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author | Gerd Moellmann <gerd@gnu.org> |
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date | Thu, 17 Aug 2000 15:38:59 +0000 |
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1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes. 17-Aug-1988 | |
2 Copyright (C) 1988 Free Software Foundation, Inc. | |
3 See the end for copying conditions. | |
4 | |
5 For older news, see the file NEWS.2. | |
6 | |
7 Changes in version 18.52. | |
8 | |
9 * X windows version 10 is supported under system V. | |
10 | |
11 * Pop-up menus are now supported with the same Lisp interface in | |
12 both version 10 and 11 of X windows. | |
13 | |
14 * C-x 4 a is a new command to edit a change-log entry in another window. | |
15 | |
16 * The emacs client program now allows an option +NNN to specify the | |
17 line number to go to in the file whose name follows. Thus, | |
18 emacsclient foo.c +45 bar.c | |
19 will find the files `foo.c' and `bar.c', going to line 45 in `bar.c'. | |
20 | |
21 * Dired allows empty directories to be deleted like files. | |
22 | |
23 * When the terminal type is used to find a terminal-specific file to | |
24 run, Emacs now tries the entire terminal type first. If that doesn't | |
25 yield a file that exists, the last hyphen and what follows it is | |
26 stripped. If that doesn't yield a file that exists, the previous | |
27 hyphen is stripped, and so on until all hyphens are gone. For | |
28 example, if the terminal type is `aaa-48-foo', Emacs will try first | |
29 `term/aaa-48-foo.el', then `term/aaa-48.el' and finally `term/aaa.el'. | |
30 | |
31 Underscores now receive the same treatment as hyphens. | |
32 | |
33 * Texinfo features: @defun, etc. texinfo-show-structure. | |
34 New template commands. texinfo-format-region. | |
35 | |
36 * The special "local variable" `eval' is now ignored if you are running | |
37 as root. | |
38 | |
39 * New command `c-macro-expand' shows the result of C macro expansion | |
40 in the region. It works using the C preprocessor, so its results | |
41 are completely accurate. | |
42 | |
43 * Errors in trying to auto save now flash error messages for a few seconds. | |
44 | |
45 * Killing a buffer now sends SIGHUP to the buffer's process. | |
46 | |
47 * New hooks. | |
48 | |
49 ** `spell-region' now allows you to filter the text before spelling-checking. | |
50 If the value of `spell-filter' is non-nil, it is called, with no arguments, | |
51 looking at a temporary buffer containing a copy of the text to be checked. | |
52 It can alter the text freely before the spell program sees it. | |
53 | |
54 ** The variable `lpr-command' now specifies the command to be used when | |
55 you use the commands to print text (such as M-x print-buffer). | |
56 | |
57 ** Posting netnews now calls the value of `news-inews-hook' (if not nil) | |
58 as a function of no arguments before the actual posting. | |
59 | |
60 ** Rmail now calls the value of `rmail-show-message-hook' (if not nil) | |
61 as a function of no arguments, each time a new message is selected. | |
62 | |
63 ** `kill-emacs' calls the value of `kill-emacs-hook' as a function of no args. | |
64 | |
65 * New libraries. | |
66 See the source code of each library for more information. | |
67 | |
68 ** icon.el: a major mode for editing programs written in Icon. | |
69 | |
70 ** life.el: a simulator for the cellular automaton "life". Load the | |
71 library and run M-x life. | |
72 | |
73 ** doctex.el: a library for converting the Emacs `etc/DOC' file of | |
74 documentation strings into TeX input. | |
75 | |
76 ** saveconf.el: a library which records the arrangement of windows and | |
77 buffers when you exit Emacs, and automatically recreates the same | |
78 setup the next time you start Emacs. | |
79 | |
80 ** uncompress.el: a library that automatically uncompresses files | |
81 when you visit them. | |
82 | |
83 ** c-fill.el: a mode for editing filled comments in C. | |
84 | |
85 ** kermit.el: an extended version of shell-mode designed for running kermit. | |
86 | |
87 ** spook.el: a library for adding some "distract the NSA" keywords to every | |
88 message you send. | |
89 | |
90 ** hideif.el: a library for hiding parts of a C program based on preprocessor | |
91 conditionals. | |
92 | |
93 ** autoinsert.el: a library to put in some initial text when you visit | |
94 a nonexistent file. The text used depends on the major mode, and | |
95 comes from a directory of files created by you. | |
96 | |
97 * New programming features. | |
98 | |
99 ** The variable `window-system-version' now contains the version number | |
100 of the window system you are using (if appropriate). When using X windows, | |
101 its value is either 10 or 11. | |
102 | |
103 ** (interactive "N") uses the prefix argument if any; otherwise, it reads | |
104 a number using the minibuffer. | |
105 | |
106 ** VMS: there are two new functions `vms-system-info' and `shrink-to-icon'. | |
107 The former allows you to get many kinds of system status information. | |
108 See its self-documentation for full details. | |
109 The second is used with the window system: it iconifies the Emacs window. | |
110 | |
111 ** VMS: the new function `define-logical-name' allows you to create | |
112 job-wide logical names. The old function `define-dcl-symbol' has been | |
113 removed. | |
114 | |
115 Changes in version 18.50. | |
116 | |
117 * X windows version 11 is supported. | |
118 | |
119 Define X11 in config.h if you want X version 11 instead of version 10. | |
120 | |
121 * The command M-x gdb runs the GDB debugger as an inferior. | |
122 It asks for the filename of the executable you want to debug. | |
123 | |
124 GDB runs as an inferior with I/O through an Emacs buffer. All the | |
125 facilities of Shell mode are available. In addition, each time your | |
126 program stops, and each time you select a new stack frame, the source | |
127 code is displayed in another window with an arrow added to the line | |
128 where the program is executing. | |
129 | |
130 Special GDB-mode commands include M-s, M-n, M-i, M-u, M-d, and C-c C-f | |
131 which send the GDB commands `step', `next', `stepi', `up', `down' | |
132 and `finish'. | |
133 | |
134 In any source file, the commands C-x SPC tells GDB to set a breakpoint | |
135 on the current line. | |
136 | |
137 * M-x calendar displays a three-month calendar. | |
138 | |
139 * C-u 0 C-x C-s never makes a backup file. | |
140 | |
141 This is a way you can explicitly request not to make a backup. | |
142 | |
143 * `term-setup-hook' is for users only. | |
144 | |
145 Emacs never uses this variable for internal purposes, so you can freely | |
146 set it in your `.emacs' file to make Emacs do something special after | |
147 loading any terminal-specific setup file from `lisp/term'. | |
148 | |
149 * `copy-keymap' now copies recursive submaps. | |
150 | |
151 * New overlay-arrow feature. | |
152 | |
153 If you set the variable `overlay-arrow-string' to a string | |
154 and `overlay-arrow-position' to a marker, that string is displayed on | |
155 the screen at the position of that marker, hiding whatever text would | |
156 have appeared there. If that position isn't on the screen, or if | |
157 the buffer the marker points into isn't displayed, there is no effect. | |
158 | |
159 * -batch mode can read from the terminal. | |
160 | |
161 It now works to use `read-char' to do terminal input in a noninteractive | |
162 Emacs run. End of file causes Emacs to exit. | |
163 | |
164 * Variables `data-bytes-used' and `data-bytes-free' removed. | |
165 | |
166 These variables cannot really work because the 24-bit range of an | |
167 integer in (most ports of) GNU Emacs is not large enough to hold their | |
168 values on many systems. | |
169 | |
170 Changes in version 18.45, since version 18.41. | |
171 | |
172 * C indentation parameter `c-continued-brace-offset'. | |
173 | |
174 This parameter's value is added to the indentation of any | |
175 line that is in a continuation context and starts with an open-brace. | |
176 For example, it applies to the open brace shown here: | |
177 | |
178 if (x) | |
179 { | |
180 | |
181 The default value is zero. | |
182 | |
183 * Dabbrev expansion (Meta-/) preserves case. | |
184 | |
185 When you use Meta-/ to search the buffer for an expansion of an | |
186 abbreviation, if the expansion found is all lower case except perhaps | |
187 for its first letter, then the case pattern of the abbreviation | |
188 is carried over to the expansion that replaces it. | |
189 | |
190 * TeX-mode syntax. | |
191 | |
192 \ is no longer given "escape character" syntax in TeX mode. It now | |
193 has the syntax of an ordinary punctuation character. As a result, | |
194 \[...\] and such like are considered to balance each other. | |
195 | |
196 * Mail-mode automatic Reply-to field. | |
197 | |
198 If the variable `mail-default-reply-to' is non-`nil', then each time | |
199 you start to compose a message, a Reply-to field is inserted with | |
200 its contents taken from the value of `mail-default-reply-to'. | |
201 | |
202 * Where is your .emacs file? | |
203 | |
204 If you run Emacs under `su', so your real and effective uids are | |
205 different, Emacs uses the home directory associated with the real uid | |
206 (the name you actually logged in under) to find the .emacs file. | |
207 | |
208 Otherwise, Emacs uses the environment variable HOME to find the .emacs | |
209 file. | |
210 | |
211 The .emacs file is not loaded at all if -batch is specified. | |
212 | |
213 * Prolog mode is the default for ".pl" files. | |
214 | |
215 * File names are not case-sensitive on VMS. | |
216 | |
217 On VMS systems, all file names that you specify are converted to upper | |
218 case. You can use either upper or lower case indiscriminately. | |
219 | |
220 * VMS-only function 'define-dcl-symbol'. | |
221 | |
222 This is a new name for the function formerly called | |
223 `define-logical-name'. | |
224 | |
225 Editing Changes in Emacs 18 | |
226 | |
227 * Additional systems and machines are supported. | |
228 | |
229 GNU Emacs now runs on Vax VMS. However, many facilities that are normally | |
230 implemented by running subprocesses do not work yet. This includes listing | |
231 a directory and sending mail. There are features for running subprocesses | |
232 but they are incompatible with those on Unix. I hope that some of | |
233 the VMS users can reimplement these features for VMS (compatibly for | |
234 the user, if possible). | |
235 | |
236 VMS wizards are also asked to work on making the subprocess facilities | |
237 more upward compatible with those on Unix, and also to rewrite their | |
238 internals to use the same Lisp objects that are used on Unix to | |
239 represent processes. | |
240 | |
241 In addition, the TI Nu machine running Unix system V, the AT&T 3b, and | |
242 the Wicat, Masscomp, Integrated Solutions, Alliant, Amdahl uts, Mips, | |
243 Altos 3068 and Gould Unix systems are now supported. The IBM PC-RT is | |
244 supported under 4.2, but not yet under system V. The GEC 93 is close | |
245 to working. The port for the Elxsi is partly merged. See the file | |
246 MACHINES for full status information and machine-specific installation | |
247 advice. | |
248 | |
249 * Searching is faster. | |
250 | |
251 Forward search for a text string, or for a regexp that is equivalent | |
252 to a text string, is now several times faster. Motion by lines and | |
253 counting lines is also faster. | |
254 | |
255 * Memory usage improvements. | |
256 | |
257 It is no longer possible to run out of memory during garbage | |
258 collection. As a result, running out of memory is never fatal. This | |
259 is due to a new garbage collection algorithm which compactifies | |
260 strings in place rather than copying them. Another consequence of the | |
261 change is a reduction in total memory usage and a slight increase in | |
262 garbage collection speed. | |
263 | |
264 * Display changes. | |
265 | |
266 ** Editing above top of screen. | |
267 | |
268 When you delete or kill or alter text that reaches to the top of the | |
269 screen or above it, so that display would start in the middle of a | |
270 line, Emacs will usually attempt to scroll the text so that display | |
271 starts at the beginning of a line again. | |
272 | |
273 ** Yanking in the minibuffer. | |
274 | |
275 The message "Mark Set" is no longer printed when the minibuffer is | |
276 active. This is convenient with many commands, including C-y, that | |
277 normally print such a message. | |
278 | |
279 ** Cursor appears in last line during y-or-n questions. | |
280 | |
281 Questions that want a `y' or `n' answer now move the cursor | |
282 to the last line, following the question. | |
283 | |
284 * Library loading changes. | |
285 | |
286 `load' now considers all possible suffixes (`.elc', `.el' and none) | |
287 for each directory in `load-path' before going on to the next directory. | |
288 It now accepts an optional fourth argument which, if non-nil, says to | |
289 use no suffixes; then the file name must be given in full. The search | |
290 of the directories in `load-path' goes on as usual in this case, but | |
291 it too can be prevented by passing an absolute file name. | |
292 | |
293 The value of `load-path' no longer by default includes nil (meaning to | |
294 look in the current default directory). The idea is that `load' should | |
295 be used to search the path only for libraries to be found in the standard | |
296 places. If you want to override system libraries with your own, place | |
297 your own libraries in one special directory and add that directory to the | |
298 front of `load-path'. | |
299 | |
300 The function `load' is no longer a command; that is to say, `M-x load' | |
301 is no longer allowed. Instead, there are two commands for loading files. | |
302 `M-x load-library' is equivalent to the old meaning of `M-x load'. | |
303 `M-x load-file' reads a file name with completion and defaulting | |
304 and then loads exactly that file, with no searching and no suffixes. | |
305 | |
306 * Emulation of other editors. | |
307 | |
308 ** `edt-emulation-on' starts emulating DEC's EDT editor. | |
309 | |
310 Do `edt-emulation-off' to return Emacs to normal. | |
311 | |
312 ** `vi-mode' and `vip-mode' starts emulating vi. | |
313 | |
314 These are two different vi emulations provided by GNU Emacs users. | |
315 We are interested in feedback as to which emulation is preferable. | |
316 | |
317 See the documentation and source code for these functions | |
318 for more information. | |
319 | |
320 ** `set-gosmacs-bindings' emulates Gosling Emacs. | |
321 | |
322 This command changes many global bindings to resemble those of | |
323 Gosling Emacs. The previous bindings are saved and can be restored using | |
324 `set-gnu-bindings'. | |
325 | |
326 * Emulation of a display terminal. | |
327 | |
328 Within Emacs it is now possible to run programs (such as emacs or | |
329 supdup) which expect to do output to a visual display terminal. | |
330 | |
331 See the function `terminal-emulator' for more information. | |
332 | |
333 * New support for keypads and function keys. | |
334 | |
335 There is now a first attempt at terminal-independent support for | |
336 keypad and function keys. | |
337 | |
338 Emacs now defines a standard set of key-names for function and keypad | |
339 keys, and provides standard hooks for defining them. Most of the | |
340 standard key-names have default definitions built into Emacs; you can | |
341 override these in a terminal-independent manner. The default definitions | |
342 and the conventions for redefining them are in the file `lisp/keypad.el'. | |
343 | |
344 These keys on the terminal normally work by sending sequences of | |
345 characters starting with ESC. The exact sequences used vary from | |
346 terminal to terminal. Emacs interprets them in two stages: | |
347 in the first stage, terminal-dependent sequences are mapped into | |
348 the standard key-names; then second stage maps the standard key-names | |
349 into their definitions in a terminal-independent fashion. | |
350 | |
351 The terminal-specific file `term/$TERM.el' now is responsible only for | |
352 establishing the mapping from the terminal's escape sequences into | |
353 standard key-names. It no longer knows what Emacs commands are | |
354 assigned to the standard key-names. | |
355 | |
356 One other change in terminal-specific files: if the value of the TERM | |
357 variable contains a hyphen, only the part before the first hyphen is | |
358 used in forming the name of the terminal-specific file. Thus, for | |
359 terminal type `aaa-48', the file loaded is now `term/aaa.el' rather | |
360 than `term/aaa-48.el'. | |
361 | |
362 * New startup command line options. | |
363 | |
364 `-i FILE' or `-insert FILE' in the command line to Emacs tells Emacs to | |
365 insert the contents of FILE into the current buffer at that point in | |
366 command line processing. This is like using the command M-x insert-file. | |
367 | |
368 `-funcall', `-load', `-user' and `-no-init-file' are new synonyms for | |
369 `-f', `-l', `-u' and `-q'. | |
370 | |
371 `-nw' means don't use a window system. If you are using a terminal | |
372 emulator on the X window system and you want to run Emacs to work through | |
373 the terminal emulator instead of working directly with the window system, | |
374 use this switch. | |
375 | |
376 * Buffer-sorting commands. | |
377 | |
378 Various M-x commands whose names start with `sort-' sort parts of | |
379 the region: | |
380 | |
381 sort-lines divides the region into lines and sorts them alphabetically. | |
382 sort-pages divides into pages and sorts them alphabetically. | |
383 sort-paragraphs divides into paragraphs and sorts them alphabetically. | |
384 sort-fields divides into lines and sorts them alphabetically | |
385 according to one field in the line. | |
386 The numeric argument specifies which field (counting | |
387 from field 1 at the beginning of the line). Fields in a line | |
388 are separated by whitespace. | |
389 sort-numeric-fields | |
390 is similar but converts the specified fields to numbers | |
391 and sorts them numerically. | |
392 sort-columns divides into lines and sorts them according to the contents | |
393 of a specified range of columns. | |
394 | |
395 Refer to the self-documentation of these commands for full usage information. | |
396 | |
397 * Changes in various commands. | |
398 | |
399 ** `tags-query-replace' and `tags-search' change. | |
400 | |
401 These functions now display the name of the file being searched at the moment. | |
402 | |
403 ** `occur' output now serves as a menu. `occur-menu' command deleted. | |
404 | |
405 `M-x occur' now allows you to move quickly to any of the occurrences | |
406 listed. Select the `*Occur*' buffer that contains the output of `occur', | |
407 move point to the occurrence you want, and type C-c C-c. | |
408 This will move point to the same occurrence in the buffer that the | |
409 occurrences were found in. | |
410 | |
411 The command `occur-menu' is thus obsolete, and has been deleted. | |
412 | |
413 One way to get a list of matching lines without line numbers is to | |
414 copy the text to another buffer and use the command `keep-lines'. | |
415 | |
416 ** Incremental search changes. | |
417 | |
418 Ordinary and regexp incremental searches now have distinct default | |
419 search strings. Thus, regexp searches recall only previous regexp | |
420 searches. | |
421 | |
422 If you exit an incremental search when the search string is empty, | |
423 the old default search string is kept. The default does not become | |
424 empty. | |
425 | |
426 Reversing the direction of an incremental search with C-s or C-r | |
427 when the search string is empty now does not get the default search | |
428 string. It leaves the search string empty. A second C-s or C-r | |
429 will get the default search string. As a result, you can do a reverse | |
430 incremental regexp search with C-M-s C-r. | |
431 | |
432 If you add a `*', `?' or `\|' to an incremental search regexp, | |
433 point will back up if that is appropriate. For example, if | |
434 you have searched for `ab' and add a `*', point moves to the | |
435 first match for `ab*', which may be before the match for `ab' | |
436 that was previously found. | |
437 | |
438 If an incremental search is failing and you ask to repeat it, | |
439 it will start again from the beginning of the buffer (or the end, | |
440 if it is a backward search). | |
441 | |
442 The search-controlling parameters `isearch-slow-speed' and | |
443 `isearch-slow-window-lines' have now been renamed to start with | |
444 `search' instead of `isearch'. Now all the parameters' names start | |
445 with `search'. | |
446 | |
447 If `search-slow-window-lines' is negative, the slow search window | |
448 is put at the top of the screen, and the absolute value or the | |
449 negative number specifies the height of it. | |
450 | |
451 ** Undo changes | |
452 | |
453 The undo command now will mark the buffer as unmodified only when it is | |
454 identical to the contents of the visited file. | |
455 | |
456 ** C-M-v in minibuffer. | |
457 | |
458 If while in the minibuffer you request help in a way that uses a | |
459 window to display something, then until you exit the minibuffer C-M-v | |
460 in the minibuffer window scrolls the window of help. | |
461 | |
462 For example, if you request a list of possible completions, C-M-v can | |
463 be used reliably to scroll the completion list. | |
464 | |
465 ** M-TAB command. | |
466 | |
467 Meta-TAB performs completion on the Emacs Lisp symbol names. The sexp | |
468 in the buffer before point is compared against all existing nontrivial | |
469 Lisp symbols and completed as far as is uniquely determined by them. | |
470 Nontrivial symbols are those with either function definitions, values | |
471 or properties. | |
472 | |
473 If there are multiple possibilities for the very next character, a | |
474 list of possible completions is displayed. | |
475 | |
476 ** Dynamic abbreviation package. | |
477 | |
478 The new command Meta-/ expands an abbreviation in the buffer before point | |
479 by searching the buffer for words that start with the abbreviation. | |
480 | |
481 ** Changes in saving kbd macros. | |
482 | |
483 The commands `write-kbd-macro' and `append-kbd-macro' have been | |
484 deleted. The way to save a keyboard macro is to use the new command | |
485 `insert-kbd-macro', which inserts Lisp code to define the macro as | |
486 it is currently defined into the buffer before point. Visit a Lisp | |
487 file such as your Emacs init file `~/.emacs', insert the macro | |
488 definition (perhaps deleting an old definition for the same macro) | |
489 and then save the file. | |
490 | |
491 ** C-x ' command. | |
492 | |
493 The new command C-x ' (expand-abbrev) expands the word before point as | |
494 an abbrev, even if abbrev-mode is not turned on. | |
495 | |
496 ** Sending to inferior Lisp. | |
497 | |
498 The command C-M-x in Lisp mode, which sends the current defun to | |
499 an inferior Lisp process, now works by writing the text into a temporary | |
500 file and actually sending only a `load'-form to load the file. | |
501 As a result, it avoids the Unix bugs that used to strike when the | |
502 text was above a certain length. | |
503 | |
504 With a prefix argument, this command now makes the inferior Lisp buffer | |
505 appear on the screen and scrolls it so that the bottom is showing. | |
506 | |
507 Two variables `inferior-lisp-load-command' and `inferior-lisp-prompt', | |
508 exist to customize these feature for different Lisp implementations. | |
509 | |
510 ** C-x p now disabled. | |
511 | |
512 The command C-x p, a nonrecomended command which narrows to the current | |
513 page, is now initially disabled like C-x n. | |
514 | |
515 * Dealing with files. | |
516 | |
517 ** C-x C-v generalized | |
518 | |
519 This command is now allowed even if the current buffer is not visiting | |
520 a file. As usual, it kills the current buffer and replaces it with a | |
521 newly found file. | |
522 | |
523 ** M-x recover-file improved; auto save file names changed. | |
524 | |
525 M-x recover-file now checks whether the last auto-save file is more | |
526 recent than the real visited file before offering to read in the | |
527 auto-save file. If the auto-save file is newer, a directory listing | |
528 containing the two files is displayed while you are asked whether you | |
529 want the auto save file. | |
530 | |
531 Visiting a file also makes this check. If the auto-save file is more recent, | |
532 a message is printed suggesting that you consider using M-x recover file. | |
533 | |
534 Auto save file names now by default have a `#' at the end as well | |
535 as at the beginning. This is so that `*.c' in a shell command | |
536 will never match auto save files. | |
537 | |
538 On VMS, auto save file names are made by appending `_$' at the front | |
539 and `$' at the end. | |
540 | |
541 When you change the visited file name of a buffer, the auto save file | |
542 is now renamed to belong to the new visited file name. | |
543 | |
544 You can customize the way auto save file names are made by redefining | |
545 the two functions `make-auto-save-file-name' and `auto-save-file-name-p', | |
546 both of which are defined in `files.el'. | |
547 | |
548 ** Modifying a buffer whose file is changed on disk is detected instantly. | |
549 | |
550 On systems where clash detection (locking of files being edited) is | |
551 implemented, Emacs also checks the first time you modify a buffer | |
552 whether the file has changed on disk since it was last visited or saved. | |
553 If it has, you are asked to confirm that you want to change the buffer. | |
554 | |
555 ** Exiting Emacs offers to save `*mail*'. | |
556 | |
557 Emacs can now know about buffers that it should offer to save on exit | |
558 even though they are not visiting files. This is done for any buffer | |
559 which has a non-nil local value of `buffer-offer-save'. By default, | |
560 Mail mode provides such a local value. | |
561 | |
562 ** Backup file changes. | |
563 | |
564 If a backup file cannot be written in the directory of the visited file | |
565 due to fascist file protection, a backup file is now written in your home | |
566 directory as `~/%backup%~'. Only one such file is made, ever, so only | |
567 the most recently made such backup is available. | |
568 | |
569 When backup files are made by copying, the last-modification time of the | |
570 original file is now preserved in the backup copy. | |
571 | |
572 ** Visiting remote files. | |
573 | |
574 On an internet host, you can now visit and save files on any other | |
575 internet host directly from Emacs with the commands M-x ftp-find-file | |
576 and M-x ftp-write-file. Specify an argument of the form HOST:FILENAME. | |
577 Since standard internet FTP is used, the other host may be any kind | |
578 of machine and is not required to have any special facilities. | |
579 | |
580 The first time any one remote host is accessed, you will be asked to | |
581 give the user name and password for use on that host. FTP is reinvoked | |
582 each time you ask to use it, but previously specified user names and | |
583 passwords are remembered automatically. | |
584 | |
585 ** Dired `g' command. | |
586 | |
587 `g' in Dired mode is equivalent to M-x revert-buffer; it causes the | |
588 current contents of the same directory to be read in. | |
589 | |
590 * Changes in major modes. | |
591 | |
592 ** C mode indentation change. | |
593 | |
594 The binding of Linefeed is no longer changed by C mode. It once again | |
595 has its normal meaning, which is to insert a newline and then indent | |
596 afterward. | |
597 | |
598 The old definition did one additional thing: it reindented the line | |
599 before the new newline. This has been removed because it made the | |
600 command twice as slow. The only time it was really useful was after the | |
601 insertion of an `else', since the fact of starting with `else' may change | |
602 the way that line is indented. Now you will have to type TAB again | |
603 yourself to reindent the `else' properly. | |
604 | |
605 If the variable `c-tab-always-indent' is set to `nil', the TAB command | |
606 in C mode, with no argument, will just insert a tab character if there | |
607 is non-whitespace preceding point on the current line. Giving it a | |
608 prefix argument will force reindentation of the line (as well as | |
609 of the compound statement that begins after point, if any). | |
610 | |
611 ** Fortran mode now exists. | |
612 | |
613 This mode provides commands for motion and indentation of Fortran code, | |
614 plus built-in abbrevs for Fortran keywords. For details, see the manual | |
615 or the on-line documentation of the command `fortran-mode'. | |
616 | |
617 ** Scribe mode now exists. | |
618 | |
619 This mode does something useful for editing files of Scribe input. | |
620 It is used automatically for files with names ending in ".mss". | |
621 | |
622 ** Modula2 and Prolog modes now exist. | |
623 | |
624 These modes are for editing programs in the languages of the same names. | |
625 They can be selected with M-x modula-2-mode and M-x prolog-mode. | |
626 | |
627 ** Telnet mode changes. | |
628 | |
629 The telnet mode special commands have now been assigned to C-c keys. | |
630 Most of them are the same as in Shell mode. | |
631 | |
632 ** Picture mode changes. | |
633 | |
634 The special picture-mode commands to specify the direction of cursor | |
635 motion after insertion have been moved to C-c keys. The commands to | |
636 specify diagonal motion were already C-c keys; they are unchanged. | |
637 The keys to specify horizontal or vertical motion are now | |
638 C-c < (left), C-c > (right), C-c ^ (up) and C-c . (down). | |
639 | |
640 ** Nroff mode comments. | |
641 | |
642 Comments are now supported in Nroff mode. The standard comment commands | |
643 such as M-; and C-x ; know how to insert, align and delete comments | |
644 that start with backslash-doublequote. | |
645 | |
646 ** LaTeX mode. | |
647 | |
648 LaTeX mode now exists. Use M-x latex-mode to select this mode, and | |
649 M-x plain-tex-mode to select the previously existing mode for Plain | |
650 TeX. M-x tex-mode attempts to examine the contents of the buffer and | |
651 choose between latex-mode and plain-tex-mode accordingly; if the | |
652 buffer is empty or it cannot tell, the variable `TeX-default-mode' | |
653 controls the choice. Its value should be the symbol for the mode to | |
654 be used. | |
655 | |
656 The facilities for running TeX on all or part of the buffer | |
657 work with LaTeX as well. | |
658 | |
659 Some new commands available in both modes: | |
660 | |
661 C-c C-l recenter the window showing the TeX output buffer | |
662 so most recent line of output can be seen. | |
663 C-c C-k kill the TeX subprocess. | |
664 C-c C-q show the printer queue. | |
665 C-c C-f close a block (appropriate for LaTeX only). | |
666 If the current line contains a \begin{...}, | |
667 this inserts an \end{...} on the following line | |
668 and puts point on a blank line between them. | |
669 | |
670 ** Outline mode changes. | |
671 | |
672 Invisible lines in outline mode are now indicated by `...' at the | |
673 end of the previous visible line. | |
674 | |
675 The special outline heading motion commands are now all on C-c keys. | |
676 A few new ones have been added. Here is a full list: | |
677 | |
678 C-c C-n Move to next visible heading (formerly M-}) | |
679 C-c C-p Move to previous visible heading (formerly M-{) | |
680 C-c C-f Move to next visible heading at the same level. | |
681 Thus, if point is on a level-2 heading line, | |
682 this command moves to the next visible level-2 heading. | |
683 C-c C-b Move to previous visible heading at the same level. | |
684 C-c C-u Move up to previous visible heading at a higher level. | |
685 | |
686 The variable `outline-regexp' now controls recognition of heading lines. | |
687 Any line whose beginning matches this regexp is a heading line. | |
688 The depth in outline structure is determined by the length of | |
689 the string that matches. | |
690 | |
691 A line starting with a ^L (formfeed) is now by default considered | |
692 a header line. | |
693 | |
694 * Mail reading and sending. | |
695 | |
696 ** MH-E changes. | |
697 | |
698 MH-E has been extensively modified and improved since the v17 release. | |
699 It contains many new features, including commands to: extracted failed | |
700 messages, kill a draft message, undo changes to a mail folder, monitor | |
701 delivery of a letter, print multiple messages, page digests backwards, | |
702 insert signatures, and burst digests. Also, many commands have been | |
703 made to able to deal with named sequences of messages, instead of | |
704 single messages. MH-E also has had numerous bugs fixed and commands | |
705 made to run faster. Furthermore, its keybindings have been changed to | |
706 be compatible with Rmail and the rest of GNU Emacs. | |
707 | |
708 ** Mail mode changes. | |
709 | |
710 The C-c commands of mail mode have been rearranged: | |
711 | |
712 C-c s, C-c c, C-c t and C-c b (move point to various header fields) | |
713 have been reassigned as C-c C-f C-s, C-c C-f C-c, C-c C-f C-t and C-c | |
714 C-f C-b. C-c C-f is for "field". | |
715 | |
716 C-c y, C-c w and C-c q have been changed to C-c C-y, C-c C-w and C-c C-q. | |
717 | |
718 Thus, C-c LETTER is always unassigned. | |
719 | |
720 ** Rmail C-r command changed to w. | |
721 | |
722 The Rmail command to edit the current message is now `w'. This change | |
723 has been made because people frequently type C-r while in Rmail hoping | |
724 to do a reverse incremental search. That now works. | |
725 | |
726 * Rnews changes. | |
727 | |
728 ** Caesar rotation added. | |
729 | |
730 The function news-caesar-buffer-body performs encryption and | |
731 decryption of the body of a news message. It defaults to the USENET | |
732 standard of 13, and accepts any numeric arg between 1 to 25 and -25 to -1. | |
733 The function is bound to C-c C-r in both news-mode and news-reply-mode. | |
734 | |
735 ** rmail-output command added. | |
736 | |
737 The C-o command has been bound to rmail-output in news-mode. | |
738 This allows one to append an article to a file which is in either Unix | |
739 mail or RMAIL format. | |
740 | |
741 ** news-reply-mode changes. | |
742 | |
743 The C-c commands of news reply mode have been rearranged and changed, | |
744 so that C-c LETTER is always unassigned: | |
745 | |
746 C-c y, C-c w and C-c q have been changed to C-c C-y, C-c C-w and C-c C-q. | |
747 | |
748 C-c c, C-c t, and C-c b (move to various mail header fields) have been | |
749 deleted (they make no sense for posting and replying to USENET). | |
750 | |
751 C-c s (move to Subject: header field) has been reassigned as C-c C-f | |
752 C-s. C-c C-f is for "field". Several additional move to news header | |
753 field commands have been added. | |
754 | |
755 The local news-reply-mode bindings now look like this: | |
756 | |
757 C-c C-s news-inews (post the message) C-c C-c news-inews | |
758 C-c C-f move to a header field (and create it if there isn't): | |
759 C-c C-f C-n move to Newsgroups: C-c C-f C-s move to Subj: | |
760 C-c C-f C-f move to Followup-To: C-c C-f C-k move to Keywords: | |
761 C-c C-f C-d move to Distribution: C-c C-f C-a move to Summary: | |
762 C-c C-y news-reply-yank-original (insert current message, in NEWS). | |
763 C-c C-q mail-fill-yanked-message (fill what was yanked). | |
764 C-c C-r caesar rotate all letters by 13 places in the article's body (rot13). | |
765 | |
766 * Existing Emacs usable as a server. | |
767 | |
768 Programs such as mailers that invoke "the editor" as an inferior | |
769 to edit some text can now be told to use an existing Emacs process | |
770 instead of creating a new editor. | |
771 | |
772 To do this, you must have an Emacs process running and capable of | |
773 doing terminal I/O at the time you want to invoke it. This means that | |
774 either you are using a window system and give Emacs a separate window | |
775 or you run the other programs as inferiors of Emacs (such as, using | |
776 M-x shell). | |
777 | |
778 First prepare the existing Emacs process by loading the `server' | |
779 library and executing M-x server-start. (Your .emacs can do this | |
780 automatically.) | |
781 | |
782 Now tell the other programs to use, as "the editor", the Emacs client | |
783 program (etc/emacsclient, located in the same directory as this file). | |
784 This can be done by setting the environment variable EDITOR. | |
785 | |
786 When another program invokes the emacsclient as "the editor", the | |
787 client actually transfers the file names to be edited to the existing | |
788 Emacs, which automatically visits the files. | |
789 | |
790 When you are done editing a buffer for a client, do C-x # (server-edit). | |
791 This marks that buffer as done, and selects the next buffer that the client | |
792 asked for. When all the buffers requested by a client are marked in this | |
793 way, Emacs tells the client program to exit, so that the program that | |
794 invoked "the editor" will resume execution. | |
795 | |
796 You can only have one server Emacs at a time, but multiple client programs | |
797 can put in requests at the same time. | |
798 | |
799 The client/server work only on Berkeley Unix, since they use the Berkeley | |
800 sockets mechanism for their communication. | |
801 | |
802 Changes in Lisp programming in Emacs version 18. | |
803 | |
804 * Init file changes. | |
805 | |
806 ** Suffixes no longer accepted on `.emacs'. | |
807 | |
808 Emacs will no longer load a file named `.emacs.el' or `emacs.elc' | |
809 in place of `.emacs'. This is so that it will take less time to | |
810 find `.emacs'. If you want to compile your init file, give it another | |
811 name and make `.emacs' a link to the `.elc' file, or make it contain | |
812 a call to `load' to load the `.elc' file. | |
813 | |
814 ** `default-profile' renamed to `default', and loaded after `.emacs'. | |
815 | |
816 It used to be the case that the file `default-profile' was loaded if | |
817 and only if `.emacs' was not found. | |
818 | |
819 Now the name `default-profile' is not used at all. Instead, a library | |
820 named `default' is loaded after the `.emacs' file. `default' is loaded | |
821 whether the `.emacs' file exists or not. However, loading of `default' | |
822 can be prevented if the `.emacs' file sets `inhibit-default-init' to non-nil. | |
823 | |
824 In fact, you would call the default file `default.el' and probably would | |
825 byte-compile it to speed execution. | |
826 | |
827 Note that for most purposes you are better off using a `site-init' library | |
828 since that will be loaded before the runnable Emacs is dumped. By using | |
829 a `site-init' library, you avoid taking up time each time Emacs is started. | |
830 | |
831 ** inhibit-command-line has been eliminated. | |
832 | |
833 This variable used to exist for .emacs files to set. It has been | |
834 eliminated because you can get the same effect by setting | |
835 command-line-args to nil and setting inhibit-startup-message to t. | |
836 | |
837 * `apply' is more general. | |
838 | |
839 `apply' now accepts any number of arguments. The first one is a function; | |
840 the rest are individual arguments to pass to that function, except for the | |
841 last, which is a list of arguments to pass. | |
842 | |
843 Previously, `apply' required exactly two arguments. Its old behavior | |
844 follows as a special case of the new definition. | |
845 | |
846 * New code-letter for `interactive'. | |
847 | |
848 (interactive "NFoo: ") is like (interactive "nFoo: ") in reading | |
849 a number using the minibuffer to serve as the argument; however, | |
850 if a prefix argument was specified, it uses the prefix argument | |
851 value as the argument, and does not use the minibuffer at all. | |
852 | |
853 This is used by the `goto-line' and `goto-char' commands. | |
854 | |
855 * Semantics of variables. | |
856 | |
857 ** Built-in per-buffer variables improved. | |
858 | |
859 Several built-in variables which in the past had a different value in | |
860 each buffer now behave exactly as if `make-variable-buffer-local' had | |
861 been done to them. | |
862 | |
863 These variables are `tab-width', `ctl-arrow', `truncate-lines', | |
864 `fill-column', `left-margin', `mode-line-format', `abbrev-mode', | |
865 `overwrite-mode', `case-fold-search', `auto-fill-hook', | |
866 `selective-display', `selective-display-ellipses'. | |
867 | |
868 To be precise, each variable has a default value which shows through | |
869 in most buffers and can be accessed with `default-value' and set with | |
870 `set-default'. Setting the variable with `setq' makes the variable | |
871 local to the current buffer. Changing the default value has retroactive | |
872 effect on all buffers in which the variable is not local. | |
873 | |
874 The variables `default-case-fold-search', etc., are now obsolete. | |
875 They now refer to the default value of the variable, which is not | |
876 quite the same behavior as before, but it should enable old init files | |
877 to continue to work. | |
878 | |
879 ** New per-buffer variables. | |
880 | |
881 The variables `fill-prefix', `comment-column' and `indent-tabs-mode' | |
882 are now per-buffer. They work just like `fill-column', etc. | |
883 | |
884 ** New function `setq-default'. | |
885 | |
886 `setq-default' sets the default value of a variable, and uses the | |
887 same syntax that `setq' accepts: the variable name is not evaluated | |
888 and need not be quoted. | |
889 | |
890 `(setq-default case-fold-search nil)' would make searches case-sensitive | |
891 in all buffers that do not have local values for `case-fold-search'. | |
892 | |
893 ** Functions `global-set' and `global-value' deleted. | |
894 | |
895 These functions were never used except by mistake by users expecting | |
896 the functionality of `set-default' and `default-value'. | |
897 | |
898 * Changes in defaulting of major modes. | |
899 | |
900 When `default-major-mode' is `nil', new buffers are supposed to | |
901 get their major mode from the buffer that is current. However, | |
902 certain major modes (such as Dired mode, Rmail mode, Rmail Summary mode, | |
903 and others) are not reasonable to use in this way. | |
904 | |
905 Now such modes' names have been given non-`nil' `mode-class' properties. | |
906 If the current buffer's mode has such a property, Fundamental mode is | |
907 used as the default for newly created buffers. | |
908 | |
909 * `where-is-internal' requires additional arguments. | |
910 | |
911 This function now accepts three arguments, two of them required: | |
912 DEFINITION, the definition to search for; LOCAL-KEYMAP, the keymap | |
913 to use as the local map when doing the searching, and FIRST-ONLY, | |
914 which is nonzero to return only the first key found. | |
915 | |
916 This function returns a list of keys (strings) whose definitions | |
917 (in the LOCAL-KEYMAP or the current global map) are DEFINITION. | |
918 | |
919 If FIRST-ONLY is non-nil, it returns a single key (string). | |
920 | |
921 This function has changed incompatibly in that now two arguments | |
922 are required when previously only one argument was allowed. To get | |
923 the old behavior of this function, write `(current-local-map)' as | |
924 the expression for the second argument. | |
925 | |
926 The incompatibility is sad, but `nil' is a legitimate value for the | |
927 second argument (it means there is no local keymap), so it cannot also | |
928 serve as a default meaning to use the current local keymap. | |
929 | |
930 * Abbrevs with hooks. | |
931 | |
932 When an abbrev defined with a hook is expanded, it now performs the | |
933 usual replacement of the abbrev with the expansion before running the | |
934 hook. Previously the abbrev itself was deleted but the expansion was | |
935 not inserted. | |
936 | |
937 * Function `scan-buffer' deleted. | |
938 | |
939 Use `search-forward' or `search-backward' in place of `scan-buffer'. | |
940 You will have to rearrange the arguments. | |
941 | |
942 * X window interface improvements. | |
943 | |
944 ** Detect release of mouse buttons. | |
945 | |
946 Button-up events can now be detected. See the file `lisp/x-mouse.el' | |
947 for details. | |
948 | |
949 ** New pop-up menu facility. | |
950 | |
951 The new function `x-popup-menu' pops up a menu (in a X window) | |
952 and returns an indication of which selection the user made. | |
953 For more information, see its self-documentation. | |
954 | |
955 * M-x disassemble. | |
956 | |
957 This command prints the disassembly of a byte-compiled Emacs Lisp function. | |
958 | |
959 Would anyone like to interface this to the debugger? | |
960 | |
961 * `insert-buffer-substring' can insert part of the current buffer. | |
962 | |
963 The old restriction that the text being inserted had to come from | |
964 a different buffer is now lifted. | |
965 | |
966 When inserting text from the current buffer, the text to be inserted | |
967 is determined from the specified bounds before any copying takes place. | |
968 | |
969 * New function `substitute-key-definition'. | |
970 | |
971 This is a new way to replace one command with another command as the | |
972 binding of whatever keys may happen to refer to it. | |
973 | |
974 (substitute-key-definition OLDDEF NEWDEF KEYMAP) looks through KEYMAP | |
975 for keys defined to run OLDDEF, and rebinds those keys to run NEWDEF | |
976 instead. | |
977 | |
978 * New function `insert-char'. | |
979 | |
980 Insert a specified character, a specified number of times. | |
981 | |
982 * `mark-marker' changed. | |
983 | |
984 When there is no mark, this now returns a marker that points | |
985 nowhere, rather than `nil'. | |
986 | |
987 * `ding' accepts argument. | |
988 | |
989 When given an argument, the function `ding' does not terminate | |
990 execution of a keyboard macro. Normally, `ding' does terminate | |
991 all macros that are currently executing. | |
992 | |
993 * New function `minibuffer-depth'. | |
994 | |
995 This function returns the current depth in minibuffer activations. | |
996 The value is zero when the minibuffer is not in use. | |
997 Values greater than one are possible if the user has entered the | |
998 minibuffer recursively. | |
999 | |
1000 * New function `documentation-property'. | |
1001 | |
1002 (documentation-property SYMBOL PROPNAME) is like (get SYMBOL PROPNAME), | |
1003 except that if the property value is a number `documentation-property' | |
1004 will take that number (or its absolute value) as a character position | |
1005 in the DOC file and return the string found there. | |
1006 | |
1007 (documentation-property VAR 'variable-documentation) is the proper | |
1008 way for a Lisp program to get the documentation of variable VAR. | |
1009 | |
1010 * New documentation-string expansion feature. | |
1011 | |
1012 If a documentation string (for a variable or function) contains text | |
1013 of the form `\<FOO>', it means that all command names specified in | |
1014 `\[COMMAND]' construct from that point on should be turned into keys | |
1015 using the value of the variable FOO as the local keymap. Thus, for example, | |
1016 | |
1017 `\<emacs-lisp-mode-map>\[eval-defun] evaluates the defun containing point.' | |
1018 | |
1019 will expand into | |
1020 | |
1021 "ESC C-x evaluates the defun containing point." | |
1022 | |
1023 regardless of the current major mode, because ESC C-x is defined to | |
1024 run `eval-defun' in the keymap `emacs-lisp-mode-map'. The effect is | |
1025 to show the key for `eval-defun' in Emacs Lisp mode regardless of the | |
1026 current major mode. | |
1027 | |
1028 The `\<...>' construct applies to all `\[...]' constructs that follow it, | |
1029 up to the end of the documentation string or the next `\<...>'. | |
1030 | |
1031 Without `\<...>', the keys for commands specified in `\[...]' are found | |
1032 in the current buffer's local map. | |
1033 | |
1034 The current global keymap is always searched second, whether `\<...>' | |
1035 has been used or not. | |
1036 | |
1037 * Multiple hooks allowed in certain contexts. | |
1038 | |
1039 The old hook variables `find-file-hook', `find-file-not-found-hook' and | |
1040 `write-file-hook' have been replaced. | |
1041 | |
1042 The replacements are `find-file-hooks', `find-file-not-found-hooks' | |
1043 and `write-file-hooks'. Each holds a list of functions to be called; | |
1044 by default, `nil', for no functions. The functions are called in | |
1045 order of appearance in the list. | |
1046 | |
1047 In the case of `find-file-hooks', all the functions are executed. | |
1048 | |
1049 In the case of `find-file-not-found-hooks', if any of the functions | |
1050 returns non-`nil', the rest of the functions are not called. | |
1051 | |
1052 In the case of `write-file-hooks', if any of the functions returns | |
1053 non-`nil', the rest of the functions are not called, and the file is | |
1054 considered to have been written already; so actual writing in the | |
1055 usual way is not done. If `write-file-hooks' is local to a buffer, | |
1056 it is set to its global value if `set-visited-file-name' is called | |
1057 (and thus by C-x C-w as well). | |
1058 | |
1059 `find-file-not-found-hooks' and `write-file-hooks' can be used | |
1060 together to implement editing of files that are not stored as Unix | |
1061 files: stored in archives, or inside version control systems, or on | |
1062 other machines running other operating systems and accessible via ftp. | |
1063 | |
1064 * New hooks for suspending Emacs. | |
1065 | |
1066 Suspending Emacs runs the hook `suspend-hook' before suspending | |
1067 and the hook `suspend-resume-hook' if the suspended Emacs is resumed. | |
1068 Running a hook is done by applying the variable's value to no arguments | |
1069 if the variable has a non-`nil' value. If `suspend-hook' returns | |
1070 non-`nil', then suspending is inhibited and so is running the | |
1071 `suspend-resume-hook'. The non-`nil' value means that the `suspend-hook' | |
1072 has done whatever suspending is required. | |
1073 | |
1074 * Disabling commands can print a special message. | |
1075 | |
1076 A command is disabled by giving it a non-`nil' `disabled' property. | |
1077 Now, if this property is a string, it is included in the message | |
1078 printed when the user tries to run the command. | |
1079 | |
1080 * Emacs can open TCP connections. | |
1081 | |
1082 The function `open-network-stream' opens a TCP connection to | |
1083 a specified host and service. Its value is a Lisp object that represents | |
1084 the connection. The object is a kind of "subprocess", and I/O are | |
1085 done like I/O to subprocesses. | |
1086 | |
1087 * Display-related changes. | |
1088 | |
1089 ** New mode-line control features. | |
1090 | |
1091 The display of the mode line used to be controlled by a format-string | |
1092 that was the value of the variable `mode-line-format'. | |
1093 | |
1094 This variable still exists, but it now allows more general values, | |
1095 not just strings. Lists, cons cells and symbols are also meaningful. | |
1096 | |
1097 The mode line contents are created by outputting various mode elements | |
1098 one after the other. Here are the kinds of objects that can be | |
1099 used as mode elements, and what they do in the display: | |
1100 | |
1101 string the contents of the string are output to the mode line, | |
1102 and %-constructs are replaced by other text. | |
1103 | |
1104 t or nil ignored; no output results. | |
1105 | |
1106 symbol the symbol's value is used. If the value is a string, | |
1107 the string is output verbatim to the mode line | |
1108 (so %-constructs are not interpreted). Otherwise, | |
1109 the symbol's value is processed as a mode element. | |
1110 | |
1111 list (whose first element is a string or list or cons cell) | |
1112 the elements of the list are treated as as mode elements, | |
1113 so that the output they generate is concatenated, | |
1114 | |
1115 list (whose car is a symbol) | |
1116 if the symbol's value is non-nil, the second element of the | |
1117 list is treated as a mode element. Otherwise, the third | |
1118 element (if any) of the list is treated as a mode element. | |
1119 | |
1120 cons (whose car is a positive integer) | |
1121 the cdr of the cons is used as a mode element, but | |
1122 the text it produces is padded, if necessary, to have | |
1123 at least the width specified by the integer. | |
1124 | |
1125 cons (whose car is a negative integer) | |
1126 the cdr of the cons is used as a mode element, but | |
1127 the text it produces is truncated, if necessary, to have | |
1128 at most the width specified by the integer. | |
1129 | |
1130 There is always one mode element to start with, that being the value of | |
1131 `mode-line-format', but if this value is a list then it leads to several | |
1132 more mode elements, which can lead to more, and so on. | |
1133 | |
1134 There is one new %-construct for mode elements that are strings: | |
1135 `%n' displays ` Narrow' for a buffer that is narrowed. | |
1136 | |
1137 The default value of `mode-line-format' refers to several other variables. | |
1138 These variables are `mode-name', `mode-line-buffer-identification', | |
1139 `mode-line-process', `mode-line-modified', `global-mode-string' and | |
1140 `minor-mode-alist'. The first four are local in every buffer in which they | |
1141 are changed from the default. | |
1142 | |
1143 mode-name Name of buffer's major mode. Local in every buffer. | |
1144 | |
1145 mode-line-buffer-identification | |
1146 Normally the list ("Emacs: %17b"), it is responsible | |
1147 for displaying text to indicate what buffer is being shown | |
1148 and what kind of editing it is doing. `Emacs' means | |
1149 that a file of characters is being edited. Major modes | |
1150 such as Info and Dired which edit or view other kinds | |
1151 of data often change this value. This variables becomes | |
1152 local to the current buffer if it is setq'd. | |
1153 | |
1154 mode-line-process | |
1155 Normally nil, this variable is responsible for displaying | |
1156 information about the process running in the current buffer. | |
1157 M-x shell-mode and M-x compile alter this variable. | |
1158 | |
1159 mode-line-modified | |
1160 This variable is responsible for displaying the indication | |
1161 of whether the current buffer is modified or read-only. | |
1162 By default its value is `("--%*%*-")'. | |
1163 | |
1164 minor-mode-alist | |
1165 This variable is responsible for displaying text for those | |
1166 minor modes that are currently enabled. Its value | |
1167 is a list of elements of the form (VARIABLE STRING), | |
1168 where STRING is to be displayed if VARIABLE's value | |
1169 (in the buffer whose mode line is being displayed) | |
1170 is non-nil. This variable is not made local to particular | |
1171 buffers, but loading some libraries may add elements to it. | |
1172 | |
1173 global-mode-string | |
1174 This variable is used to display the time, if you ask | |
1175 for that. | |
1176 | |
1177 The idea of these variables is to eliminate the need for major modes | |
1178 to alter mode-line-format itself. | |
1179 | |
1180 ** `window-point' valid for selected window. | |
1181 | |
1182 The value returned by `window-point' used to be incorrect when its | |
1183 argument was the selected window. Now the value is correct. | |
1184 | |
1185 ** Window configurations may be saved as Lisp objects. | |
1186 | |
1187 The function `current-window-configuration' returns a special type of | |
1188 Lisp object that represents the current layout of windows: the | |
1189 sizes and positions of windows, which buffers appear in them, and | |
1190 which parts of the buffers appear on the screen. | |
1191 | |
1192 The function `set-window-configuration' takes one argument, which must | |
1193 be a window configuration object, and restores that configuration. | |
1194 | |
1195 ** New hook `temp-output-buffer-show-hook'. | |
1196 | |
1197 This hook allows you to control how help buffers are displayed. | |
1198 Whenever `with-output-to-temp-buffer' has executed its body and wants | |
1199 to display the temp buffer, if this variable is bound and non-`nil' | |
1200 then its value is called with one argument, the temp buffer. | |
1201 The hook function is solely responsible for displaying the buffer. | |
1202 The standard manner of display--making the buffer appear in a window--is | |
1203 used only if there is no hook function. | |
1204 | |
1205 ** New function `minibuffer-window'. | |
1206 | |
1207 This function returns the window used (sometimes) for displaying | |
1208 the minibuffer. It can be used even when the minibuffer is not active. | |
1209 | |
1210 ** New feature to `next-window'. | |
1211 | |
1212 If the optional second argument is neither `nil' nor `t', the minibuffer | |
1213 window is omitted from consideration even when active; if the starting | |
1214 window was the last non-minibuffer window, the value will be the first | |
1215 non-minibuffer window. | |
1216 | |
1217 ** New variable `minibuffer-scroll-window'. | |
1218 | |
1219 When this variable is non-`nil', the command `scroll-other-window' | |
1220 uses it as the window to be scrolled. Displays of completion-lists | |
1221 set this variable to the window containing the display. | |
1222 | |
1223 ** New argument to `sit-for'. | |
1224 | |
1225 A non-nil second argument to `sit-for' means do not redisplay; | |
1226 just wait for the specified time or until input is available. | |
1227 | |
1228 ** Deleted function `set-minor-mode'; minor modes must be changed. | |
1229 | |
1230 The function `set-minor-mode' has been eliminated. The display | |
1231 of minor mode names in the mode line is now controlled by the | |
1232 variable `minor-mode-alist'. To specify display of a new minor | |
1233 mode, it is sufficient to add an element to this list. Once that | |
1234 is done, you can turn the mode on and off just by setting a variable, | |
1235 and the display will show its status automatically. | |
1236 | |
1237 ** New variable `cursor-in-echo-area'. | |
1238 | |
1239 If this variable is non-nil, the screen cursor appears on the | |
1240 last line of the screen, at the end of the text displayed there. | |
1241 | |
1242 Binding this variable to t is useful at times when reading single | |
1243 characters of input with `read-char'. | |
1244 | |
1245 ** New per-buffer variable `selective-display-ellipses'. | |
1246 | |
1247 If this variable is non-nil, an ellipsis (`...') appears on the screen | |
1248 at the end of each text line that is followed by invisible text. | |
1249 | |
1250 If this variable is nil, no ellipses appear. Then there is no sign | |
1251 on the screen that invisible text is present. | |
1252 | |
1253 Text is made invisible under the control of the variable | |
1254 `selective-display'; this is how Outline mode and C-x $ work. | |
1255 | |
1256 ** New variable `no-redraw-on-reenter'. | |
1257 | |
1258 If you set this variable non-nil, Emacs will not clear the screen when | |
1259 you resume it after suspending it. This is for the sake of terminals | |
1260 with multiple screens of memory, where the termcap entry has been set | |
1261 up to switch between screens when Emacs is suspended and resumed. | |
1262 | |
1263 ** New argument to `set-screen-height' or `set-screen-width'. | |
1264 | |
1265 These functions now take an optional second argument which says | |
1266 what significance the newly specified height or width has. | |
1267 | |
1268 If the argument is nil, or absent, it means that Emacs should | |
1269 believe that the terminal height or width really is as just specified. | |
1270 | |
1271 If the argument is t, it means Emacs should not believe that the | |
1272 terminal really is this high or wide, but it should use the | |
1273 specific height or width as the number of lines or columns to display. | |
1274 Thus, you could display only 24 lines on a screen known to have 48 lines. | |
1275 | |
1276 What practical difference is there between using only 24 lines for display | |
1277 and really believing that the terminal has 24 lines? | |
1278 | |
1279 1. The ``real'' height of the terminal says what the terminal command | |
1280 to move the cursor to the last line will do. | |
1281 | |
1282 2. The ``real'' height of the terminal determines how much padding is | |
1283 needed. | |
1284 | |
1285 * File-related changes. | |
1286 | |
1287 ** New parameter `backup-by-copying-when-mismatch'. | |
1288 | |
1289 If this variable is non-`nil', then when Emacs is about to save a | |
1290 file, it will create the backup file by copying if that would avoid | |
1291 changing the file's uid or gid. | |
1292 | |
1293 The default value of this variable is `nil', because usually it is | |
1294 useful to have the uid of a file change according to who edited it | |
1295 last. I recommend thet this variable be left normally `nil' and | |
1296 changed with a local variables list in those particular files where | |
1297 the uid needs to be preserved. | |
1298 | |
1299 ** New parameter `file-precious-flag'. | |
1300 | |
1301 If this variable is non-`nil', saving the buffer tries to avoid | |
1302 leaving an incomplete file due to disk full or other I/O errors. | |
1303 It renames the old file before saving. If saving is successful, | |
1304 the renamed file is deleted; if saving gets an error, the renamed | |
1305 file is renamed back to the name you visited. | |
1306 | |
1307 Backups are always made by copying for such files. | |
1308 | |
1309 ** New variable `buffer-offer-save'. | |
1310 | |
1311 If the value of this variable is non-`nil' in a buffer then exiting | |
1312 Emacs will offer to save the buffer (if it is modified and nonempty) | |
1313 even if the buffer is not visiting a file. This variable is | |
1314 automatically made local to the current buffer whenever it is set. | |
1315 | |
1316 ** `rename-file', `copy-file', `add-name-to-file' and `make-symbolic-link'. | |
1317 | |
1318 The third argument to these functions used to be `t' or `nil'; `t' | |
1319 meaning go ahead even if the specified new file name already has a file, | |
1320 and `nil' meaning to get an error. | |
1321 | |
1322 Now if the third argument is a number it means to ask the user for | |
1323 confirmation in this case. | |
1324 | |
1325 ** New optional argument to `copy-file'. | |
1326 | |
1327 If `copy-file' receives a non-nil fourth argument, it attempts | |
1328 to give the new copy the same time-of-last-modification that the | |
1329 original file has. | |
1330 | |
1331 ** New function `file-newer-than-file-p'. | |
1332 | |
1333 (file-newer-than-file-p FILE1 FILE2) returns non-nil if FILE1 has been | |
1334 modified more recently than FILE2. If FILE1 does not exist, the value | |
1335 is always nil; otherwise, if FILE2 does not exist, the value is t. | |
1336 This is meant for use when FILE2 depends on FILE1, to see if changes | |
1337 in FILE1 make it necessary to recompute FILE2 from it. | |
1338 | |
1339 ** Changed function `file-exists-p'. | |
1340 | |
1341 This function is no longer the same as `file-readable-p'. | |
1342 `file-exists-p' can now return t for a file that exists but which | |
1343 the fascists won't allow you to read. | |
1344 | |
1345 ** New function `file-locked-p'. | |
1346 | |
1347 This function receives a file name as argument and returns `nil' | |
1348 if the file is not locked, `t' if locked by this Emacs, or a | |
1349 string giving the name of the user who has locked it. | |
1350 | |
1351 ** New function `file-name-sans-versions'. | |
1352 | |
1353 (file-name-sans-versions NAME) returns a substring of NAME, with any | |
1354 version numbers or other backup suffixes deleted from the end. | |
1355 | |
1356 ** New functions for directory names. | |
1357 | |
1358 Although a directory is really a kind of file, specifying a directory | |
1359 uses a somewhat different syntax from specifying a file. | |
1360 In Emacs, a directory name is used as part of a file name. | |
1361 | |
1362 On Unix, the difference is small: a directory name ends in a slash, | |
1363 while a file name does not: thus, `/usr/rms/' to name a directory, | |
1364 while `/usr/rms' names the file which holds that directory. | |
1365 | |
1366 On VMS, the difference is considerable: `du:[rms.foo]' specifies a | |
1367 directory, but the name of the file that holds that directory is | |
1368 `du:[rms]foo.dir'. | |
1369 | |
1370 There are two new functions for converting between directory names | |
1371 and file names. `directory-file-name' takes a directory name and | |
1372 returns the name of the file in which that directory's data is stored. | |
1373 `file-name-as-directory' takes the name of a file and returns | |
1374 the corresponding directory name. These always understand Unix file name | |
1375 syntax; on VMS, they understand VMS syntax as well. | |
1376 | |
1377 For example, (file-name-as-directory "/usr/rms") returns "/usr/rms/" | |
1378 and (directory-file-name "/usr/rms/") returns "/usr/rms". | |
1379 On VMS, (file-name-as-directory "du:[rms]foo.dir") returns "du:[rms.foo]" | |
1380 and (directory-file-name "du:[rms.foo]") returns "du:[rms]foo.dir". | |
1381 | |
1382 ** Value of `file-attributes' changed. | |
1383 | |
1384 The function file-attributes returns a list containing many kinds of | |
1385 information about a file. Now the list has eleven elements. | |
1386 | |
1387 The tenth element is `t' if deleting the file and creating another | |
1388 file of the same name would result in a change in the file's group; | |
1389 `nil' if there would be no change. You can also think of this as | |
1390 comparing the file's group with the default group for files created in | |
1391 the same directory by you. | |
1392 | |
1393 The eleventh element is the inode number of the file. | |
1394 | |
1395 ** VMS-only function `file-name-all-versions'. | |
1396 | |
1397 This function returns a list of all the completions, including version | |
1398 number, of a specified version-number-less file name. This is like | |
1399 `file-name-all-completions', except that the latter returns values | |
1400 that do not include version numbers. | |
1401 | |
1402 ** VMS-only variable `vms-stmlf-recfm'. | |
1403 | |
1404 On a VMS system, if this variable is non-nil, Emacs will give newly | |
1405 created files the record format `stmlf'. This is necessary for files | |
1406 that must contain lines of arbitrary length, such as compiled Emacs | |
1407 Lisp. | |
1408 | |
1409 When writing a new version of an existing file, Emacs always keeps | |
1410 the same record format as the previous version; so this variable has | |
1411 no effect. | |
1412 | |
1413 This variable has no effect on Unix systems. | |
1414 | |
1415 ** `insert-file-contents' on an empty file. | |
1416 | |
1417 This no longer sets the buffer's "modified" flag. | |
1418 | |
1419 ** New function (VMS only) `define-logical-name': | |
1420 | |
1421 (define-logical-name LOGICAL TRANSLATION) defines a VMS logical name | |
1422 LOGICAL whose translation is TRANSLATION. The new name applies to | |
1423 the current process only. | |
1424 | |
1425 ** Deleted variable `ask-about-buffer-names'. | |
1426 | |
1427 If you want buffer names for files to be generated in a special way, | |
1428 you must redefine `create-file-buffer'. | |
1429 | |
1430 * Subprocess-related changes. | |
1431 | |
1432 ** New function `process-list'. | |
1433 | |
1434 This function takes no arguments and returns a list of all | |
1435 of Emacs's asynchronous subprocesses. | |
1436 | |
1437 ** New function `process-exit-status'. | |
1438 | |
1439 This function, given a process, process name or buffer as argument, | |
1440 returns the exit status code or signal number of the process. | |
1441 If the process has not yet exited or died, this function returns 0. | |
1442 | |
1443 ** Process output ignores `buffer-read-only'. | |
1444 | |
1445 Output from a process will go into the process's buffer even if the | |
1446 buffer is read only. | |
1447 | |
1448 ** Switching buffers in filter functions and sentinels. | |
1449 | |
1450 Emacs no longer saves and restore the current buffer around calling | |
1451 the filter and sentinel functions, so these functions can now | |
1452 permanently alter the selected buffer in a straightforward manner. | |
1453 | |
1454 ** Specifying environment variables for subprocesses. | |
1455 | |
1456 When a subprocess is started with `start-process' or `call-process', | |
1457 the value of the variable `process-environment' is taken to | |
1458 specify the environment variables to give the subprocess. The | |
1459 value should be a list of strings, each of the form "VAR=VALUE". | |
1460 | |
1461 `process-environment' is initialized when Emacs starts up | |
1462 based on Emacs's environment. | |
1463 | |
1464 ** New variable `process-connection-type'. | |
1465 | |
1466 If this variable is `nil', when a subprocess is created, Emacs uses | |
1467 a pipe rather than a pty to communicate with it. Normally this | |
1468 variable is `t', telling Emacs to use a pty if ptys are supported | |
1469 and one is available. | |
1470 | |
1471 ** New function `waiting-for-user-input-p'. | |
1472 | |
1473 This function, given a subprocess as argument, returns `t' if that | |
1474 subprocess appears to be waiting for input sent from Emacs, | |
1475 or `nil' otherwise. | |
1476 | |
1477 ** New hook `shell-set-directory-error-hook'. | |
1478 | |
1479 The value of this variable is called, with no arguments, whenever | |
1480 Shell mode gets an error trying to keep track of directory-setting | |
1481 commands (such as `cd' and `pushd') used in the shell buffer. | |
1482 | |
1483 * New functions `user-uid' and `user-real-uid'. | |
1484 | |
1485 These functions take no arguments and return, respectively, | |
1486 the effective uid and the real uid of the Emacs process. | |
1487 The value in each case is an integer. | |
1488 | |
1489 * New variable `print-escape-newlines' controls string printing. | |
1490 | |
1491 If this variable is non-`nil', then when a Lisp string is printed | |
1492 by the Lisp printing function `prin1' or `print', newline characters | |
1493 are printed as `\n' rather than as a literal newline. | |
1494 | |
1495 * New function `sysnetunam' on HPUX. | |
1496 | |
1497 This function takes two arguments, a network address PATH and a | |
1498 login string LOGIN, and executes the system call `netunam'. | |
1499 It returns `t' if the call succeeds, otherwise `nil'. | |
1500 | |
1501 News regarding installation: | |
1502 | |
1503 * Many `s-...' file names changed. | |
1504 | |
1505 Many `s-...' files have been renamed. All periods in such names, | |
1506 except the ones just before the final `h', have been changed to | |
1507 hyphens. Thus, `s-bsd4.2.h' has been renamed to `s-bsd4-2.h'. | |
1508 | |
1509 This is so a Unix distribution can be moved mechanically to VMS. | |
1510 | |
1511 * `DOCSTR...' file now called `DOC-...'. | |
1512 | |
1513 The file of on-line documentation strings, that used to be | |
1514 `DOCSTR.mm.nn.oo' in this directory, is now called `DOC-mm.nn.oo'. | |
1515 This is so that it can port to VMS using the standard conventions | |
1516 for translating filenames for VMS. | |
1517 | |
1518 This file also now contains the doc strings for variables as | |
1519 well as functions. | |
1520 | |
1521 * Emacs no longer uses floating point arithmetic. | |
1522 | |
1523 This may make it easier to port to some machines. | |
1524 | |
1525 * Macros `XPNTR' and `XSETPNTR'; flag `DATA_SEG_BITS'. | |
1526 | |
1527 These macros exclusively are used to unpack a pointer from a Lisp_Object | |
1528 and to insert a pointer into a Lisp_Object. Redefining them may help | |
1529 port Emacs to machines in which all pointers to data objects have | |
1530 certain high bits set. | |
1531 | |
1532 If `DATA_SEG_BITS' is defined, it should be a number which contains | |
1533 the high bits to be inclusive or'ed with pointers that are unpacked. | |
1534 | |
1535 * New flag `HAVE_X_MENU'. | |
1536 | |
1537 Define this flag in `config.h' in addition to `HAVE_X_WINDOWS' | |
1538 to enable use of the Emacs interface to X Menus. On some operating | |
1539 systems, the rest of the X interface works properly but X Menus | |
1540 do not work; hence this separate flag. See the file `src/xmenu.c' | |
1541 for more information. | |
1542 | |
1543 * Macros `ARRAY_MARK_FLAG' and `DONT_COPY_FLAG'. | |
1544 | |
1545 * `HAVE_ALLOCA' prevents assembly of `alloca.s'. | |
1546 | |
1547 * `SYSTEM_MALLOC' prevents use of GNU `malloc.c'. | |
1548 | |
1549 SYSTEM_MALLOC, if defined, means use the system's own `malloc' routines | |
1550 rather than those that come with Emacs. | |
1551 | |
1552 Use this only if absolutely necessary, because if it is used you do | |
1553 not get warnings when space is getting low. | |
1554 | |
1555 * New flags to control unexec. | |
1556 | |
1557 See the file `unexec.c' for a long comment on the compilation | |
1558 switches that suffice to make it work on many machines. | |
1559 | |
1560 * `PNTR_COMPARISON_TYPE' | |
1561 | |
1562 Pointers that need to be compared for ordering are converted to this type | |
1563 first. Normally this is `unsigned int'. | |
1564 | |
1565 * `HAVE_VFORK', `HAVE_DUP2' and `HAVE_GETTIMEOFDAY'. | |
1566 | |
1567 These flags just say whether certain system calls are available. | |
1568 | |
1569 * New macros control compiler switches, linker switches and libraries. | |
1570 | |
1571 The m- and s- files can now control in a modular fashion the precise | |
1572 arguments passed to `cc' and `ld'. | |
1573 | |
1574 LIBS_STANDARD defines the standard C libraries. Default is `-lc'. | |
1575 LIBS_DEBUG defines the extra libraries to use when debugging. Default `-lg'. | |
1576 LIBS_SYSTEM can be defined by the s- file to specify extra libraries. | |
1577 LIBS_MACHINE can be defined by the m- file to specify extra libraries. | |
1578 LIBS_TERMCAP defines the libraries for Termcap or Terminfo. | |
1579 It is defined by default in a complicated fashion but the m- or s- file | |
1580 can override it. | |
1581 | |
1582 LD_SWITCH_SYSTEM can be defined by the s- file to specify extra `ld' switches. | |
1583 The default is `-X' on BSD systems except those few that use COFF object files. | |
1584 LD_SWITCH_MACHINE can be defined by the m- file to specify extra `ld' switches. | |
1585 | |
1586 C_DEBUG_SWITCH defines the switches to give `cc' when debugging. Default `-g'. | |
1587 C_OPTIMIZE_SWITCH defines the switches to give `cc' to optimize. Default `-O'. | |
1588 C_SWITCH_MACHINE can be defined by the m- file to specify extra `cc' switches. | |
1589 | |
1590 For older news, see the file NEWS.2. | |
1591 | |
1592 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
1593 Copyright information: | |
1594 | |
1595 Copyright (C) 1988 Free Software Foundation, Inc. | |
1596 | |
1597 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies | |
1598 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the | |
1599 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved, | |
1600 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn. | |
1601 | |
1602 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions | |
1603 of this document, or of portions of it, | |
1604 under the above conditions, provided also that they | |
1605 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them. | |
1606 | |
1607 Local variables: | |
1608 mode: text | |
1609 end: |