\input texinfo@c This is an annex of the Emacs manual.@c Copyright (C) 1994, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2004,@c 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.@c Author: Daniel.Pfeiffer@Informatik.START.dbp.de, fax (+49 69) 7588-2389@setfilename ../info/autotype@c @node Autotypist, Picture, Abbrevs, Top@c @chapter Features for Automatic Typing@settitle Features for Automatic Typing@c @cindex text@c @cindex selfinserting text@c @cindex autotypist@copyingCopyright @copyright{} 1994, 1995, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004,2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.@quotationPermission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this documentunder the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 orany later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with theInvariant Sections being ``The GNU Manifesto'', ``Distribution'' and``GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE'', with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNUManual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of thelicense is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free DocumentationLicense'' in the Emacs manual.(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modifythis GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the FreeSoftware Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU FreeDocumentation License. If you want to distribute this documentseparately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of thelicense to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.@end quotation@end copying@dircategory Emacs@direntry* Autotype: (autotype). Convenient features for text that you enter frequently in Emacs.@end direntry@titlepage@sp 10@center @titlefont{Autotyping}@sp 2@center @subtitlefont{Convenient features for text that you enterfrequently in Emacs}@sp 2@center Daniel Pfeiffer@center additions by Dave Love@page@vskip 0pt plus 1filll@insertcopying@end titlepage@node Top@top Autotyping Under certain circumstances you will find yourself typing similar thingsover and over again. This is especially true of form letters and programminglanguage constructs. Project-specific header comments, flow-controlconstructs or magic numbers are essentially the same every time. Emacs hasvarious features for doing tedious and repetitive typing chores for youin addition to the Abbrev features (@pxref{(emacs)Abbrevs}). One solution is using skeletons, flexible rules that say what toinsert, and how to do it. Various programming language modes offer someready-to-use skeletons, and you can adapt them to suit your needs ortaste, or define new ones. Another feature is automatic insertion of what you want into empty files,depending on the file-name or the mode as appropriate. You can have a file ora skeleton inserted, or you can call a function. Then there is thepossibility to have Un*x interpreter scripts automatically take on a magicnumber and be executable as soon as they are saved. Or you can have acopyright notice's year updated, if necessary, every time you save afile. Similarly for time stamps in the file. URLs can be inserted based on a word at point. Flexible templates canbe defined for inserting and navigating between text more generally. Asort of meta-expansion facility can be used to try a set of alternativecompletions and expansions of text at point.@menu* Using Skeletons:: How to insert a skeleton into your text.* Wrapping Skeletons:: Putting existing text within a skeleton.* Skeletons as Abbrevs:: An alternative for issuing skeleton commands.* Skeleton Language:: Making skeleton commands insert what you want.* Inserting Pairs:: Typing one character and getting another after point.* Autoinserting:: Filling up empty files as soon as you visit them.* Copyrights:: Inserting and updating copyrights.* Executables:: Turning interpreter scripts into executables.* Timestamps:: Updating dates and times in modified files.* QuickURL:: Inserting URLs based on text at point.* Tempo:: Flexible template insertion.* Hippie Expand:: Expansion of text trying various methods.* Concept Index::* Command Index::* Variable Index::@end menu@node Using Skeletons@chapter Using Skeletons@cindex skeletons@cindex using skeletons When you want Emacs to insert a form letter or a typical construct of theprogramming language you are using, skeletons are a means of accomplishingthis. Normally skeletons each have a command of their own, that, when called,will insert the skeleton. These commands can be issued in the usual ways(@pxref{(emacs)Commands}). Modes that offer various skeletons will oftenbind these to key-sequences on the @kbd{C-c} prefix, as well as havingan @cite{Insert} menu and maybe even predefined abbrevs for them(@pxref{Skeletons as Abbrevs}). The simplest kind of skeleton will simply insert some text indentedaccording to the major mode and leave the cursor at a likely place in themiddle. Interactive skeletons may prompt you for a string that will be partof the inserted text. Skeletons may ask for input several times. They even have a loopingmechanism in which you will be asked for input as long as you are willing tofurnish it. An example would be multiple ``else if'' conditions. You canrecognize this situation by a prompt ending in @key{RET}, @kbd{C-g}or @kbd{C-h}. Thismeans that entering an empty string will simply assume that you are finished.Typing quit on the other hand terminates the loop but also the rest of theskeleton, e.g. an ``else'' clause is skipped. Only a syntactically necessarytermination still gets inserted.@node Wrapping Skeletons@chapter Wrapping Skeletons Around Existing Text@cindex wrapping skeletons Often you will find yourself with some code that for whatever reasonsuddenly becomes conditional. Or you have written a bit of text and want toput it in the middle of a form letter. Skeletons provide a means foraccomplishing this, and can even, in the case of programming languages,reindent the wrapped code for you. Skeleton commands take an optional numeric prefix argument(@pxref{(emacs)Arguments}). This is interpreted in two different ways dependingon whether the prefix is positive, i.e. forwards oriented or negative,i.e. backwards oriented. A positive prefix means to wrap the skeleton around that manyfollowing words. This is accomplished by putting the words there wherethe point is normally left after that skeleton is inserted (@pxref{UsingSkeletons}). The point (@pxref{(emacs)Point}) is left at the nextinteresting spot in the skeleton instead. A negative prefix means to do something similar with that many precedinglymarked interregions (@pxref{(emacs)Mark}). In the simplest case, if you type@kbd{M--} just before issuing the skeleton command, that will wrap theskeleton around the current region, just like a positive argument would havewrapped it around a number of words. Smaller negative arguments will wrap that many interregions into successiveinteresting spots within the skeleton, again leaving the point at the next one.We speak about interregions rather than regions here, because we treat them inthe order they appear in the buffer, which coincides with successive regionsonly if they were marked in order. That is, if you marked in alphabetical order the points A B C [] (where []represents the point) and call a skeleton command with @kbd{M-- 3}, you willwrap the text from A to B into the first interesting spot of the skeleton, thetext from B to C into the next one, the text from C to the point into thethird one, and leave the point in the fourth one. If there are less marks inthe buffer, or if the skeleton defines less interesting points, the surplus isignored. If, on the other hand, you marked in alphabetical order the points [] A C B,and call a skeleton command with @kbd{M-- 3}, you will wrap the text frompoint to A, then the text from A to C and finally the text from C to B. Thisis done because the regions overlap and Emacs would be helplessly lost if ittried to follow the order in which you marked these points.@node Skeletons as Abbrevs@chapter Skeletons as Abbrev Expansions@cindex skeletons as abbrevs Rather than use a key binding for every skeleton command, you can alsodefine an abbreviation (@pxref{(emacs)Defining Abbrevs}) that will expand(@pxref{(emacs)Expanding Abbrevs}) into the skeleton. Say you want @samp{ifst} to be an abbreviation for the C language ifstatement. You will tell Emacs that @samp{ifst} expands to the empty stringand then calls the skeleton command. In Emacs Lisp you can say something like@code{(define-abbrev c-mode-abbrev-table "ifst" "" 'c-if)}. Or you can editthe output from @kbd{M-x list-abbrevs} to make it look like this:@example(c-mode-abbrev-table)"if" 0 "" c-if@end example@noindent(Some blank lines of no semantic significance, and other abbrev tables,have been omitted.)@node Skeleton Language@chapter Skeleton Language@cindex skeleton language@findex skeleton-insert Skeletons are an shorthand extension to the Lisp language, where variousatoms directly perform either actions on the current buffer or rudimentaryflow control mechanisms. Skeletons are interpreted by the function@code{skeleton-insert}. A skeleton is a list starting with an interactor, which is usually aprompt-string, or @code{nil} when not needed, but can also be a Lispexpression for complex read functions or for returning some calculated value.The rest of the list are any number of elements as described in the followingtable:@table @asis@item @code{"@var{string}"}, @code{?@var{c}}, @code{?\@var{c}}@vindex skeleton-transformationInsert string or character. Literal strings and characters are passed through@code{skeleton-transformation} when that is non-@code{nil}.@item @code{?\n}@c ??? something seems very wrong here.Insert a newline and align under current line. Use newline character@code{?\n} to prevent alignment.@item @code{_}Interesting point. When wrapping skeletons around successive regions, they areput at these places. Point is left at first @code{_} where nothing is wrapped.@item @code{>}Indent line according to major mode. When following element is @code{_}, andthere is a interregion that will be wrapped here, indent that interregion.@item @code{&}Logical and. Iff preceding element moved point, i.e. usually insertedsomething, do following element.@item @code{|}Logical xor. Iff preceding element didn't move point, i.e. usually insertednothing, do following element.@item @code{-@var{number}}Delete preceding number characters. Depends on value of@code{skeleton-untabify}.@item @code{()} or @code{nil}Ignored.@item @var{lisp-expression}Evaluated, and the return value is again interpreted as a skeleton element.@item @code{str}A special variable that, when evaluated the first time, usually promptsfor input according to the skeleton's interactor. It is then set to thereturn value resulting from the interactor. Each subskeleton has its localcopy of this variable.@item @code{v1}, @code{v2}Skeleton-local user variables.@item @code{'@var{expression}}Evaluate following Lisp expression for its side-effect, but prevent it frombeing interpreted as a skeleton element.@item @var{skeleton}Subskeletons are inserted recursively, not once, but as often as the userenters something at the subskeletons interactor. Thus there must be a@code{str} in the subskeleton. They can also be used non-interactively, whenprompt is a lisp-expression that returns successive list-elements.@item @code{resume:}Ignored. Execution resumes here if the user quits during skeletoninterpretation.@item @code{quit}A constant which is non-@code{nil} when the @code{resume:} section was enteredbecause the user quit.@end table@findex skeleton-further-elements Some modes also use other skeleton elements they themselves defined. Forexample in shell script mode's skeletons you will find @code{<} which does arigid indentation backwards, or in CC mode's skeletons you find theself-inserting elements @code{@{} and @code{@}}. These are defined by thebuffer-local variable @code{skeleton-further-elements} which is a list ofvariables bound while interpreting a skeleton.@findex define-skeleton The macro @code{define-skeleton} defines a command for interpreting askeleton. The first argument is the command name, the second is adocumentation string, and the rest is an interactor and any number of skeletonelements together forming a skeleton. This skeleton is assigned to a variableof the same name as the command and can thus be overridden from your@file{~/.emacs} file (@pxref{(emacs)Init File}).@node Inserting Pairs@chapter Inserting Matching Pairs of Characters@cindex inserting pairs@cindex pairs Various characters usually appear in pairs. When, for example, you insertan open parenthesis, no matter whether you are programming or writing prose,you will surely enter a closing one later. By entering both at the same timeand leaving the cursor inbetween, Emacs can guarantee you that suchparentheses are always balanced. And if you have a non-qwerty keyboard, wheretyping some of the stranger programming language symbols makes you bend yourfingers backwards, this can be quite relieving too.@findex skeleton-pair-insert-maybe@vindex skeleton-pair This is done by binding the first key (@pxref{(emacs)Rebinding}) ofthe pair to @code{skeleton-pair-insert-maybe} instead of@code{self-insert-command}. The ``maybe'' comes from the fact thatthis at-first surprising behavior is initially turned off. To enableit, you must set @code{skeleton-pair} to some non-@code{nil} value.And even then, a positive argument (@pxref{(emacs)Arguments}) willmake this key behave like a self-inserting key(@pxref{(emacs)Inserting Text}).@vindex skeleton-pair-on-word While this breaks with the stated intention of always balancing pairs, itturns out that one often doesn't want pairing to occur, when the followingcharacter is part of a word. If you want pairing to occur even then, set@code{skeleton-pair-on-word} to some non-@code{nil} value.@vindex skeleton-pair-alist Pairing is possible for all visible characters. By default theparenthesis @samp{(}, the square bracket @samp{[}, the brace@samp{@{}, the pointed bracket @samp{<} and the backquote @samp{`} allpair with the symmetrical character. All other characters pairthemselves. This behavior can be modified by the variable@code{skeleton-pair-alist}. This is in fact an alist of skeletons(@pxref{Skeleton Language}), with the first part of each sublistmatching the typed character. This is the position of the interactor,but since pairs don't need the @code{str} element, this is ignored. Some modes have bound the command @code{skeleton-pair-insert-maybe}to relevant keys. These modes also configure the pairs asappropriate. For example, when typing english prose, you'd expect thebackquote (@samp{`}) to pair with the quote (@samp{'}), while in Shellscript mode it must pair to itself. They can also inhibit pairing incertain contexts. For example an escaped character stands for itself.@node Autoinserting@chapter Autoinserting Text in Empty Files@cindex autoinserting@findex auto-insert @kbd{M-x auto-insert} will put some predefined text at the beginning ofthe buffer. The main application for this function, as its name suggests,is to have it be called automatically every time an empty, and only anempty file is visited. This is accomplished by putting @code{(add-hook'find-file-hook 'auto-insert)} into your @file{~/.emacs} file(@pxref{(emacs)Init File}).@vindex auto-insert-alist What gets inserted, if anything, is determined by the variable@code{auto-insert-alist}. The @sc{car}s of this list are each eithera mode name, making an element applicable when a buffer is in thatmode. Or they can be a string, which is a regexp matched against thebuffer's file name. In that way different kinds of files that havethe same mode in Emacs can be distinguished. The @sc{car}s may alsobe cons cells consisting of mode name or regexp as above and anadditional descriptive string. When a matching element is found, the @sc{cdr} says what to do. It maybe a string, which is a file name, whose contents are to be inserted, ifthat file is found in the directory @code{auto-insert-directory} or under aabsolute file name. Or it can be a skeleton (@pxref{Skeleton Language}) tobe inserted. It can also be a function, which allows doing various things. The functioncan simply insert some text, indeed, it can be skeleton command (@pxref{UsingSkeletons}). It can be a lambda function which will for example conditionallycall another function. Or it can even reset the mode for the buffer. If youwant to perform several such actions in order, you use a vector, i.e. severalof the above elements between square brackets (@samp{[@r{@dots{}}]}). By default C and C++ headers insert a definition of a symbol derived fromthe filename to prevent multiple inclusions. C and C++ sources insert aninclude of the header. Makefiles insert the file makefile.inc if it exists. TeX and bibTeX mode files insert the file tex-insert.tex if it exists, whileLaTeX mode files insert a typical @code{\documentclass} frame. Htmlfiles insert a skeleton with the usual frame. Ada mode files call the Ada header skeleton command. Emacs lispsource files insert the usual header, with a copyright of yourenvironment variable @env{$ORGANIZATION} or else the FSF, and promptfor valid keywords describing the contents. Files in a @file{bin}directory for which Emacs could determine no specialized mode(@pxref{(emacs)Choosing Modes}) are set to Shell script mode.@findex define-auto-insert In Lisp (@pxref{(emacs)Init File}) you can use the function@code{define-auto-insert} to add to or modify@code{auto-insert-alist}. See its documentation with @kbd{C-h fdefine-auto-insert}.@vindex auto-insert The variable @code{auto-insert} says what to do when @code{auto-insert} iscalled non-interactively, e.g. when a newly found file is empty (see above):@table @asis@item @code{nil}Do nothing.@item @code{t}Insert something if possible, i.e. there is a matching entry in@code{auto-insert-alist}.@item otherInsert something if possible, but mark as unmodified.@end table@vindex auto-insert-query The variable @code{auto-insert-query} controls whether to ask aboutinserting something. When this is @code{nil}, inserting is only done with@kbd{M-x auto-insert}. When this is @code{function}, you are queriedwhenever @code{auto-insert} is called as a function, such as when Emacsvisits an empty file and you have set the above-mentioned hook. Otherwiseyou are alway queried.@vindex auto-insert-prompt When querying, the variable @code{auto-insert-prompt}'s value is used as aprompt for a y-or-n-type question. If this includes a @samp{%s} construct,that is replaced by what caused the insertion rule to be chosen. This iseither a descriptive text, the mode-name of the buffer or the regularexpression that matched the filename.@node Copyrights@chapter Inserting and Updating Copyrights@cindex copyrights@findex copyright @kbd{M-x copyright} is a skeleton inserting command, that adds a copyrightnotice at the point. The ``by'' part is taken from your environment variable@env{$ORGANIZATION} or if that isn't set you are prompted for it. If thebuffer has a comment syntax (@pxref{(emacs)Comments}), this is inserted as a comment.@findex copyright-update@vindex copyright-limit@vindex copyright-current-year @kbd{M-x copyright-update} looks for a copyright notice in the first@code{copyright-limit} characters of the buffer and updates it when necessary.The current year (variable @code{copyright-current-year}) is added to theexisting ones, in the same format as the preceding year, i.e. 1994, '94 or 94.If a dash-separated year list up to last year is found, that is extended tocurrent year, else the year is added separated by a comma. Or it replacesthem when this is called with a prefix argument. If a header referring to awrong version of the GNU General Public License (@pxref{(emacs)Copying}) is found,that is updated too. An interesting application for this function is to have it be calledautomatically every time a file is saved. This is accomplished byputting @code{(add-hook 'before-save-hook 'copyright-update)} intoyour @file{~/.emacs} file (@pxref{(emacs)Init File}). Alternative,you can do @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET} before-save-hook@key{RET}}. @code{copyright-update} is conveniently listed as anoption in the customization buffer.@vindex copyright-query The variable @code{copyright-query} controls whether to update thecopyright or whether to ask about it. When this is @code{nil} updating isonly done with @kbd{M-x copyright-update}. When this is @code{function}you are queried whenever @code{copyright-update} is called as a function,such as in the @code{before-save-hook} feature mentioned above. Otherwiseyou are always queried.@node Executables@chapter Making Interpreter Scripts Executable@cindex executables@vindex executable-prefix@vindex executable-chmod Various interpreter modes such as Shell script mode or AWK mode willautomatically insert or update the buffer's magic number, a specialcomment on the first line that makes the @code{exec} systemcall knowhow to execute the script. To this end the script is automaticallymade executable upon saving, with @code{executable-chmod} as argumentto the system @code{chmod} command. The magic number is prefixed bythe value of @code{executable-prefix}.@vindex executable-magicless-file-regexp Any file whose name matches @code{executable-magicless-file-regexp} is notfurnished with a magic number, nor is it made executable. This is mainlyintended for resource files, which are only meant to be read in.@vindex executable-insert The variable @code{executable-insert} says what to do when@code{executable-set-magic} is called non-interactively, e.g. when file has noor the wrong magic number:@table @asis@item @code{nil}Do nothing.@item @code{t}Insert or update magic number.@item otherInsert or update magic number, but mark as unmodified.@end table@findex executable-set-magic@vindex executable-query The variable @code{executable-query} controls whether to ask aboutinserting or updating the magic number. When this is @code{nil} updatingis only done with @kbd{M-x executable-set-magic}. When this is@code{function} you are queried whenever @code{executable-set-magic} iscalled as a function, such as when Emacs puts a buffer in Shell scriptmode. Otherwise you are alway queried.@findex executable-self-display @kbd{M-x executable-self-display} adds a magic number to the buffer, whichwill turn it into a self displaying text file, when called as a Un*x command.The ``interpreter'' used is @code{executable-self-display} with argument@samp{+2}.@node Timestamps@chapter Maintaining Timestamps in Modified Files@cindex timestamps@findex time-stamp@vindex before-save-hookThe @code{time-stamp} command can be used to update automatically atemplate in a file with a new time stamp every time you save the file.Customize the hook @code{before-save-hook} to add the function@code{time-stamp} to arrange this. It you use Custom to do this,then @code{time-stamp} is conveniently listed as an option in thecustomization buffer.@vindex time-stamp-active@vindex time-stamp-format@vindex time-stamp-startThe time stamp is updated only if the customizable variable@code{time-stamp-active} is on, which it is by default; the command@code{time-stamp-toggle-active} can be used to toggle it. The format ofthe time stamp is set by the customizable variable@code{time-stamp-format}.@vindex time-stamp-line-limit@vindex time-stamp-end@vindex time-stamp-count@vindex time-stamp-inserts-linesThe variables @code{time-stamp-line-limit}, @code{time-stamp-start},@code{time-stamp-end}, @code{time-stamp-count}, and@code{time-stamp-inserts-lines} control finding the template. Do notchange these in your init file or you will be incompatible with otherpeople's files. If you must change them, do so only in the localvariables section of the file itself.Normally the template must appear in the first 8 lines of a file andlook like one of the following:@exampleTime-stamp: <>Time-stamp: " "@end exampleThe time stamp is written between the brackets or quotes:@exampleTime-stamp: <1998-02-18 10:20:51 gildea>@end example@node QuickURL@chapter QuickURL: Inserting URLs Based on Text at Point@vindex quickurl-url-file@findex quickurl@cindex URLs@kbd{M-x quickurl} can be used to insert a URL into a buffer based onthe text at point. The URLs are stored in an external file defined bythe variable @code{quickurl-url-file} as a list of either cons cells ofthe form @code{(@var{key} . @var{URL})} orlists of the form @code{(@var{key} @var{URL} @var{comment})}. Thesespecify that @kbd{M-x quickurl} should insert @var{URL} if the word@var{key} is at point, for example:@example(("FSF" "http://www.fsf.org/" "The Free Software Foundation") ("emacs" . "http://www.emacs.org/") ("hagbard" "http://www.hagbard.demon.co.uk" "Hagbard's World"))@end example@findex quickurl-add-url@findex quickurl-list@kbd{M-x quickurl-add-url} can be used to add a new @var{key}/@var{URL}pair. @kbd{M-x quickurl-list} provides interactive editing of the URLlist.@node Tempo@chapter Tempo: Flexible Template Insertion@cindex templatesThe Tempo package provides a simple way to define powerful templates, ormacros, if you wish. It is mainly intended for, but not limited to,programmers to be used for creating shortcuts for editingcertain kinds of documents.@findex tempo-backward-mark@findex tempo-forward-markA template is defined as a list of items to be inserted in the currentbuffer at point. Some can be simple strings, while others can controlformatting or define special points of interest in the inserted text.@kbd{M-x tempo-backward-mark} and @kbd{M-x tempo-forward-mark} can beused to jump between such points.More flexible templates can be created by including Lisp symbols, whichwill be evaluated as variables, or lists, which will be evaluatedas Lisp expressions. Automatic completion of specified tags to expandedtemplates can be provided.@findex tempo-define-templateSee the documentation for @code{tempo-define-template} for the differentitems that can be used to define a tempo template with a command forinserting it.See the commentary in @file{tempo.el} for more information on using theTempo package.@node Hippie Expand@chapter `Hippie' Expansion@findex hippie-expand@kindex M-/@vindex hippie-expand-try-functions-list@kbd{M-x hippie-expand} is a single command providing a variety ofcompletions and expansions. Called repeatedly, it tries all possiblecompletions in succession.Which ones to try, and in which order, is determined by the contents ofthe customizable option @code{hippie-expand-try-functions-list}. Muchcustomization of the expansion behavior can be made by changing theorder of, removing, or inserting new functions in this list. Given apositive numeric argument, @kbd{M-x hippie-expand} jumps directly thatnumber of functions forward in this list. Given some other argument (anegative argument or just @kbd{C-u}) it undoes the tried completion.See the commentary in @file{hippie-exp.el} for more information on thepossibilities.Typically you would bind @code{hippie-expand} to @kbd{M-/} with@code{dabbrev-expand}, the standard binding of @kbd{M-/}, providing oneof the expansion possibilities.@node Concept Index@unnumbered Concept Index@printindex cp@node Command Index@unnumbered Command Index@printindex fn@node Variable Index@unnumbered Variable Index@printindex vr@setchapternewpage odd@contents@bye@ignore arch-tag: 54001b27-5ef8-4a9d-a199-905d650fafba@end ignore