Mercurial > emacs

--- a/man/major.texi	Thu Sep 06 04:38:05 2007 +0000
+++ /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
@@ -1,206 +0,0 @@
-@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
-@c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001,
-@c   2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 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 which
-customizes Emacs for editing text of a particular sort.  The major modes
-are mutually exclusive, and each buffer has one major mode at any time.
-The mode line normally shows the name of the current major mode, in
-parentheses (@pxref{Mode Line}).
-
-  The least specialized major mode is called @dfn{Fundamental mode}.
-This mode has no mode-specific redefinitions or variable settings, so
-that each Emacs command behaves in its most general manner, and each
-user option variable is in its default state.  For editing text of a
-specific type that Emacs knows about, such as Lisp code or English
-text, you should switch to the appropriate major mode, such as Lisp
-mode or Text mode.
-
-  Selecting a major mode changes the meanings of a few keys to become
-more specifically adapted to the language being edited.  The ones that
-are changed frequently are @key{TAB}, @key{DEL}, and @kbd{C-j}.  The
-prefix key @kbd{C-c} normally contains mode-specific commands.  In
-addition, the commands which handle comments use the mode to determine
-how comments are to be delimited.  Many major modes redefine the
-syntactical properties of characters appearing in the buffer.
-@xref{Syntax}.
-
-  The major modes fall into three major groups.  The first group
-contains modes for normal text, either plain or with mark-up.  It
-includes Text mode, HTML mode, SGML mode, @TeX{} mode and Outline
-mode.  The second group contains modes for specific programming
-languages.  These include Lisp mode (which has several variants), C
-mode, Fortran mode, and others.  The remaining major modes are not
-intended for use on users' files; they are used in buffers created for
-specific purposes by Emacs, such as Dired mode for buffers made by
-Dired (@pxref{Dired}), Mail mode for buffers made by @kbd{C-x m}
-(@pxref{Sending Mail}), and Shell mode for buffers used for
-communicating with an inferior shell process (@pxref{Interactive
-Shell}).
-
-  Most programming-language major modes specify that only blank lines
-separate paragraphs.  This is to make the paragraph commands useful.
-(@xref{Paragraphs}.)  They also cause Auto Fill mode to use the
-definition of @key{TAB} to indent the new lines it creates.  This is
-because 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, but
-most of the time Emacs determines which mode to use based on the file
-name or on special text in the file.
-
-  To explicitly select a new major, you use an @kbd{M-x} command.
-Take the name of a major mode and add @code{-mode} to get the name of
-the command 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 based
-on the file's name.  For example, files whose names end in @samp{.c} are
-edited in C mode.  The correspondence between file names and major modes is
-controlled by the variable @code{auto-mode-alist}.  Its value is a list in
-which each element has this form,
-
-@example
-(@var{regexp} . @var{mode-function})
-@end example
-
-@noindent
-or this form,
-
-@example
-(@var{regexp} @var{mode-function} @var{flag})
-@end example
-
-@noindent
-For example, one element normally found in the list has the form
-@code{(@t{"\\.c\\'"} . c-mode)}, and it is responsible for selecting C
-mode for files whose names end in @file{.c}.  (Note that @samp{\\} is
-needed in Lisp syntax to include a @samp{\} in the string, which must
-be used to suppress the special meaning of @samp{.} in regexps.)  If
-the 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.
-
-@vindex magic-mode-alist
-  Sometimes the major mode is determined from the way the file's text
-begins.  The variable @code{magic-mode-alist} controls this.  Its value
-is a list of elements of these forms:
-
-@example
-(@var{regexp} . @var{mode-function})
-(@var{match-function} . @var{mode-function})
-@end example
-
-@noindent
-The first form looks like an element of @code{auto-mode-alist}, but it
-doesn't work the same: this @var{regexp} is matched against the text
-at the start of the buffer, not against the file name.  Likewise, the
-second form calls @var{match-function} at the beginning of the buffer,
-and if the function returns non-@code{nil}, the @var{mode-function} is
-called.  @code{magic-mode-alist} takes priority over
-@code{auto-mode-alist}.
-
-  You can specify the major mode to use for editing a certain file by
-special text in the first nonblank line of the file.  The
-mode 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
-
-@noindent
-tells Emacs to use Lisp mode.  Such an explicit specification overrides
-any defaults based on the file name.  Note how the semicolon is used
-to make Lisp treat this line as a comment.
-
-  Another format of mode specification is
-
-@example
--*- mode: @var{modename};-*-
-@end example
-
-@noindent
-which 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 auto-mode-case-fold
-  On systems with case-insensitive file names, only a single
-case-insensitive search through the @code{auto-mode-alist} is made.
-On other systems, Emacs normally performs a single case-sensitive
-search through the alist, but if you set this variable to a
-non-@code{nil} value, Emacs will perform a second case-insensitive
-search if the first search fails.
-
-@vindex interpreter-mode-alist
-  When a file's contents begin with @samp{#!}, it can serve as an
-executable shell command, which works by running an interpreter named on
-the file's first line.  The rest of the file is used as input to the
-interpreter.
-
-  When you visit such a file in Emacs, if the file's name does not
-specify a major mode, Emacs uses the interpreter name on the first line
-to choose a mode.  If the first line is the name of a recognized
-interpreter program, such as @samp{perl} or @samp{tcl}, Emacs uses a
-mode appropriate for programs for that interpreter.  The variable
-@code{interpreter-mode-alist} specifies the correspondence between
-interpreter program names and major modes.
-
-  When the first line starts with @samp{#!}, you cannot (on many
-systems) use the @samp{-*-} feature on the first line, because the
-system would get confused when running the interpreter.  So Emacs looks
-for @samp{-*-} on the second line in such files as well as on the
-first line.
-
-@vindex default-major-mode
-  When you visit a file that does not specify a major mode to use, or
-when you create a new buffer with @kbd{C-x b}, the variable
-@code{default-major-mode} specifies which major mode to use.  Normally
-its value is the symbol @code{fundamental-mode}, which specifies
-Fundamental mode.  If @code{default-major-mode} is @code{nil}, the major
-mode 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 major
-mode Emacs would choose automatically: use the command @kbd{M-x
-normal-mode} to do this.  This is the same function that
-@code{find-file} calls to choose the major mode.  It also processes
-the file's @samp{-*-} line or local variables list (if any).
-@xref{File Variables}.
-
-@vindex change-major-mode-with-file-name
-  The commands @kbd{C-x C-w} and @code{set-visited-file-name} change to
-a 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 major
-mode, and certain ``special'' major modes do not allow the mode to
-change.  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