@chapter The Organization of the Screen
@cindex screen
@cindex parts of the screen
-@c
- On a text-only terminal, the Emacs display occupies the whole screen.
-On the X Window System, Emacs creates its own X windows to use. We use
-the term @dfn{frame} to mean an entire text-only screen or an entire X
-window used by Emacs. Emacs uses both kinds of frames in the same way
-to display your editing. Emacs normally starts out with just one frame,
-but you can create additional frames if you wish. @xref{Frames}.
-
- When you start Emacs, the entire frame except for the top and bottom
-is devoted to the text you are editing. This area is called the
-@dfn{window}. At the top there is normally a @dfn{menu bar} where you
-can access a series of menus; then there may be a @dfn{tool bar}, a
-row of icons that perform editing commands if you click on them.
-Below this, the window begins. The last line is a special @dfn{echo
-area} or @dfn{minibuffer window}, where prompts appear and where you
-enter information when Emacs asks for it. See below for more
-information about these special lines.
-
- You can subdivide the large text window horizontally or vertically
-into multiple text windows, each of which can be used for a different
-file (@pxref{Windows}). In this manual, the word ``window'' always
-refers to the subdivisions of a frame within Emacs.
+ On a text-only terminal, the Emacs display occupies the whole
+screen. On a graphical display, such as on GNU/Linux using the X
+Window System, Emacs creates its own windows to use. We use the term
+@dfn{frame} to mean the entire text-only screen or an entire
+system-level window used by Emacs. Emacs uses both kinds of frames,
+in the same way, to display your editing. Emacs normally starts out
+with just one frame, but you can create additional frames if you wish.
+@xref{Frames}.
+
+ When you start Emacs, the main central area of the frame, all except
+for the top and bottom and sides, displays the text you are editing.
+This area is called @dfn{the window}. At the top there is normally a
+@dfn{menu bar} where you can access a series of menus; then there may
+be a @dfn{tool bar}, a row of icons that perform editing commands if
+you click on them. Below this, the window begins, often with a
+@dfn{scroll bar} on one side. Below the window comes the last line of
+the frame, a special @dfn{echo area} or @dfn{minibuffer window}, where
+prompts appear and where you enter information when Emacs asks for it.
+See following sections for more information about these special lines.
+
+ You can subdivide the window horizontally or vertically to make
+multiple text windows, each of which can independently display some
+file or text (@pxref{Windows}). In this manual, the word ``window''
+refers to the initial large window if not subdivided, or any one of
+the multiple windows you have subdivided it into.
At any time, one window is the @dfn{selected window}. On graphical
terminals, the selected window normally shows a more prominent cursor
-(solid and blinking) while other windows show a weaker cursor (such as
-a hollow box). On text terminals, which have just one cursor, that cursor
-appears in the selected window.
+(usually solid and blinking) while other windows show a weaker cursor
+(such as a hollow box). On text terminals, which have just one
+cursor, that cursor always appears in the selected window.
Most Emacs commands implicitly apply to the text in the selected
window (though mouse commands generally operate on whatever window you
-click them in, whether selected or not). The other windows display
-text for reference only, unless/until you select them. If you use
-multiple frames under the X Window System, then giving the input focus
-to a particular frame selects a window in that frame.
+click them in, whether selected or not). The text in other windows is
+mostly visible for reference, unless/until you select them. If you
+use multiple frames on a graphical display, then giving the input
+focus to a particular frame selects a window in that frame.
Each window's last line is a @dfn{mode line}, which describes what
is going on in that window. It appears in different color and/or a
editing commands will take effect. This location is called @dfn{point}.
Many Emacs commands move point through the text, so that you can edit at
different places in it. You can also place point by clicking mouse
-button 1.
+button 1 (normally the left button).
- While the cursor appears to point @emph{at} a character, you should
+ While the cursor appears to be @emph{on} a character, you should
think of point as @emph{between} two characters; it points @emph{before}
the character that appears under the cursor. For example, if your text
looks like @samp{frob} with the cursor over the @samp{b}, then point is
@node Echo Area
@section The Echo Area
@cindex echo area
-@c
The line at the bottom of the frame (below the mode line) is the
@dfn{echo area}. It is used to display small amounts of text for
(@pxref{Display Custom}).
@cindex error message in the echo area
- If a command cannot be executed, it may display an @dfn{error message}
-in the echo area. Error messages are accompanied by beeping or by
-flashing the screen. The error also discards any input you have typed
-ahead.
+ If a command cannot do its job, it may display an @dfn{error
+message} in the echo area. Error messages are accompanied by beeping
+or by flashing the screen. The error also discards any input you have
+typed ahead.
Some commands display informative messages in the echo area. These
messages look much like error messages, but they are not announced
character position of point in the text and its current column in the
window. Commands that take a long time often display messages ending
in @samp{...} while they are working, and add @samp{done} at the end
-when they are finished.
+when they are finished. They may also indicate progress with
+percentages.
@cindex @samp{*Messages*} buffer
@cindex saved echo area messages
@c
Each text window's last line is a @dfn{mode line}, which describes
-what is going on in that window. When there is only one text window,
-the mode line appears right above the echo area; it is the
-next-to-last line in the frame. The mode line starts and ends with
-dashes. On a text-mode display, the mode line is in inverse video if
-the terminal supports that; on a graphics display, the mode line has a
-3D box appearance to help it stand out. The mode line of the
-selected window has a slightly different appearance than those of
-other windows; see @ref{Optional Mode Line}, for more about this.
+what is going on in that window. The mode line starts and ends with
+dashes. When there is only one text window, the mode line appears
+right above the echo area; it is the next-to-last line in the frame.
+On a text-mode display, the mode line is in inverse video if the
+terminal supports that; on a graphics display, the mode line has a 3D
+box appearance to help it stand out. The mode line of the selected
+window has a slightly different appearance than those of other
+windows; see @ref{Optional Mode Line}, for more about this.
Normally, the mode line looks like this:
@example
--@var{cs}:@var{ch} @var{buf} @var{pos} @var{line} (@var{major} @var{minor})------
+-@var{cs}:@var{ch}-@var{fr} @var{buf} @var{pos} @var{line} (@var{major} @var{minor})------
@end example
@noindent
not been edited. For a read-only buffer, it is @samp{%*} if the buffer
is modified, and @samp{%%} otherwise.
+ @var{fr} appears only on text-only terminals, to show the selected
+frame name. @xref{Frames}. The initial frame's name is @samp{F1}.
+
@var{buf} is the name of the window's @dfn{buffer}. In most cases
this is the same as the name of a file you are editing. @xref{Buffers}.
The buffer displayed in the selected window (the window that the
-cursor is in) is also Emacs's current buffer, the one that editing
-takes place in. When we speak of what some command does to ``the
-buffer,'' we are talking about the current buffer.
+cursor is in) is the @dfn{current buffer}--the one that editing takes
+place in. When we speak of what some command does to ``the buffer,''
+we mean it does those things to the current buffer.
@var{pos} tells you whether there is additional text above the top of
the window, or below the bottom. If your buffer is small and it is all
the total number of messages. Compilation buffers and Shell buffers
display the status of the subprocess.
- @var{minor} is a list of some of the @dfn{minor modes} that are turned
-on at the moment in the window's chosen buffer. For example,
+ @var{minor} is a list of some of the @dfn{minor modes} that are
+turned on at the moment in the window's chosen buffer. For example,
@samp{Fill} means that Auto Fill mode is on. @samp{Abbrev} means that
Word Abbrev mode is on. @samp{Ovwrt} means that Overwrite mode is on.
-@xref{Minor Modes}, for more information. @samp{Narrow} means that the
-buffer being displayed has editing restricted to only a portion of its
-text. This is not really a minor mode, but is like one.
+@xref{Minor Modes}, for more information. @samp{Narrow} means that
+the buffer being displayed has editing restricted to only a portion of
+its text. (This is not really a minor mode, but is like one.)
@xref{Narrowing}. @samp{Def} means that a keyboard macro is being
defined. @xref{Keyboard Macros}.
brackets appear in every window's mode line or not in any of them.
@xref{Recursive Edit}.@refill
- Non-windowing terminals can only show a single Emacs frame at a time
-(@pxref{Frames}). On such terminals, the mode line displays the name of
-the selected frame, after @var{ch}. The initial frame's name is
-@samp{F1}.
-
@var{cs} states the coding system used for the file you are editing.
A dash indicates the default state of affairs: no code conversion,
except for end-of-line translation if the file contents call for that.
@samp{=} means no conversion whatsoever. Nontrivial code conversions
are represented by various letters---for example, @samp{1} refers to ISO
-Latin-1. @xref{Coding Systems}, for more information. If you are using
-an input method, a string of the form @samp{@var{i}>} is added to the
-beginning of @var{cs}; @var{i} identifies the input method. (Some input
-methods show @samp{+} or @samp{@@} instead of @samp{>}.) @xref{Input
-Methods}.
+Latin-1. @xref{Coding Systems}, for more information.
+
+ On a text-only terminal, @var{cs} includes two additional characters
+which describe the coding system for keyboard input and the coding
+system for terminal output. They come right before the coding system
+used for the file you are editing.
- When you are using a character-only terminal (not a window system),
-@var{cs} uses three characters to describe, respectively, the coding
-system for keyboard input, the coding system for terminal output, and
-the coding system used for the file you are editing.
+ If you are using an input method, a string of the form
+@samp{@var{i}>} is added to the beginning of @var{cs}; @var{i}
+identifies the input method. (Some input methods show @samp{+} or
+@samp{@@} instead of @samp{>}.) @xref{Input Methods}.
When multibyte characters are not enabled, @var{cs} does not appear at
all. @xref{Enabling Multibyte}.
@samp{(Unix)} instead of the colon even for files that use newline to
separate lines.
-@vindex eol-mnemonic-unix
-@vindex eol-mnemonic-dos
-@vindex eol-mnemonic-mac
-@vindex eol-mnemonic-undecided
- You can customize the mode line display for each of the end-of-line
-formats by setting each of the variables @code{eol-mnemonic-unix},
-@code{eol-mnemonic-dos}, @code{eol-mnemonic-mac}, and
-@code{eol-mnemonic-undecided} to any string you find appropriate.
-@xref{Variables}, for an explanation of how to set variables.
-
@xref{Optional Mode Line}, for features that add other handy
information to the mode line, such as the size of the buffer, the
-current column number of point, the current time, and whether new mail
-for you has arrived.
+current column number of point, and whether new mail for you has
+arrived.
-The mode line is mouse-sensitive; when you move the mouse across
+ The mode line is mouse-sensitive; when you move the mouse across
various parts of it, Emacs displays help text to say what a click in
that place will do. @xref{Mode Line Mouse}.
@kindex M-`
@kindex F10
@findex tmm-menubar
- When you are using a window system, you can use the mouse to choose a
-command from the menu bar. An arrow pointing right, after the menu
-item, indicates that the item leads to a subsidiary menu; @samp{...} at
-the end means that the command will read arguments (further input from you)
-before it actually does anything.
+ On a graphical terminal, you can use the mouse to choose a command
+from the menu bar. An arrow pointing right, after the menu item,
+indicates that the item leads to a subsidiary menu; @samp{...} at the
+end means that the command will read arguments (further input from
+you) before it actually does anything.
To view the full command name and documentation for a menu item, type
@kbd{C-h k}, and then select the menu bar with the mouse in the usual
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