* Visiting:: Visiting a file prepares Emacs to edit the file.
* Saving:: Saving makes your changes permanent.
* Reverting:: Reverting cancels all the changes not saved.
-@ifnottex
-* Autorevert:: Auto Reverting non-file buffers.
-@end ifnottex
+* Auto Revert:: Keeping buffers automatically up-to-date.
* Auto Save:: Auto Save periodically protects against loss of data.
* File Aliases:: Handling multiple names for one file.
* Directories:: Creating, deleting, and listing file directories.
is not modified. (If you have edited the text, it would be wrong to
discard your changes.)
+ You can also tell Emacs to revert buffers automatically when their
+visited files change on disk; @pxref{Auto Revert}.
+
+@node Auto Revert
+@section Auto Revert: Keeping buffers automatically up-to-date
@cindex Global Auto Revert mode
@cindex mode, Global Auto Revert
@cindex Auto Revert mode
@findex global-auto-revert-mode
@findex auto-revert-mode
@findex auto-revert-tail-mode
-@vindex auto-revert-interval
-@vindex auto-revert-remote-files
+
+ A buffer can get out of sync with respect to its visited file on
+disk if that file is changed by another program. To keep it up to
+date, you can enable Auto Revert mode by typing @kbd{M-x auto-revert-mode}.
+This automatically reverts the buffer when its visited file changes on
+disk. To do the same for all file buffers, type
+@kbd{M-x global-auto-revert-mode} to enable Global Auto Revert mode.
+
+ Auto Revert will not revert a buffer if it has unsaved changes, or if
+its file on disk is deleted or renamed.
+
+ One use of Auto Revert mode is to ``tail'' a file such as a system
+log, so that changes made to that file by other programs are
+continuously displayed. To do this, just move the point to the end of
+the buffer, and it will stay there as the file contents change.
+However, if you are sure that the file will only change by growing at
+the end, use Auto Revert Tail mode instead
+(@code{auto-revert-tail-mode}). It is more efficient for this.
+Auto Revert Tail mode also works for remote files.
+
@vindex auto-revert-verbose
- You can also tell Emacs to revert buffers periodically. To do this
-for a specific buffer, enable the minor mode Auto-Revert mode by
-typing @kbd{M-x auto-revert-mode}. This automatically reverts the
-current buffer when its visited file changes on disk. To do the same
-for all file buffers, type @kbd{M-x global-auto-revert-mode} to enable
-Global Auto-Revert mode. These minor modes do not check or revert
-remote files, because that is usually too slow. This behavior can be
-changed by setting the variable @code{auto-revert-remote-files} to
-non-@code{nil}.
+ When a buffer is auto-reverted, a message is generated. This can be
+suppressed by setting @code{auto-revert-verbose} to @code{nil}.
+
+@vindex auto-revert-remote-files
+ The Auto Revert modes do not check or revert remote files, because
+that is usually too slow. This behavior can be changed by setting the
+variable @code{auto-revert-remote-files} to non-@code{nil}.
@cindex file notifications
@vindex auto-revert-use-notify
- By default, Auto-Revert mode works using @dfn{file notifications},
+@vindex auto-revert-interval
+ By default, Auto Revert mode works using @dfn{file notifications},
whereby changes in the filesystem are reported to Emacs by the OS.
You can disable use of file notifications by customizing the variable
@code{auto-revert-use-notify} to a @code{nil} value, then Emacs will
@vindex auto-revert-avoid-polling
@vindex auto-revert-notify-exclude-dir-regexp
- By default, Auto-Revert mode will poll files for changes
-periodically even when file notifications are used. Such polling is
-usually unnecessary, and turning it off may save power by relying on
-notifications only. To do so, set the variable
+ By default, Auto Revert mode will poll files for changes
+periodically even when file notifications are used. Polling is
+unnecessary in many cases, and turning it off may save power by
+relying on notifications only. To do so, set the variable
@code{auto-revert-avoid-polling} to non-@code{nil}. However,
notification is ineffective on certain file systems; mainly network
file system on Unix-like machines, where files can be altered from
-other machines. To force polling when
+other machines. For such file systems, polling may be necessary.
+To force polling when
@code{auto-revert-avoid-polling} is non-@code{nil}, set
@code{auto-revert-notify-exclude-dir-regexp} to match files that
should be excluded from using notification.
- One use of Auto-Revert mode is to ``tail'' a file such as a system
-log, so that changes made to that file by other programs are
-continuously displayed. To do this, just move the point to the end of
-the buffer, and it will stay there as the file contents change.
-However, if you are sure that the file will only change by growing at
-the end, use Auto-Revert Tail mode instead
-(@code{auto-revert-tail-mode}). It is more efficient for this.
-Auto-Revert Tail mode works also for remote files.
-
- When a buffer is auto-reverted, a message is generated. This can be
-suppressed by setting @code{auto-revert-verbose} to @code{nil}.
-
- In Dired buffers (@pxref{Dired}), Auto-Revert mode refreshes the
+ In Dired buffers (@pxref{Dired}), Auto Revert mode refreshes the
buffer when a file is created or deleted in the buffer's directory.
@xref{VC Undo}, for commands to revert to earlier versions of files
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