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88154:8ce476d3ba36

@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
@c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
@iftex
@chapter Characters, Keys and Commands

  This chapter explains the character sets used by Emacs for input
commands and for the contents of files, and also explains the concepts
of @dfn{keys} and @dfn{commands}, which are fundamental for understanding
how Emacs interprets your keyboard and mouse input.
@end iftex

@node User Input, Keys, Screen, Top
@section Kinds of User Input
@cindex input with the keyboard
@cindex keyboard input
@cindex character set (keyboard)
@cindex ASCII
@cindex C-
@cindex Control
@cindex control characters

  GNU Emacs uses an extension of the ASCII character set for keyboard
input; it also accepts non-character input events including function
keys and mouse button actions.

  ASCII consists of 128 character codes.  Some of these codes are
assigned graphic symbols such as @samp{a} and @samp{=}; the rest are
control characters, such as @kbd{Control-a} (usually written @kbd{C-a}
for short).  @kbd{C-a} gets its name from the fact that you type it by
holding down the @key{CTRL} key while pressing @kbd{a}.

  Some ASCII control characters have special names, and most terminals
have special keys you can type them with: for example, @key{RET},
@key{TAB}, @key{DEL} and @key{ESC}.  The space character is usually
referred to below as @key{SPC}, even though strictly speaking it is a
graphic character whose graphic happens to be blank.  Some keyboards
have a key labeled ``linefeed'' which is an alias for @kbd{C-j}.

  Emacs extends the ASCII character set with thousands more printing
characters (@pxref{International}), additional control characters, and a
few more modifiers that can be combined with any character.

  On ASCII terminals, there are only 32 possible control characters.
These are the control variants of letters and @samp{@@[]\^_}.  In
addition, the shift key is meaningless with control characters:
@kbd{C-a} and @kbd{C-A} are the same character, and Emacs cannot
distinguish them.

@dfn{input events}.  @xref{Input Events,,, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
Reference Manual}, for more information.  If you are not doing Lisp
programming, but simply want to redefine the meaning of some characters
or non-character events, see @ref{Customization}.

  ASCII terminals cannot really send anything to the computer except
ASCII characters.  These terminals use a sequence of characters to
represent each function key.  But that is invisible to the Emacs user,
because the keyboard input routines recognize these special sequences
and convert them to function key events before any other part of Emacs
gets to see them.

the @kbd{C-f} is a complete key in itself.  It's impossible to give
@kbd{C-f C-k} an independent meaning as a command.  @kbd{C-f C-k} is two
key sequences, not one.@refill

  All told, the prefix keys in Emacs are @kbd{C-c}, @kbd{C-h},
@kbd{C-x}, @kbd{C-x @key{RET}}, @kbd{C-x @@}, @kbd{C-x a}, @kbd{C-x n}, @w{@kbd{C-x
r}}, @kbd{C-x v}, @kbd{C-x 4}, @kbd{C-x 5}, @kbd{C-x 6}, @key{ESC}, and
@kbd{M-g}.  But this list is not cast in concrete; it is
just a matter of Emacs's standard key bindings.  If you customize Emacs,
you can make new prefix keys, or eliminate these.  @xref{Key Bindings}.

  If you do make or eliminate prefix keys, that changes the set of
possible key sequences.  For example, if you redefine @kbd{C-f} as a
prefix, @kbd{C-f C-k} automatically becomes a key (complete, unless you
define that too as a prefix).  Conversely, if you remove the prefix

this effect @emph{because} it is bound to that command.  If you rebind
@kbd{C-n} to the command @code{forward-word} then @kbd{C-n} will move
forward by words instead.  Rebinding keys is a common method of
customization.@refill

  In the rest of this manual, we usually ignore this subtlety to keep
things simple.  To give the information needed for customization, we
state the name of the command which really does the work in parentheses
after mentioning the key that runs it.  For example, we will say that
``The command @kbd{C-n} (@code{next-line}) moves point vertically
down,'' meaning that @code{next-line} is a command that moves vertically
down, and @kbd{C-n} is a key that is normally bound to it.

  While we are on the subject of information for customization only,
it's a good time to tell you about @dfn{variables}.  Often the
description of a command will say, ``To change this, set the variable
@code{mumble-foo}.''  A variable is a name used to remember a value.

@node Text Characters, Entering Emacs, Commands, Top
@section Character Set for Text
@cindex characters (in text)

  Text in Emacs buffers is a sequence of 8-bit bytes.  Each byte can
hold a single ASCII character.  Both ASCII control characters (octal
codes 000 through 037, and 0177) and ASCII printing characters (codes
040 through 0176) are allowed; however, non-ASCII control characters
cannot appear in a buffer.  The other modifier flags used in keyboard
input, such as Meta, are not allowed in buffers either.

  Some ASCII control characters serve special purposes in text, and have
special names.  For example, the newline character (octal code 012) is
used in the buffer to end a line, and the tab character (octal code 011)
is used for indenting to the next tab stop column (normally every 8
columns).  @xref{Text Display}.

  Non-ASCII printing characters can also appear in buffers.  When
multibyte characters are enabled, you can use any of the non-ASCII
printing characters that Emacs supports.  They have character codes
starting at 256, octal 0400, and each one is represented as a sequence
of two or more bytes.  @xref{International}.  Single-byte characters
with codes 128 through 255 can also appear in multibyte buffers.

  If you disable multibyte characters, then you can use only one
alphabet of non-ASCII characters, but they all fit in one byte.  They
use codes 0200 through 0377.  @xref{Single-Byte Character Support}.

88155:d7ddb3e565de

@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
@c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003,
@c   2004, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
@iftex
@chapter Characters, Keys and Commands

  This chapter explains the character sets used by Emacs for input
commands and for the contents of files, and also explains the concepts
of @dfn{keys} and @dfn{commands}, which are fundamental for understanding
how Emacs interprets your keyboard and mouse input.
@end iftex

@ifnottex
@raisesections
@end ifnottex

@node User Input, Keys, Screen, Top
@section Kinds of User Input
@cindex input with the keyboard
@cindex keyboard input
@cindex character set (keyboard)
@cindex @acronym{ASCII}
@cindex C-
@cindex Control
@cindex control characters

  GNU Emacs uses an extension of the @acronym{ASCII} character set for keyboard
input; it also accepts non-character input events including function
keys and mouse button actions.

  @acronym{ASCII} consists of 128 character codes.  Some of these codes are
assigned graphic symbols such as @samp{a} and @samp{=}; the rest are
control characters, such as @kbd{Control-a} (usually written @kbd{C-a}
for short).  @kbd{C-a} gets its name from the fact that you type it by
holding down the @key{CTRL} key while pressing @kbd{a}.

  Some @acronym{ASCII} control characters have special names, and most terminals
have special keys you can type them with: for example, @key{RET},
@key{TAB}, @key{DEL} and @key{ESC}.  The space character is usually
referred to below as @key{SPC}, even though strictly speaking it is a
graphic character whose graphic happens to be blank.  Some keyboards
have a key labeled ``linefeed'' which is an alias for @kbd{C-j}.

  Emacs extends the @acronym{ASCII} character set with thousands more printing
characters (@pxref{International}), additional control characters, and a
few more modifiers that can be combined with any character.

  On @acronym{ASCII} terminals, there are only 32 possible control characters.
These are the control variants of letters and @samp{@@[]\^_}.  In
addition, the shift key is meaningless with control characters:
@kbd{C-a} and @kbd{C-A} are the same character, and Emacs cannot
distinguish them.

@dfn{input events}.  @xref{Input Events,,, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
Reference Manual}, for more information.  If you are not doing Lisp
programming, but simply want to redefine the meaning of some characters
or non-character events, see @ref{Customization}.

  @acronym{ASCII} terminals cannot really send anything to the computer except
@acronym{ASCII} characters.  These terminals use a sequence of characters to
represent each function key.  But that is invisible to the Emacs user,
because the keyboard input routines recognize these special sequences
and convert them to function key events before any other part of Emacs
gets to see them.

the @kbd{C-f} is a complete key in itself.  It's impossible to give
@kbd{C-f C-k} an independent meaning as a command.  @kbd{C-f C-k} is two
key sequences, not one.@refill

  All told, the prefix keys in Emacs are @kbd{C-c}, @kbd{C-h},
@kbd{C-x}, @kbd{C-x @key{RET}}, @kbd{C-x @@}, @kbd{C-x a}, @kbd{C-x
n}, @w{@kbd{C-x r}}, @kbd{C-x v}, @kbd{C-x 4}, @kbd{C-x 5}, @kbd{C-x 6},
@key{ESC}, @kbd{M-o} and @kbd{M-g}.  (@key{F1} and @key{F2} are aliases for
@kbd{C-h} and @kbd{C-x 6}.)  But this list is not cast in concrete; it
is just a matter of Emacs's standard key bindings.  If you customize
Emacs, you can make new prefix keys, or eliminate these.  @xref{Key
Bindings}.

  If you do make or eliminate prefix keys, that changes the set of
possible key sequences.  For example, if you redefine @kbd{C-f} as a
prefix, @kbd{C-f C-k} automatically becomes a key (complete, unless you
define that too as a prefix).  Conversely, if you remove the prefix

this effect @emph{because} it is bound to that command.  If you rebind
@kbd{C-n} to the command @code{forward-word} then @kbd{C-n} will move
forward by words instead.  Rebinding keys is a common method of
customization.@refill

  In the rest of this manual, we usually ignore this distinction to
keep things simple.  We will often speak of keys like @kbd{C-n} as
commands, even though strictly speaking a key is bound to some
command.  To give the information needed for customization, we state
the name of the command which really does the work in parentheses
after mentioning the key that runs it.  For example, we will say that
``The command @kbd{C-n} (@code{next-line}) moves point vertically
down,'' meaning that @code{next-line} is a command that moves
vertically down, and @kbd{C-n} is a key that is normally bound to it.

  While we are on the subject of information for customization only,
it's a good time to tell you about @dfn{variables}.  Often the
description of a command will say, ``To change this, set the variable
@code{mumble-foo}.''  A variable is a name used to remember a value.

@node Text Characters, Entering Emacs, Commands, Top
@section Character Set for Text
@cindex characters (in text)

  Text in Emacs buffers is a sequence of 8-bit bytes.  Each byte can
hold a single @acronym{ASCII} character.  Both @acronym{ASCII} control characters (octal
codes 000 through 037, and 0177) and @acronym{ASCII} printing characters (codes
040 through 0176) are allowed; however, non-@acronym{ASCII} control characters
cannot appear in a buffer.  The other modifier flags used in keyboard
input, such as Meta, are not allowed in buffers either.

  Some @acronym{ASCII} control characters serve special purposes in text, and have
special names.  For example, the newline character (octal code 012) is
used in the buffer to end a line, and the tab character (octal code 011)
is used for indenting to the next tab stop column (normally every 8
columns).  @xref{Text Display}.

  Non-@acronym{ASCII} printing characters can also appear in buffers.  When
multibyte characters are enabled, you can use any of the non-@acronym{ASCII}
printing characters that Emacs supports.  They have character codes
starting at 256, octal 0400, and each one is represented as a sequence
of two or more bytes.  @xref{International}.  Single-byte characters
with codes 128 through 255 can also appear in multibyte buffers.

  If you disable multibyte characters, then you can use only one
alphabet of non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, but they all fit in one byte.  They
use codes 0200 through 0377.  @xref{Single-Byte Character Support}.

@ifnottex
@lowersections
@end ifnottex

@ignore
   arch-tag: 9be43eef-d1f4-4d03-a916-c741ea713a45
@end ignore