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view lispref/strings.texi @ 25774:ccc7f2d178dd
("turkish-latin-3-alt-postfix"): Renamed from
turkish-postfix.
("turkish-postfix"): New Turkish input method which inserts
Latin-5 characters.
author | Kenichi Handa <handa@m17n.org> |
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date | Mon, 20 Sep 1999 02:11:10 +0000 |
parents | 467b88fab665 |
children | f6b52258db6a |
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@c -*-texinfo-*- @c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual. @c Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998 Free Software Foundation, Inc. @c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions. @setfilename ../info/strings @node Strings and Characters, Lists, Numbers, Top @comment node-name, next, previous, up @chapter Strings and Characters @cindex strings @cindex character arrays @cindex characters @cindex bytes A string in Emacs Lisp is an array that contains an ordered sequence of characters. Strings are used as names of symbols, buffers, and files; to send messages to users; to hold text being copied between buffers; and for many other purposes. Because strings are so important, Emacs Lisp has many functions expressly for manipulating them. Emacs Lisp programs use strings more often than individual characters. @xref{Strings of Events}, for special considerations for strings of keyboard character events. @menu * Basics: String Basics. Basic properties of strings and characters. * Predicates for Strings:: Testing whether an object is a string or char. * Creating Strings:: Functions to allocate new strings. * Modifying Strings:: Altering the contents of an existing string. * Text Comparison:: Comparing characters or strings. * String Conversion:: Converting to and from characters and strings. * Formatting Strings:: @code{format}: Emacs's analogue of @code{printf}. * Case Conversion:: Case conversion functions. * Case Tables:: Customizing case conversion. @end menu @node String Basics @section String and Character Basics Characters are represented in Emacs Lisp as integers; whether an integer is a character or not is determined only by how it is used. Thus, strings really contain integers. The length of a string (like any array) is fixed, and cannot be altered once the string exists. Strings in Lisp are @emph{not} terminated by a distinguished character code. (By contrast, strings in C are terminated by a character with @sc{ascii} code 0.) Since strings are arrays, and therefore sequences as well, you can operate on them with the general array and sequence functions. (@xref{Sequences Arrays Vectors}.) For example, you can access or change individual characters in a string using the functions @code{aref} and @code{aset} (@pxref{Array Functions}). There are two text representations for non-@sc{ascii} characters in Emacs strings (and in buffers): unibyte and multibyte (@pxref{Text Representations}). An @sc{ascii} character always occupies one byte in a string; in fact, when a string is all @sc{ascii}, there is no real difference between the unibyte and multibyte representations. For most Lisp programming, you don't need to be concerned with these two representations. Sometimes key sequences are represented as strings. When a string is a key sequence, string elements in the range 128 to 255 represent meta characters (which are large integers) rather than character codes in the range 128 to 255. Strings cannot hold characters that have the hyper, super or alt modifiers; they can hold @sc{ascii} control characters, but no other control characters. They do not distinguish case in @sc{ascii} control characters. If you want to store such characters in a sequence, such as a key sequence, you must use a vector instead of a string. @xref{Character Type}, for more information about the representation of meta and other modifiers for keyboard input characters. Strings are useful for holding regular expressions. You can also match regular expressions against strings (@pxref{Regexp Search}). The functions @code{match-string} (@pxref{Simple Match Data}) and @code{replace-match} (@pxref{Replacing Match}) are useful for decomposing and modifying strings based on regular expression matching. Like a buffer, a string can contain text properties for the characters in it, as well as the characters themselves. @xref{Text Properties}. All the Lisp primitives that copy text from strings to buffers or other strings also copy the properties of the characters being copied. @xref{Text}, for information about functions that display strings or copy them into buffers. @xref{Character Type}, and @ref{String Type}, for information about the syntax of characters and strings. @xref{Non-ASCII Characters}, for functions to convert between text representations and to encode and decode character codes. @node Predicates for Strings @section The Predicates for Strings For more information about general sequence and array predicates, see @ref{Sequences Arrays Vectors}, and @ref{Arrays}. @defun stringp object This function returns @code{t} if @var{object} is a string, @code{nil} otherwise. @end defun @defun char-or-string-p object This function returns @code{t} if @var{object} is a string or a character (i.e., an integer), @code{nil} otherwise. @end defun @node Creating Strings @section Creating Strings The following functions create strings, either from scratch, or by putting strings together, or by taking them apart. @defun make-string count character This function returns a string made up of @var{count} repetitions of @var{character}. If @var{count} is negative, an error is signaled. @example (make-string 5 ?x) @result{} "xxxxx" (make-string 0 ?x) @result{} "" @end example Other functions to compare with this one include @code{char-to-string} (@pxref{String Conversion}), @code{make-vector} (@pxref{Vectors}), and @code{make-list} (@pxref{Building Lists}). @end defun @defun string &rest characters @tindex string This returns a string containing the characters @var{characters}. @example (string ?a ?b ?c) @result{} "abc" @end example @end defun @defun substring string start &optional end This function returns a new string which consists of those characters from @var{string} in the range from (and including) the character at the index @var{start} up to (but excluding) the character at the index @var{end}. The first character is at index zero. @example @group (substring "abcdefg" 0 3) @result{} "abc" @end group @end example @noindent Here the index for @samp{a} is 0, the index for @samp{b} is 1, and the index for @samp{c} is 2. Thus, three letters, @samp{abc}, are copied from the string @code{"abcdefg"}. The index 3 marks the character position up to which the substring is copied. The character whose index is 3 is actually the fourth character in the string. A negative number counts from the end of the string, so that @minus{}1 signifies the index of the last character of the string. For example: @example @group (substring "abcdefg" -3 -1) @result{} "ef" @end group @end example @noindent In this example, the index for @samp{e} is @minus{}3, the index for @samp{f} is @minus{}2, and the index for @samp{g} is @minus{}1. Therefore, @samp{e} and @samp{f} are included, and @samp{g} is excluded. When @code{nil} is used as an index, it stands for the length of the string. Thus, @example @group (substring "abcdefg" -3 nil) @result{} "efg" @end group @end example Omitting the argument @var{end} is equivalent to specifying @code{nil}. It follows that @code{(substring @var{string} 0)} returns a copy of all of @var{string}. @example @group (substring "abcdefg" 0) @result{} "abcdefg" @end group @end example @noindent But we recommend @code{copy-sequence} for this purpose (@pxref{Sequence Functions}). If the characters copied from @var{string} have text properties, the properties are copied into the new string also. @xref{Text Properties}. @code{substring} also accepts a vector for the first argument. For example: @example (substring [a b (c) "d"] 1 3) @result{} [b (c)] @end example A @code{wrong-type-argument} error is signaled if either @var{start} or @var{end} is not an integer or @code{nil}. An @code{args-out-of-range} error is signaled if @var{start} indicates a character following @var{end}, or if either integer is out of range for @var{string}. Contrast this function with @code{buffer-substring} (@pxref{Buffer Contents}), which returns a string containing a portion of the text in the current buffer. The beginning of a string is at index 0, but the beginning of a buffer is at index 1. @end defun @defun concat &rest sequences @cindex copying strings @cindex concatenating strings This function returns a new string consisting of the characters in the arguments passed to it (along with their text properties, if any). The arguments may be strings, lists of numbers, or vectors of numbers; they are not themselves changed. If @code{concat} receives no arguments, it returns an empty string. @example (concat "abc" "-def") @result{} "abc-def" (concat "abc" (list 120 121) [122]) @result{} "abcxyz" ;; @r{@code{nil} is an empty sequence.} (concat "abc" nil "-def") @result{} "abc-def" (concat "The " "quick brown " "fox.") @result{} "The quick brown fox." (concat) @result{} "" @end example @noindent The @code{concat} function always constructs a new string that is not @code{eq} to any existing string. When an argument is an integer (not a sequence of integers), it is converted to a string of digits making up the decimal printed representation of the integer. @strong{Don't use this feature; we plan to eliminate it. If you already use this feature, change your programs now!} The proper way to convert an integer to its decimal printed form is with @code{format} (@pxref{Formatting Strings}) or @code{number-to-string} (@pxref{String Conversion}). @example @group (concat 137) @result{} "137" (concat 54 321) @result{} "54321" @end group @end example For information about other concatenation functions, see the description of @code{mapconcat} in @ref{Mapping Functions}, @code{vconcat} in @ref{Vectors}, and @code{append} in @ref{Building Lists}. @end defun @defun split-string string separators @tindex split-string This function splits @var{string} into substrings at matches for the regular expression @var{separators}. Each match for @var{separators} defines a splitting point; the substrings between the splitting points are made into a list, which is the value returned by @code{split-string}. If @var{separators} is @code{nil} (or omitted), the default is @code{"[ \f\t\n\r\v]+"}. For example, @example (split-string "Soup is good food" "o") @result{} ("S" "up is g" "" "d f" "" "d") (split-string "Soup is good food" "o+") @result{} ("S" "up is g" "d f" "d") @end example When there is a match adjacent to the beginning or end of the string, this does not cause a null string to appear at the beginning or end of the list: @example (split-string "out to moo" "o+") @result{} ("ut t" " m") @end example Empty matches do count, when not adjacent to another match: @example (split-string "Soup is good food" "o*") @result{}("S" "u" "p" " " "i" "s" " " "g" "d" " " "f" "d") (split-string "Nice doggy!" "") @result{}("N" "i" "c" "e" " " "d" "o" "g" "g" "y" "!") @end example @end defun @node Modifying Strings @section Modifying Strings The most basic way to alter the contents of an existing string is with @code{aset} (@pxref{Array Functions}). @code{(aset @var{string} @var{idx} @var{char})} stores @var{char} into @var{string} at index @var{idx}. Each character occupies one or more bytes, and if @var{char} needs a different number of bytes from the character already present at that index, @code{aset} signals an error. A more powerful function is @code{store-substring}: @defun store-substring string idx obj @tindex store-substring This function alters part of the contents of the string @var{string}, by storing @var{obj} starting at index @var{idx}. The argument @var{obj} may be either a character or a (smaller) string. Since it is impossible to change the length of an existing string, it is an error if @var{obj} doesn't fit within @var{string}'s actual length, or if any new character requires a different number of bytes from the character currently present at that point in @var{string}. @end defun @need 2000 @node Text Comparison @section Comparison of Characters and Strings @cindex string equality @defun char-equal character1 character2 This function returns @code{t} if the arguments represent the same character, @code{nil} otherwise. This function ignores differences in case if @code{case-fold-search} is non-@code{nil}. @example (char-equal ?x ?x) @result{} t (let ((case-fold-search nil)) (char-equal ?x ?X)) @result{} nil @end example @end defun @defun string= string1 string2 This function returns @code{t} if the characters of the two strings match exactly. Case is always significant, regardless of @code{case-fold-search}. @example (string= "abc" "abc") @result{} t (string= "abc" "ABC") @result{} nil (string= "ab" "ABC") @result{} nil @end example The function @code{string=} ignores the text properties of the two strings. When @code{equal} (@pxref{Equality Predicates}) compares two strings, it uses @code{string=}. If the strings contain non-@sc{ascii} characters, and one is unibyte while the other is multibyte, then they cannot be equal. @xref{Text Representations}. @end defun @defun string-equal string1 string2 @code{string-equal} is another name for @code{string=}. @end defun @cindex lexical comparison @defun string< string1 string2 @c (findex string< causes problems for permuted index!!) This function compares two strings a character at a time. It scans both the strings at the same time to find the first pair of corresponding characters that do not match. If the lesser character of these two is the character from @var{string1}, then @var{string1} is less, and this function returns @code{t}. If the lesser character is the one from @var{string2}, then @var{string1} is greater, and this function returns @code{nil}. If the two strings match entirely, the value is @code{nil}. Pairs of characters are compared according to their character codes. Keep in mind that lower case letters have higher numeric values in the @sc{ascii} character set than their upper case counterparts; digits and many punctuation characters have a lower numeric value than upper case letters. An @sc{ascii} character is less than any non-@sc{ascii} character; a unibyte non-@sc{ascii} character is always less than any multibyte non-@sc{ascii} character (@pxref{Text Representations}). @example @group (string< "abc" "abd") @result{} t (string< "abd" "abc") @result{} nil (string< "123" "abc") @result{} t @end group @end example When the strings have different lengths, and they match up to the length of @var{string1}, then the result is @code{t}. If they match up to the length of @var{string2}, the result is @code{nil}. A string of no characters is less than any other string. @example @group (string< "" "abc") @result{} t (string< "ab" "abc") @result{} t (string< "abc" "") @result{} nil (string< "abc" "ab") @result{} nil (string< "" "") @result{} nil @end group @end example @end defun @defun string-lessp string1 string2 @code{string-lessp} is another name for @code{string<}. @end defun @defun compare-strings string1 start1 end1 string2 start2 end2 &optional ignore-case @tindex compare-strings This function compares the specified part of @var{string1} with the specified part of @var{string2}. The specified part of @var{string1} runs from index @var{start1} up to index @var{end1} (@code{nil} means the end of the string). The specified part of @var{string2} runs from index @var{start2} up to index @var{end2} (@code{nil} means the end of the string). The strings are both converted to multibyte for the comparison (@pxref{Text Representations}) so that a unibyte string can be equal to a multibyte string. If @var{ignore-case} is non-@code{nil}, then case is ignored, so that upper case letters can be equal to lower case letters. If the specified portions of the two strings match, the value is @code{t}. Otherwise, the value is an integer which indicates how many leading characters agree, and which string is less. Its absolute value is one plus the number of characters that agree at the beginning of the two strings. The sign is negative if @var{string1} (or its specified portion) is less. @end defun @defun assoc-ignore-case key alist @tindex assoc-ignore-case This function works like @code{assoc}, except that @var{key} must be a string, and comparison is done using @code{compare-strings}. Case differences are ignored in this comparison. @end defun @defun assoc-ignore-representation key alist @tindex assoc-ignore-representation This function works like @code{assoc}, except that @var{key} must be a string, and comparison is done using @code{compare-strings}. Case differences are significant. @end defun See also @code{compare-buffer-substrings} in @ref{Comparing Text}, for a way to compare text in buffers. The function @code{string-match}, which matches a regular expression against a string, can be used for a kind of string comparison; see @ref{Regexp Search}. @node String Conversion @comment node-name, next, previous, up @section Conversion of Characters and Strings @cindex conversion of strings This section describes functions for conversions between characters, strings and integers. @code{format} and @code{prin1-to-string} (@pxref{Output Functions}) can also convert Lisp objects into strings. @code{read-from-string} (@pxref{Input Functions}) can ``convert'' a string representation of a Lisp object into an object. The functions @code{string-make-multibyte} and @code{string-make-unibyte} convert the text representation of a string (@pxref{Converting Representations}). @xref{Documentation}, for functions that produce textual descriptions of text characters and general input events (@code{single-key-description} and @code{text-char-description}). These functions are used primarily for making help messages. @defun char-to-string character @cindex character to string This function returns a new string containing one character, @var{character}. This function is semi-obsolete because the function @code{string} is more general. @xref{Creating Strings}. @end defun @defun string-to-char string @cindex string to character This function returns the first character in @var{string}. If the string is empty, the function returns 0. The value is also 0 when the first character of @var{string} is the null character, @sc{ascii} code 0. @example (string-to-char "ABC") @result{} 65 (string-to-char "xyz") @result{} 120 (string-to-char "") @result{} 0 @group (string-to-char "\000") @result{} 0 @end group @end example This function may be eliminated in the future if it does not seem useful enough to retain. @end defun @defun number-to-string number @cindex integer to string @cindex integer to decimal This function returns a string consisting of the printed base-ten representation of @var{number}, which may be an integer or a floating point number. The returned value starts with a minus sign if the argument is negative. @example (number-to-string 256) @result{} "256" (number-to-string -23) @result{} "-23" (number-to-string -23.5) @result{} "-23.5" @end example @cindex int-to-string @code{int-to-string} is a semi-obsolete alias for this function. See also the function @code{format} in @ref{Formatting Strings}. @end defun @defun string-to-number string &optional base @cindex string to number This function returns the numeric value of the characters in @var{string}. If @var{base} is non-@code{nil}, integers are converted in that base. If @var{base} is @code{nil}, then base ten is used. Floating point conversion always uses base ten; we have not implemented other radices for floating point numbers, because that would be much more work and does not seem useful. The parsing skips spaces and tabs at the beginning of @var{string}, then reads as much of @var{string} as it can interpret as a number. (On some systems it ignores other whitespace at the beginning, not just spaces and tabs.) If the first character after the ignored whitespace is neither a digit, nor a plus or minus sign, nor the leading dot of a floating point number, this function returns 0. @example (string-to-number "256") @result{} 256 (string-to-number "25 is a perfect square.") @result{} 25 (string-to-number "X256") @result{} 0 (string-to-number "-4.5") @result{} -4.5 @end example @findex string-to-int @code{string-to-int} is an obsolete alias for this function. @end defun Here are some other functions that can convert to or from a string: @table @code @item concat @code{concat} can convert a vector or a list into a string. @xref{Creating Strings}. @item vconcat @code{vconcat} can convert a string into a vector. @xref{Vector Functions}. @item append @code{append} can convert a string into a list. @xref{Building Lists}. @end table @node Formatting Strings @comment node-name, next, previous, up @section Formatting Strings @cindex formatting strings @cindex strings, formatting them @dfn{Formatting} means constructing a string by substitution of computed values at various places in a constant string. This constant string controls how the other values are printed, as well as where they appear; it is called a @dfn{format string}. Formatting is often useful for computing messages to be displayed. In fact, the functions @code{message} and @code{error} provide the same formatting feature described here; they differ from @code{format} only in how they use the result of formatting. @defun format string &rest objects This function returns a new string that is made by copying @var{string} and then replacing any format specification in the copy with encodings of the corresponding @var{objects}. The arguments @var{objects} are the computed values to be formatted. The characters in @var{string}, other than the format specifications, are copied directly into the output; starting in Emacs 21, if they have text properties, these are copied into the output also. @end defun @cindex @samp{%} in format @cindex format specification A format specification is a sequence of characters beginning with a @samp{%}. Thus, if there is a @samp{%d} in @var{string}, the @code{format} function replaces it with the printed representation of one of the values to be formatted (one of the arguments @var{objects}). For example: @example @group (format "The value of fill-column is %d." fill-column) @result{} "The value of fill-column is 72." @end group @end example If @var{string} contains more than one format specification, the format specifications correspond to successive values from @var{objects}. Thus, the first format specification in @var{string} uses the first such value, the second format specification uses the second such value, and so on. Any extra format specifications (those for which there are no corresponding values) cause unpredictable behavior. Any extra values to be formatted are ignored. Certain format specifications require values of particular types. If you supply a value that doesn't fit the requirements, an error is signaled. Here is a table of valid format specifications: @table @samp @item %s Replace the specification with the printed representation of the object, made without quoting (that is, using @code{princ}, not @code{prin1}---@pxref{Output Functions}). Thus, strings are represented by their contents alone, with no @samp{"} characters, and symbols appear without @samp{\} characters. Starting in Emacs 21, if the object is a string, its text properties are copied into the output. The text properties of the @samp{%s} itself are also copied, but those of the object take priority. If there is no corresponding object, the empty string is used. @item %S Replace the specification with the printed representation of the object, made with quoting (that is, using @code{prin1}---@pxref{Output Functions}). Thus, strings are enclosed in @samp{"} characters, and @samp{\} characters appear where necessary before special characters. If there is no corresponding object, the empty string is used. @item %o @cindex integer to octal Replace the specification with the base-eight representation of an integer. @item %d Replace the specification with the base-ten representation of an integer. @item %x @cindex integer to hexadecimal Replace the specification with the base-sixteen representation of an integer. @item %c Replace the specification with the character which is the value given. @item %e Replace the specification with the exponential notation for a floating point number. @item %f Replace the specification with the decimal-point notation for a floating point number. @item %g Replace the specification with notation for a floating point number, using either exponential notation or decimal-point notation, whichever is shorter. @item %% Replace the specification with a single @samp{%}. This format specification is unusual in that it does not use a value. For example, @code{(format "%% %d" 30)} returns @code{"% 30"}. @end table Any other format character results in an @samp{Invalid format operation} error. Here are several examples: @example @group (format "The name of this buffer is %s." (buffer-name)) @result{} "The name of this buffer is strings.texi." (format "The buffer object prints as %s." (current-buffer)) @result{} "The buffer object prints as strings.texi." (format "The octal value of %d is %o, and the hex value is %x." 18 18 18) @result{} "The octal value of 18 is 22, and the hex value is 12." @end group @end example @cindex numeric prefix @cindex field width @cindex padding All the specification characters allow an optional numeric prefix between the @samp{%} and the character. The optional numeric prefix defines the minimum width for the object. If the printed representation of the object contains fewer characters than this, then it is padded. The padding is on the left if the prefix is positive (or starts with zero) and on the right if the prefix is negative. The padding character is normally a space, but if the numeric prefix starts with a zero, zeros are used for padding. Here are some examples of padding: @example (format "%06d is padded on the left with zeros" 123) @result{} "000123 is padded on the left with zeros" (format "%-6d is padded on the right" 123) @result{} "123 is padded on the right" @end example @code{format} never truncates an object's printed representation, no matter what width you specify. Thus, you can use a numeric prefix to specify a minimum spacing between columns with no risk of losing information. In the following three examples, @samp{%7s} specifies a minimum width of 7. In the first case, the string inserted in place of @samp{%7s} has only 3 letters, so 4 blank spaces are inserted for padding. In the second case, the string @code{"specification"} is 13 letters wide but is not truncated. In the third case, the padding is on the right. @smallexample @group (format "The word `%7s' actually has %d letters in it." "foo" (length "foo")) @result{} "The word ` foo' actually has 3 letters in it." @end group @group (format "The word `%7s' actually has %d letters in it." "specification" (length "specification")) @result{} "The word `specification' actually has 13 letters in it." @end group @group (format "The word `%-7s' actually has %d letters in it." "foo" (length "foo")) @result{} "The word `foo ' actually has 3 letters in it." @end group @end smallexample @node Case Conversion @comment node-name, next, previous, up @section Case Conversion in Lisp @cindex upper case @cindex lower case @cindex character case @cindex case conversion in Lisp The character case functions change the case of single characters or of the contents of strings. The functions normally convert only alphabetic characters (the letters @samp{A} through @samp{Z} and @samp{a} through @samp{z}, as well as non-@sc{ascii} letters); other characters are not altered. You can specify a different case conversion mapping by specifying a case table (@pxref{Case Tables}). These functions do not modify the strings that are passed to them as arguments. The examples below use the characters @samp{X} and @samp{x} which have @sc{ascii} codes 88 and 120 respectively. @defun downcase string-or-char This function converts a character or a string to lower case. When the argument to @code{downcase} is a string, the function creates and returns a new string in which each letter in the argument that is upper case is converted to lower case. When the argument to @code{downcase} is a character, @code{downcase} returns the corresponding lower case character. This value is an integer. If the original character is lower case, or is not a letter, then the value equals the original character. @example (downcase "The cat in the hat") @result{} "the cat in the hat" (downcase ?X) @result{} 120 @end example @end defun @defun upcase string-or-char This function converts a character or a string to upper case. When the argument to @code{upcase} is a string, the function creates and returns a new string in which each letter in the argument that is lower case is converted to upper case. When the argument to @code{upcase} is a character, @code{upcase} returns the corresponding upper case character. This value is an integer. If the original character is upper case, or is not a letter, then the value returned equals the original character. @example (upcase "The cat in the hat") @result{} "THE CAT IN THE HAT" (upcase ?x) @result{} 88 @end example @end defun @defun capitalize string-or-char @cindex capitalization This function capitalizes strings or characters. If @var{string-or-char} is a string, the function creates and returns a new string, whose contents are a copy of @var{string-or-char} in which each word has been capitalized. This means that the first character of each word is converted to upper case, and the rest are converted to lower case. The definition of a word is any sequence of consecutive characters that are assigned to the word constituent syntax class in the current syntax table (@pxref{Syntax Class Table}). When the argument to @code{capitalize} is a character, @code{capitalize} has the same result as @code{upcase}. @example (capitalize "The cat in the hat") @result{} "The Cat In The Hat" (capitalize "THE 77TH-HATTED CAT") @result{} "The 77th-Hatted Cat" @group (capitalize ?x) @result{} 88 @end group @end example @end defun @defun upcase-initials string This function capitalizes the initials of the words in @var{string}, without altering any letters other than the initials. It returns a new string whose contents are a copy of @var{string}, in which each word has had its initial letter converted to upper case. The definition of a word is any sequence of consecutive characters that are assigned to the word constituent syntax class in the current syntax table (@pxref{Syntax Class Table}). @example @group (upcase-initials "The CAT in the hAt") @result{} "The CAT In The HAt" @end group @end example @end defun @xref{Text Comparison}, for functions that compare strings; some of them ignore case differences, or can optionally ignore case differences. @node Case Tables @section The Case Table You can customize case conversion by installing a special @dfn{case table}. A case table specifies the mapping between upper case and lower case letters. It affects both the case conversion functions for Lisp objects (see the previous section) and those that apply to text in the buffer (@pxref{Case Changes}). Each buffer has a case table; there is also a standard case table which is used to initialize the case table of new buffers. A case table is a char-table (@pxref{Char-Tables}) whose subtype is @code{case-table}. This char-table maps each character into the corresponding lower case character. It has three extra slots, which hold related tables: @table @var @item upcase The upcase table maps each character into the corresponding upper case character. @item canonicalize The canonicalize table maps all of a set of case-related characters into a particular member of that set. @item equivalences The equivalences table maps each one of a set of case-related characters into the next character in that set. @end table In simple cases, all you need to specify is the mapping to lower-case; the three related tables will be calculated automatically from that one. For some languages, upper and lower case letters are not in one-to-one correspondence. There may be two different lower case letters with the same upper case equivalent. In these cases, you need to specify the maps for both lower case and upper case. The extra table @var{canonicalize} maps each character to a canonical equivalent; any two characters that are related by case-conversion have the same canonical equivalent character. For example, since @samp{a} and @samp{A} are related by case-conversion, they should have the same canonical equivalent character (which should be either @samp{a} for both of them, or @samp{A} for both of them). The extra table @var{equivalences} is a map that cyclicly permutes each equivalence class (of characters with the same canonical equivalent). (For ordinary @sc{ascii}, this would map @samp{a} into @samp{A} and @samp{A} into @samp{a}, and likewise for each set of equivalent characters.) When you construct a case table, you can provide @code{nil} for @var{canonicalize}; then Emacs fills in this slot from the lower case and upper case mappings. You can also provide @code{nil} for @var{equivalences}; then Emacs fills in this slot from @var{canonicalize}. In a case table that is actually in use, those components are non-@code{nil}. Do not try to specify @var{equivalences} without also specifying @var{canonicalize}. Here are the functions for working with case tables: @defun case-table-p object This predicate returns non-@code{nil} if @var{object} is a valid case table. @end defun @defun set-standard-case-table table This function makes @var{table} the standard case table, so that it will be used in any buffers created subsequently. @end defun @defun standard-case-table This returns the standard case table. @end defun @defun current-case-table This function returns the current buffer's case table. @end defun @defun set-case-table table This sets the current buffer's case table to @var{table}. @end defun The following three functions are convenient subroutines for packages that define non-@sc{ascii} character sets. They modify the specified case table @var{case-table}; they also modify the standard syntax table. @xref{Syntax Tables}. Normally you would use these functions to change the standard case table. @defun set-case-syntax-pair uc lc case-table This function specifies a pair of corresponding letters, one upper case and one lower case. @end defun @defun set-case-syntax-delims l r case-table This function makes characters @var{l} and @var{r} a matching pair of case-invariant delimiters. @end defun @defun set-case-syntax char syntax case-table This function makes @var{char} case-invariant, with syntax @var{syntax}. @end defun @deffn Command describe-buffer-case-table This command displays a description of the contents of the current buffer's case table. @end deffn