GNU Emacs Manual

Emacs is the extensible, customizable, self-documenting real-time display editor. This Info file describes how to edit with Emacs and some of how to customize it, but not how to extend it.

Distribution		How to get the latest Emacs distribution.
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE		The GNU General Public License gives you permission to redistribute GNU Emacs on certain terms; and also explains that there is no warranty.
Introduction		An introduction to Emacs concepts.
Glossary		The glossary.
Version 19 Antenews		Changes coming in Emacs version 19, to be released.
The GNU Manifesto		What's GNU? Gnu's Not Unix!

Indexes, nodes containing large menus

Key (Character) Index		An item for each standard Emacs key sequence.
Command and Function Index		An item for each command name.
Variable Index		An item for each documented variable.
Concept Index		An item for each concept.

Important General Concepts

1. The Organization of the Screen		How to interpret what you see on the screen.
1.4 The Emacs Character Set		Emacs's character sets for file contents and for keyboard.
1.5 Keys		Key sequences: what you type to request one editing action.
1.6 Keys and Commands		Commands: named functions run by key sequences to do editing.
2. Entering and Exiting Emacs		Starting Emacs from the shell.
2.2 Command Line Switches and Arguments		Hairy startup options.
2.1 Exiting Emacs		Stopping or killing Emacs.
3. Basic Editing Commands		The most basic editing commands.
4. Undoing Changes		Undoing recently made changes in the text.
5. The Minibuffer		Entering arguments that are prompted for.
6. Running Commands by Name		Invoking commands by their names.
7. Help		Commands for asking Emacs about its commands.

Important Text-Changing Commands

8. The Mark and the Region		The mark: how to delimit a "region" of text.
8.5 Deletion and Killing		Killing text.
8.6 Yanking		Recovering killed text. Moving text.
8.7 Accumulating Text		Other ways of copying text.
8.8 Rectangles		Operating on the text inside a rectangle on the screen.
9. Registers		Saving a text string or a location in the buffer.
10. Controlling the Display		Controlling what text is displayed.
11. Searching and Replacement		Finding or replacing occurrences of a string.
12. Commands for Fixing Typos		Commands especially useful for fixing typos.

Larger Units of Text

13. File Handling		All about handling files.
14. Using Multiple Buffers		Multiple buffers; editing several files at once.
15. Multiple Windows		Viewing two pieces of text at once.

Advanced Features

16. Major Modes		Text mode vs. Lisp mode vs. C mode ...
17. Indentation		Editing the white space at the beginnings of lines.
18. Commands for Human Languages		Commands and modes for editing English.
19. Editing Programs		Commands and modes for editing programs.
20. Compiling and Testing Programs		Compiling, running and debugging programs.
21. Abbrevs		How to define text abbreviations to reduce the number of characters you must type.
22. Editing Pictures		Editing pictures made up of characters using the quarter-plane screen model.
23. Sending Mail		Sending mail in Emacs.
24. Reading Mail with Rmail		Reading mail in Emacs.
24.12 Recursive Editing Levels		A command can allow you to do editing

                 "within the command".  This is called a
                 `recursive editing level'.

24.13 Narrowing		Restricting display and editing to a portion of the buffer.
24.14 Sorting Text		Sorting lines, paragraphs or pages within Emacs.
24.15 Running Shell Commands from Emacs		Executing shell commands from Emacs.
24.16 Hardcopy Output		Printing buffers or regions.
24.17 Dissociated Press		Dissociating text for fun.
24.18 Other Amusements		Various games and hacks.
24.19 Emulation		Emulating some other editors with Emacs.
25. Customization		Modifying the behavior of Emacs.

Recovery from Problems.

25.7 Quitting and Aborting		Quitting and aborting.
25.8 Dealing with Emacs Trouble		What to do if Emacs is hung or malfunctioning.
25.9 Reporting Bugs		How and when to report a bug.

Here are some other nodes which are really inferiors of the ones
already listed, mentioned here so you can get to them in one step:

Subnodes of Screen

1.1 Point		The place in the text where editing commands operate.
1.2 The Echo Area		Short messages appear at the bottom of the screen.
1.3 The Mode Line		Interpreting the mode line.

Subnodes of Basic

3.6 Blank Lines		Commands to make or delete blank lines.
3.7 Continuation Lines		Lines too wide for the screen.
3.8 Cursor Position Information		What page, line, row, or column is point on?
3.9 Numeric Arguments		Giving numeric arguments to commands.

Subnodes of Minibuffer

5.1 Minibuffers for File Names		Entering file names with the minibuffer.
5.2 Editing in the Minibuffer		How to edit in the minibuffer.
5.3 Completion		An abbreviation facility for minibuffer input.
5.4 Repeating Minibuffer Commands		Re-executing previous commands that used the minibuffer.

Subnodes of Mark

8.1 Setting the Mark		Commands to set the mark.
8.2 Operating on the Region		Summary of ways to operate on contents of the region.
8.3 Commands to Mark Textual Objects		Commands to put region around textual units.
8.4 The Mark Ring		Previous mark positions saved so you can go back there.

Subnodes of Yanking

8.6.1 The Kill Ring		Where killed text is stored. Basic yanking.
8.6.2 Appending Kills		Several kills in a row all yank together.
8.6.3 Yanking Earlier Kills		Yanking something killed some time ago.

Subnodes of Registers

9.1 Saving Positions in Registers		Saving positions in registers.
9.2 Saving Text in Registers		Saving text in registers.
9.3 Saving Rectangles in Registers		Saving rectangles in registers.

Subnodes of Display

10.1 Scrolling		Moving text up and down in a window.
10.2 Horizontal Scrolling		Moving text left and right in a window.
10.3 Selective Display		Hiding lines with lots of indentation.
10.4 Variables Controlling Display		Information on variables for customizing display.

Subnodes of Search

11.1 Incremental Search		Search happens as you type the string.
11.2 Nonincremental Search		Specify entire string and then search.
11.3 Word Search		Search for sequence of words.
11.4 Regular Expression Search		Search for match for a regexp.
11.5 Syntax of Regular Expressions		Syntax of regular expressions.
11.6 Searching and Case		To ignore case while searching, or not.
11.7 Replacement Commands		Search, and replace some or all matches.
11.7.1 Unconditional Replacement		Everything about replacement except for querying.
11.7.4 Query Replace		How to use querying.
11.8 Other Search-and-Loop Commands		Operating on all matches for some regexp.

Subnodes of Fixit

12.1 Killing Your Mistakes		Commands to kill a batch of recently entered text.
12.2 Transposing Text		Exchanging two characters, words, lines, lists...
12.3 Case Conversion		Correcting case of last word entered.
12.4 Checking and Correcting Spelling		Apply spelling checker to a word, or a whole file.

Subnodes of Files

13.1 File Names		How to type and edit file name arguments.
13.2 Visiting Files		Visiting a file prepares Emacs to edit the file.
13.3 Saving Files		Saving makes your changes permanent.
13.3.1 Backup Files		How Emacs saves the old version of your file.
13.3.2 Protection against Simultaneous Editing		How Emacs protects against simultaneous editing of one file by two users.
13.4 Reverting a Buffer		Reverting cancels all the changes not saved.
13.5 Auto-Saving: Protection Against Disasters		Auto Save periodically protects against loss of data.
13.6 Listing a File Directory		Listing the contents of a file directory.
13.7 Dired, the Directory Editor		"Editing" a directory to delete, rename, etc. the files in it.
13.8 Miscellaneous File Operations		Other things you can do on files.

Subnodes of Buffers

14.1 Creating and Selecting Buffers		Creating a new buffer or reselecting an old one.
14.2 Listing Existing Buffers		Getting a list of buffers that exist.
14.3 Miscellaneous Buffer Operations		Renaming; changing read-only status.
14.4 Killing Buffers		Killing buffers you no longer need.
14.5 Operating on Several Buffers		How to go through the list of all buffers and operate variously on several of them.

Subnodes of Windows

15.1 Concepts of Emacs Windows		Introduction to Emacs windows.
15.2 Splitting Windows		New windows are made by splitting existing windows.
15.3 Using Other Windows		Moving to another window or doing something to it.
15.4 Displaying in Another Window		Finding a file or buffer in another window.
15.5 Deleting and Rearranging Windows		Deleting windows and changing their sizes.

Subnodes of Indentation

17.1 Indentation Commands and Techniques		Various commands and techniques for indentation.
17.2 Tab Stops		You can set arbitrary "tab stops" and then indent to the next tab stop when you want to.
17.3 Tabs vs. Spaces		You can request indentation using just spaces.

Subnodes of Text

18.1 Text Mode		The major mode for editing text files.
18.1.1 Nroff Mode		The major mode for editing input to the formatter nroff.
18.1.2 TeX Mode		The major mode for editing input to the formatter TeX.
18.1.3 Texinfo Mode		The major mode for editing input to the formatter Texinfo.
18.1.4 Outline Mode		The major mode for editing outlines.
18.2 Words		Moving over and killing words.
18.3 Sentences		Moving over and killing sentences.
18.4 Paragraphs		Moving over paragraphs.
18.5 Pages		Moving over pages.
18.6 Filling Text		Filling or justifying text
18.7 Case Conversion Commands		Changing the case of text

Subnodes of Programs

19.1 Major Modes for Programming Languages		Major modes for editing programs.
19.2 Lists and Sexps		Expressions with balanced parentheses. There are editing commands to operate on them.
19.3 Defuns		Each program is made up of separate functions. There are editing commands to operate on them.
19.4 Indentation for Programs		Adjusting indentation to show the nesting.
19.5 Automatic Display Of Matching Parentheses		Insertion of a close-delimiter flashes matching open.
19.6 Manipulating Comments		Inserting, killing and aligning comments.
19.8 Editing Without Unbalanced Parentheses		Inserting two matching parentheses at once, etc.
19.9 Completion for Lisp Symbols		Completion on symbol names in Lisp code.
19.10 Documentation Commands		Getting documentation of functions you plan to call.
19.11 Change Logs		Maintaining a change history for your program.
19.12 Tag Tables		Go direct to any function in your program in one command. Tags remembers which file it is in.
19.13 Fortran Mode		Fortran mode and its special features.

Subnodes of Compiling/Testing

20.1 Running `make', or Compilers Generally

Compiling programs in languages other than Lisp

                       (C, Pascal, etc.)

20.2 Major Modes for Lisp		Various modes for editing Lisp programs, with different facilities for running the Lisp programs.
20.3 Libraries of Lisp Code for Emacs		Creating Lisp programs to run in Emacs.
20.6 Lisp Interaction Buffers		Executing Lisp in an Emacs buffer.
20.4 Evaluating Emacs-Lisp Expressions		Executing a single Lisp expression in Emacs.
20.5 The Emacs-Lisp Debugger		Debugging Lisp programs running in Emacs.
20.7 Running an External Lisp		Communicating through Emacs with a separate Lisp.

Subnodes of Abbrevs

21.1 Defining Abbrevs		Defining an abbrev, so it will expand when typed.
21.2 Controlling Abbrev Expansion		Controlling expansion: prefixes, canceling expansion.
21.3 Examining and Editing Abbrevs		Viewing or editing the entire list of defined abbrevs.
21.4 Saving Abbrevs		Saving the entire list of abbrevs for another session.
21.5 Dynamic Abbrev Expansion		Abbreviations for words already in the buffer.

Subnodes of Picture

22.1 Basic Editing in Picture Mode		Basic concepts and simple commands of Picture mode.
22.2 Controlling Motion after Insert		Controlling direction of cursor motion after "self-inserting" characters.
22.3 Picture Mode Tabs		Various features for tab stops and indentation.
22.4 Picture Mode Rectangle Commands		Clearing and superimposing rectangles.

Subnodes of Sending Mail

23.1 The Format of the Mail Buffer		Format of the mail being composed.
23.2 Mail Header Fields		Details of allowed mail header fields.
23.3 Mail Mode		Special commands for editing mail being composed.

Subnodes of Rmail

24.1 Scrolling Within a Message		Scrolling through a message.
24.2 Moving Among Messages		Moving to another message.
24.3 Deleting Messages		Deleting and expunging messages.
24.4 Rmail Files and Inboxes		How mail gets into the Rmail file.
24.5 Multiple Mail Files		Using multiple Rmail files.
24.6 Copying Messages Out to Files		Copying message out to files.
24.7 Labels		Classifying messages by labeling them.
24.8 Summaries		Summaries show brief info on many messages.
24.9 Sending Replies		Sending replies to messages you are viewing.
24.10 Editing Within a Message		Editing message text and headers in Rmail.
24.11 Digest Messages		Extracting the messages from a digest message.

Subnodes of Shell

24.15.1 Single Shell Commands		Commands to run one shell command and return.
24.15.2 Interactive Inferior Shell		Permanent shell taking input via Emacs.
24.15.3 Shell Mode		Special Emacs commands used with permanent shell.

Subnodes of Customization

25.1 Minor Modes		Each minor mode is one feature you can turn on independently of any others.
25.2 Variables		Many Emacs commands examine Emacs variables to decide what to do; by setting variables, you can control their functioning.
25.2.1 Examining and Setting Variables		Examining or setting one variable's value.
25.2.2 Editing Variable Values		Examining or editing list of all variables' values.
25.2.3 Local Variables		Per-buffer values of variables.
25.2.4 Local Variables in Files		How files can specify variable values.
25.3 Keyboard Macros		A keyboard macro records a sequence of keystrokes to be replayed with a single command.
25.4 Customizing Key Bindings		The keymaps say what command each key runs. By changing them, you can "redefine keys".
25.4.1 Keymaps		Definition of the keymap data structure.
25.4.2 Changing Key Bindings Interactively		How to redefine one key's meaning conveniently.
25.4.3 Disabling Commands		Disabling a command means confirmation is required before it can be executed. This is done to protect beginners from surprises.
25.5 The Syntax Table		The syntax table controls how words and expressions are parsed.
25.6 The Init File, .emacs		How to write common customizations in the `.emacs' file.

Subnodes of Lossage (and recovery)

25.8.1 Recursive Editing Levels		`[...]' in mode line around the parentheses.
25.8.2 Garbage on the Screen		Garbage on the screen.
25.8.3 Garbage in the Text		Garbage in the text.
25.8.4 Spontaneous Entry to Incremental Search		Spontaneous entry to incremental search.
25.8.5 Emergency Escape		Emergency escape--- What to do if Emacs stops responding.
25.8.6 Help for Total Frustration		When you are at your wits' end.