@c This is part of the Emacs manual.@c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 97, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.@node Major Modes, Indentation, International, Top@chapter Major Modes@cindex major modes@cindex mode, major@kindex TAB @r{(and major modes)}@kindex DEL @r{(and major modes)}@kindex C-j @r{(and major modes)} Emacs provides many alternative @dfn{major modes}, each of whichcustomizes Emacs for editing text of a particular sort. The major modesare mutually exclusive, and each buffer has one major mode at any time.The mode line normally shows the name of the current major mode, inparentheses (@pxref{Mode Line}). The least specialized major mode is called @dfn{Fundamental mode}.This mode has no mode-specific redefinitions or variable settings, sothat each Emacs command behaves in its most general manner, and eachuser option variable is in its default state. For editing text of aspecific type that Emacs knows about, such as Lisp code or Englishtext, you should switch to the appropriate major mode, such as Lispmode or Text mode. Selecting a major mode changes the meanings of a few keys to becomemore specifically adapted to the language being edited. The ones thatare changed frequently are @key{TAB}, @key{DEL}, and @kbd{C-j}. Theprefix key @kbd{C-c} normally contains mode-specific commands. Inaddition, the commands which handle comments use the mode to determinehow comments are to be delimited. Many major modes redefine thesyntactical properties of characters appearing in the buffer.@xref{Syntax}. The major modes fall into three major groups. The first groupcontains modes for normal text, either plain or with mark-up. Itincludes Text mode, HTML mode, SGML mode, @TeX{} mode and Outlinemode. The second group contains modes for specific programminglanguages. These include Lisp mode (which has several variants), Cmode, Fortran mode, and others. The remaining major modes are notintended for use on users' files; they are used in buffers created forspecific purposes by Emacs, such as Dired mode for buffers made byDired (@pxref{Dired}), Mail mode for buffers made by @kbd{C-x m}(@pxref{Sending Mail}), and Shell mode for buffers used forcommunicating with an inferior shell process (@pxref{InteractiveShell}). Most programming-language major modes specify that only blank linesseparate paragraphs. This is to make the paragraph commands useful.(@xref{Paragraphs}.) They also cause Auto Fill mode to use thedefinition of @key{TAB} to indent the new lines it creates. This isbecause most lines in a program are usually indented(@pxref{Indentation}).@menu* Choosing Modes:: How major modes are specified or chosen.@end menu@node Choosing Modes,,Major Modes,Major Modes@section How Major Modes are Chosen@cindex choosing a major mode You can select a major mode explicitly for the current buffer, butmost of the time Emacs determines which mode to use based on the filename or on special text in the file. Explicit selection of a new major mode is done with a @kbd{M-x} command.From the name of a major mode, add @code{-mode} to get the name of acommand to select that mode. Thus, you can enter Lisp mode by executing@kbd{M-x lisp-mode}.@vindex auto-mode-alist When you visit a file, Emacs usually chooses the right major mode basedon the file's name. For example, files whose names end in @samp{.c} areedited in C mode. The correspondence between file names and major modes iscontrolled by the variable @code{auto-mode-alist}. Its value is a list inwhich each element has this form,@example(@var{regexp} . @var{mode-function})@end example@noindentor this form,@example(@var{regexp} @var{mode-function} @var{flag})@end example@noindentFor example, one element normally found in the list has the form@code{(@t{"\\.c\\'"} . c-mode)}, and it is responsible for selecting Cmode for files whose names end in @file{.c}. (Note that @samp{\\} isneeded in Lisp syntax to include a @samp{\} in the string, which mustbe used to suppress the special meaning of @samp{.} in regexps.) Ifthe element has the form @code{(@var{regexp} @var{mode-function}@var{flag})} and @var{flag} is non-@code{nil}, then after calling@var{mode-function}, Emacs discards the suffix that matched@var{regexp} and searches the list again for another match. You can specify the major mode to use for editing a certain file byspecial text in the first nonblank line of the file. Themode name should appear in this line both preceded and followed by@samp{-*-}. Other text may appear on the line as well. For example,@example;-*-Lisp-*-@end example@noindenttells Emacs to use Lisp mode. Such an explicit specification overridesany defaults based on the file name. Note how the semicolon is usedto make Lisp treat this line as a comment. Another format of mode specification is@example-*- mode: @var{modename};-*-@end example@noindentwhich allows you to specify local variables as well, like this:@example-*- mode: @var{modename}; @var{var}: @var{value}; @dots{} -*-@end example@noindent@xref{File Variables}, for more information about this.@vindex interpreter-mode-alist When a file's contents begin with @samp{#!}, it can serve as anexecutable shell command, which works by running an interpreter named onthe file's first line. The rest of the file is used as input to theinterpreter. When you visit such a file in Emacs, if the file's name does notspecify a major mode, Emacs uses the interpreter name on the first lineto choose a mode. If the first line is the name of a recognizedinterpreter program, such as @samp{perl} or @samp{tcl}, Emacs uses amode appropriate for programs for that interpreter. The variable@code{interpreter-mode-alist} specifies the correspondence betweeninterpreter program names and major modes. When the first line starts with @samp{#!}, you cannot (on manysystems) use the @samp{-*-} feature on the first line, because thesystem would get confused when running the interpreter. So Emacs looksfor @samp{-*-} on the second line in such files as well as on thefirst line.@vindex default-major-mode When you visit a file that does not specify a major mode to use, orwhen you create a new buffer with @kbd{C-x b}, the variable@code{default-major-mode} specifies which major mode to use. Normallyits value is the symbol @code{fundamental-mode}, which specifiesFundamental mode. If @code{default-major-mode} is @code{nil}, the majormode is taken from the previously current buffer.@findex normal-mode If you change the major mode of a buffer, you can go back to the majormode Emacs would choose automatically: use the command @kbd{M-xnormal-mode} to do this. This is the same function that@code{find-file} calls to choose the major mode. It also processesthe file's local variables list (if any).@vindex change-major-mode-with-file-name The commands @kbd{C-x C-w} and @code{set-visited-file-name} change toa new major mode if the new file name implies a mode (@pxref{Saving}).(@kbd{C-x C-s} does this too, if the buffer wasn't visiting a file.)However, this does not happen if the buffer contents specify a majormode, and certain ``special'' major modes do not allow the mode tochange. You can turn off this mode-changing feature by setting@code{change-major-mode-with-file-name} to @code{nil}.@ignore arch-tag: f2558800-cf32-4839-8acb-7d3b4df2a155@end ignore