key labeled @key{ALT} which is really a @key{META} key.) @xref{User
Input, Alt}.
+@item Argument
+See `numeric argument.'
+
@item ASCII character
An ASCII character is either an ASCII control character or an ASCII
printing character. @xref{User Input}.
a specially-named file, so that the information will not be lost if the
buffer is lost due to a system error or user error. @xref{Auto Save}.
+@item Autoloading
+Emacs automatically loads Lisp libraries when a Lisp program requests a
+function or a variable from those libraries. This is called
+`autoloading'. @xref{Lisp Libraries}.
+
+@item Backtrace
+A backtrace is a trace of a series of function calls showing how a
+program arrived to a certain point. It is used mainly for finding and
+correcting bugs (q.v.@:). Emacs can display a backtrace when it signals
+an error or when you type @kbd{C-g} (see `quitting'). @xref{Checklist}.
+
@item Backup File
A backup file records the contents that a file had before the current
editing session. Emacs makes backup files automatically to help you
highlighting the parenthesis that matches one just inserted
(@pxref{Matching,,Matching Parens}).
+@item Balloon Help
+See `tooltips.'
+
+@item Base Buffer
+A base buffer is a buffer whose text is shared by an indirect buffer
+(q.v.@:).
+
@item Bind
To bind a key sequence means to give it a binding (q.v.@:).
@xref{Rebinding}.
Blank lines are lines that contain only whitespace. Emacs has several
commands for operating on the blank lines in the buffer.
+@item Bookmark
+Bookmarks are akin to registers (q.v.@:) in that they record positions
+in buffers to which you can return later. Unlike registers, bookmark
+persist between Emacs sessions.
+
@item Buffer
The buffer is the basic editing unit; one buffer corresponds to one text
being edited. You can have several buffers, but at any time you are
editing only one, the `current buffer,' though several can be visible
-when you are using multiple windows (q.v.). Most buffers are visiting
+when you are using multiple windows (q.v.@:). Most buffers are visiting
(q.v.@:) some file. @xref{Buffers}.
@item Buffer Selection History
Emacs buffer has been selected. This is used for choosing a buffer to
select. @xref{Buffers}.
+@item Bug
+A bug is an incorrect or unreasonable behavior of a program, or
+inaccurate or confusing documentation. Emacs developers treat bug
+reports, both in Emacs code and its documentation, very seriously and
+ask you to report any bugs you find. @xref{Bugs}.
+
@item Button Down Event
A button down event is the kind of input event generated right away when
you press a mouse button. @xref{Mouse Buttons}.
+@item By Default
+See `default.'
+
@item @kbd{C-}
@kbd{C-} in the name of a character is an abbreviation for Control.
@xref{User Input,C-}.
Emacs supports a number of character sets, each of which represents a
particular alphabet or script. @xref{International}.
+@item Character Terminal
+See `text-only terminal.'
+
@item Click Event
A click event is the kind of input event generated when you press a
mouse button and release it without moving the mouse. @xref{Mouse Buttons}.
+@item Clipboard
+A clipboard is a buffer provided by the window system for transferring
+text between applications. On the X Window system, the clipboard is
+provided in addition to the primary selection (q.v.@:); on MS-Windows,
+the clipboard is used @emph{instead} of the primary selection.
+@xref{Clipboard}.
+
@item Coding System
A coding system is an encoding for representing text characters in a
file or in a stream of information. Emacs has the ability to convert
binding (q.v.@:) is looked up in the relevant keymaps (q.v.@:) to find
the command to run. @xref{Commands}.
+@item Command History
+See `minibuffer history.'
+
@item Command Name
A command name is the name of a Lisp symbol which is a command
(@pxref{Commands}). You can invoke any command by its name using
when the program is loaded or compiled. Emacs offers special commands
for creating, aligning and killing comments. @xref{Comments}.
+@item Common Lisp
+Common Lisp is a dialect of Lisp (q.v.@:) much larger and more powerful
+than Emacs Lisp. Emacs provides a subset of Common Lisp in the CL
+package. @xref{, Common Lisp, , cl, Common Lisp Extensions}.
+
@item Compilation
Compilation is the process of creating an executable program from source
code. Emacs has commands for compiling files of Emacs Lisp code
takes up more than one screen line when displayed. We say that the
text line is continued, and all screen lines used for it after the
first are called continuation lines. @xref{Basic,Continuation,Basic
-Editing}.
+Editing}. A related Emacs feature is `filling' (q.v.@:).
@item Control Character
A control character is a character that you type by holding down the
@xref{Buffers}.
@item Current Line
-The line point is on (@pxref{Point}).
+The current line is a line point is on (@pxref{Point}).
@item Current Paragraph
-The paragraph that point is in. If point is between paragraphs, the
-current paragraph is the one that follows point. @xref{Paragraphs}.
+The current paragraph is the paragraph that point is in. If point is
+between paragraphs, the current paragraph is the one that follows point.
+@xref{Paragraphs}.
@item Current Defun
-The defun (q.v.@:) that point is in. If point is between defuns, the
-current defun is the one that follows point. @xref{Defuns}.
+The current defun is a defun (q.v.@:) that point is in. If point is
+between defuns, the current defun is the one that follows point.
+@xref{Defuns}.
@item Cursor
The cursor is the rectangle on the screen which indicates the position
often done by setting variables (@pxref{Variables}) or by rebinding
key sequences (@pxref{Keymaps}).
+@item Cut and Paste
+See `killing' and `yanking.'
+
@item Default Argument
The default for an argument is the value that will be assumed if you
do not specify one. When the minibuffer is used to read an argument,
the default argument is used if you just type @key{RET}.
@xref{Minibuffer}.
+@item Default
+A default is the value that is used for a certain purpose if and when
+you do not specify a value to use.
+
@item Default Directory
When you specify a file name that does not start with @samp{/} or @samp{~},
it is interpreted relative to the current buffer's default directory.
+(On MS-Windows and MS-DOS, file names which start with a drive letter
+@samp{@var{x}:} are treated as absolute, not relative.)
@xref{Minibuffer File,Default Directory}.
@item Defun
confusing for beginning users. @xref{Disabling}.
@item Down Event
-Short for `button down event'.
+Short for `button down event' (q.v.@:).
@item Drag Event
A drag event is the kind of input event generated when you press a mouse
Buttons}.
@item Dribble File
-A file into which Emacs writes all the characters that the user types
-on the keyboard. Dribble files are used to make a record for
-debugging Emacs bugs. Emacs does not make a dribble file unless you
+A dribble file is a file into which Emacs writes all the characters that
+the user types on the keyboard. Dribble files are used to make a record
+for debugging Emacs bugs. Emacs does not make a dribble file unless you
tell it to. @xref{Bugs}.
@item Echo Area
@item Electric
We say that a character is electric if it is normally self-inserting
-(q.v.), but the current major mode (q.v.) redefines it to do something
+(q.v.@:), but the current major mode (q.v.@:) redefines it to do something
else as well. For example, some programming language major modes define
particular delimiter characters to reindent the line or insert one or
more newlines in addition to self-insertion.
+@item End Of Line
+End of line is a character or characters which signal an end of a text
+line. On GNU and Unix systems, this is a newline (.q.v.@:), but other
+systems have other conventions. @xref{Coding Systems,end-of-line}.
+Emacs can recognize several end-of-line conventions in files and convert
+between them.
+
+@item Environment Variable
+An environment variable is one of a collection of variables stored by
+the operating system, each one having a name and a value. Emacs can
+access environment variables set by its parent shell, and it can set
+variables in the environment it passes to programs it invokes.
+@xref{Environment}.
+
+@item EOL
+See `end of line.'
+
@item Error
An error occurs when an Emacs command cannot execute in the current
circumstances. When an error occurs, execution of the command stops
it applies to the next character you type.
@item Expunging
-Expunging an Rmail file or Dired buffer is an operation that truly
-discards the messages or files you have previously flagged for deletion.
+Expunging an Rmail file or Dired buffer or a Gnus newsgroup buffer is an
+operation that truly discards the messages or files you have previously
+flagged for deletion.
+
+@item Face
+A face is a style of displaying characters. It specifies attributes
+such as font family and size, foreground and background colors,
+underline and strike-through, background stipple, etc. Emacs provides
+features to associate specific faces with portions of buffer text, in
+order to display that text as specified by the face attributes.
@item File Locking
Emacs used file locking to notice when two different users
directory, but an absolute file name refers to the same file regardless
of which directory is current. On GNU and Unix systems, an absolute
file name starts with a slash (the root directory) or with @samp{~/} or
-@samp{~@var{user}/} (a home directory).
+@samp{~@var{user}/} (a home directory). On MS-Windows/MS-DOS, and
+absolute file name can also start with a drive letter and a colon
+@samp{@var{d}:}.
Some people use the term ``pathname'' for file names, but we do not;
-we use the word ``path'' only in the term ``search path'' (q.v.).
+we use the word ``path'' only in the term ``search path'' (q.v.@:).
@item File-Name Component
A file-name component names a file directly within a particular
file-name components, separated by slashes. For example, @file{foo/bar}
is a file name containing two components, @samp{foo} and @samp{bar}; it
refers to the file named @samp{bar} in the directory named @samp{foo} in
-the current directory.
+the current directory. MS-DOS/MS-Windows file names can also use
+backslashes to separate components, as in @file{foo\bar}.
@item Fill Prefix
The fill prefix is a string that should be expected at the beginning
@item Filling
Filling text means shifting text between consecutive lines so that all
-the lines are approximately the same length. @xref{Filling}.
+the lines are approximately the same length. @xref{Filling}. Some
+other editors call this feature `line wrapping.'
+
+@item Font Lock
+Font Lock is a mode that highlights parts of buffer text according to
+its syntax. @xref{Font Lock}.
+
+@item Fontset
+A fontset is a named collection of fonts. A fontset specification lists
+character sets and which font to use to display each of them. Fontsets
+make it easy to change several fonts at once by specifying the name of a
+fontset, rather than changing each font separately. @xref{Fontsets}.
@item Formatted Text
Formatted text is text that displays with formatting information while
you edit. Formatting information includes fonts, colors, and specified
margins. @xref{Formatted Text}.
+@item Formfeed Character
+See `page.'
+
@item Frame
A frame is a rectangular cluster of Emacs windows. Emacs starts out
with one frame, but you can create more. You can subdivide each frame
-into Emacs windows (q.v.). When you are using a windowing system, all
-the frames can be visible at the same time. @xref{Frames}.
+into Emacs windows (q.v.@:). When you are using a windowing system, all
+the frames can be visible at the same time. @xref{Frames}. Some
+other editors use the term ``window'' for this, but in Emacs a window
+means something else.
+
+@item Fringe
+On windowed displays, there's a narrow portion of the frame (q.v.@:)
+between the text area and the window's border. Emacs displays the
+fringe using a special face (q.v.@:) called @code{fringe}.
+@xref{Faces,fringe}.
+
+@item FTP
+FTP is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol. Emacs uses an FTP client
+program to provide access to remote files (q.v.@:).
@item Function Key
A function key is a key on the keyboard that sends input but does not
keymap (q.v.@:). @xref{Keymaps}.
@item Global Mark Ring
-The global mark ring records the series of buffers you have recently set
-a mark in. In many cases you can use this to backtrack through buffers
-you have been editing in, or in which you have found tags. @xref{Global
-Mark Ring}.
+The global mark ring records the series of buffers you have recently
+set a mark (q.v.@:) in. In many cases you can use this to backtrack
+through buffers you have been editing in, or in which you have found
+tags (see `tags table'). @xref{Global Mark Ring}.
@item Global Substitution
Global substitution means replacing each occurrence of one string by
@key{HELP} at any time to ask what options you have, or to ask what any
command does. @xref{Help}.
+@item Help Echo
+Help echo is a short message printed in the echo area when the mouse
+pointer is located on portions of display that require some
+explanations. Emacs displays help echo for menu items, parts of the
+mode line, tool-bar buttons, etc. On graphics displays, the messages
+can be displayed as tooltips (q.v.@:). @xref{Tooltips}.
+
+@item Hook
+A hook is a list of functions to be called on specific occasions, such
+as saving a buffer in a file, major mode activation, etc. By
+customizing the various hooks, you can modify Emacs's behavior without
+changing any of its code. @xref{Hooks}.
+
@item Hyper
Hyper is the name of a modifier bit which a keyboard input character may
have. To make a character Hyper, type it while holding down the
mail is then stored permanently or until explicitly deleted.
@xref{Rmail Inbox}.
+@item Incremental Search
+Emacs provides an incremental search facility, whereby Emacs searches
+for the string as you type it. @xref{Incremental Search}.
+
@item Indentation
Indentation means blank space at the beginning of a line. Most
programming languages have conventions for using indentation to
@item Indirect Buffer
An indirect buffer is a buffer that shares the text of another buffer,
-called its base buffer. @xref{Indirect Buffers}.
+called its base buffer (q.v.@:). @xref{Indirect Buffers}.
+
+@item Info
+Info is the hypertext format used by the GNU project for writing
+documentation.
@item Input Event
An input event represents, within Emacs, one action taken by the user on
that someone else is already editing. @xref{Interlocking,,Simultaneous
Editing}.
+@item Isearch
+See `incremental search.'
+
@item Justification
Justification means adding extra spaces to lines of text to make them
come exactly to a specified width. @xref{Filling,Justification}.
Most Emacs commands to erase text do killing, as opposed to deletion
(q.v.@:). @xref{Killing}.
-@item Killing Jobs
+@item Killing a Job
Killing a job (such as, an invocation of Emacs) means making it cease
to exist. Any data within it, if not saved in a file, is lost.
@xref{Exiting}.
Environments}. These defaults are relevant if you edit non-ASCII text
(@pxref{International}).
+@item Line Wrapping
+See `filling.'
+
+@item Lisp
+Lisp is a programming language. Most of Emacs is written in a dialect
+of Lisp, called Emacs Lisp, that is extended with special features which
+make it especially suitable for text editing tasks.
+
@item List
A list is, approximately, a text string beginning with an open
parenthesis and ending with the matching close parenthesis. In C mode
@item Mark Ring
The mark ring is used to hold several recent previous locations of the
mark, just in case you want to move back to them. Each buffer has its
-own mark ring; in addition, there is a single global mark ring (q.v.).
+own mark ring; in addition, there is a single global mark ring (q.v.@:).
@xref{Mark Ring}.
@item Menu Bar
command to turn it on or off. @xref{Minor Modes}.
@item Minor Mode Keymap
-A keymap that belongs to a minor mode and is active when that mode is
-enabled. Minor mode keymaps take precedence over the buffer's local
-keymap, just as the local keymap takes precedence over the global
-keymap. @xref{Keymaps}.
+A minor mode keymap is a keymap that belongs to a minor mode and is
+active when that mode is enabled. Minor mode keymaps take precedence
+over the buffer's local keymap, just as the local keymap takes
+precedence over the global keymap. @xref{Keymaps}.
@item Mode Line
The mode line is the line at the bottom of each window (q.v.@:), giving
yanking (q.v.@:). @xref{Killing}.
@item MULE
-MULE refers to the Emacs features for editing non-ASCII text
+MULE refers to the Emacs features for editing multilingual non-ASCII text
using multibyte characters (q.v.@:). @xref{International}.
@item Multibyte Character
-A multibyte character is a character that takes up several buffer
-positions. Emacs uses multibyte characters to represent non-ASCII text,
+A multibyte character is a character that takes up several bytes in a
+buffer. Emacs uses multibyte characters to represent non-ASCII text,
since the number of non-ASCII characters is much more than 256.
@xref{International Intro}.
Control-J characters in the buffer terminate lines of text and are
therefore also called newlines. @xref{Text Characters,Newline}.
+@cindex nil
+@cindex t
+@item @code{nil}
+A value usually interpreted as a logical ``false.'' Its opposite
+is @code{t}, interpreted as ``true.''
+
@item Numeric Argument
A numeric argument is a number, specified before a command, to change
the effect of the command. Often the numeric argument serves as a
you pause in the middle of typing a multi-character key sequence is also
a kind of prompting (@pxref{Echo Area}).
+@item Query-Replace
+An interactive string replacement feature provided by Emacs.
+@xref{Query Replace}.
+
@item Quitting
Quitting means canceling a partially typed command or a running
command, using @kbd{C-g} (or @kbd{C-@key{BREAK}} on MS-DOS). @xref{Quitting}.
@item Registers
Registers are named slots in which text or buffer positions or
-rectangles can be saved for later use. @xref{Registers}.
+rectangles can be saved for later use. @xref{Registers}. A related
+Emacs feature is `bookmarks' (q.v.@:).
@item Regular Expression
A regular expression is a pattern that can match various text strings;
-for example, @samp{l[0-9]+} matches @samp{l} followed by one or more
+for example, @samp{a[0-9]+} matches @samp{a} followed by one or more
digits. @xref{Regexps}.
+@item Remote File
+A remote file is a file that is stored on a system other than your own.
+Emacs can access files on other computers provided that they are
+connected to the same network as your machine. @xref{Remote Files}.
+
@item Repeat Count
See `numeric argument.'
@item Restriction
A buffer's restriction is the amount of text, at the beginning or the
end of the buffer, that is temporarily inaccessible. Giving a buffer a
-nonzero amount of restriction is called narrowing (q.v.@:).
-@xref{Narrowing}.
+nonzero amount of restriction is called narrowing (q.v.@:); removing
+a restriction is called widening (q.v.@:). @xref{Narrowing}.
@item @key{RET}
@key{RET} is a character that in Emacs runs the command to insert a
newline into the text. It is also used to terminate most arguments
read in the minibuffer (q.v.@:). @xref{User Input,Return}.
+@item Reverting
+Reverting means returning to the original state. Emacs lets you
+revert a buffer by re-reading its file from disk. @xref{Reverting}.
+
@item Rmail File
An Rmail file is a file containing text in a special format used by
Rmail for storing mail. @xref{Rmail}.
@xref{Buffers,Selecting}.
@item Selection
-The X window system allows an application program to specify named
+Windowing systems allow an application program to specify
selections whose values are text. A program can also read the
selections that other programs have set up. This is the principal way
of transferring text between window applications. Emacs has commands to
work with the primary (q.v.@:) selection and the secondary (q.v.@:)
-selection.
+selection, and also with the clipboard (q.v.@:).
@item Self-Documentation
Self-documentation is the feature of Emacs which can tell you what any
A sexp (short for ``s-expression'') is the basic syntactic unit of Lisp
in its textual form: either a list, or Lisp atom. Many Emacs commands
operate on sexps. The term `sexp' is generalized to languages other
-than Lisp, to mean a syntactically recognizable expression.
-@xref{Lists,Sexps}.
+than Lisp, to mean a syntactically recognizable expression, such as a
+block or a parenthesized expression in C. @xref{Lists,Sexps}.
@item Simultaneous Editing
Simultaneous editing means two users modifying the same file at once.
work. Emacs detects all cases of simultaneous editing and warns one of
the users to investigate. @xref{Interlocking,,Simultaneous Editing}.
+@item Speedbar
+Speedbar is a special tall frame that provides fast access to Emacs
+buffers, functions within those buffers, Info nodes, and other
+interesting parts of text within Emacs. @xref{Speedbar}.
+
+@item Spell Checking
+Spell checking means checking correctness of the written form of each
+one of the words in a text. Emacs uses the Ispell spelling-checker
+program to check the spelling of parts of a buffer via a convenient user
+interface. @xref{Spelling}.
+
@item String
A string is a kind of Lisp data object which contains a sequence of
characters. Many Emacs variables are intended to have strings as
@item String Substitution
See `global substitution'.
+@item Syntax Highlighting
+See `font lock.'
+
@item Syntax Table
The syntax table tells Emacs which characters are part of a word,
which characters balance each other like parentheses, etc.
@kbd{Super-} (usually written @kbd{s-} for short). @xref{User Input,
Super}.
+@item Suspending
+Suspending Emacs means stopping it temporarily and returning control
+to its parent process, which is usually a shell. Unlike killing a job
+(q.v.@:), you can later resume the suspended Emacs job without losing
+your buffers, unsaved edits, undo history, etc. @xref{Exiting}.
+
@item Tags Table
A tags table is a file that serves as an index to the function
definitions in one or more other files. @xref{Tags}.
or following the stylistic conventions of human language.
@end itemize
+@item Text-only Terminal
+A text-only terminal is a display that is limited to displaying text in
+character units. Such a terminal cannot control individual pixels it
+displays. Emacs supports a subset of display features on character
+terminals.
+
@item Tool Bar
The tool bar is a line (sometimes multiple lines) of icons at the top
of an Emacs frame. Clicking on one of these icons executes a command.
-You can think of this as a graphical relative of the menu bar (q.v.).
+You can think of this as a graphical relative of the menu bar (q.v.@:).
@xref{Tool Bars}.
+@item Tooltips
+Tooltips are small windows displaying a help echo (q.v.@:) text that
+explains parts of the display, lists useful options available via mouse
+clicks, etc. @xref{Tooltips}.
+
@item Top Level
Top level is the normal state of Emacs, in which you are editing the
text of the file you have visited. You are at top level whenever you
displaying it. See also `continuation line.'
@xref{Basic,Truncation,Basic Editing}.
+@item TTY
+See `character terminal.'
+
@item Undoing
Undoing means making your previous editing go in reverse, bringing
back the text that existed earlier in the editing session.
Emacs divides a frame (q.v.@:) into one or more windows, each of which
can display the contents of one buffer (q.v.@:) at any time.
@xref{Screen}, for basic information on how Emacs uses the screen.
-@xref{Windows}, for commands to control the use of windows.
+@xref{Windows}, for commands to control the use of windows. Some
+other editors use the term ``window'' for what we call a `frame'
+(q.v.@:) in Emacs.
@item Word Abbrev
See `abbrev.'
projects / emacs.git / commitdiff