comparison lispref/internals.texi @ 26165:cdd1c350aae9

Patches from rms.

26164:d39ec0a27081

use it.  This takes a substantial time, but since you need to start
Emacs once a day at most---or once a week if you never log out---the
extra time is not too severe a problem.

@cindex @file{site-load.el}
  You can specify additional files to preload by writing a library named
@file{site-load.el} that loads them.  You may need to increase the value
of @code{PURESIZE}, in @file{src/puresize.h}, to make room for the
additional data.  (Try adding increments of 20000 until it is big
enough.)  However, the advantage of preloading additional files
decreases as machines get faster.  On modern machines, it is usually not
advisable.

  After @file{loadup.el} reads @file{site-load.el}, it finds the
documentation strings for primitive and preloaded functions (and
variables) in the file @file{etc/DOC} where they are stored, by calling
@code{Snarf-documentation} (@pxref{Accessing Documentation}).

  When marking is finished, all objects still unmarked are garbage.  No
matter what the Lisp program or the user does, it is impossible to refer
to them, since there is no longer a way to reach them.  Their space
might as well be reused, since no one will miss them.  The second
(``sweep'') phase of the garbage collector arranges to reuse them.

@cindex free list
  The sweep phase puts unused cons cells onto a @dfn{free list}
for future allocation; likewise for symbols and markers.  It compacts
the accessible strings so they occupy fewer 8k blocks; then it frees the

  Lisp_Object args_left;
  struct gcpro gcpro1;
@end group

@group
  if (NULL (args))
    return Qnil;

  args_left = args;
  GCPRO1 (args_left);
@end group

@group
  do
    @{
      val = Feval (Fcar (args_left));
      if (!NULL (val))
        break;
      args_left = Fcdr (args_left);
    @}
  while (!NULL (args_left));
@end group

@group
  UNGCPRO;
  return val;

  Buffers contain fields not directly accessible by the Lisp programmer.
We describe them here, naming them by the names used in the C code.
Many are accessible indirectly in Lisp programs via Lisp primitives.

@table @code
@item name
The buffer name is a string that names the buffer.  It is guaranteed to
be unique.  @xref{Buffer Names}.

@item save_modified
This field contains the time when the buffer was last saved, as an integer.
@xref{Buffer Modification}.

@item modtime
This field contains the modification time of the visited file.  It is
set when the file is written or read.  Before writing the buffer into a
file, this field is compared to the modification time of the file to see
if the file has changed on disk.  @xref{Buffer Modification}.

@item auto_save_modified
This field contains the time when the buffer was last auto-saved.

@item last_window_start
This field contains the @code{window-start} position in the buffer as of
the last time the buffer was displayed in a window.

@item undo_list
This field points to the buffer's undo list.  @xref{Undo}.

@item syntax_table_v
This field contains the syntax table for the buffer.  @xref{Syntax Tables}.

@item downcase_table
This field contains the conversion table for converting text to lower case.
@xref{Case Tables}.

@item upcase_table
This field contains the conversion table for converting text to upper case.
@xref{Case Tables}.

@item case_canon_table
This field contains the conversion table for canonicalizing text for
case-folding search.  @xref{Case Tables}.

@item case_eqv_table
This field contains the equivalence table for case-folding search.
@xref{Case Tables}.

@item display_table
This field contains the buffer's display table, or @code{nil} if it doesn't
have one.  @xref{Display Tables}.

@item markers
This field contains the chain of all markers that currently point into
the buffer.  Deletion of text in the buffer, and motion of the buffer's
gap, must check each of these markers and perhaps update it.
@xref{Markers}.

@item backed_up
This field is a flag that tells whether a backup file has been made
for the visited file of this buffer.

@item mark
This field contains the mark for the buffer.  The mark is a marker,
hence it is also included on the list @code{markers}.  @xref{The Mark}.

@item mark_active
This field is non-@code{nil} if the buffer's mark is active.

@item local_var_alist
This field contains the association list describing the buffer-local
variable bindings of this buffer, not including the built-in
buffer-local bindings that have special slots in the buffer object.
(Those slots are omitted from this table.)  @xref{Buffer-Local
Variables}.

@item base_buffer
This field holds the buffer's base buffer (if it is an indirect buffer),
or @code{nil}.

@item keymap
This field holds the buffer's local keymap.  @xref{Keymaps}.

@item overlay_center
This field holds the current overlay center position.  @xref{Overlays}.

@item overlays_before
This field holds a list of the overlays in this buffer that end at or
before the current overlay center position.  They are sorted in order of
decreasing end position.

@item overlays_after
This field holds a list of the overlays in this buffer that end after
the current overlay center position.  They are sorted in order of
increasing beginning position.

@item enable_multibyte_characters
This field holds the buffer's local value of
@code{enable-multibyte-characters}---either @code{t} or @code{nil}.
@end table

@node Window Internals
@appendixsubsec Window Internals
@cindex internals, of window

The frame that this window is on.

@item mini_p
Non-@code{nil} if this window is a minibuffer window.

@item buffer
The buffer that the window is displaying.  This may change often during
the life of the window.

@item dedicated
Non-@code{nil} if this window is dedicated to its buffer.

@item pointm
@cindex window point internals
This is the value of point in the current buffer when this window is
selected; when it is not selected, it retains its previous value.

@item start
The position in the buffer that is the first character to be displayed
in the window.

@item force_start
If this flag is non-@code{nil}, it says that the window has been
scrolled explicitly by the Lisp program.  This affects what the next
redisplay does if point is off the screen: instead of scrolling the
window to show the text around point, it moves point to a location that
is on the screen.

@item last_modified
The @code{modified} field of the window's buffer, as of the last time
a redisplay completed in this window.

@item last_point
The buffer's value of point, as of the last time
a redisplay completed in this window.

@item left
This is the left-hand edge of the window, measured in columns.  (The
leftmost column on the screen is @w{column 0}.)

@item top
This is the top edge of the window, measured in lines.  (The top line on
the screen is @w{line 0}.)

@item height
The height of the window, measured in lines.

@item width
The width of the window, measured in columns.  This width includes the
scroll bar and fringes, and/or the separator line on the right of the
window (if any).

@item next
This is the window that is the next in the chain of siblings.  It is
@code{nil} in a window that is the rightmost or bottommost of a group of
siblings.

@item prev
This is the window that is the previous in the chain of siblings.  It is
@code{nil} in a window that is the leftmost or topmost of a group of
siblings.

@item parent
Internally, Emacs arranges windows in a tree; each group of siblings has
a parent window whose area includes all the siblings.  This field points
to a window's parent.

Parent windows do not display buffers, and play little role in display
except to shape their child windows.  Emacs Lisp programs usually have
no access to the parent windows; they operate on the windows at the
leaves of the tree, which actually display buffers.

@item hscroll
This is the number of columns that the display in the window is scrolled
horizontally to the left.  Normally, this is 0.

@item use_time
This is the last time that the window was selected.  The function
@code{get-lru-window} uses this field.

@item display_table
The window's display table, or @code{nil} if none is specified for it.

@item update_mode_line

@item region_showing
If the region (or part of it) is highlighted in this window, this field
holds the mark position that made one end of that region.  Otherwise,
this field is @code{nil}.
@end table

@node Process Internals
@appendixsubsec Process Internals
@cindex internals, of process

@code{nil}.)

@item tty_name
The name of the terminal that the subprocess is using,
or @code{nil} if it is using pipes.
@end table

26165:cdd1c350aae9

use it.  This takes a substantial time, but since you need to start
Emacs once a day at most---or once a week if you never log out---the
extra time is not too severe a problem.

@cindex @file{site-load.el}

  You can specify additional files to preload by writing a library named
@file{site-load.el} that loads them.  You may need to add a definition

@example
#define SITELOAD_PURESIZE_EXTRA @var{n}
@end example

@noindent
to make @var{n} added bytes of pure space to hold the additional files.
(Try adding increments of 20000 until it is big enough.)  However, the
advantage of preloading additional files decreases as machines get
faster.  On modern machines, it is usually not advisable.

  After @file{loadup.el} reads @file{site-load.el}, it finds the
documentation strings for primitive and preloaded functions (and
variables) in the file @file{etc/DOC} where they are stored, by calling
@code{Snarf-documentation} (@pxref{Accessing Documentation}).

  When marking is finished, all objects still unmarked are garbage.  No
matter what the Lisp program or the user does, it is impossible to refer
to them, since there is no longer a way to reach them.  Their space
might as well be reused, since no one will miss them.  The second
(``sweep'') phase of the garbage collector arranges to reuse them.

??? Maybe add something describing weak hash tables here?

@cindex free list
  The sweep phase puts unused cons cells onto a @dfn{free list}
for future allocation; likewise for symbols and markers.  It compacts
the accessible strings so they occupy fewer 8k blocks; then it frees the

  Lisp_Object args_left;
  struct gcpro gcpro1;
@end group

@group
  if (NILP (args))
    return Qnil;

  args_left = args;
  GCPRO1 (args_left);
@end group

@group
  do
    @{
      val = Feval (Fcar (args_left));
      if (!NILP (val))
        break;
      args_left = Fcdr (args_left);
    @}
  while (!NILP (args_left));
@end group

@group
  UNGCPRO;
  return val;

  Buffers contain fields not directly accessible by the Lisp programmer.
We describe them here, naming them by the names used in the C code.
Many are accessible indirectly in Lisp programs via Lisp primitives.

Two structures are used to represent buffers in C.  The
@code{buffer_text} structure contains fields describing the text of a
buffer; the @code{buffer} structure holds other fields.  In the case
of indirect buffers, two or more @code{buffer} structures reference
the same @code{buffer_text} structure.

Here is a list of the @code{struct buffer_text} fields:

@table @code
@item beg
This field contains the Actual address of the buffer contents.

@item got
This holds the character position of the gap in the buffer.

@item z
This field contains the character position of the end of the buffer
text.

@item gpt_byte
Contains the byte position of the gap.

@item z_byte
Holds the byte position of the end of the buffer text.

@item gap_size
Contains the size of buffer's gap.

@item modiff
This field counts buffer-modification events for this buffer.  It is
incremented for each such event, and never otherwise changed.

@item save_modiff
Contains the previous value of @code{modiff}, as of the last time a
buffer was visited or saved in a file.
    
@item overlay_modiff
Counts modifications to overlays analogous to @code{modiff}.
       
@item beg_unchanged
Holds the number of characters at the start of the text that are known
to be unchanged since the last redisplay that finished.
    
@item end_unchanged
Holds the number of characters at the end of the text that are known to
be unchanged since the last redisplay that finished.
    
@item unchanged_modified
Contains the value of @code{modiff} at the time of the last redisplay
that finished.  If this value matches @code{modiff},
@code{beg_unchanged} and @code{end_unchanged} contain no useful
information.
    
@item overlay_unchanged_modified
Contains the value of @code{overlay_modiff} at the time of the last
redisplay that finished.  If this value matches @code{overlay_modiff},
@code{beg_unchanged} and @code{end_unchanged} contain no useful
information.
       
@item markers
The markers that refer to this buffer.  This is actually a single
marker, and successive elements in its marker @code{chain} are the other
markers referring to this buffer text.

@item intervals
Contains the interval tree which records the text properties of this
buffer.
@end table

The fields of @code{struct buffer} are:

@table @code
@item next
Points to the next buffer, in the chain of all buffers including killed
buffers.  This chain is used only for garbage collection, in order to
collect killed buffers properly.  Note that vectors, and most kinds of
objects allocated as vectors, are all on one chain, but buffers are on a
separate chain of their own.

@item own_text
This is a @code{struct buffer_text} structure.  In an ordinary buffer,
it holds the buffer contents.  In indirect buffers, this field is not
used.

@item text
This points to the @code{buffer_text} structure that is used for this
buffer.  In an ordinary buffer, this is the @code{own_text} field above.
In an indirect buffer, this is the @code{own_text} field of the base
buffer.

@item pt
Contains the character position of point in a buffer.

@item pt_byte
Contains the byte position of point in a buffer.

@item begv
This field contains the character position of the beginning of the 
accessible range of text in the buffer.

@item begv_byte
This field contains the byte position of the beginning of the 
accessible range of text in the buffer.

@item zv
This field contains the character position of the end of the 
accessible range of text in the buffer.

@item zv_byte
This field contains the byte position of the end of the 
accessible range of text in the buffer.

@item base_buffer
In an indirect buffer, this points to the base buffer.  In an ordinary
buffer, it is null.

@item local_var_flags
This field contains flags indicating that certain variables are local in
this buffer.  Such variables are declared in the C code using
@code{DEFVAR_PER_BUFFER}, and their buffer-local bindings are stored in
fields in the buffer structure itself.  (Some of these fields are
described in this table.)

@item modtime
This field contains the modification time of the visited file.  It is
set when the file is written or read.  Before writing the buffer into a
file, this field is compared to the modification time of the file to see
if the file has changed on disk.  @xref{Buffer Modification}.

@item auto_save_modified
This field contains the time when the buffer was last auto-saved.

@item auto_save_failure_time
The time at which we detected a failure to auto-save, or -1 if we didn't
have a failure.

@item last_window_start
This field contains the @code{window-start} position in the buffer as of
the last time the buffer was displayed in a window.

@item clip_changed
This flag is set when narrowing changes in a buffer.

@item prevent_redisplay_optimizations_p
A flag indicating the redisplay optiomizations should not be used 
to display this buffer.

@item undo_list
This field points to the buffer's undo list.  @xref{Undo}.

@item name
The buffer name is a string that names the buffer.  It is guaranteed to
be unique.  @xref{Buffer Names}.

@item filename
The name of the file visited in this buffer, or @code{nil}.
 
@item directory
The directory for expanding relative file names.

@item save_length
Length of the file this buffer is visiting, when last read or saved.
This and other fields concerned with saving are not kept in the
@code{buffer_text} structure because indirect buffers are never saved.

@item auto_save_file_name
File name used for auto-saving this buffer.  This is not in the 
@code{buffer_text} because it's not used in indirect buffers at all.

@item read_only
Non-@code{nil} means this buffer is read-only.

@item mark
This field contains the mark for the buffer.  The mark is a marker,
hence it is also included on the list @code{markers}.  @xref{The Mark}.

@item local_var_alist
This field contains the association list describing the buffer-local
variable bindings of this buffer, not including the built-in
buffer-local bindings that have special slots in the buffer object.
(Those slots are omitted from this table.)  @xref{Buffer-Local
Variables}.

@item major_mode
Symbol naming the major mode of this buffer, e.g., @code{lisp-mode}.

@item mode_name
Pretty name of major mode, e.g., @code{"Lisp"}.

@item mode_line_format
Mode line element that controls the format of the mode line.  If this
is @code{nil}, no mode line will be displayed.

@item header_line_format
This field is analoguous to @code{mode_line_format} for the mode 
line displayed at the top of windows.

@item keymap
This field holds the buffer's local keymap.  @xref{Keymaps}.

@item abbrev_table
This buffer's local abbrevs.

@item syntax_table
This field contains the syntax table for the buffer.  @xref{Syntax Tables}.

@item category_table
This field contains the category table for the buffer.

@item case_fold_search
The value of @code{case-fold-search} in this buffer.

@item tab_width
The value of @code{tab-width} in this buffer.

@item fill_column
The value of @code{fill-column} in this buffer.

@item left_margin
The value of @code{left-margin} in this buffer.

@item auto_fill_function
The value of @code{auto-fill-function} in this buffer.

@item downcase_table
This field contains the conversion table for converting text to lower case.
@xref{Case Tables}.

@item upcase_table
This field contains the conversion table for converting text to upper case.
@xref{Case Tables}.

@item case_canon_table
This field contains the conversion table for canonicalizing text for
case-folding search.  @xref{Case Tables}.

@item case_eqv_table
This field contains the equivalence table for case-folding search.
@xref{Case Tables}.

@item truncate_lines
The value of @code{truncate-lines} in this buffer.

@item ctl_arrow
The value of @code{ctl-arrow} in this buffer.

@item selective_display
The value of @code{selective-display} in this buffer.

@item selective_display_ellipsis
The value of @code{selective-display-ellipsis} in this buffer.

@item minor_modes
An alist of the minor modes of this buffer.

@item overwrite_mode
The value of @code{overwrite_mode} in this buffer.

@item abbrev_mode
The value of @code{abbrev-mode} in this buffer.

@item display_table
This field contains the buffer's display table, or @code{nil} if it doesn't
have one.  @xref{Display Tables}.

@item save_modified
This field contains the time when the buffer was last saved, as an integer.
@xref{Buffer Modification}.

@item mark_active
This field is non-@code{nil} if the buffer's mark is active.

@item overlays_before
This field holds a list of the overlays in this buffer that end at or
before the current overlay center position.  They are sorted in order of
decreasing end position.

@item overlays_after
This field holds a list of the overlays in this buffer that end after
the current overlay center position.  They are sorted in order of
increasing beginning position.

@item overlay_center
This field holds the current overlay center position.  @xref{Overlays}.

@item enable_multibyte_characters
This field holds the buffer's local value of
@code{enable-multibyte-characters}---either @code{t} or @code{nil}.

@item buffer_file_coding_system
The value of @code{buffer-file-coding-system} in this buffer.

@item file_format
The value of @code{buffer-file-format} in this buffer.

@item pt_marker
In an indirect buffer, or a buffer that is the base of an indirect
buffer, this holds a marker that records point for this buffer when the
buffer is not current.

@item begv_marker
In an indirect buffer, or a buffer that is the base of an indirect
buffer, this holds a marker that records @code{begv} for this buffer
when the buffer is not current.
 
@item zv_marker
In an indirect buffer, or a buffer that is the base of an indirect
buffer, this holds a marker that records @code{zv} for this buffer when
the buffer is not current.

@item file_truename
The truename of the visited file, or @code{nil}.

@item invisibility_spec
The value of @code{buffer-invisibility-spec} in this buffer.

@item last_selected_window
This is the last window that was selected with this buffer in it, or @code{nil}
if that window no longer displays this buffer.

@item display_count
This field is incremented each time the buffer is displayed in a window.

@item left_margin_width
The value of @code{left-margin-width} in this buffer.

@item right_margin_width
The value of @code{right-margin-width} in this buffer.

@item indicate_empty_lines
Non-@code{nil} means indicate empty lines (lines with no text) with a
small bitmap in the fringe, when using a window system that can do it.

@item display_time
This holds a time stamp that is updated each time this buffer is
displayed in a window.

@item scroll_up_aggressively
The value of @code{scroll-up-aggressively} in this buffer.
 
@item scroll_down_aggressively
The value of @code{scroll-down-aggressively} in this buffer.
@end table

@node Window Internals
@appendixsubsec Window Internals
@cindex internals, of window

The frame that this window is on.

@item mini_p
Non-@code{nil} if this window is a minibuffer window.

@item parent
Internally, Emacs arranges windows in a tree; each group of siblings has
a parent window whose area includes all the siblings.  This field points
to a window's parent.

Parent windows do not display buffers, and play little role in display
except to shape their child windows.  Emacs Lisp programs usually have
no access to the parent windows; they operate on the windows at the
leaves of the tree, which actually display buffers.

The following four fields also describe the window tree structure.

@item hchild
In a window subdivided horizontally by child windows, the leftmost child.
Otherwise, @code{nil}.

@item vchild
In a window subdivided vertically by child windows, the topmost child.
Otherwise, @code{nil}.

@item next
The next sibling of this window.  It is @code{nil} in a window that is
the rightmost or bottommost of a group of siblings.

@item prev
The previous sibling of this window.  It is @code{nil} in a window that
is the leftmost or topmost of a group of siblings.

@item left
This is the left-hand edge of the window, measured in columns.  (The
leftmost column on the screen is @w{column 0}.)

@item top
This is the top edge of the window, measured in lines.  (The top line on
the screen is @w{line 0}.)

@item height
The height of the window, measured in lines.

@item width
The width of the window, measured in columns.  This width includes the
scroll bar and fringes, and/or the separator line on the right of the
window (if any).

@item buffer
The buffer that the window is displaying.  This may change often during
the life of the window.

@item start
The position in the buffer that is the first character to be displayed
in the window.

@item pointm
@cindex window point internals
This is the value of point in the current buffer when this window is
selected; when it is not selected, it retains its previous value.

@item force_start
If this flag is non-@code{nil}, it says that the window has been
scrolled explicitly by the Lisp program.  This affects what the next
redisplay does if point is off the screen: instead of scrolling the
window to show the text around point, it moves point to a location that
is on the screen.

@item optional_new_start
Set to a non-@code{nil} value when we have explicitly changed the value of
@code{start}, but don't want the next redisplay to be obliged to use the
new value.

@item frozen_window_start_p
This field is set temporarily to 1 to indicate to redisplay that 
@code{start} of this window should not be changed, even if point
gets invisible.

@item start_at_line_beg
Non-@code{nil} means current value of @code{start} was the beginning of a line
when it was chosen.

@item too_small_ok
Non-@code{nil} means don't delete this window for becoming ``too small''.

@item height_fixed_p
This field is temporarily set to 1 to fix the height of the selected
window when the echo area is resized.

@item use_time
This is the last time that the window was selected.  The function
@code{get-lru-window} uses this field.

@item sequence_number
A unique number assigned to this window when it was created.

@item last_modified
The @code{modiff} field of the window's buffer, as of the last time
a redisplay completed in this window.

@item last_overlay_modified
The @code{overlay_modiff} field of the window's buffer, as of the last
time a redisplay completed in this window.

@item last_point
The buffer's value of point, as of the last time a redisplay completed
in this window.

@item last_had_star
A non-@code{nil} value means the window's buffer was ``modified'' when the
window was last updated.

@item vertical_scroll_bar
This window's vertical scroll bar.

@item left_margin_width
The width of the left margin in this window, or @code{nil} not to
specify it (in which case the buffer's value of @code{left-margin-width}
is used.

@item right_margin_width
Likewise for the right margin.

@begin ignore
@item last_mark_x
@item last_mark_y
???Not used.
@end ignore

@item window_end_pos
This is computed as @code{z} minus the buffer position of the last glyph
in the current matrix of the window.  The value is only valid if
@code{window_end_valid} is not @code{nil}.

@item window_end_bytepos
The byte position corresponding to @code{window_end_pos}.

@item window_end_vpos
The window-relative vertical position of the line containing
@code{window_end_pos}.

@item window_end_valid
This field is set to a non-@code{nil} value if @code{window_end_pos} is truly
valid.  This is @code{nil} if nontrivial redisplay is preempted since in that
case the display that @code{window_end_pos} was computed for did not get
onto the screen.

@item redisplay_end_trigger
If redisplay in this window goes beyond this buffer position, it runs
run the @code{redisplay-end-trigger-hook}.

@begin ignore
@item orig_height
@item orig_top
??? Are temporary storage areas.
@end ignore

@item cursor
A structure describing where the cursor is in this window.

@item last_cursor
The value of @code{cursor} as of the last redisplay that finished.

@item phys_cursor
A structure describing where the cursor of this window physically is.

@item phys_cursor_type
The type of cursor that was last displayed on this window.

@item phys_cursor_on_p
This field is non-zero if the cursor is physically on.

@item cursor_off_p
Non-zero means the cursor in this window is logically on.

@item last_cursor_off_p
This field contains the value of @code{cursor_off_p} as of the time of
the last redisplay.

@item must_be_updated_p
This is set to 1 during redisplay when this window must be updated.

@item pseudo_window_p
A non-zero value of this field means this is a window that is not
part of the normal window tree.
 
@item hscroll
This is the number of columns that the display in the window is scrolled
horizontally to the left.  Normally, this is 0.

@item vscroll
Vertical scroll amount, in pixels.  Normally, this is 0.

@item dedicated
Non-@code{nil} if this window is dedicated to its buffer.

@item display_table
The window's display table, or @code{nil} if none is specified for it.

@item update_mode_line

@item region_showing
If the region (or part of it) is highlighted in this window, this field
holds the mark position that made one end of that region.  Otherwise,
this field is @code{nil}.

@item column_number_displayed
The column number currently displayed in this window's mode line, or @code{nil}
if column numbers are not being displayed.

@item current_matrix
A glyph matrix describing the current display of this window.

@item desired_matrix
A glyph matrix describing the desired display of this window.
@end table

@node Process Internals
@appendixsubsec Process Internals
@cindex internals, of process

@code{nil}.)

@item tty_name
The name of the terminal that the subprocess is using,
or @code{nil} if it is using pipes.

@item decode_coding_system
Coding-system for decoding the input from this process.

@item decoding_buf
A working buffer for decoding.

@item decoding_carryover
Size of carryover in decoding.

@item encode_coding_system
Coding-system for encoding the output to this process.

@item encoding_buf
A working buffer for enecoding.

@item encoding_carryover
Size of carryover in encoding.

@item inherit_coding_system_flag
Flag to set @code{coding-system} of the process buffer from the
coding system used to decode process output.
@end table