@c This is part of the Emacs manual.@c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.@node Display, Search, Registers, Top@chapter Controlling the Display Since only part of a large buffer fits in the window, Emacs tries toshow a part that is likely to be interesting. Display-control commandsallow you to specify which part of the text you want to see, and how todisplay it.@menu* Scrolling:: Moving text up and down in a window.* Horizontal Scrolling:: Moving text left and right in a window.* Follow Mode:: Follow mode lets two windows scroll as one.* Selective Display:: Hiding lines with lots of indentation.* Optional Mode Line:: Optional mode line display features.* Text Display:: How text characters are normally displayed.* Display Vars:: Information on variables for customizing display.@end menu@node Scrolling@section Scrolling If a buffer contains text that is too large to fit entirely within awindow that is displaying the buffer, Emacs shows a contiguous portion ofthe text. The portion shown always contains point.@cindex scrolling @dfn{Scrolling} means moving text up or down in the window so thatdifferent parts of the text are visible. Scrolling forward means that textmoves up, and new text appears at the bottom. Scrolling backward movestext down and new text appears at the top. Scrolling happens automatically if you move point past the bottom or topof the window. You can also explicitly request scrolling with the commandsin this section.@table @kbd@item C-lClear screen and redisplay, scrolling the selected window to centerpoint vertically within it (@code{recenter}).@item C-vScroll forward (a windowful or a specified number of lines) (@code{scroll-up}).@item @key{NEXT}Likewise, scroll forward.@item M-vScroll backward (@code{scroll-down}).@item @key{PRIOR}Likewise, scroll backward.@item @var{arg} C-lScroll so point is on line @var{arg} (@code{recenter}).@item C-M-lScroll heuristically to bring useful information onto the screen(@code{reposition-window}).@end table@kindex C-l@findex recenter The most basic scrolling command is @kbd{C-l} (@code{recenter}) withno argument. It clears the entire screen and redisplays all windows.In addition, it scrolls the selected window so that point is halfwaydown from the top of the window.@kindex C-v@kindex M-v@kindex NEXT@kindex PRIOR@findex scroll-up@findex scroll-down The scrolling commands @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v} let you move all the textin the window up or down a few lines. @kbd{C-v} (@code{scroll-up}) with anargument shows you that many more lines at the bottom of the window, movingthe text and point up together as @kbd{C-l} might. @kbd{C-v} with anegative argument shows you more lines at the top of the window.@kbd{M-v} (@code{scroll-down}) is like @kbd{C-v}, but moves in theopposite direction. The function keys @key{NEXT} and @key{PRIOR} areequivalent to @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v}. The names of scroll commands are based on the direction that the textmoves in the window. Thus, the command to scroll forward is called@code{scroll-up} because it moves the text upward on the screen.@vindex next-screen-context-lines To read the buffer a windowful at a time, use @kbd{C-v} with no argument.It takes the last two lines at the bottom of the window and puts them atthe top, followed by nearly a whole windowful of lines not previouslyvisible. If point was in the text scrolled off the top, it moves to thenew top of the window. @kbd{M-v} with no argument moves backward withoverlap similarly. The number of lines of overlap across a @kbd{C-v} or@kbd{M-v} is controlled by the variable @code{next-screen-context-lines}; bydefault, it is 2.@vindex scroll-preserve-screen-position Some users like the full-screen scroll commands to keep point at thesame screen line. To enable this behavior, set the variable@code{scroll-preserve-screen-position} to a non-@code{nil} value. Thismode is convenient for browsing through a file by scrolling byscreenfuls; if you come back to the screen where you started, point goesback to the line where it started. However, this mode is inconvenientwhen you move to the next screen in order to move point to the textthere. Another way to do scrolling is with @kbd{C-l} with a numeric argument.@kbd{C-l} does not clear the screen when given an argument; it only scrollsthe selected window. With a positive argument @var{n}, it repositions textto put point @var{n} lines down from the top. An argument of zero putspoint on the very top line. Point does not move with respect to the text;rather, the text and point move rigidly on the screen. @kbd{C-l} with anegative argument puts point that many lines from the bottom of the window.For example, @kbd{C-u - 1 C-l} puts point on the bottom line, and @kbd{C-u- 5 C-l} puts it five lines from the bottom. Just @kbd{C-u} as argument,as in @kbd{C-u C-l}, scrolls point to the center of the selected window.@kindex C-M-l@findex reposition-window The @kbd{C-M-l} command (@code{reposition-window}) scrolls the currentwindow heuristically in a way designed to get useful information ontothe screen. For example, in a Lisp file, this command tries to get theentire current defun onto the screen if possible.@vindex scroll-conservatively Scrolling happens automatically if point has moved out of the visibleportion of the text when it is time to display. Normally, automaticscrolling centers point vertically within the window. However, if youset @code{scroll-conservatively} to a small number @var{n}, then if youmove point just a little off the screen---less than @var{n} lines---thenEmacs scrolls the text just far enough to bring point back on screen.By default, @code{scroll-conservatively} is 0.@cindex aggressive scrolling@vindex scroll-up-aggressively@vindex scroll-down-aggressively If you prefer a more aggressive scrolling, customize the values of thevariables @code{scroll-up-aggressively} and@code{scroll-down-aggressively}. The value of@code{scroll-up-aggressively} should be either nil or a fraction @var{f}between 0 and 1. If it is a fraction, that specifies where on thescreen to put point when scrolling upward. More precisely, when awindow scrolls up because point is above the window start, the new startposition is chosen to put point @var{f} part of the window height fromthe top. The larger @var{f}, the more aggressive the scrolling.A value of @code{nil} is equivalent to .5, since its effect is to centerpoint.Likewise, @code{scroll-down-aggressively} is used for scrolling down.The value, @var{f}, specifies how far point should be placed from thebottom of the window; thus, as with @code{scroll-up-aggressively}, alarger value scrolls more aggressively.@vindex scroll-margin The variable @code{scroll-margin} restricts how close point can cometo the top or bottom of a window. Its value is a number of screenlines; if point comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of thewindow, Emacs recenters the window. By default, @code{scroll-margin} is0.@node Horizontal Scrolling@section Horizontal Scrolling@cindex horizontal scrolling @dfn{Horizontal scrolling} means shifting all the lines sidewayswithin a window---so that some of the text near the left marginis not displayed at all.@table @kbd@item C-x <Scroll text in current window to the left (@code{scroll-left}).@item C-x >Scroll to the right (@code{scroll-right}).@end table When a window has been scrolled horizontally, text lines are truncatedrather than continued (@pxref{Continuation Lines}), with a @samp{$}appearing in the first column when there is text truncated to the left,and in the last column when there is text truncated to the right.@kindex C-x <@kindex C-x >@findex scroll-left@findex scroll-right The command @kbd{C-x <} (@code{scroll-left}) scrolls the selectedwindow to the left by @var{n} columns with argument @var{n}. This movespart of the beginning of each line off the left edge of the window.With no argument, it scrolls by almost the full width of the window (twocolumns less, to be precise). @kbd{C-x >} (@code{scroll-right}) scrolls similarly to the right. Thewindow cannot be scrolled any farther to the right once it is displayednormally (with each line starting at the window's left margin);attempting to do so has no effect. This means that you don't have tocalculate the argument precisely for @w{@kbd{C-x >}}; any sufficiently largeargument will restore the normal display.@cindex horizontal scrolling@vindex automatic-hscrolling Emacs automatically scrolls a window horizontally whenever that isnecessary to keep point visible and not too far from the left or rightedge. If you don't want this, customize the variable@code{automatic-hscrolling} and set it to nil.@node Follow Mode@section Follow Mode@cindex Follow mode@cindex mode, Follow @dfn{Follow mode} is a minor mode that makes two windows showing thesame buffer scroll as one tall ``virtual window.'' To use Follow mode,go to a frame with just one window, split it into two side-by-sidewindows using @kbd{C-x 3}, and then type @kbd{M-x follow-mode}. Fromthen on, you can edit the buffer in either of the two windows, or scrolleither one; the other window follows it. To turn off Follow mode, type @kbd{M-x follow-mode} a second time.@node Selective Display@section Selective Display@findex set-selective-display@kindex C-x $ Emacs has the ability to hide lines indented more than a certain numberof columns (you specify how many columns). You can use this to get anoverview of a part of a program. To hide lines, type @kbd{C-x $} (@code{set-selective-display}) with anumeric argument @var{n}. Then lines with at least @var{n} columns ofindentation disappear from the screen. The only indication of theirpresence is that three dots (@samp{@dots{}}) appear at the end of eachvisible line that is followed by one or more hidden ones. The commands @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} move across the hidden lines asif they were not there. The hidden lines are still present in the buffer, and most editingcommands see them as usual, so you may find point in the middle of thehidden text. When this happens, the cursor appears at the end of theprevious line, after the three dots. If point is at the end of thevisible line, before the newline that ends it, the cursor appears beforethe three dots. To make all lines visible again, type @kbd{C-x $} with no argument.@vindex selective-display-ellipses If you set the variable @code{selective-display-ellipses} to@code{nil}, the three dots do not appear at the end of a line thatprecedes hidden lines. Then there is no visible indication of thehidden lines. This variable becomes local automatically when set.@node Optional Mode Line@section Optional Mode Line Features@cindex Line Number mode@cindex mode, Line Number@findex line-number-mode The current line number of point appears in the mode line when LineNumber mode is enabled. Use the command @kbd{M-x line-number-mode} toturn this mode on and off; normally it is on. The line number appearsbefore the buffer percentage @var{pos}, with the letter @samp{L} toindicate what it is. @xref{Minor Modes}, for more information aboutminor modes and about how to use this command.@vindex line-number-display-limit@cindex line number display, removing the limit If the buffer is very large (larger than the value of@code{line-number-display-limit}), then the line number doesn't appear.Emacs doesn't compute the line number when the buffer is large, becausethat would be too slow. Set it to @code{nil} to remove the limit. Ifyou have narrowed the buffer (@pxref{Narrowing}), the displayed linenumber is relative to the accessible portion of the buffer.@cindex Column Number mode@cindex mode, Column Number@findex column-number-mode You can also display the current column number by turning on ColumnNumber mode. It displays the current column number preceded by theletter @samp{C}. Type @kbd{M-x column-number-mode} to toggle this mode.@findex display-time@cindex time (on mode line) Emacs can optionally display the time and system load in all modelines. To enable this feature, type @kbd{M-x display-time} or customizethe option @code{display-time-mode}. The information added to the modeline usually appears after the buffer name, before the mode names andtheir parentheses. It looks like this:@example@var{hh}:@var{mm}pm @var{l.ll}@end example@noindent@vindex display-time-24hr-formatHere @var{hh} and @var{mm} are the hour and minute, followed always by@samp{am} or @samp{pm}. @var{l.ll} is the average number of runningprocesses in the whole system recently. (Some fields may be missing ifyour operating system cannot support them.) If you prefer time displayin 24-hour format, set the variable @code{display-time-24hr-format}to @code{t}.@cindex mail (on mode line)@vindex display-time-use-mail-icon@vindex display-time-mail-face The word @samp{Mail} appears after the load level if there is mailfor you that you have not read yet. On a graphical display you can usean icon instead of @samp{Mail} by customizing@code{display-time-use-mail-icon}; this may save some space on the modeline. You can customize @code{display-time-mail-face} to make the mailindicator prominent.@node Text Display@section How Text Is Displayed@cindex characters (in text) ASCII printing characters (octal codes 040 through 0176) in Emacsbuffers are displayed with their graphics. So are non-ASCII multibyteprinting characters (octal codes above 0400). Some ASCII control characters are displayed in special ways. Thenewline character (octal code 012) is displayed by starting a new line.The tab character (octal code 011) is displayed by moving to the nexttab stop column (normally every 8 columns). Other ASCII control characters are normally displayed as a caret(@samp{^}) followed by the non-control version of the character; thus,control-A is displayed as @samp{^A}. Non-ASCII characters 0200 through 0237 (octal) are displayed withoctal escape sequences; thus, character code 0230 (octal) is displayedas @samp{\230}. The display of character codes 0240 through 0377(octal) may be either as escape sequences or as graphics. They do notnormally occur in multibyte buffers but if they do, they are displayedas Latin-1 graphics. In unibyte mode, if you enable European displaythey are displayed using their graphics (assuming your terminal supportsthem), otherwise as escape sequences. @xref{Single-Byte CharacterSupport}.@node Display Vars@section Variables Controlling Display This section contains information for customization only. Beginningusers should skip it.@vindex mode-line-inverse-video The variable @code{mode-line-inverse-video} is an obsolete way ofcontrolling whether the mode line is displayed in inverse video; thepreferred way of doing this is to change the @code{mode-line} face.@xref{Mode Line}. If you specify the foreground color for the@code{mode-line} face, and @code{mode-line-inverse-video} isnon-@code{nil}, then the default background color for that face is theusual foreground color. @xref{Faces}.@vindex inverse-video If the variable @code{inverse-video} is non-@code{nil}, Emacs attemptsto invert all the lines of the display from what they normally are.@vindex visible-bell If the variable @code{visible-bell} is non-@code{nil}, Emacs attemptsto make the whole screen blink when it would normally make an audible bellsound. This variable has no effect if your terminal does not have a wayto make the screen blink.@refill@vindex no-redraw-on-reenter When you reenter Emacs after suspending, Emacs normally clears thescreen and redraws the entire display. On some terminals with more thanone page of memory, it is possible to arrange the termcap entry so thatthe @samp{ti} and @samp{te} strings (output to the terminal when Emacsis entered and exited, respectively) switch between pages of memory soas to use one page for Emacs and another page for other output. Thenyou might want to set the variable @code{no-redraw-on-reenter}non-@code{nil}; this tells Emacs to assume, when resumed, that thescreen page it is using still contains what Emacs last wrote there.@vindex echo-keystrokes The variable @code{echo-keystrokes} controls the echoing of multi-characterkeys; its value is the number of seconds of pause required to cause echoingto start, or zero meaning don't echo at all. @xref{Echo Area}.@vindex ctl-arrow If the variable @code{ctl-arrow} is @code{nil}, control characters inthe buffer are displayed with octal escape sequences, except for newlineand tab. Altering the value of @code{ctl-arrow} makes it local to thecurrent buffer; until that time, the default value is in effect. Thedefault is initially @code{t}. @xref{Display Tables,, Display Tables,elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.@vindex tab-width Normally, a tab character in the buffer is displayed as whitespace whichextends to the next display tab stop position, and display tab stops comeat intervals equal to eight spaces. The number of spaces per tab iscontrolled by the variable @code{tab-width}, which is made local bychanging it, just like @code{ctl-arrow}. Note that how the tab characterin the buffer is displayed has nothing to do with the definition of@key{TAB} as a command. The variable @code{tab-width} must have aninteger value between 1 and 1000, inclusive.@c @vindex truncate-lines @c No index entry here, because we have one@c in the continuation section. If the variable @code{truncate-lines} is non-@code{nil}, then eachline of text gets just one screen line for display; if the text line istoo long, display shows only the part that fits. If@code{truncate-lines} is @code{nil}, then long text lines display asmore than one screen line, enough to show the whole text of the line.@xref{Continuation Lines}. Altering the value of @code{truncate-lines}makes it local to the current buffer; until that time, the default valueis in effect. The default is initially @code{nil}.@c @vindex truncate-partial-width-windows @c Idx entry is in Split Windows. If the variable @code{truncate-partial-width-windows} isnon-@code{nil}, it forces truncation rather than continuation in anywindow less than the full width of the screen or frame, regardless ofthe value of @code{truncate-lines}. For information about side-by-sidewindows, see @ref{Split Window}. See also @ref{Display,, Display,elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.@vindex baud-rate The variable @code{baud-rate} holds the output speed of the terminal,as far as Emacs knows. Setting this variable does not change the speedof actual data transmission, but the value is used for calculations suchas padding. On terminals, it also affects decisions about whether toscroll part of the screen or redraw it instead.On window-systems, @code{baud-rate} is only used to determine howfrequently to look for pending input during display updating. A highervalue of @code{baud-rate} means that check for pending input will bedone less frequently. You can customize the way any particular character code is displayedby means of a display table. @xref{Display Tables,, Display Tables,elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.