@cindex text
@cindex manipulating text
- The term @dfn{text} has two widespread meanings in our area of the
-computer field. One is data that is a sequence of characters. Any file
-that you edit with Emacs is text, in this sense of the word. The other
-meaning is more restrictive: a sequence of characters in a human language
-for humans to read (possibly after processing by a text formatter), as
-opposed to a program or binary data. This chapter is concerned with
-editing text in the narrower sense.
-
- Human languages have syntactic/stylistic conventions that can be
-supported or used to advantage by editor commands: conventions involving
-words, sentences, paragraphs, and capital letters. This chapter
-describes Emacs commands for all of these things. There are also
-commands for @dfn{filling}, which means rearranging the lines of a
-paragraph to be approximately equal in length. The commands for moving
-over and killing words, sentences and paragraphs, while intended
-primarily for editing text, are also often useful for editing programs.
-
- Emacs has several major modes for editing human-language text. If the
-file contains text pure and simple, use Text mode, which customizes
-Emacs in small ways for the syntactic conventions of text. Outline mode
+ This chapter describes Emacs commands that act on @dfn{text}, by
+which we mean sequences of characters in a human language (as opposed
+to, say, a computer programming language). These commands act in ways
+that take into account the syntactic and stylistic conventions of
+human languages: conventions involving words, sentences, paragraphs,
+and capital letters. There are also commands for @dfn{filling}, which
+means rearranging the lines of a paragraph to be approximately equal
+in length. These commands, while intended primarily for editing text,
+are also often useful for editing programs.
+
+ Emacs has several major modes for editing human-language text. If
+the file contains ordinary text, use Text mode, which customizes Emacs
+in small ways for the syntactic conventions of text. Outline mode
provides special commands for operating on text with an outline
structure.
@iftex
@end iftex
For text which contains embedded commands for text formatters, Emacs
-has other major modes, each for a particular formatter. Thus, for
-input to @TeX{}, you would use @TeX{}
+has other major modes, each for a particular formatter. For instance,
+La@TeX{} mode is used for editing La@TeX{}
@iftex
-mode (@pxref{TeX Mode,,@TeX{} Mode}).
+documents (@pxref{LaTeX,,La@TeX{} Mode}),
@end iftex
@ifnottex
-mode.
+documents,
@end ifnottex
-For input to groff or nroff, use Nroff mode.
+while Nroff mode is used for editing groff or nroff files.
Instead of using a text formatter, you can edit formatted text in
WYSIWYG style (``what you see is what you get''), with Enriched mode.
@cindex ASCII art
If you need to edit pictures made out of text characters (commonly
-referred to as ``ASCII art''), use @kbd{M-x edit-picture} to enter
-Picture mode, a special major mode for editing such pictures.
+referred to as ``ASCII art''), use Picture mode, a special major mode
+for editing such pictures.
@iftex
@xref{Picture Mode,,, emacs-xtra, Specialized Emacs Features}.
@end iftex
@findex backward-word
The commands @kbd{M-f} (@code{forward-word}) and @kbd{M-b}
(@code{backward-word}) move forward and backward over words. These
-Meta characters are thus analogous to the corresponding control
-characters, @kbd{C-f} and @kbd{C-b}, which move over single characters
-in the text. The analogy extends to numeric arguments, which serve as
-repeat counts. @kbd{M-f} with a negative argument moves backward, and
-@kbd{M-b} with a negative argument moves forward. Forward motion
-stops right after the last letter of the word, while backward motion
-stops right before the first letter.
+@key{Meta}-based key sequences are analogous to the key sequences
+@kbd{C-f} and @kbd{C-b}, which move over single characters. The
+analogy extends to numeric arguments, which serve as repeat counts.
+@kbd{M-f} with a negative argument moves backward, and @kbd{M-b} with
+a negative argument moves forward. Forward motion stops right after
+the last letter of the word, while backward motion stops right before
+the first letter.
@kindex M-d
@findex kill-word
@kbd{M-d} (@code{kill-word}) kills the word after point. To be
precise, it kills everything from point to the place @kbd{M-f} would
move to. Thus, if point is in the middle of a word, @kbd{M-d} kills
-just the part after point. If some punctuation comes between point and the
-next word, it is killed along with the word. (If you wish to kill only the
-next word but not the punctuation before it, simply do @kbd{M-f} to get
-the end, and kill the word backwards with @kbd{M-@key{DEL}}.)
-@kbd{M-d} takes arguments just like @kbd{M-f}.
+just the part after point. If some punctuation comes between point
+and the next word, it is killed along with the word. (If you wish to
+kill only the next word but not the punctuation before it, simply do
+@kbd{M-f} to get the end, and kill the word backwards with
+@kbd{M-@key{DEL}}.) @kbd{M-d} takes arguments just like @kbd{M-f}.
@findex backward-kill-word
@kindex M-DEL
@kindex M-@@
@findex mark-word
- To operate on the next @var{n} words with an operation which applies
-between point and mark, you can either set the mark at point and then move
-over the words, or you can use the command @kbd{M-@@} (@code{mark-word})
-which does not move point, but sets the mark where @kbd{M-f} would move
-to. @kbd{M-@@} accepts a numeric argument that says how many words to
-scan for the place to put the mark.
+ To operate on the next @var{n} words with an operation which acts on
+the region, use the command @kbd{M-@@} (@code{mark-word}). This
+command does not move point, but sets the mark where @kbd{M-f} would
+move to. Once the mark is active, each additional @kbd{M-@@} advances
+the mark by one additional word. @kbd{M-@@} also accepts a numeric
+argument that says how many words to scan for the place to put the
+mark.
The word commands' understanding of word boundaries is controlled
by the syntax table. Any character can, for example, be declared to
whitespace at the sentence boundary.
@kindex M-k
-@kindex C-x DEL
@findex kill-sentence
+ Just as @kbd{C-a} and @kbd{C-e} have a kill command, @kbd{C-k}, to
+go with them, @kbd{M-a} and @kbd{M-e} have a corresponding kill
+command: @kbd{M-k} (@code{kill-sentence}) kills from point to the end
+of the sentence. With a positive numeric argument @var{n}, it kills
+the next @var{n} sentences; with a negative argument @minus{}@var{n},
+it kills back to the beginning of the @var{n}th preceding sentence.
+
+@kindex C-x DEL
@findex backward-kill-sentence
- Just as @kbd{C-a} and @kbd{C-e} have a kill command, @kbd{C-k}, to go
-with them, so @kbd{M-a} and @kbd{M-e} have a corresponding kill command
-@kbd{M-k} (@code{kill-sentence}) which kills from point to the end of
-the sentence. With minus one as an argument it kills back to the
-beginning of the sentence. Larger arguments serve as a repeat count.
-There is also a command, @kbd{C-x @key{DEL}}
-(@code{backward-kill-sentence}), for killing back to the beginning of a
-sentence. This command is useful when you change your mind in the
-middle of composing text.
+ The @kbd{C-x @key{DEL}} (@code{backward-kill-sentence}) kills back
+to the beginning of a sentence.
The sentence commands assume that you follow the American typist's
convention of putting two spaces at the end of a sentence; they consider
@vindex sentence-end-double-space
If you want to use just one space between sentences, you can set the
variable @code{sentence-end-double-space} to @code{nil} to make the
-sentence commands stop for single spaces. However, this mode has a
+sentence commands stop for single spaces. However, this has a
drawback: there is no way to distinguish between periods that end
sentences and those that indicate abbreviations. For convenient and
reliable editing, we therefore recommend you follow the two-space
@vindex sentence-end
The variable @code{sentence-end} controls how to recognize the end
-of a sentence. If non-@code{nil}, it is a regexp that matches the
-last few characters of a sentence, together with the whitespace
-following the sentence. If the value is @code{nil}, the default, then
-Emacs computes the regexp according to various criteria such as the
-value of @code{sentence-end-double-space}. @xref{Regexp Example}, for
-a detailed explanation of one of the regular expressions Emacs uses
-for this purpose.
+of a sentence. If non-@code{nil}, its value should be a regular
+expression, which is used to match the last few characters of a
+sentence, together with the whitespace following the sentence
+(@pxref{Regexps}). If the value is @code{nil}, the default, then
+Emacs computes sentence ends according to various criteria such as the
+value of @code{sentence-end-double-space}.
@vindex sentence-end-without-period
Some languages do not use periods to indicate the end of a sentence.
@kindex M-h
@findex mark-paragraph
- When you wish to operate on a paragraph, you can type @kbd{M-h}
-(@code{mark-paragraph}) to set the region around it. Thus, for
-example, @kbd{M-h C-w} kills the paragraph around or after point.
-@kbd{M-h} puts point at the beginning and mark at the end of the
-paragraph point was in. If point is between paragraphs (in a run of
-blank lines, or at a boundary), the paragraph following point is
-surrounded by point and mark. If there are blank lines preceding the
-first line of the paragraph, one of these blank lines is included in
-the region. If the region is already active, the command sets the
-mark without changing point; furthermore, each subsequent @kbd{M-h}
-further advances the mark by one paragraph.
+ When you wish to operate on a paragraph, type @kbd{M-h}
+(@code{mark-paragraph}) to set the region around it. For example,
+@kbd{M-h C-w} kills the paragraph around or after point. @kbd{M-h}
+puts point at the beginning and mark at the end of the paragraph point
+was in. If point is between paragraphs (in a run of blank lines, or
+at a boundary), the paragraph following point is surrounded by point
+and mark. If there are blank lines preceding the first line of the
+paragraph, one of these blank lines is included in the region. If the
+region is already active, the command sets the mark without changing
+point; furthermore, each subsequent @kbd{M-h} further advances the
+mark by one paragraph.
@vindex paragraph-start
@vindex paragraph-separate
@section Pages
@cindex pages
-@cindex formfeed
- Files are often thought of as divided into @dfn{pages} by the
-@dfn{formfeed} character (@acronym{ASCII} control-L, octal code 014).
-When you print hardcopy for a file, this character forces a page break;
-thus, each page of the file goes on a separate page on paper. Most Emacs
-commands treat the page-separator character just like any other
-character: you can insert it with @kbd{C-q C-l}, and delete it with
-@key{DEL}. Thus, you are free to paginate your file or not. However,
-since pages are often meaningful divisions of the file, Emacs provides
+@cindex formfeed character
+ Within some text files, text is divided into @dfn{pages}, which are
+delimited by the @dfn{formfeed character} (@acronym{ASCII} code 12,
+sometimes denoted as @key{control-L}). When you print hardcopy for a
+file, the formfeed character forces a page break: each page of the
+file goes on a separate page on paper. Most Emacs commands treat the
+formfeed character just like any other character: you can insert it
+with @kbd{C-q C-l}, and delete it with @key{DEL}. However, since
+pages are often meaningful divisions of the file, Emacs provides
commands to move over them and operate on them.
@table @kbd
delimited once again. The reason @kbd{C-x C-p} includes only the
following page delimiter in the region is to ensure that.
- A numeric argument to @kbd{C-x C-p} is used to specify which page to go
-to, relative to the current one. Zero means the current page. One means
+ A numeric argument to @kbd{C-x C-p} specifies which page to go to,
+relative to the current one. Zero means the current page. One means
the next page, and @minus{}1 means the previous one.
@kindex C-x l
@vindex page-delimiter
The variable @code{page-delimiter} controls where pages begin. Its
-value is a regexp that matches the beginning of a line that separates
-pages. The normal value of this variable is @code{"^\f"}, which
-matches a formfeed character at the beginning of a line.
+value is a regular expression that matches the beginning of a line
+that separates pages (@pxref{Regexps}). The normal value of this
+variable is @code{"^\f"}, which matches a formfeed character at the
+beginning of a line.
@node Filling
@section Filling Text
@cindex word wrap
@cindex Long Lines minor mode
- Long Lines mode is a minor mode for @dfn{word wrapping}; it lets you
-edit ``unfilled'' text files, which Emacs would normally display as a
-bunch of extremely long lines. Many text editors, such as those built
-into many web browsers, normally do word wrapping.
+ Sometimes, you may come across ``unfilled'' text files, which Emacs
+normally displays as a bunch of extremely long lines. Comfortably
+reading and editing such files normally requires ``word wrap'', a
+feature that breaks up each long text line into multiple screen lines
+in a readable manner---by putting the breaks at word boundaries. Many
+text editors, such as those built into many web browsers, perform word
+wrapping by default.
+
+ There are two different minor modes in Emacs that perform word
+wrapping. The first is Visual Line mode, which does it by altering
+the behavior of screen line continuation. @xref{Visual Line Mode},
+for information about Visual Line mode.
@findex longlines-mode
- To enable Long Lines mode, type @kbd{M-x longlines-mode}. If the
-text is full of long lines, this will ``wrap'' them
-immediately---i.e., break up to fit in the window. As you edit the
-text, Long Lines mode automatically re-wraps lines by inserting or
-deleting @dfn{soft newlines} as necessary (@pxref{Hard and Soft
-Newlines}.) These soft newlines won't show up when you save the
-buffer into a file, or when you copy the text into the kill ring,
-clipboard, or a register.
+ Instead of using Visual Line mode, you can use a minor mode called
+Long Lines mode. Long Lines mode wraps lines by inserting or deleting
+@dfn{soft newlines} as you type (@pxref{Hard and Soft Newlines}).
+These soft newlines won't show up when you save the buffer into a
+file, or when you copy the text into the kill ring, clipboard, or a
+register. Unlike Visual Line mode, Lone Lines mode breaks long lines
+at the fill column (@pxref{Fill Commands}), rather than the right
+window edge. To enable Long Lines mode, type @kbd{M-x
+longlines-mode}. If the text is full of long lines, this also
+immediately ``wraps'' them all.
@findex longlines-auto-wrap
- Word wrapping is @emph{not} the same as ordinary filling
-(@pxref{Fill Commands}). It does not contract multiple spaces into a
-single space, recognize fill prefixes (@pxref{Fill Prefix}), or
-perform adaptive filling (@pxref{Adaptive Fill}). The reason for this
-is that a wrapped line is still, conceptually, a single line. Each
-soft newline is equivalent to exactly one space in that long line, and
-vice versa. However, you can still call filling functions such as
-@kbd{M-q}, and these will work as expected, inserting soft newlines
-that won't show up on disk or when the text is copied. You can even
-rely entirely on the normal fill commands by turning off automatic
-line wrapping, with @kbd{C-u M-x longlines-auto-wrap}. To turn
-automatic line wrapping back on, type @kbd{M-x longlines-auto-wrap}.
+ The word wrap performed by Long Lines mode is @emph{not} the same as
+ordinary filling (@pxref{Fill Commands}). It does not contract
+multiple spaces into a single space, recognize fill prefixes
+(@pxref{Fill Prefix}), or perform adaptive filling (@pxref{Adaptive
+Fill}). The reason for this is that a wrapped line is still,
+conceptually, a single line. Each soft newline is equivalent to
+exactly one space in that long line, and vice versa. However, you can
+still call filling functions such as @kbd{M-q}, and these will work as
+expected, inserting soft newlines that won't show up on disk or when
+the text is copied. You can even rely entirely on the normal fill
+commands by turning off automatic line wrapping, with @kbd{C-u M-x
+longlines-auto-wrap}. To turn automatic line wrapping back on, type
+@kbd{M-x longlines-auto-wrap}.
@findex longlines-show-hard-newlines
Type @kbd{RET} to insert a hard newline, one which automatic
@code{text-mode-hook} can look at the value of @code{major-mode} to see
which of these modes is actually being entered. @xref{Hooks}.
-@ifnottex
- Emacs provides two other modes for editing text that is to be passed
-through a text formatter to produce fancy formatted printed output.
-@xref{Nroff Mode}, for editing input to the formatter nroff.
-@xref{TeX Mode,,@TeX{} Mode}, for editing input to the formatter TeX.
-
- Another mode is used for editing outlines. It allows you to view the
-text at various levels of detail. You can view either the outline
-headings alone or both headings and text; you can also hide some of the
-headings at lower levels from view to make the high level structure more
-visible. @xref{Outline Mode}.
-@end ifnottex
-
@node Outline Mode
@section Outline Mode
@cindex Outline mode
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