comparison man/fixit.texi @ 25829:ac7e9e5e2ccb

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author Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
date Wed, 29 Sep 1999 15:17:24 +0000
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1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
2 @c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
4 @node Fixit, Files, Search, Top
5 @chapter Commands for Fixing Typos
6 @cindex typos, fixing
7 @cindex mistakes, correcting
8
9 In this chapter we describe the commands that are especially useful for
10 the times when you catch a mistake in your text just after you have made
11 it, or change your mind while composing text on the fly.
12
13 The most fundamental command for correcting erroneous editing is the
14 undo command, @kbd{C-x u} or @kbd{C-_}. This command undoes a single
15 command (usually), a part of a command (in the case of
16 @code{query-replace}), or several consecutive self-inserting characters.
17 Consecutive repetitions of @kbd{C-_} or @kbd{C-x u} undo earlier and
18 earlier changes, back to the limit of the undo information available.
19 @xref{Undo}, for for more information.
20
21 @menu
22 * Kill Errors:: Commands to kill a batch of recently entered text.
23 * Transpose:: Exchanging two characters, words, lines, lists...
24 * Fixing Case:: Correcting case of last word entered.
25 * Spelling:: Apply spelling checker to a word, or a whole file.
26 @end menu
27
28 @node Kill Errors
29 @section Killing Your Mistakes
30
31 @table @kbd
32 @item @key{DEL}
33 Delete last character (@code{delete-backward-char}).
34 @item M-@key{DEL}
35 Kill last word (@code{backward-kill-word}).
36 @item C-x @key{DEL}
37 Kill to beginning of sentence (@code{backward-kill-sentence}).
38 @end table
39
40 The @key{DEL} character (@code{delete-backward-char}) is the most
41 important correction command. It deletes the character before point.
42 When @key{DEL} follows a self-inserting character command, you can think
43 of it as canceling that command. However, avoid the mistake of thinking
44 of @key{DEL} as a general way to cancel a command!
45
46 When your mistake is longer than a couple of characters, it might be
47 more convenient to use @kbd{M-@key{DEL}} or @kbd{C-x @key{DEL}}.
48 @kbd{M-@key{DEL}} kills back to the start of the last word, and @kbd{C-x
49 @key{DEL}} kills back to the start of the last sentence. @kbd{C-x
50 @key{DEL}} is particularly useful when you change your mind about the
51 phrasing of the text you are writing. @kbd{M-@key{DEL}} and @kbd{C-x
52 @key{DEL}} save the killed text for @kbd{C-y} and @kbd{M-y} to
53 retrieve. @xref{Yanking}.@refill
54
55 @kbd{M-@key{DEL}} is often useful even when you have typed only a few
56 characters wrong, if you know you are confused in your typing and aren't
57 sure exactly what you typed. At such a time, you cannot correct with
58 @key{DEL} except by looking at the screen to see what you did. Often it
59 requires less thought to kill the whole word and start again.
60
61 @node Transpose
62 @section Transposing Text
63
64 @table @kbd
65 @item C-t
66 Transpose two characters (@code{transpose-chars}).
67 @item M-t
68 Transpose two words (@code{transpose-words}).
69 @item C-M-t
70 Transpose two balanced expressions (@code{transpose-sexps}).
71 @item C-x C-t
72 Transpose two lines (@code{transpose-lines}).
73 @end table
74
75 @kindex C-t
76 @findex transpose-chars
77 The common error of transposing two characters can be fixed, when they
78 are adjacent, with the @kbd{C-t} command (@code{transpose-chars}). Normally,
79 @kbd{C-t} transposes the two characters on either side of point. When
80 given at the end of a line, rather than transposing the last character of
81 the line with the newline, which would be useless, @kbd{C-t} transposes the
82 last two characters on the line. So, if you catch your transposition error
83 right away, you can fix it with just a @kbd{C-t}. If you don't catch it so
84 fast, you must move the cursor back to between the two transposed
85 characters. If you transposed a space with the last character of the word
86 before it, the word motion commands are a good way of getting there.
87 Otherwise, a reverse search (@kbd{C-r}) is often the best way.
88 @xref{Search}.
89
90
91 @kindex C-x C-t
92 @findex transpose-lines
93 @kindex M-t
94 @findex transpose-words
95 @kindex C-M-t
96 @findex transpose-sexps
97 @kbd{M-t} (@code{transpose-words}) transposes the word before point
98 with the word after point. It moves point forward over a word, dragging
99 the word preceding or containing point forward as well. The punctuation
100 characters between the words do not move. For example, @w{@samp{FOO, BAR}}
101 transposes into @w{@samp{BAR, FOO}} rather than @samp{@w{BAR FOO,}}.
102
103 @kbd{C-M-t} (@code{transpose-sexps}) is a similar command for transposing
104 two expressions (@pxref{Lists}), and @kbd{C-x C-t} (@code{transpose-lines})
105 exchanges lines. They work like @kbd{M-t} except in determining the
106 division of the text into syntactic units.
107
108 A numeric argument to a transpose command serves as a repeat count: it
109 tells the transpose command to move the character (word, sexp, line)
110 before or containing point across several other characters (words,
111 sexps, lines). For example, @kbd{C-u 3 C-t} moves the character before
112 point forward across three other characters. It would change
113 @samp{f@point{}oobar} into @samp{oobf@point{}ar}. This is equivalent to
114 repeating @kbd{C-t} three times. @kbd{C-u - 4 M-t} moves the word
115 before point backward across four words. @kbd{C-u - C-M-t} would cancel
116 the effect of plain @kbd{C-M-t}.@refill
117
118 A numeric argument of zero is assigned a special meaning (because
119 otherwise a command with a repeat count of zero would do nothing): to
120 transpose the character (word, sexp, line) ending after point with the
121 one ending after the mark.
122
123 @node Fixing Case
124 @section Case Conversion
125
126 @table @kbd
127 @item M-- M-l
128 Convert last word to lower case. Note @kbd{Meta--} is Meta-minus.
129 @item M-- M-u
130 Convert last word to all upper case.
131 @item M-- M-c
132 Convert last word to lower case with capital initial.
133 @end table
134
135 @kindex M-@t{-} M-l
136 @kindex M-@t{-} M-u
137 @kindex M-@t{-} M-c
138 A very common error is to type words in the wrong case. Because of this,
139 the word case-conversion commands @kbd{M-l}, @kbd{M-u} and @kbd{M-c} have a
140 special feature when used with a negative argument: they do not move the
141 cursor. As soon as you see you have mistyped the last word, you can simply
142 case-convert it and go on typing. @xref{Case}.@refill
143
144 @node Spelling
145 @section Checking and Correcting Spelling
146 @cindex spelling, checking and correcting
147 @cindex checking spelling
148 @cindex correcting spelling
149
150 This section describes the commands to check the spelling of a single
151 word or of a portion of a buffer. These commands work with the spelling
152 checker program Ispell, which is not part of Emacs.
153 @ifinfo
154 @xref{Top, Ispell, Overview ispell, ispell.info, The Ispell Manual}.
155 @end ifinfo
156
157 @table @kbd
158 @item M-x flyspell-mode
159 Enable Flyspell mode, which highlights all misspelled words.
160 @item M-$
161 Check and correct spelling of the word at point (@code{ispell-word}).
162 @item M-@key{TAB}
163 Complete the word before point based on the spelling dictionary
164 (@code{ispell-complete-word}).
165 @item M-x ispell-buffer
166 Check and correct spelling of each word in the buffer.
167 @item M-x ispell-region
168 Check and correct spelling of each word in the region.
169 @item M-x ispell-message
170 Check and correct spelling of each word in a draft mail message,
171 excluding cited material.
172 @item M-x ispell-change-dictionary @key{RET} @var{dict} @key{RET}
173 Restart the Ispell process, using @var{dict} as the dictionary.
174 @item M-x ispell-kill-ispell
175 Kill the Ispell subprocess.
176 @end table
177
178 @cindex Flyspell mode
179 @findex flyspell-mode
180 Flyspell mode is a fully-automatic way to check spelling as you edit
181 in Emacs. It operates by checking words as you change or insert them.
182 When it finds a word that it does not recognize, it highlights that
183 word. This does not interfere with your editing, but when you see the
184 highlighted word, you can move to it and fix it. Type @kbd{M-x
185 flyspell-mode} to enable or disable this mode in the current buffer.
186
187 When Flyspell mode highlights a word as misspelled, you can click on
188 it with @kbd{Mouse-2} to display a menu of possible corrections and
189 actions. You can also correct the word by editing it manually in any
190 way you like.
191
192 The other Emacs spell-checking features check or look up words when
193 you give an explicit command to do so. Checking all or part of the
194 buffer is useful when you have text that was written outside of this
195 Emacs session and might contain any number of misspellings.
196
197 @kindex M-$
198 @findex ispell-word
199 To check the spelling of the word around or next to point, and
200 optionally correct it as well, use the command @kbd{M-$}
201 (@code{ispell-word}). If the word is not correct, the command offers
202 you various alternatives for what to do about it.
203
204 @findex ispell-buffer
205 @findex ispell-region
206 To check the entire current buffer, use @kbd{M-x ispell-buffer}. Use
207 @kbd{M-x ispell-region} to check just the current region. To check
208 spelling in an email message you are writing, use @kbd{M-x
209 ispell-message}; that checks the whole buffer, but does not check
210 material that is indented or appears to be cited from other messages.
211
212 Each time these commands encounter an incorrect word, they ask you
213 what to do. They display a list of alternatives, usually including
214 several ``near-misses''---words that are close to the word being
215 checked. Then you must type a character. Here are the valid responses:
216
217 @table @kbd
218 @item @key{SPC}
219 Skip this word---continue to consider it incorrect, but don't change it
220 here.
221
222 @item r @var{new} @key{RET}
223 Replace the word (just this time) with @var{new}.
224
225 @item R @var{new} @key{RET}
226 Replace the word with @var{new}, and do a @code{query-replace} so you
227 can replace it elsewhere in the buffer if you wish.
228
229 @item @var{digit}
230 Replace the word (just this time) with one of the displayed
231 near-misses. Each near-miss is listed with a digit; type that digit to
232 select it.
233
234 @item a
235 Accept the incorrect word---treat it as correct, but only in this
236 editing session.
237
238 @item A
239 Accept the incorrect word---treat it as correct, but only in this
240 editing session and for this buffer.
241
242 @item i
243 Insert this word in your private dictionary file so that Ispell will
244 consider it correct it from now on, even in future sessions.
245
246 @item u
247 Insert the lower-case version of this word in your private dictionary
248 file.
249
250 @item m
251 Like @kbd{i}, but you can also specify dictionary completion
252 information.
253
254 @item l @var{word} @key{RET}
255 Look in the dictionary for words that match @var{word}. These words
256 become the new list of ``near-misses''; you can select one of them to
257 replace with by typing a digit. You can use @samp{*} in @var{word} as a
258 wildcard.
259
260 @item C-g
261 Quit interactive spell checking. You can restart it again afterward
262 with @kbd{C-u M-$}.
263
264 @item X
265 Same as @kbd{C-g}.
266
267 @item x
268 Quit interactive spell checking and move point back to where it was
269 when you started spell checking.
270
271 @item q
272 Quit interactive spell checking and kill the Ispell subprocess.
273
274 @item C-l
275 Refresh the screen.
276
277 @item C-z
278 This key has its normal command meaning (suspend Emacs or iconify this
279 frame).
280 @end table
281
282 @findex ispell-complete-word
283 The command @code{ispell-complete-word}, which is bound to the key
284 @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} in Text mode and related modes, shows a list of
285 completions based on spelling correction. Insert the beginning of a
286 word, and then type @kbd{M-@key{TAB}}; the command displays a completion
287 list window. To choose one of the completions listed, click
288 @kbd{Mouse-2} on it, or move the cursor there in the completions window
289 and type @key{RET}. @xref{Text Mode}.
290
291 @ignore
292 @findex reload-ispell
293 The first time you use any of the spell checking commands, it starts
294 an Ispell subprocess. The first thing the subprocess does is read your
295 private dictionary, which defaults to the file @file{~/ispell.words}.
296 Words that you ``insert'' with the @kbd{i} command are added to that
297 file, but not right away---only at the end of the interactive
298 replacement procedure. Use the @kbd{M-x reload-ispell} command to
299 reload your private dictionary if you edit the file outside of Ispell.
300 @end ignore
301
302 @cindex @code{ispell} program
303 @findex ispell-kill-ispell
304 Once started, the Ispell subprocess continues to run (waiting for
305 something to do), so that subsequent spell checking commands complete
306 more quickly. If you want to get rid of the Ispell process, use
307 @kbd{M-x ispell-kill-ispell}. This is not usually necessary, since the
308 process uses no time except when you do spelling correction.
309
310 @vindex ispell-dictionary
311 Ispell uses two dictionaries: the standard dictionary and your private
312 dictionary. The variable @code{ispell-dictionary} specifies the file
313 name of the standard dictionary to use. A value of @code{nil} says to
314 use the default dictionary. The command @kbd{M-x
315 ispell-change-dictionary} sets this variable and then restarts the
316 Ispell subprocess, so that it will use a different dictionary.
317