view man/m-x.texi @ 30411:41f228350eca

Got rid of all byte-compiler warnings on Emacs Load ada-xref.el before ada-prj.el, so that the Project menu is created when ada-prj tries to add to it. (ada-activate-keys-for-case): Suppress the characters that are not part of the Ada syntax. Better compatibility with else-mode (ada-adjust-case-interactive): When auto-casing is not active, correctly insert newlines (used to insert only ^M). Prevent the syntax table from being changed in case of an error (or '_' becomes part of a word and some commands are confused). Do nothing if ada-auto-case is nil. (ada-after-keyword-p): Ignore keywords that are also attributes (ada-batch-reformat): Update usage comment (ada-call-from-contextual-menu): New function (ada-case-read-exceptions): Reinitialize the casing exception list first to nil first, so that the casing exception file can be shared. (ada-check-defun-name): Handles "configure" keyword for gnatdist files. (ada-compile-goto-error): Fix regexp used to detect a file:line anywhere in the error message (ada-contextual-menu-last-point): New variable (ada-create-keymap): If the variable delete-key-deletes-forward is t on XEmacs, it means that DEL should delete one character forward. (ada-create-menu): Use :included instead of :visible for XEmacs. New submenu "Options". (ada-end-stmt-re): Correctly indent "select ... then abort" statements. (ada-fill-comment-paragraph): Correctly delete all leading '--' even if they don't match ada-fill-comment-prefix Fix handling of paragraphs on the first or last line of a file. (ada-format-paramlist): Fix handling of default parameter values. (ada-get-body-name): New function. (ada-get-current-indent): Optimized by searchling directly for an existing generic part or a statement outside of it. Handle ada-indent-align-comments when indenting comments Replaced some regexps by testing directly the next character. This results in a huge speedup on some files. New indentation scheme for renames statements. Stop looking for the 'while' or 'for' associated with a 'loop' at the first semicolon encountered. A "return" can also match an anonymous access subprogram declaration. (ada-get-indent-noindent): Ignore strings and comments when looking for the keywords "record" and "private". (ada-goto-matching-decl-start): When matching "if", make sure we are not in fact seeing "end if". Ignore "when" statements except when initial keyword was "begin". Fix handling of nested procedures. Add a recursive call to this function to skip over other 'end' statmts. Fix indentation for "when .. => begin" (ada-in-open-paren-p): Fix indentation for complex boolean expressions, where 'and then', 'or else' and parenthesis statements are mixed up. (ada-in-paramlist-p): Skip comments while searching for the beginning Fix handling of operator declarations. (ada-indent-align-comments): New variable (ada-indent-current): Change the syntax table only in the protected section, so that we are sure it is restored correctly. (ada-indent-on-previous-lines): Use ada-use-indent and ada-with-indent Correctly indent "select ... then" (ada-indent-region): Slight speedup. (ada-indent-renames): New variable. (ada-last-which-function-subprog, ada-last-which-function-line): New variables (ada-looking-at-semi-private): Correctly indent the 'private' keyword when it is the first word in a package declaration. (ada-loose-case-word): Stop searching if at the end of the buffer. (ada-loose-case-word, ada-capitalize-word): Recase the whole word even if point is not initially at the end of the word. (ada-matching-decl-start-re): Add "when". (ada-mode): Add support for abbrev-mode, outline-mode and which-func-mode Override the old find-file.el entry in ff-special-constructs since it is using the obsolete ada-spec-suffix variable (ada-no-auto-case): New function (ada-scan-paramlist): When parsing the argument type, accept spaces (as in "X 'Class", generated by Rational Rose). (ada-other-file-name): No longer loads the other file. (ada-popup-menu): Save and restore the current buffer and cursor position before and after displaying the menu. (ada-search-ignore-complex-boolean): New function. (ada-uncomment-region): Emacs21 already knows how to delete comments not starting in the first column. (ada-use-indent): New variable (ada-which-function): New function. (ada-with-indent): New variable (ada-xemacs): evaluate it at compile time too, so that ada-mode.el can be batch-compiled from the command line.

@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.
@node M-x, Help, Minibuffer, Top
@chapter Running Commands by Name

  The Emacs commands that are used often or that must be quick to type are
bound to keys---short sequences of characters---for convenient use.  Other
Emacs commands that do not need to be brief are not bound to keys; to run
them, you must refer to them by name.

  A command name is, by convention, made up of one or more words,
separated by hyphens; for example, @code{auto-fill-mode} or
@code{manual-entry}.  The use of English words makes the command name
easier to remember than a key made up of obscure characters, even though
it is more characters to type.

@kindex M-x
  The way to run a command by name is to start with @kbd{M-x}, type the
command name, and finish it with @key{RET}.  @kbd{M-x} uses the
minibuffer to read the command name.  @key{RET} exits the minibuffer and
runs the command.  The string @samp{M-x} appears at the beginning of the
minibuffer as a @dfn{prompt} to remind you to enter the name of a
command to be run.  @xref{Minibuffer}, for full information on the
features of the minibuffer.

  You can use completion to enter the command name.  For example, the
command @code{forward-char} can be invoked by name by typing

@example
M-x forward-char @key{RET}
@end example

@noindent
or

@example
M-x forw @key{TAB} c @key{RET}
@end example

@noindent
Note that @code{forward-char} is the same command that you invoke with
the key @kbd{C-f}.  You can run any Emacs command by name using
@kbd{M-x}, whether or not any keys are bound to it.

  If you type @kbd{C-g} while the command name is being read, you cancel
the @kbd{M-x} command and get out of the minibuffer, ending up at top level.

  To pass a numeric argument to the command you are invoking with
@kbd{M-x}, specify the numeric argument before the @kbd{M-x}.  @kbd{M-x}
passes the argument along to the command it runs.  The argument value
appears in the prompt while the command name is being read.

@vindex suggest-key-bindings
  If the command you type has a key binding of its own, Emacs mentions
this in the echo area, two seconds after the command finishes (if you
don't type anything else first).  For example, if you type @kbd{M-x
forward-word}, the message says that you can run the same command more
easily by typing @kbd{M-f}.  You can turn off these messages by setting
@code{suggest-key-bindings} to @code{nil}.

  Normally, when describing in this manual a command that is run by
name, we omit the @key{RET} that is needed to terminate the name.  Thus
we might speak of @kbd{M-x auto-fill-mode} rather than @kbd{M-x
auto-fill-mode @key{RET}}.  We mention the @key{RET} only when there is
a need to emphasize its presence, such as when we show the command
together with following arguments.

@findex execute-extended-command
  @kbd{M-x} works by running the command
@code{execute-extended-command}, which is responsible for reading the
name of another command and invoking it.