yourself within a given screen to a specific place?
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59 There are several ways you can do this. One way (not the best, but
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60 the most basic) is to use the commands previous, backward, forward
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61 and next. As you can imagine these commands (which are given to
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62 Emacs as C-p, C-b, C-f, and C-n respectively) move the cursor from
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63 where it currently is to a new place in the given direction. Here,
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64 in a more graphical form are the commands:
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65
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66 Previous line, C-p
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67 :
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68 :
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69 Backward, C-b .... Current cursor position .... Forward, C-f
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70 :
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71 :
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72 Next line, C-n
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73
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74 >> Move the cursor to the line in the middle of that diagram
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75 and type C-l to see the whole diagram 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
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79 the basic cursor positioning commands and you'll be using them ALL
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80 the 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 Lines are separated by Newline characters. For most applications
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88 there should normally be a Newline character at the end of the text,
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89 as well, but it is up to you to make sure of this. A file can
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90 validly exist without a Newline at the end.
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91
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92 >> Try to C-b at the beginning of a line. Do a few more C-b's.
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93 Then do C-f's back to the end of the line and beyond.
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94
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95 When you go off the top or bottom of the screen, the text beyond
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96 the edge is shifted onto the screen so that your instructions can
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97 be carried out while keeping the cursor on the screen.
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98
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99 >> Try to move the cursor off the bottom of the screen with C-n and
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100 see what happens.
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101
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102 If moving by characters is too slow, you can move by words. M-f
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103 (Meta-f) moves forward a word and M-b moves back a word.
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104
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105 >> Type a few M-f's and M-b's. Intersperse them with C-f's and C-b's.
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106
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107 Notice the parallel between C-f and C-b on the one hand, and M-f and
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108 M-b on the other hand. Very often Meta characters are used for
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109 operations related to English text whereas Control characters operate
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110 on the basic textual units that are independent of what you are
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111 editing (characters, lines, etc). There is a similar parallel between
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112 lines and sentences: C-a and C-e move to the beginning or end of a
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113 line, and M-a and M-e move to the beginning or end of a sentence.
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114
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115 >> Try a couple of C-a's, and then a couple of C-e's.
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116 Try a couple of M-a's, and then a couple of M-e's.
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117
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118 See how repeated C-a's do nothing, but repeated M-a's keep moving
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119 farther. Do you think that this is right?
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120
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121 Two other simple cursor motion commands are M-< (Meta Less-than),
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122 which moves to the beginning of the file, and M-> (Meta Greater-than),
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123 which moves to the end of the file. You probably don't need to try
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124 them, since finding this spot again will be boring. On most terminals
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125 the "<" is above the comma and you must use the shift key to type it.
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126 On these terminals you must use the shift key to type M-< also;
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127 without the shift key, you would be typing M-comma.
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128
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129 The location of the cursor in the text is also called "point". To
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130 paraphrase, the cursor shows on the screen where point is located in
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131 the text.
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132
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133 Here is a summary of simple moving operations including the word and
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134 sentence moving commands:
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135
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136 C-f Move forward a character
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137 C-b Move backward a character
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138
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139 M-f Move forward a word
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140 M-b Move backward a word
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141
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142 C-n Move to next line
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143 C-p Move to previous line
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144
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145 C-a Move to beginning of line
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146 C-e Move to end of line
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147
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148 M-a Move back to beginning of sentence
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149 M-e Move forward to end of sentence
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150
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151 M-< Go to beginning of file
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152 M-> Go to end of file
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153
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154 >> Try all of these commands now a few times for practice.
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155 Since the last two will take you away from this screen,
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156 you can come back here with M-v's and C-v's. These are
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157 the most often used commands.
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158
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159 Like all other commands in Emacs, these commands can be given
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160 arguments which cause them to be executed repeatedly. The way you
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161 give a command a repeat count is by typing C-u and then the digits
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162 before you type the command. If you have a META or EDIT key, you can
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163 omit the C-u if you hold down the META or EDIT key while you type the
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164 digits. This is easier, but we recommend the C-u method because it
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165 works on any terminal.
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166
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167 For instance, C-u 8 C-f moves forward eight characters.
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168
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169 >> Try giving a suitable argument to C-n or C-p to come as close
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170 as you can to this line in one jump.
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171
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172 The only apparent exception to this is the screen moving commands,
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173 C-v and M-v. When given an argument, they scroll the screen up or
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174 down by that many lines, rather than screenfuls. This proves to be
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175 much more useful.
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176
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177 >> Try typing C-u 8 C-v now.
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178
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179 Did it scroll the screen up by 8 lines? If you would like to
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180 scroll it down you can give an argument to M-v.
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181
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2863
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182 If you are using X Windows, there is probably a rectangular area
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183 called a scroll bar at the right hand side of the Emacs window. You
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184 can scroll the text by clicking the mouse in the scroll bar.
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185
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186 >> Try pressing the middle button at the top of the highlighted area
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187 within the scroll bar, then moving the mouse while holding that button
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188 down.
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189
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190 >> Move the mouse to a point in the scroll bar about three lines from
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191 the top, and click the left button a couple of times. Then try the
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192 right button a couple of times.
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193
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13
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194
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1375
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195 * WHEN EMACS IS HUNG
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196 --------------------
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197
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198 If Emacs gets into an infinite (or simply very long) computation which
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199 you don't want to finish, you can stop it safely by typing C-g.
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200 You can also use C-g to discard a numeric argument or the beginning of
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201 a command that you don't want to finish.
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202
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203 >> Type C-u 100 to make a numeric arg of 100, then type C-g.
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204 Now type C-f. How many characters does it move?
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205 If you have typed an <ESC> by mistake, you can get rid of it
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206 with a C-g.
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207
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208 If you type <ESC> <ESC>, you get a new window appearing on
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209 the screen, telling you that M-ESC is a "disabled command"
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210 and asking whether you really want to execute it. The command
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211 M-ESC is marked as disabled because you probably don't want to
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212 use it until you know more about Emacs, and we expect it would
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213 confuse you if it were allowed to go ahead and run. If you really
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214 want to try the M-ESC command, you could type a Space in answer
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215 to the question and M-ESC would go ahead. Normally, if you do
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216 not want to execute M-ESC, you would type "n" to answer the question.
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217
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218 >> Type <ESC> <ESC>, then type n.
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219
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220
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1375
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221 * WINDOWS
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222 ---------
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223
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224 Emacs can have several windows, each displaying its own text.
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225 At this stage it is better not to go into the techniques of
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226 using multiple windows. But you do need to know how to get
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227 rid of extra windows that may appear to display help or
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228 output from certain commands. It is simple:
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229
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230 C-x 1 One window (i.e., kill all other windows).
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231
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232 That is Control-x followed by the digit 1.
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233 C-x 1 makes the window which the cursor is in become
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234 the full screen, by getting rid of any other windows.
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235
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236 >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l.
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237 >> Type Control-h k Control-f.
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238 See how this window shrinks, while a new one appears
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239 to display documentation on the Control-f command.
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240
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241 >> Type C-x 1 and see the documentation listing window disappear.
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242
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243
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1375
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244 * INSERTING AND DELETING
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245 ------------------------
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246
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247 If you want to insert text, just type it. Characters which you can
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248 see, such as A, 7, *, etc. are taken by Emacs as text and inserted
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249 immediately. Type <Return> (the carriage-return key) to insert a
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250 Newline character.
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251
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252 You can delete the last character you typed by typing <Rubout>.
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253 <Rubout> is a key on the keyboard, which might be labelled "Delete"
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254 instead of "Rubout" on some terminals. More generally, <Rubout>
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255 deletes the character immediately before the current cursor position.
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256
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257 >> Do this now, type a few characters and then delete them
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258 by typing <Rubout> a few times. Don't worry about this file
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259 being changed; you won't affect the master tutorial. This is just
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260 a copy of it.
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261
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262 >> Now start typing text until you reach the right margin, and keep
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263 typing. When a line of text gets too big for one line on the
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264 screen, the line of text is "continued" onto a second screen line.
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265 The backslash at the right margin indicates a line which has
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266 been continued.
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267 >> Use <Rubout>s to delete the text until the line fits on one screen
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268 line again. The continuation line goes away.
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269
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270 >> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line and type <Rubout>. This
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271 deletes the newline before the line and merges the line onto
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272 the previous line. The resulting line may be too long to fit, in
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273 which case it has a continuation line.
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274 >> Type <Return> to reinsert the Newline you deleted.
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275
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276 Remember that most Emacs commands can be given a repeat count;
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277 this includes characters which insert themselves.
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278
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279 >> Try that now -- type C-u 8 * and see what happens.
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280
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281 You've now learned the most basic way of typing something in
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282 Emacs and correcting errors. You can delete by words or lines
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283 as well. Here is a summary of the delete operations:
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284
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285 <Rubout> delete the character just before the cursor
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286 C-d delete the next character after the cursor
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287
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288 M-<Rubout> kill the word immediately before the cursor
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289 M-d kill the next word after the cursor
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290
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291 C-k kill from the cursor position to end of line
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292 M-k kill to the end of the current sentence
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293
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294 Notice that <Rubout> and C-d vs M-<Rubout> and M-d extend the parallel
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295 started by C-f and M-f (well, <Rubout> isn't really a control
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296 character, but let's not worry about that). C-k and M-k are like C-e
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297 and M-e, sort of, in that lines are opposite sentences.
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298
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299 Now suppose you kill something, and then you decide that you want to
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300 get it back? Well, whenever you kill something bigger than a
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301 character, Emacs saves it for you. To yank it back, use C-y. You
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302 can kill text in one place, move elsewhere, and then do C-y; this is
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303 a good way to move text around. Note that the difference
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304 between "Killing" and "Deleting" something is that "Killed" things
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305 can be yanked back, and "Deleted" things cannot. Generally, the
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306 commands that can destroy a lot of text save it, while the ones that
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307 attack only one character, or nothing but blank lines and spaces, do
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308 not save.
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309
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310 For instance, type C-n a couple times to position the cursor
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311 at some line on this screen.
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312
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313 >> Do this now, move the cursor and kill that line with C-k.
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314
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315 Note that a single C-k kills the contents of the line, and a second
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316 C-k kills the line itself, and make all the other lines move up. If
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317 you give C-k a repeat count, it kills that many lines AND their
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318 contents.
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319
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320 The text that has just disappeared is saved so that you can
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321 retrieve it. To retrieve the last killed text and put it where
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322 the cursor currently is, type C-y.
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323
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324 >> Try it; type C-y to yank the text back.
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325
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326 Think of C-y as if you were yanking something back that someone
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327 took away from you. Notice that if you do several C-k's in a row
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328 the text that is killed is all saved together so that one C-y will
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329 yank all of the lines.
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330
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331 >> Do this now, type C-k several times.
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332
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333 Now to retrieve that killed text:
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334
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335 >> Type C-y. Then move the cursor down a few lines and type C-y
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336 again. You now see how to copy some text.
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337
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338 What do you do if you have some text you want to yank back, and then
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339 you kill something else? C-y would yank the more recent kill. But
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340 the previous text is not lost. You can get back to it using the M-y
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341 command. After you have done C-y to get the most recent kill, typing
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342 M-Y replaces that yanked text with the previous kill. Typing M-y
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343 again and again brings in earlier and earlier kills. When you
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344 have reached the text you are looking for, you can just go away and
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345 leave it there. If you M-y enough times, you come back to the
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346 starting point (the most recent kill).
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347
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348 >> Kill a line, move around, kill another line.
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349 Then do C-y to get back the second killed line.
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350 Then do M-y and it will be replaced by the first killed line.
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351 Do more M-y's and see what you get. Keep doing them until
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352 the second kill line comes back, and then a few more.
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353 If you like, you can try giving M-y positive and negative
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354 arguments.
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355
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356
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1375
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357 * UNDO
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358 ------
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13
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359
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360 Any time you make a change to the text and wish you had not done so,
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361 you can undo the change (return the text to its previous state)
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362 with the undo command, C-x u. Normally, C-x u undoes one command's
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363 worth of changes; if you repeat the C-x u several times in a row,
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364 each time undoes one more command. There are two exceptions:
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365 commands that made no change (just moved the cursor) do not count,
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366 and self-inserting characters are often lumped together in groups
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367 of up to 20. This is to reduce the number of C-x u's you have to type.
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368
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369 >> Kill this line with C-k, then type C-x u and it should reappear.
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370
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371 C-_ is another command for undoing; it is just the same as C-x u
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372 but easier to type several times in a row. The problem with C-_ is
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373 that on some keyboards it is not obvious how to type it. That is
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374 why C-x u is provided as well. On some DEC terminals, you can type
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375 C-_ by typing / while holding down CTRL. Illogical, but what can
|
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376 you expect from DEC?
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377
|
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378 Giving a numeric argument to C-_ or C-x u is equivalent to repeating
|
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379 it as many times as the argument says.
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|
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380
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381
|
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1375
|
382 * FILES
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383 -------
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13
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384
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385 In order to make the text you edit permanent, you must put it in a
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386 file. Otherwise, it will go away when your invocation of Emacs goes
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387 away. You put your editing in a file by "finding" the file. What
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388 finding means is that you see the contents of the file in your Emacs;
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389 and, loosely speaking, what you are editing is the file itself.
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390 However, the changes still don't become permanent until you "save" the
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391 file. This is so you can have control to avoid leaving a half-changed
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392 file around when you don't want to. Even then, Emacs leaves the
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393 original file under a changed name in case your changes turn out
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394 to be a mistake.
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|
395
|
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396 If you look near the bottom of the screen you will see a line that
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397 begins and ends with dashes, and contains the string "Emacs: TUTORIAL".
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398 Your copy of the Emacs tutorial is called "TUTORIAL". Whatever
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399 file you find, that file's name will appear in that precise
|
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400 spot.
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401
|
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402 The commands for finding and saving files are unlike the other
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403 commands you have learned in that they consist of two characters.
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404 They both start with the character Control-x. There is a whole series
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405 of commands that start with Control-x; many of them have to do with
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406 files, buffers, and related things, and all of them consist of
|
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407 Control-x followed by some other character.
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408
|
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409 Another thing about the command for finding a file is that you have
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410 to say what file name you want. We say the command "reads an argument
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411 from the terminal" (in this case, the argument is the name of the
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412 file). After you type the command
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413
|
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414 C-x C-f Find a file
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415
|
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416 Emacs asks you to type the file name. It echoes on the bottom
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417 line of the screen. You are using the minibuffer now! this is
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418 what the minibuffer is for. When you type <Return> to end the
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419 file name, the minibuffer is no longer needed, so it disappears.
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420
|
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421 >> Type C-x C-f, then type C-g. This cancels the minibuffer,
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422 and also cancels the C-x C-f command that was using the
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423 minibuffer. So you do not find any file.
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424
|
|
|
425 In a little while the file contents appear on the screen. You can
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426 edit the contents. When you wish to make the changes permanent,
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|
|
427 issue the command
|
|
|
428
|
|
|
429 C-x C-s Save the file
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|
430
|
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|
431 The contents of Emacs are written into the file. The first time you
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432 do this, the original file is renamed to a new name so that it
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433 is not lost. The new name is made by appending "~" to the end
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434 of the original file's name.
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435
|
|
|
436 When saving is finished, Emacs prints the name of the file written.
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437 You should save fairly often, so that you will not lose very much
|
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|
438 work if the system should crash.
|
|
|
439
|
|
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440 >> Type C-x C-s, saving your copy of the tutorial.
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441 This should print "Wrote .../TUTORIAL" at the bottom of the screen.
|
|
|
442 On VMS it will print "Wrote ...[...]TUTORIAL."
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|
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443
|
|
8128
|
444 NOTE: On some systems, typing C-x C-s will freeze the screen and you
|
|
|
445 will see no further output from Emacs. This indicates that an
|
|
|
446 operating system "feature" called "flow control" is intercepting the
|
|
|
447 C-s and not letting it get through to Emacs. To unfreeze the screen,
|
|
|
448 type C-q. Then see the section "Spontaneous Entry to Incremental
|
|
|
449 Search" in the Emacs manual for advice on dealing with this "feature".
|
|
|
450
|
|
13
|
451 To make a new file, just find it "as if" it already existed. Then
|
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452 start typing in the text. When you ask to "save" the file, Emacs
|
|
|
453 will really create the file with the text that you have inserted.
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|
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454 From then on, you can consider yourself to be editing an already
|
|
|
455 existing file.
|
|
|
456
|
|
|
457
|
|
1375
|
458 * BUFFERS
|
|
|
459 ---------
|
|
13
|
460
|
|
|
461 If you find a second file with C-x C-f, the first file remains
|
|
|
462 inside Emacs. You can switch back to it by finding it again with
|
|
|
463 C-x C-f. This way you can get quite a number of files inside Emacs.
|
|
|
464
|
|
|
465 The object inside Emacs which holds the text read from one file
|
|
|
466 is called a "buffer." Finding a file makes a new buffer inside Emacs.
|
|
|
467 To see a list of the buffers that exist in Emacs, type
|
|
|
468
|
|
|
469 C-x C-b List buffers
|
|
|
470
|
|
|
471 >> Try C-x C-b now.
|
|
|
472
|
|
|
473 See how each buffer has a name, and it may also have a file name
|
|
|
474 for the file whose contents it holds. Some buffers do not correspond
|
|
|
475 to files. For example, the buffer named "*Buffer List*" does
|
|
|
476 not have any file. It is the buffer which contains the buffer
|
|
|
477 list that was made by C-x C-b. ANY text you see in an Emacs window
|
|
|
478 has to be in some buffer.
|
|
|
479
|
|
|
480 >> Type C-x 1 to get rid of the buffer list.
|
|
|
481
|
|
|
482 If you make changes to the text of one file, then find another file,
|
|
|
483 this does not save the first file. Its changes remain inside Emacs,
|
|
|
484 in that file's buffer. The creation or editing of the second file's
|
|
|
485 buffer has no effect on the first file's buffer. This is very useful,
|
|
|
486 but it also means that you need a convenient way to save the first
|
|
|
487 file's buffer. It would be a nuisance to have to switch back to
|
|
|
488 it with C-x C-f in order to save it with C-x C-s. So we have
|
|
|
489
|
|
|
490 C-x s Save some buffers
|
|
|
491
|
|
|
492 C-x s goes through the list of all the buffers you have
|
|
|
493 and finds the ones that contain files you have changed.
|
|
|
494 For each such buffer, C-x s asks you whether to save it.
|
|
|
495
|
|
|
496
|
|
1375
|
497 * EXTENDING THE COMMAND SET
|
|
|
498 ---------------------------
|
|
13
|
499
|
|
|
500 There are many, many more Emacs commands than could possibly be put
|
|
|
501 on all the control and meta characters. Emacs gets around this with
|
|
|
502 the X (eXtend) command. This comes in two flavors:
|
|
|
503
|
|
|
504 C-x Character eXtend. Followed by one character.
|
|
|
505 M-x Named command eXtend. Followed by a long name.
|
|
|
506
|
|
|
507 These are commands that are generally useful but used less than the
|
|
|
508 commands you have already learned about. You have already seen two
|
|
|
509 of them: the file commands C-x C-f to Find and C-x C-s to Save.
|
|
|
510 Another example is the command to tell Emacs that you'd like to stop
|
|
|
511 editing and get rid of Emacs. The command to do this is C-x C-c.
|
|
|
512 (Don't worry; it offers to save each changed file before it kills the
|
|
|
513 Emacs.)
|
|
|
514
|
|
9560
|
515 C-z is the command to exit Emacs *temporarily*--so that you can go
|
|
|
516 back to the same Emacs session afterward.
|
|
13
|
517
|
|
9560
|
518 On systems which allow it, C-z exits from Emacs to the shell but does
|
|
|
519 not destroy the Emacs; if you use the C shell, you can resume Emacs
|
|
|
520 with the `fg' command (or, more generally, with `%emacs', which works
|
|
|
521 even if your most recent job was some other). On systems which don't
|
|
|
522 implement suspending, C-z creates a subshell running under Emacs to
|
|
|
523 give you the chance to run other programs and return to Emacs
|
|
|
524 afterward; it does not truly "exit" from Emacs. In this case, the
|
|
|
525 shell command `exit' is the usual way to get back to Emacs from the
|
|
|
526 subshell.
|
|
|
527
|
|
|
528 The time to use C-x C-c is when you are about to log out. It's also
|
|
|
529 the right thing to use to exit an Emacs invoked under mail handling
|
|
|
530 programs and other random utilities, since they may not know how to
|
|
|
531 cope with suspension of Emacs. On other occasions, use C-z, and
|
|
|
532 resume the Emacs when you have more editing to do.
|
|
13
|
533
|
|
|
534 There are many C-x commands. The ones you know are:
|
|
|
535
|
|
|
536 C-x C-f Find file.
|
|
|
537 C-x C-s Save file.
|
|
|
538 C-x C-b List buffers.
|
|
|
539 C-x C-c Quit Emacs.
|
|
|
540 C-x u Undo.
|
|
|
541
|
|
|
542 Named eXtended commands are commands which are used even less
|
|
|
543 frequently, or commands which are used only in certain modes. These
|
|
|
544 commands are usually called "functions". An example is the function
|
|
|
545 replace-string, which globally replaces one string with another. When
|
|
|
546 you type M-x, Emacs prompts you at the bottom of the screen with
|
|
|
547 M-x and you should type the name of the function you wish to call; in
|
|
|
548 this case, "replace-string". Just type "repl s<TAB>" and Emacs will
|
|
|
549 complete the name. End the command name with <Return>.
|
|
|
550 Then type the two "arguments"--the string to be replaced, and the string
|
|
|
551 to replace it with--each one ended with a Return.
|
|
|
552
|
|
|
553 >> Move the cursor to the blank line two lines below this one.
|
|
|
554 Then type M-x repl s<Return>changed<Return>altered<Return>.
|
|
|
555
|
|
|
556 Notice how this line has changed: you've replaced
|
|
34
|
557 the word c-h-a-n-g-e-d with "altered" wherever it occurred
|
|
13
|
558 after the cursor.
|
|
|
559
|
|
|
560
|
|
10698
|
561 * AUTO SAVE
|
|
|
562 -----------
|
|
|
563
|
|
|
564 When you have made changes in a file, but you have not saved them yet,
|
|
|
565 they could be lost if your computer crashes. To protect you from
|
|
|
566 this, Emacs writes "auto save" files periodically. The auto save file
|
|
10699
|
567 name has a # at the beginning and the end; for example, if your file
|
|
|
568 is named "hello.c", its auto save file's name is "#hello.c#". When
|
|
|
569 you save the file in the normal way, its auto save file is no longer
|
|
10698
|
570 necessary so Emacs deletes it.
|
|
|
571
|
|
|
572 If the computer crashes, you can recover your auto-saved editing by
|
|
|
573 finding the file normally (the file you were editing, not the auto
|
|
|
574 save file) and then typing M-x recover file<return>. When it asks for
|
|
|
575 confirmation, type yes<return> to go ahead and recover the auto-save
|
|
|
576 data.
|
|
|
577
|
|
|
578
|
|
1375
|
579 * MODE LINE
|
|
|
580 -----------
|
|
13
|
581
|
|
|
582 If Emacs sees that you are typing commands slowly it shows them to you
|
|
|
583 at the bottom of the screen in an area called the "echo area." The echo
|
|
|
584 area contains the bottom line of the screen. The line immediately above
|
|
|
585 it is called the MODE LINE. The mode line says something like
|
|
|
586
|
|
4351
|
587 --**-Emacs: TUTORIAL (Fundamental)--58%----------------------
|
|
13
|
588
|
|
|
589 This is a very useful "information" line.
|
|
|
590
|
|
|
591 You already know what the filename means--it is the file you have
|
|
|
592 found. What the --NN%-- means is that NN percent of the file is
|
|
|
593 above the top of the screen. If the top of the file is on the screen,
|
|
4351
|
594 it will say --Top-- instead of --00%--. If the bottom of the file is
|
|
|
595 on the screen, it will say --Bot--. If you are looking at a file so
|
|
|
596 small it all fits on the screen, it says --All--.
|
|
13
|
597
|
|
|
598 The stars near the front mean that you have made changes to the text.
|
|
|
599 Right after you visit or save a file, there are no stars, just dashes.
|
|
|
600
|
|
|
601 The part of the mode line inside the parentheses is to tell you what
|
|
|
602 modes you are in. The default mode is Fundamental which is what you
|
|
|
603 are in now. It is an example of a "major mode". There are several
|
|
|
604 major modes in Emacs for editing different languages and text, such as
|
|
|
605 Lisp mode, Text mode, etc. At any time one and only one major mode is
|
|
|
606 active, and its name can always be found in the mode line just where
|
|
|
607 "Fundamental" is now. Each major mode makes a few commands behave
|
|
|
608 differently. For example, there are commands for creating comments in
|
|
|
609 a program, and since each programming language has a different idea of
|
|
|
610 what a comment should look like, each major mode has to insert
|
|
|
611 comments differently. Each major mode is the name of an extended
|
|
|
612 command, which is how you get into the mode. For example,
|
|
4351
|
613 M-x fundamental-mode is how to get into Fundamental mode.
|
|
13
|
614
|
|
|
615 If you are going to be editing English text, such as this file, you
|
|
|
616 should probably use Text Mode.
|
|
|
617 >> Type M-x text-mode<Return>.
|
|
|
618
|
|
|
619 Don't worry, none of the commands you have learned changes Emacs in
|
|
2619
|
620 any great way. But you can observe that apostrophes are now part of
|
|
|
621 words when you do M-f or M-b. Major modes are usually like that:
|
|
|
622 commands don't change into completely unrelated things, but they work
|
|
|
623 a little bit differently.
|
|
13
|
624
|
|
|
625 To get documentation on your current major mode, type C-h m.
|
|
|
626
|
|
|
627 >> Use C-u C-v once or more to bring this line near the top of screen.
|
|
|
628 >> Type C-h m, to see how Text mode differs from Fundamental mode.
|
|
|
629 >> Type C-x 1 to remove the documentation from the screen.
|
|
|
630
|
|
|
631 Major modes are called major because there are also minor modes.
|
|
|
632 They are called minor because they aren't alternatives to the major
|
|
|
633 modes, just minor modifications of them. Each minor mode can be
|
|
|
634 turned on or off by itself, regardless of what major mode you are in,
|
|
|
635 and regardless of the other minor modes. So you can use no minor
|
|
|
636 modes, or one minor mode, or any combination of several minor modes.
|
|
|
637
|
|
|
638 One minor mode which is very useful, especially for editing English
|
|
|
639 text, is Auto Fill mode. When this mode is on, Emacs breaks the line
|
|
|
640 in between words automatically whenever the line gets too long. You
|
|
|
641 can turn this mode on by doing M-x auto-fill-mode<Return>. When the
|
|
|
642 mode is on, you can turn it off by doing M-x auto-fill-mode<Return>.
|
|
|
643 If the mode is off, this function turns it on, and if the mode is on,
|
|
|
644 this function turns it off. This is called "toggling".
|
|
|
645
|
|
|
646 >> Type M-x auto-fill-mode<Return> now. Then insert a line of "asdf "
|
|
|
647 over again until you see it divide into two lines. You must put in
|
|
|
648 spaces between them because Auto Fill breaks lines only at spaces.
|
|
|
649
|
|
|
650 The margin is usually set at 70 characters, but you can change it
|
|
|
651 with the C-x f command. You should give the margin setting you want
|
|
|
652 as a numeric argument.
|
|
|
653
|
|
|
654 >> Type C-x f with an argument of 20. (C-u 2 0 C-x f).
|
|
|
655 Then type in some text and see Emacs fill lines of 20
|
|
|
656 characters with it. Then set the margin back to 70 using
|
|
|
657 C-x f again.
|
|
|
658
|
|
|
659 If you makes changes in the middle of a paragraph, Auto Fill mode
|
|
|
660 does not re-fill it for you.
|
|
|
661 To re-fill the paragraph, type M-q (Meta-q) with the cursor inside
|
|
|
662 that paragraph.
|
|
|
663
|
|
|
664 >> Move the cursor into the previous paragraph and type M-q.
|
|
|
665
|
|
1375
|
666 * SEARCHING
|
|
|
667 -----------
|
|
13
|
668
|
|
|
669 Emacs can do searches for strings (these are groups of contiguous
|
|
|
670 characters or words) either forward through the file or backward
|
|
|
671 through it. To search for the string means that you are trying to
|
|
|
672 locate it somewhere in the file and have Emacs show you where the
|
|
|
673 occurrences of the string exist. This type of search is somewhat
|
|
|
674 different from what you may be familiar with. It is a search that is
|
|
|
675 performed as you type in the thing to search for. The command to
|
|
|
676 initiate a search is C-s for forward search, and C-r for reverse
|
|
|
677 search. BUT WAIT! Don't do them now. When you type C-s you'll
|
|
|
678 notice that the string "I-search" appears as a prompt in the echo
|
|
|
679 area. This tells you that Emacs is in what is called an incremental
|
|
|
680 search waiting for you to type the thing that you want to search for.
|
|
4190
|
681 <RET> terminates a search.
|
|
13
|
682
|
|
|
683 >> Now type C-s to start a search. SLOWLY, one letter at a time,
|
|
|
684 type the word 'cursor', pausing after you type each
|
|
|
685 character to notice what happens to the cursor.
|
|
|
686 >> Type C-s to find the next occurrence of "cursor".
|
|
|
687 >> Now type <Rubout> four times and see how the cursor moves.
|
|
4190
|
688 >> Type <RET> to terminate the search.
|
|
13
|
689
|
|
|
690 Did you see what happened? Emacs, in an incremental search, tries to
|
|
|
691 go to the occurrence of the string that you've typed out so far. To go
|
|
|
692 to the next occurrence of 'cursor' just type C-s again. If no such
|
|
|
693 occurrence exists Emacs beeps and tells you that it is a failing
|
|
|
694 search. C-g would also terminate the search.
|
|
|
695
|
|
8128
|
696 NOTE: On some systems, typing C-s will freeze the screen and you will
|
|
|
697 see no further output from Emacs. This indicates that an operating
|
|
|
698 system "feature" called "flow control" is intercepting the C-s and not
|
|
|
699 letting it get through to Emacs. To unfreeze the screen, type C-q.
|
|
|
700 Then see the section "Spontaneous Entry to Incremental Search" in the
|
|
|
701 Emacs manual for advice on dealing with this "feature".
|
|
|
702
|
|
13
|
703 If you are in the middle of an incremental search and type <Rubout>,
|
|
|
704 you'll notice that the last character in the search string is erased
|
|
|
705 and the search backs up to the last place of the search. For
|
|
|
706 instance, suppose you currently have typed 'cu' and you see that your
|
|
|
707 cursor is at the first occurrence of 'cu'. If you now type <Rubout>,
|
|
|
708 the 'u' on the search line is erased and you'll be repositioned in the
|
|
|
709 text to the occurrence of 'c' where the search took you before you
|
|
|
710 typed the 'u'. This provides a useful means for backing up while you
|
|
|
711 are searching.
|
|
|
712
|
|
4351
|
713 If you are in the middle of a search and type a control or meta
|
|
|
714 character (with a few exceptions--characters that are special in
|
|
|
715 a search, such as C-s and C-r), the search is terminated.
|
|
13
|
716
|
|
|
717 The C-s starts a search that looks for any occurrence of the search
|
|
|
718 string AFTER the current cursor position. But what if you want to
|
|
|
719 search for something earlier in the text? To do this, type C-r for
|
|
|
720 Reverse search. Everything that applies to C-s applies to C-r except
|
|
|
721 that the direction of the search is reversed.
|
|
|
722
|
|
|
723
|
|
1375
|
724 * MULTIPLE WINDOWS
|
|
|
725 ------------------
|
|
476
|
726
|
|
|
727 One of the nice features of Emacs is that you can display more than one
|
|
|
728 window on the screen at the same time.
|
|
|
729
|
|
|
730 >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l.
|
|
|
731
|
|
|
732 >> Now type C-x 2 which splits the screen into two windows.
|
|
|
733 Both windows display this tutorial. The cursor stays in the top window.
|
|
|
734
|
|
|
735 >> Type C-M-v to scroll the bottom window.
|
|
6276
|
736 (If you don't have a real Meta key, type ESC C-v.)
|
|
476
|
737
|
|
|
738 >> Type C-x o ("o" for "other") to move the cursor to the bottom window.
|
|
|
739 >> Use C-v and M-v in the bottom window to scroll it.
|
|
|
740 Keep reading these directions in the top window.
|
|
|
741
|
|
|
742 >> Type C-x o again to move the cursor back to the top window.
|
|
|
743 The cursor is still just where it was in the top window before.
|
|
|
744
|
|
|
745 You can keep using C-x o to switch between the windows. Each
|
|
|
746 window has its own cursor position, but only one window actually
|
|
|
747 shows the cursor. All the ordinary editing commands apply to the
|
|
|
748 window that the cursor is in.
|
|
|
749
|
|
|
750 The command C-M-v is very useful when you are editing text in one
|
|
|
751 window and using the other window just for reference. You can keep
|
|
|
752 the cursor always in the window where you are editing, and edit
|
|
|
753 there as you advance through the other window.
|
|
|
754
|
|
|
755 >> Type C-x 1 (in the top window) to get rid of the bottom window.
|
|
|
756
|
|
|
757 (If you had typed C-x 1 in the bottom window, that would get rid
|
|
|
758 of the top one. Think of this command as "Keep just one
|
|
|
759 window--the window I am already in.")
|
|
|
760
|
|
|
761 You don't have to display the same buffer in both windows. If
|
|
|
762 you use C-x C-f to find a file in one window, the other window
|
|
|
763 doesn't change. You can pick a file in each window
|
|
|
764 independently.
|
|
|
765
|
|
|
766 Here is another way to use two windows to display two different
|
|
|
767 things:
|
|
|
768
|
|
|
769 >> Type C-x 4 C-f followed by the name of one of your files.
|
|
|
770 End with <RETURN>. See the specified file appear in the bottom
|
|
|
771 window. The cursor goes there, too.
|
|
|
772
|
|
|
773 >> Type C-x o to go back to the top window, and C-x 1 to delete
|
|
|
774 the bottom window.
|
|
|
775
|
|
|
776
|
|
1375
|
777 * RECURSIVE EDITING LEVELS
|
|
|
778 --------------------------
|
|
13
|
779
|
|
|
780 Sometimes you will get into what is called a "recursive editing
|
|
|
781 level". This is indicated by square brackets in the mode line,
|
|
|
782 surrounding the parentheses around the major mode name. For
|
|
|
783 example, you might see [(Fundamental)] instead of (Fundamental).
|
|
|
784
|
|
|
785 To get out of the recursive editing level, type
|
|
|
786 M-x top-level<Return>.
|
|
|
787
|
|
|
788 >> Try that now; it should display "Back to top level"
|
|
|
789 at the bottom of the screen.
|
|
|
790
|
|
|
791 In fact, you were ALREADY at top level (not inside a recursive editing
|
|
|
792 level) if you have obeyed instructions. M-x top-level does not care;
|
|
|
793 it gets out of any number of recursive editing levels, perhaps zero,
|
|
|
794 to get back to top level.
|
|
|
795
|
|
|
796 You can't use C-g to get out of a recursive editing level because C-g
|
|
|
797 is used for discarding numeric arguments and partially typed commands
|
|
|
798 WITHIN the recursive editing level.
|
|
|
799
|
|
|
800
|
|
1375
|
801 * GETTING MORE HELP
|
|
|
802 -------------------
|
|
13
|
803
|
|
|
804 In this tutorial we have tried to supply just enough information to
|
|
|
805 get you started using Emacs. There is so much available in Emacs that
|
|
|
806 it would be impossible to explain it all here. However, you may want
|
|
|
807 to learn more about Emacs since it has numerous desirable features
|
|
|
808 that you don't know about yet. Emacs has a great deal of internal
|
|
|
809 documentation. All of these commands can be accessed through
|
|
|
810 the character Control-h, which we call "the Help character"
|
|
|
811 because of the function it serves.
|
|
|
812
|
|
|
813 To use the HELP features, type the C-h character, and then a
|
|
|
814 character saying what kind of help you want. If you are REALLY lost,
|
|
|
815 type C-h ? and Emacs will tell you what kinds of help it can give.
|
|
|
816 If you have typed C-h and decide you don't want any help, just
|
|
4351
|
817 type C-g to cancel it.
|
|
13
|
818
|
|
6597
|
819 (Some sites rebind the character C-h. They really shouldn't do this
|
|
|
820 as a blanket measure, so complain to the operator. Meanwhile, if C-h
|
|
|
821 does not display a message about help at the bottom of the screen, try
|
|
|
822 typing M-x help RET instead.)
|
|
|
823
|
|
13
|
824 The most basic HELP feature is C-h c. Type C-h, a c, and a
|
|
|
825 command character or sequence, and Emacs displays a very brief
|
|
|
826 description of the command.
|
|
|
827
|
|
|
828 >> Type C-h c Control-p.
|
|
|
829 The message should be something like
|
|
|
830
|
|
|
831 C-p runs the command previous-line
|
|
|
832
|
|
|
833 This tells you the "name of the function". That is important in
|
|
|
834 writing Lisp code to extend Emacs; it also is enough to remind
|
|
|
835 you of what the command does if you have seen it before but did
|
|
|
836 not remember.
|
|
|
837
|
|
|
838 Multi-character commands such as C-x C-s and (if you have no META or
|
|
|
839 EDIT key) <ESC>v are also allowed after C-h c.
|
|
|
840
|
|
|
841 To get more information on the command, use C-h k instead of C-h c.
|
|
|
842
|
|
|
843 >> Type C-h k Control-p.
|
|
|
844
|
|
477
|
845 This displays the documentation of the function, as well as its
|
|
|
846 name, in an Emacs window. When you are finished reading the
|
|
|
847 output, type C-x 1 to get rid of the help text. You do not have
|
|
|
848 to do this right away. You can do some editing while referring
|
|
|
849 to the help text and then type C-x 1.
|
|
13
|
850
|
|
|
851 Here are some other useful C-h options:
|
|
|
852
|
|
|
853 C-h f Describe a function. You type in the name of the
|
|
|
854 function.
|
|
|
855
|
|
|
856 >> Try typing C-h f previous-line<Return>.
|
|
|
857 This prints all the information Emacs has about the
|
|
4351
|
858 function which implements the C-p command.
|
|
13
|
859
|
|
|
860 C-h a Command Apropos. Type in a keyword and Emacs will list
|
|
|
861 all the commands whose names contain that keyword.
|
|
|
862 These commands can all be invoked with Meta-x.
|
|
|
863 For some commands, Command Apropos will also list a one
|
|
|
864 or two character sequence which has the same effect.
|
|
|
865
|
|
477
|
866 >> Type C-h a file<Return>.
|
|
|
867
|
|
|
868 This displays in another window a list of all M-x commands with
|
|
|
869 "file" in their names. You will also see commands like C-x C-f
|
|
|
870 and C-x C-w, listed beside the command names find-file and
|
|
|
871 write-file.
|
|
|
872
|
|
|
873 >> Type C-M-v to scroll the help window. Do this a few times.
|
|
|
874
|
|
|
875 >> Type C-x 1 to delete the help window.
|
|
13
|
876
|
|
|
877
|
|
1375
|
878 * CONCLUSION
|
|
|
879 ------------
|
|
13
|
880
|
|
|
881 Remember, to exit Emacs permanently use C-x C-c. To exit to a shell
|
|
|
882 temporarily, so that you can come back in, use C-z.
|
|
|
883
|
|
|
884 This tutorial is meant to be understandable to all new users, so if
|
|
|
885 you found something unclear, don't sit and blame yourself - complain!
|
|
|
886
|
|
|
887
|
|
|
888 COPYING
|
|
|
889 -------
|
|
|
890
|
|
|
891 This tutorial descends from a long line of Emacs tutorials
|
|
|
892 starting with the one written by Stuart Cracraft for the original Emacs.
|
|
|
893
|
|
|
894 This version of the tutorial, like GNU Emacs, is copyrighted, and
|
|
|
895 comes with permission to distribute copies on certain conditions:
|
|
|
896
|
|
|
897 Copyright (c) 1985 Free Software Foundation
|
|
|
898
|
|
|
899 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
|
|
|
900 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
|
|
|
901 copyright notice and permission notice are preserved,
|
|
|
902 and that the distributor grants the recipient permission
|
|
|
903 for further redistribution as permitted by this notice.
|
|
|
904
|
|
|
905 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
|
|
|
906 of this document, or of portions of it,
|
|
|
907 under the above conditions, provided also that they
|
|
|
908 carry prominent notices stating who last altered them.
|
|
|
909
|
|
|
910 The conditions for copying Emacs itself are slightly different
|
|
|
911 but in the same spirit. Please read the file COPYING and then
|
|
|
912 do give copies of GNU Emacs to your friends.
|
|
|
913 Help stamp out software obstructionism ("ownership") by using,
|
|
|
914 writing, and sharing free software!
|
