comparison man/mark.texi @ 36164:d97455a119bb

Clean up intro to Transient Mark mode. Explain that it changes the behavior of some commands.

36163:159cc113a7b0

@cindex mode, Transient Mark
@cindex Transient Mark mode
@cindex highlighting region
@cindex region highlighting

  Emacs can highlight the current region on a terminal which supports
colors.  But normally it does not.  Why not?

  Highlighting the region doesn't work well ordinarily in Emacs, because
once you have set a mark, there is @emph{always} a region (in that
buffer).  And highlighting the region all the time would be a nuisance.

  You can turn on region highlighting by enabling Transient Mark mode.
This is a more rigid mode of operation in which the region ``lasts''
only temporarily, so you must set up a region for each command that uses
one.  In Transient Mark mode, most of the time there is no region;
therefore, highlighting the region when it exists is convenient.

@findex transient-mark-mode
  To enable Transient Mark mode, type @kbd{M-x transient-mark-mode}.
This command toggles the mode, so you can repeat the command to turn off
the mode.

@item
@kbd{C-s} when the mark is active does not alter the mark.

@item
Quitting with @kbd{C-g} deactivates the mark.
@end itemize

  Highlighting of the region uses the @code{region} face; you can
customize how the region is highlighted by changing this face.
@xref{Face Customization}.

36164:d97455a119bb

@cindex mode, Transient Mark
@cindex Transient Mark mode
@cindex highlighting region
@cindex region highlighting

  On a terminal that supports colors, Emacs can highlight the current
region.  But normally it does not.  Why not?

  Highlighting the region whenever it exists would not be desirable in
Emacs, because once you have set a mark, there is @emph{always} a
region (in that buffer).  And highlighting the region all the time
would be a nuisance.  So normally Emacs highlights the region only
immediately after you have selected it with the mouse.

  You can turn on region highlighting by enabling Transient Mark mode.
This is a more rigid mode of operation in which the region ``lasts''
only temporarily, so you must set up a region for each command that uses
one.  In Transient Mark mode, most of the time there is no region;
therefore, highlighting the region when it exists is useful and
not annoying.

@findex transient-mark-mode
  To enable Transient Mark mode, type @kbd{M-x transient-mark-mode}.
This command toggles the mode, so you can repeat the command to turn off
the mode.

@item
@kbd{C-s} when the mark is active does not alter the mark.

@item
Quitting with @kbd{C-g} deactivates the mark.

@item
Some commands operate on the region whenever it is active.  For
instance, @kbd{C-x u} in Transient Mark mode operates on the region
when there is a region.  Outside Transient Mark mode, you must type
@kbd{C-u C-x u} if you want it to operate on the region.
@xref{Undo}.   Other commands that act this way are identified
in their own documentation.
@end itemize

  Highlighting of the region uses the @code{region} face; you can
customize how the region is highlighted by changing this face.
@xref{Face Customization}.