\f
-Changes in Emacs 17
+* Changes in Emacs 17
-* Frustrated?
+** Frustrated?
Try M-x doctor.
-* Bored?
+** Bored?
Try M-x hanoi.
-* Brain-damaged?
+** Brain-damaged?
Try M-x yow.
-* Sun3, Tahoe, Apollo, HP9000s300, Celerity, NCR Tower 32,
+** Sun3, Tahoe, Apollo, HP9000s300, Celerity, NCR Tower 32,
Sequent, Stride, Encore, Plexus and AT&T 7300 machines supported.
The Tahoe, Sun3, Sequent and Celerity use 4.2. In regard to the
HP9000s300, Stride and Nu run forms of System V. System V rel 2 also
works on Vaxes now. See etc/MACHINES.
-* System V Unix supported, including subprocesses.
+** System V Unix supported, including subprocesses.
It should be possible now to bring up Emacs on a machine running
mere unameliorated system V Unix with no major work; just possible bug
fixes. But you can expect to find a handful of those on any machine
that Emacs has not been run on before.
-* Berkeley 4.1 Unix supported.
+** Berkeley 4.1 Unix supported.
See etc/MACHINES.
-* Portable `alloca' provided.
+** Portable `alloca' provided.
Emacs can now run on machines that do not and cannot support the library
subroutine `alloca' in the canonical fashion, using an `alloca' emulation
written in C.
-* On-line manual.
+** On-line manual.
Info now contains an Emacs manual, with essentially the same text
as in the printed manual.
Nicely typeset and printed copies of the manual are available
from the Free Software Foundation.
-* Backup file version numbers.
+** Backup file version numbers.
Emacs now supports version numbers in backup files.
the number of oldest versions to keep, using minus the argument to override
`kept-old-versions'.
-* Immediate conflict detection.
+** Immediate conflict detection.
Emacs now locks the files it is modifying, so that if
you start to modify within Emacs a file that is being
Emacs as part of configuring it for your machine, the lock feature
is turned off.
-* M-x recover-file.
+** M-x recover-file.
This command is used to get a file back from an auto-save
(after a system crash, for example). It takes a file name
as argument and visits that file, but gets the data from the
file's last auto save rather than from the file itself.
-* M-x normal-mode.
+** M-x normal-mode.
This command resets the current buffer's major mode and local
variables to be as specified by the visit filename, the -*- line
and/or the Local Variables: block at the end of the buffer.
It is the same thing normally done when a file is first visited.
-* Echo area messages disappear shortly if minibuffer is in use.
+** Echo area messages disappear shortly if minibuffer is in use.
Any message in the echo area disappears after 2 seconds
if the minibuffer is active. This allows the minibuffer
to become visible again.
-* C-z on System V runs a subshell.
+** C-z on System V runs a subshell.
On systems which do not allow programs to be suspended, the C-z command
forks a subshell that talks directly to the terminal, and then waits
in that you can run other programs and then return to Emacs. However,
you cannot log out from the subshell.
-* C-c is always a prefix character.
+** C-c is always a prefix character.
Also, subcommands of C-c which are letters are always
reserved for the user. No standard Emacs major mode
defines any of them.
-* Picture mode C-c commands changed.
+** Picture mode C-c commands changed.
The old C-c k command is now C-c C-w.
The old C-c y command is now C-c C-x.
-* Shell mode commands changed.
+** Shell mode commands changed.
All the special commands of Shell mode are now moved onto
the C-c prefix. Most are not changed aside from that.
The old M-= (copy previous input) command is now C-c C-y.
-* Shell mode recognizes aliases for `pushd', `popd' and `cd'.
+** Shell mode recognizes aliases for `pushd', `popd' and `cd'.
Shell mode now uses the variable `shell-pushd-regexp' as a
regular expression to recognize any command name that is
with the effect of a `popd', and `shell-cd-regexp' to recognize
commands with the effect of a `cd'.
-* "Exit" command in certain modes now C-c C-c.
+** "Exit" command in certain modes now C-c C-c.
These include electric buffer menu mode, electric command history
mode, Info node edit mode, and Rmail edit mode. In all these
modes, the command to exit used to be just C-c.
-* Outline mode changes.
+** Outline mode changes.
Lines that are not heading lines are now called "body" lines.
The command `hide-text' is renamed to `hide-body'.
they no longer use up undo memory and no longer interfere with
undoing earlier commands.
-* Rmail changes.
+** Rmail changes.
The s and q commands now both expunge deleted messages before saving;
use C-x C-s to save without expunging.
The F command (rmail-find) is renamed to M-s (rmail-search).
Various new commands and features exist; see the Emacs manual.
-* Local bindings described first in describe-bindings.
+** Local bindings described first in describe-bindings.
-* [...], {...} now balance in Fundamental mode.
+** [...], {...} now balance in Fundamental mode.
-* Nroff mode and TeX mode.
+** Nroff mode and TeX mode.
There are two new major modes for editing nroff input and TeX input.
See the Emacs manual for full information.
-* New C indentation style variable `c-brace-imaginary-offset'.
+** New C indentation style variable `c-brace-imaginary-offset'.
The value of `c-brace-imaginary-offset', normally zero, controls the
indentation of a statement inside a brace-group where the open-brace
is not the first thing on a line. The value says where the open-brace
is imagined to be, relative to the first nonblank character on the line.
-* Dired improvements.
+** Dired improvements.
Dired now normally keeps the cursor at the beginning of the file name,
not at the beginning of the line. The most used motion commands are
If the `v' command is invoked on a file which is a directory,
dired is run on that directory.
-* `visit-tag-table' renamed `visit-tags-table'.
+** `visit-tag-table' renamed `visit-tags-table'.
This is so apropos of `tags' finds everything you need to
know about in connection with Tags.
-* `mh-e' library uses C-c as prefix.
+** `mh-e' library uses C-c as prefix.
All the special commands of `mh-rmail' now are placed on a
C-c prefix rather than on the C-x prefix. This is for
consistency with other special modes with their own commands.
-* M-$ or `spell-word' checks word before point.
+** M-$ or `spell-word' checks word before point.
It used to check the word after point.
-* Quitting during autoloading no longer causes trouble.
+** Quitting during autoloading no longer causes trouble.
Now, when a file is autoloaded, all function redefinitions
and `provide' calls are recorded and are undone if you quit
which are normally autoloading have been defined already, but the
entire file is not really present to support them.
-* `else' can now be indented correctly in C mode.
+** `else' can now be indented correctly in C mode.
TAB in C mode now knows which `if' statement an `else' matches
up with, and can indent the `else' correctly under the `if',
even if the `if' contained such things as another `if' statement,
or a `while' or `for' statement, with no braces around it.
-* `batch-byte-compile'
+** `batch-byte-compile'
Runs byte-compile-file on the files specified on the command line.
All the rest of the command line arguments are taken as files to
Each file will be processed even if an error occurred previously.
For example, invoke `emacs -batch -f batch-byte-compile *.el'.
-* `-batch' changes.
+** `-batch' changes.
`-batch' now implies `-q': no init file is loaded by Emacs when
`-batch' is used. Also, no `term/TERMTYPE.el' file is loaded. Auto
that a file is being loaded. That is because you can prevent this
message by passing `t' as the third argument to `load'.
-* Display of search string in incremental search.
+** Display of search string in incremental search.
Now, when you type C-s or C-r to reuse the previous search
string, that search string is displayed immediately in the echo area.
Three dots are displayed after the search string while search
is actually going on.
-* View commands.
+** View commands.
The commands C-x ], C-x [, C-x /, C-x j and C-x o are now
available inside `view-buffer' and `view-file', with their
normal meanings.
-* Full-width windows preferred.
+** Full-width windows preferred.
The ``other-window'' commands prefer other full width windows,
and will split only full width windows.
-* M-x rename-file can copy if necessary.
+** M-x rename-file can copy if necessary.
When used between different file systems, since actual renaming does
not work, the old file will be copied and deleted.
-* Within C-x ESC, you can pick the command to repeat.
+** Within C-x ESC, you can pick the command to repeat.
While editing a previous command to be repeated, inside C-x ESC,
you can now use the commands M-p and M-n to pick an earlier or
front of the command history, unless it is identical with the
first thing in the command history.
-* Use C-c C-c to exit from editing within Info.
+** Use C-c C-c to exit from editing within Info.
It used to be C-z for this. Somehow this use of C-z was
left out when all the others were moved. The intention is that
C-z should always suspend Emacs.
-* Default arg to C-x < and C-x > now window width minus 2.
+** Default arg to C-x < and C-x > now window width minus 2.
These commands, which scroll the current window horizontally
by a specified number of columns, now scroll a considerable
distance rather than a single column if used with no argument.
-* Auto Save Files Deleted.
+** Auto Save Files Deleted.
The default value of `delete-auto-save-files' is now `t', so that
when you save a file for real, its auto save file is deleted.
-* Rnews changes.
+** Rnews changes.
The N, P and J keys in Rnews are renamed to M-n, M-p and M-j.
These keys move among newsgroups.
The s command for outputting the current article to a file
is renamed as o, to be compatible with Rmail.
-* Sendmail changes.
+** Sendmail changes.
If you have a ~/.mailrc file, Emacs searches it for mailing address
aliases, and these aliases are expanded when you send mail in Emacs.
to use on the line that goes between the headers and the message text.
By default it is still "--text follows this line--".
-* Command history truncated automatically.
+** Command history truncated automatically.
Just before each garbage collection, all but the last 30 elements
of the command history are discarded.
\f
-Incompatible Lisp Programming Changes in Emacs 17
+* Incompatible Lisp Programming Changes in Emacs 17
-* `"e' no longer supported.
+** `"e' no longer supported.
This feature, which allowed Lisp functions to take arguments
that were not evaluated, has been eliminated, because it is
(defun foo-1 (x y z) ...
-* Functions `region-to-string' and `region-around-match' removed.
+** Functions `region-to-string' and `region-around-match' removed.
These functions were made for compatibility with Gosling Emacs, but it
turns out to be undesirable to use them in GNU Emacs because they use
you one bound at a time, as a numeric value, without changing
point or the mark.
-* Function `function-type' removed.
+** Function `function-type' removed.
This just appeared not to be very useful. It can easily be written in
Lisp if you happen to want it. Just use `symbol-function' to get the
function definition of a symbol, and look at its data type or its car
if it is a list.
-* Variable `buffer-number' removed.
+** Variable `buffer-number' removed.
You can still use the function `buffer-number' to find out
a buffer's unique number (assigned in order of creation).
-* Variable `executing-macro' renamed `executing-kbd-macro'.
+** Variable `executing-macro' renamed `executing-kbd-macro'.
This variable is the currently executing keyboard macro, as
a string, or `nil' when no keyboard macro is being executed.
-* Loading term/$TERM.
+** Loading term/$TERM.
The library term/$TERM (where $TERM get replaced by your terminal
type), which is done by Emacs automatically when it starts up, now
in a special subdirectory named term, and have names like
term/vt100.el.
-* `command-history' format changed.
+** `command-history' format changed.
The elements of this list are now Lisp expressions which can
be evaluated directly to repeat a command.
-* Unused editing commands removed.
+** Unused editing commands removed.
The functions `forward-to-word', `backward-to-word',
`upcase-char', `mark-beginning-of-buffer' and `mark-end-of-buffer'
lisp/unused.el if you need them.
\f
-Upward Compatible Lisp Programming Changes in Emacs 17
+* Upward Compatible Lisp Programming Changes in Emacs 17
-* You can now continue after errors and quits.
+** You can now continue after errors and quits.
When the debugger is entered because of a C-g, due to
a non-`nil' value of `debug-on-quit', the `c' command in the debugger
Errors signaled with the function `error' cannot be continued.
If you try to continue, the error just happens again.
-* `dot' renamed `point'.
+** `dot' renamed `point'.
The word `dot' has been replaced with `point' in all
function and variable names, including:
The old names are still supported, for now.
-* `string-match' records position of end of match.
+** `string-match' records position of end of match.
After a successful call to `string-match', `(match-end 0)' will
return the index in the string of the first character after the match.
used to find the indices of beginnings and ends of substrings matched
by subpatterns surrounded by parentheses.
-* New function `insert-before-markers'.
+** New function `insert-before-markers'.
This function is just like `insert' except in the handling of any
relocatable markers that are located at the point of insertion.
With `insert-before-markers', they end up pointing after the inserted
text.
-* New function `copy-alist'.
+** New function `copy-alist'.
This function takes one argument, a list, and makes a disjoint copy
of the alist structure. The list itself is copied, and each element
This is what it takes to get two alists disjoint enough that changes
in one do not change the result of `assq' on the other.
-* New function `copy-keymap'.
+** New function `copy-keymap'.
This function takes a keymap as argument and returns a new keymap
containing initially the same bindings. Rebindings in either one of
them will not alter the bindings in the other.
-* New function `copy-syntax-table'.
+** New function `copy-syntax-table'.
This function takes a syntax table as argument and returns a new
syntax table containing initially the same syntax settings. Changes
in either one of them will not alter the other.
-* Randomizing the random numbers.
+** Randomizing the random numbers.
`(random t)' causes the random number generator's seed to be set
based on the current time and Emacs's process id.
-* Third argument to `modify-syntax-entry'.
+** Third argument to `modify-syntax-entry'.
The optional third argument to `modify-syntax-entry', if specified
should be a syntax table. The modification is made in that syntax table
rather than in the current syntax table.
-* New function `run-hooks'.
+** New function `run-hooks'.
This function takes any number of symbols as arguments.
It processes the symbols in order. For each symbol which
This is useful in major mode commands.
-* Second arg to `switch-to-buffer'.
+** Second arg to `switch-to-buffer'.
If this function is given a non-`nil' second argument, then the
selection being done is not recorded on the selection history.
feature is used by the view commands, so that the selection history
after exiting from viewing is the same as it was before.
-* Second arg to `display-buffer' and `pop-to-buffer'.
+** Second arg to `display-buffer' and `pop-to-buffer'.
These two functions both accept an optional second argument which
defaults to `nil'. If the argument is not `nil', it means that
This feature is used by `switch-to-buffer-other-window'.
-* New variable `completion-ignore-case'.
+** New variable `completion-ignore-case'.
If this variable is non-`nil', completion allows strings
in different cases to be considered matching. The global value
in the many situations (buffer names, command names, file names)
where case makes a difference.
-* Major modes related to Text mode call text-mode-hook, then their own hooks.
+** Major modes related to Text mode call text-mode-hook, then their own hooks.
For example, turning on Outline mode first calls the value of
`text-mode-hook' as a function, if it exists and is non-`nil',
and then does likewise for the variable `outline-mode-hook'.
-* Defining new command line switches.
+** Defining new command line switches.
You can define a new command line switch in your .emacs file
by putting elements on the value of `command-switch-alist'.
(setq command-line-args (cdr command-line-args)
to "use up" an argument.
-* New variable `load-in-progress'.
+** New variable `load-in-progress'.
This variable is non-`nil' when a file of Lisp code is being read
and executed by `load'.
-* New variable `print-length'.
+** New variable `print-length'.
The value of this variable is normally `nil'. It may instead be
a number; in that case, when a list is printed by `prin1' or
`princ' only that many initial elements are printed; the rest are
replaced by `...'.
-* New variable `find-file-not-found-hook'.
+** New variable `find-file-not-found-hook'.
If `find-file' or any of its variants is used on a nonexistent file,
the value of `find-file-not-found-hook' is called (if it is not `nil')
with no arguments, after creating an empty buffer. The file's name
can be found as the value of `buffer-file-name'.
-* Processes without buffers.
+** Processes without buffers.
In the function `start-process', you can now specify `nil' as
the process's buffer. You can also set a process's buffer to `nil'
filter, and no indication of its being stopped or killed is given
unless it has a sentinel.
-* New function `user-variable-p'. `v' arg prompting changed.
+** New function `user-variable-p'. `v' arg prompting changed.
This function takes a symbol as argument and returns `t' if
the symbol is defined as a user option variable. This means
The function `read-variable' also now accepts and completes
over user variables only.
-* CBREAK mode input is the default in Unix 4.3 bsd.
+** CBREAK mode input is the default in Unix 4.3 bsd.
In Berkeley 4.3 Unix, there are sufficient features for Emacs to
work fully correctly using CBREAK mode and not using SIGIO.
`set-input-mode'. You can still select either mode by calling
that function.
-* Information on memory usage.
+** Information on memory usage.
The new variable `data-bytes-used' contains the number
of bytes of impure space allocated in Emacs.
and freed again still counts as `used', since it is still
in Emacs's address space.
-* No limit on size of output from `format'.
+** No limit on size of output from `format'.
The string output from `format' used to be truncated to
100 characters in length. Now it can have any length.
-* New errors `void-variable' and `void-function' replace `void-symbol'.
+** New errors `void-variable' and `void-function' replace `void-symbol'.
This change makes it possible to have error messages that
clearly distinguish undefined variables from undefined functions.
It also allows `condition-case' to handle one case without the other.
-* `replace-match' handling of `\'.
+** `replace-match' handling of `\'.
In `replace-match', when the replacement is not literal,
`\' in the replacement string is always treated as an
a regular expression. It is over and above the level of `\'
escaping that goes on when strings are read in Lisp syntax.
-* New error `invalid-regexp'.
+** New error `invalid-regexp'.
A regexp search signals this type of error if the argument does
not meet the rules for regexp syntax.
-* `kill-emacs' with argument.
+** `kill-emacs' with argument.
If the argument is a number, it is returned as the exit status code
of the Emacs process. If the argument is a string, its contents
are stuffed as pending terminal input, to be read by another program
after Emacs is dead.
-* New fifth argument to `subst-char-in-region'.
+** New fifth argument to `subst-char-in-region'.
This argument is optional and defaults to `nil'. If it is not `nil',
then the substitutions made by this function are not recorded
This feature should be used with great care. It is now used
by Outline mode to make lines visible or invisible.
-* ` *Backtrace*' buffer renamed to `*Backtrace*'.
+** ` *Backtrace*' buffer renamed to `*Backtrace*'.
As a result, you can now reselect this buffer easily if you switch to
another while in the debugger.
Exiting from the debugger kills the `*Backtrace*' buffer, so you will
not try to give commands in it when no longer really in the debugger.
-* New function `switch-to-buffer-other-window'.
+** New function `switch-to-buffer-other-window'.
This is the new primitive to select a specified buffer (the
argument) in another window. It is not quite the same as
All functions to select a buffer in another window should
do so by calling this new function.
-* New variable `minibuffer-help-form'.
+** New variable `minibuffer-help-form'.
At entry to the minibuffer, the variable `help-form' is bound
to the value of `minibuffer-help-form'.
can be used to provide a different default way of handling
C-h while in the minibuffer.
-* New \{...} documentation construct.
+** New \{...} documentation construct.
It is now possible to set up the documentation string for
a major mode in such a way that it always describes the contents
Variables controlling indentation style:
...
-* New character syntax class "punctuation".
+** New character syntax class "punctuation".
Punctuation characters behave like whitespace in word and
list parsing, but can be distinguished in regexps and in the
function `char-syntax'. Punctuation syntax is represented by
a period in `modify-syntax-entry'.
-* `auto-mode-alist' no longer needs entries for backup-file names,
+** `auto-mode-alist' no longer needs entries for backup-file names,
Backup suffixes of all kinds are now stripped from a file's name
before searching `auto-mode-alist'.
\f
-Changes in Emacs 16
+* Changes in Emacs 16
-* No special code for Ambassadors, VT-100's and Concept-100's.
+** No special code for Ambassadors, VT-100's and Concept-100's.
Emacs now controls these terminals based on the termcap entry, like
all other terminals. Formerly it did not refer to the termcap entries
See ./TERMS in any case if you find that some terminal does not work
right with Emacs now.
-* Minibuffer default completion character is TAB (and not ESC).
+** Minibuffer default completion character is TAB (and not ESC).
So that ESC can be used in minibuffer for more useful prefix commands.
-* C-z suspends Emacs in all modes.
+** C-z suspends Emacs in all modes.
Formerly, C-z was redefined for other purposes by certain modes,
such as Buffer Menu mode. Now other keys are used for those purposes,
to keep the meaning of C-z uniform.
-* C-x ESC (repeat-complex-command) allows editing the command it repeats.
+** C-x ESC (repeat-complex-command) allows editing the command it repeats.
Instead of asking for confirmation to re-execute a command from the
command history, the command is placed, in its Lisp form, into the
minibuffer for editing. You can confirm by typing RETURN, change some
arguments and then confirm, or abort with C-g.
-* Incremental search does less redisplay on slow terminals.
+** Incremental search does less redisplay on slow terminals.
If the terminal baud rate is <= the value of `isearch-slow-speed',
incremental searching outside the text on the screen creates
This feature is courtesy of crl@purdue.
-* Recursive minibuffers not allowed.
+** Recursive minibuffers not allowed.
If the minibuffer window is selected, most commands that would
use the minibuffer gets an error instead. (Specific commands
This may be overridden by binding the variable
`enable-recursive-minibuffers' to t.
-* New major mode Emacs-Lisp mode, for editing Lisp code to run in Emacs.
+** New major mode Emacs-Lisp mode, for editing Lisp code to run in Emacs.
The mode in which emacs lisp files is edited is now called emacs-lisp-mode
and is distinct from lisp-mode. The latter is intended for use with
.emacs init files which set the value of lisp-mode-hook may need to be
changed to use the new names.
-* Correct matching of parentheses is checked on insertion.
+** Correct matching of parentheses is checked on insertion.
When you insert a close-paren, the matching open-paren
is checked for validity. The close paren must be the kind
This feature was originally written by shane@mit-ajax.
-* M-x list-command-history
-* M-x command-history-mode
-* M-x electric-command-history
+** M-x list-command-history
+** M-x command-history-mode
+** M-x electric-command-history
`list-command-history' displays forms from the command history subject
to user controlled filtering and limit on number of forms. It leaves
configuration is restored on exit unless the command selected changes
it.
-* M-x edit-picture
+** M-x edit-picture
Enters a temporary major mode (the previous major mode is remembered
and can is restored on exit) designed for editing pictures and tables.
Calls value of `edit-picture-hook' on entry if non-nil.
-* Stupid C-s/C-q `flow control' supported.
+** Stupid C-s/C-q `flow control' supported.
Do (set-input-mode nil t) to tell Emacs to use CBREAK mode and interpret
C-s and C-q as flow control commands. (set-input-mode t nil) switches
INTERRUPT_INPUT exists only to specify the default mode of operation;
#define it to make interrupt-driven input the default.
-* Completion of directory names provides a slash.
+** Completion of directory names provides a slash.
If file name completion yields the name of a directory,
a slash is appended to it.
-* Undo can clear modified-flag.
+** Undo can clear modified-flag.
If you undo changes in a buffer back to a state in which the
buffer was not considered "modified", then it is labeled as
once again "unmodified".
-* M-x run-lisp.
+** M-x run-lisp.
This command creates an inferior Lisp process whose input and output
appear in the Emacs buffer named `*lisp*'. That buffer uses a major mode
Meanwhile, in lisp-mode, the command C-M-x is defined to
send the current defun as input to the `*lisp*' subprocess.
-* Mode line says `Narrow' when buffer is clipped.
+** Mode line says `Narrow' when buffer is clipped.
If a buffer has a clipping restriction (made by `narrow-to-region')
then its mode line contains the word `Narrow' after the major and
minor modes.
-* Mode line says `Abbrev' when abbrev mode is on.
+** Mode line says `Abbrev' when abbrev mode is on.
-* add-change-log-entry takes prefix argument
+** add-change-log-entry takes prefix argument
Giving a prefix argument makes it prompt for login name, full name,
and site name, with defaults. Otherwise the defaults are used
with no confirmation.
-* M-x view-buffer and M-x view-file
+** M-x view-buffer and M-x view-file
view-buffer selects the named buffer, view-file finds the named file; the
resulting buffer is placed into view-mode (a recursive edit). The normal
written by shane@mit-ajax.
-* New key commands in dired.
+** New key commands in dired.
`v' views (like more) the file on the current line.
`#' marks auto-save files for deletion.
`c' copies a file and updates the directory listing if the file is
copied to the same directory.
-* New function `electric-buffer-list'.
+** New function `electric-buffer-list'.
This pops up a buffer describing the set of emacs buffers.
Immediately typing space makes the buffer list go away and returns
Calls value of `electric-buffer-menu-mode-hook' if non-nil on entry.
Calls value of `after-electric-buffer-menu' on exit (select) if non-nil.
\f
-Changes in version 16 for mail reading and sending
+** Changes in version 16 for mail reading and sending
-* sendmail prefix character is C-c (and not C-z). New command C-c w.
+*** sendmail prefix character is C-c (and not C-z). New command C-c w.
For instance C-c C-c (or C-c C-s) sends mail now rather than C-z C-z.
C-c w inserts your `signature' (contents of ~/.signature) at the end
of mail.
-* New feature in C-c y command in sending mail.
+*** New feature in C-c y command in sending mail.
C-c y is the command to insert the message being replied to.
Normally it deletes most header fields and indents everything
C-c y with any other numeric argument does delete most header
fields, but indents by the amount specified in the argument.
-* C-r command in Rmail edits current message.
+*** C-r command in Rmail edits current message.
It does this by switching to a different major mode
which is nearly the same as Text mode. The only difference
can switch to other buffers and edit them as usual.
C-r in Rmail changes only the handling of the Rmail buffer.
-* Rmail command `t' toggles header display.
+*** Rmail command `t' toggles header display.
Normally Rmail reformats messages to hide most header fields.
`t' switches to display of all the header fields of the
current message, as long as it remains current.
Another `t' switches back to the usual display.
-* Rmail command '>' goes to the last message.
+*** Rmail command '>' goes to the last message.
-* Rmail commands `a' and `k' set message attributes.
+*** Rmail commands `a' and `k' set message attributes.
`a' adds an attribute and `k' removes one. You specify
the attribute by name. You can specify either a built-in
flag such as "deleted" or "filed", or a user-defined keyword
(anything not recognized as built-in).
-* Rmail commands `l' and `L' summarize by attributes.
+*** Rmail commands `l' and `L' summarize by attributes.
These commands create a summary with one line per message,
like `h', but they list only some of the messages. You
specify which attribute (for `l') or attributes (for `L')
the messages should have.
-* Rmail can parse mmdf mail files.
+*** Rmail can parse mmdf mail files.
-* Interface to MH mail system.
+*** Interface to MH mail system.
mh-e is a front end for GNU emacs and the MH mail system. It
provides a friendly and convenient interface to the MH commands.
From larus@berkeley.
\f
-New hooks and parameters in version 16
+** New hooks and parameters in version 16
-* New variable `blink-matching-paren-distance'.
+*** New variable `blink-matching-paren-distance'.
This is the maximum number of characters to search for
an open-paren to match an inserted close-paren.
This feature was originally written by shane@mit-ajax.
-* New variable `find-file-run-dired'
+*** New variable `find-file-run-dired'
If nil, find-file will report an error if an attempt to visit a
directory is detected; otherwise, it runs dired on that directory.
The default is t.
-* Variable `dired-listing-switches' holds switches given to `ls' by dired.
+*** Variable `dired-listing-switches' holds switches given to `ls' by dired.
The value should be a string containing `-' followed by letters.
The letter `l' had better be included and letter 'F' had better be excluded!
This feature was originally written by shane@mit-ajax.
-* New variable `display-time-day-and-date'.
+*** New variable `display-time-day-and-date'.
If this variable is set non-`nil', the function M-x display-time
displays the day and date, as well as the time.
-* New parameter `c-continued-statement-indent'.
+*** New parameter `c-continued-statement-indent'.
This controls the extra indentation given to a line
that continues a C statement started on the previous line.
bar ();
-* Changed meaning of `c-indent-level'.
+*** Changed meaning of `c-indent-level'.
The value of `c-brace-offset' used to be
subtracted from the value of `c-indent-level' whenever
statements within a block, relative to the line containing
the open-brace that starts the block.
-* turn-on-auto-fill is useful value for text-mode-hook.
+*** turn-on-auto-fill is useful value for text-mode-hook.
(setq text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)
is all you have to do to make sure Auto Fill mode is turned
on whenever you enter Text mode.
-* Parameter explicit-shell-file-name for M-x shell.
+*** Parameter explicit-shell-file-name for M-x shell.
This variable, if non-nil, specifies the file name to use
for the shell to run if you do M-x shell.
\f
Changes in version 16 affecting Lisp programming:
-* Documentation strings adapt to customization.
+*** Documentation strings adapt to customization.
Often the documentation string for a command wants to mention
another command. Simply stating the other command as a
containing \[...] constructs and replaces those constructs with
the key sequences they currently stand for.
-* Primitives `find-line-comment' and `find-line-comment-body' flushed.
+*** Primitives `find-line-comment' and `find-line-comment-body' flushed.
Search for the value of `comment-start-skip' if you want to find
whether and where a line has a comment.
-* New function `auto-save-file-name-p'
+*** New function `auto-save-file-name-p'
Should return non-`nil' if given a string which is the name of an
auto-save file (sans directory name). If you redefine
default, this function returns `t' for filenames beginning with
character `#'.
-* The value of `exec-directory' now ends in a slash.
+*** The value of `exec-directory' now ends in a slash.
This is to be compatible with most directory names in GNU Emacs.
-* Dribble files and termscript files.
+*** Dribble files and termscript files.
(open-dribble-file FILE) opens a dribble file named FILE. When a
dribble file is open, every character Emacs reads from the terminal is
The two of these together are very useful for debugging Emacs problems
in redisplay.
-* Upper case command characters by default are same as lower case.
+*** Upper case command characters by default are same as lower case.
If a character in a command is an upper case letter, and is not defined,
Emacs uses the definition of the corresponding lower case letter.
For example, if C-x U is not directly undefined, it is treated as
a synonym for C-x u (undo).
-* Undefined function errors versus undefined variable errors.
+*** Undefined function errors versus undefined variable errors.
Void-symbol errors now say "boundp" if the symbol's value was void
or "fboundp" if the function definition was void.
-* New function `bury-buffer'.
+*** New function `bury-buffer'.
The new function `bury-buffer' takes one argument, a buffer object,
and puts that buffer at the end of the internal list of buffers.
So it is the least preferred candidate for use as the default value
of C-x b, or for other-buffer to return.
-* Already-displayed buffers have low priority for display.
+*** Already-displayed buffers have low priority for display.
When a buffer is chosen automatically for display, or to be the
default in C-x b, buffers already displayed in windows have lower
priority than buffers not currently visible.
-* `set-window-start' accepts a third argument NOFORCE.
+*** `set-window-start' accepts a third argument NOFORCE.
This argument, if non-nil, prevents the window's force_start flag
from being set. Setting the force_start flag causes the next
redisplay to insist on starting display at the specified starting
point, even if dot must be moved to get it onto the screen.
-* New function `send-string-to-terminal'.
+*** New function `send-string-to-terminal'.
This function takes one argument, a string, and outputs its contents
to the terminal exactly as specified: control characters, escape
sequences, and all.
-* Keypad put in command mode.
+*** Keypad put in command mode.
The terminal's keypad is now put into command mode, as opposed to
numeric mode, while Emacs is running. This is done by means of the
termcap `ks' and `ke' strings.
-* New function `generate-new-buffer'
+*** New function `generate-new-buffer'
This function takes a string as an argument NAME and looks for a
creates and returns a buffer called NAME if one did not already exist.
"<2>" etc to NAME until it creates a string which does not name an
existing buffer. A new buffer with that name is the created and returned.
-* New function `prin1-to-string'
+*** New function `prin1-to-string'
This function takes one argument, a lisp object, and returns a string
containing that object's printed representation, such as `prin1'
would output.
-* New function `read-from-minibuffer'
+*** New function `read-from-minibuffer'
Lets you supply a prompt, initial-contents, a keymap, and specify
whether the result should be interpreted as a string or a lisp object.
take second optional string argument which is initial contents of
minibuffer.
-* minibuffer variable names changed (names of keymaps)
+*** minibuffer variable names changed (names of keymaps)
minibuf-local-map -> minibuffer-local-map
minibuf-local-ns-map -> minibuffer-local-ns-map
minibuf-local-completion-map -> minibuffer-local-completion-map
minibuf-local-must-match-map -> minibuffer-local-must-match-map
\f
-Changes in version 16 affecting configuring and building Emacs
+** Changes in version 16 affecting configuring and building Emacs
-* Configuration switch VT100_INVERSE eliminated.
+*** Configuration switch VT100_INVERSE eliminated.
You can control the use of inverse video on any terminal by setting
the variable `inverse-video', or by changing the termcap entry. If
you like, set `inverse-video' in your `.emacs' file based on
examination of (getenv "TERM").
-* New switch `-batch' makes Emacs run noninteractively.
+*** New switch `-batch' makes Emacs run noninteractively.
If the switch `-batch' is used, Emacs treats its standard output
and input like ordinary files (even if they are a terminal).
The Lisp variable `noninteractive' is now defined, to be `nil'
except when `-batch' has been specified.
-* Emacs can be built with output redirected to a file.
+*** Emacs can be built with output redirected to a file.
This is because -batch (see above) is now used in building Emacs.
\f
-Changes in Emacs 15
+* Changes in Emacs 15
-* Emacs now runs on Sun and Megatest 68000 systems;
+** Emacs now runs on Sun and Megatest 68000 systems;
also on at least one 16000 system running 4.2.
-* Emacs now alters the output-start and output-stop characters
+** Emacs now alters the output-start and output-stop characters
to prevent C-s and C-q from being considered as flow control
by cretinous rlogin software in 4.2.
-* It is now possible convert Mocklisp code (for Gosling Emacs) to Lisp code
+** It is now possible convert Mocklisp code (for Gosling Emacs) to Lisp code
that can run in GNU Emacs. M-x convert-mocklisp-buffer
converts the contents of the current buffer from Mocklisp to
GNU Emacs Lisp. You should then save the converted buffer with C-x C-w
to GNU lisp code, with M-x convert-mocklisp-buffer being the first
step in this process.
-* Control-x n (narrow-to-region) is now by default a disabled command.
+** Control-x n (narrow-to-region) is now by default a disabled command.
This means that, if you issue this command, it will ask whether
you really mean it. You have the opportunity to enable the
This will place the form "(put 'narrow-to-region 'disabled nil)" in your
.emacs file.
-* Tags now prompts for the tag table file name to use.
+** Tags now prompts for the tag table file name to use.
All the tags commands ask for the tag table file name
if you have not yet specified one.
specify the tag table file name initially, or to switch
to a new tag table.
-* If truncate-partial-width-windows is non-nil (as it initially is),
+** If truncate-partial-width-windows is non-nil (as it initially is),
all windows less than the full screen width (that is,
made by side-by-side splitting) truncate lines rather than continuing
them.
-* Emacs now checks for Lisp stack overflow to avoid fatal errors.
+** Emacs now checks for Lisp stack overflow to avoid fatal errors.
The depth in eval, apply and funcall may not exceed max-lisp-eval-depth.
The depth in variable bindings and unwind-protects may not exceed
max-specpdl-size. If either limit is exceeded, an error occurs.
too large, you are vulnerable to a fatal error if you invoke
Lisp code that does infinite recursion.
-* New hooks find-file-hook and write-file-hook.
+** New hooks find-file-hook and write-file-hook.
Both of these variables if non-nil should be functions of no arguments.
At the time they are called (current-buffer) will be the buffer being
read or written respectively.
write-file-hook is called just before writing out a file from a buffer.
-* The initial value of shell-prompt-pattern is now "^[^#$%>]*[#$%>] *"
+** The initial value of shell-prompt-pattern is now "^[^#$%>]*[#$%>] *"
-* If the .emacs file sets inhibit-startup-message to non-nil,
+** If the .emacs file sets inhibit-startup-message to non-nil,
the messages normally printed by Emacs at startup time
are inhibited.
-* Facility for run-time conditionalization on the basis of emacs features.
+** Facility for run-time conditionalization on the basis of emacs features.
The new variable features is a list of symbols which represent "features"
of the executing emacs, for use in run-time conditionalization.
(if (not featurep FEATURE) (error ...))))
FILE-NAME is optional and defaults to FEATURE.
-* New function load-average.
+** New function load-average.
This returns a list of three integers, which are
the current 1 minute, 5 minute and 15 minute load averages,
each multiplied by a hundred (since normally they are floating
point numbers).
-* Per-terminal libraries loaded automatically.
+** Per-terminal libraries loaded automatically.
Emacs when starting up on terminal type T automatically loads
a library named term-T. T is the value of the TERM environment variable.
redefinitions and let the user's init file, which is loaded later,
call that command or not, as the user prefers.
-* Programmer's note: detecting killed buffers.
+** Programmer's note: detecting killed buffers.
Buffers are eliminated by explicitly killing them, using
the function kill-buffer. This does not eliminate or affect
the buffer has been killed, use the function buffer-name.
It returns nil on a killed buffer, and a string on a live buffer.
-* New ways to access the last command input character.
+** New ways to access the last command input character.
The function last-key-struck, which used to return the last
input character that was read by command input, is eliminated.
read for. last-input-char and last-command-char are different
only inside a command that has called read-char to read input.
-* The new switch -kill causes Emacs to exit after processing the
+** The new switch -kill causes Emacs to exit after processing the
preceding command line arguments. Thus,
emacs -l lib data -e do-it -kill
means to load lib, find file data, call do-it on no arguments,
and then exit.
-* The config.h file has been modularized.
+** The config.h file has been modularized.
Options that depend on the machine you are running on are defined
in a file whose name starts with "m-", such as m-vax.h.
select the correct m- and s- files but will never have to change their
contents.
-* Termcap AL and DL strings are understood.
+** Termcap AL and DL strings are understood.
If the termcap entry defines AL and DL strings, for insertion
and deletion of multiple lines in one blow, Emacs now uses them.
This matters most on certain bit map display terminals for which
scrolling is comparatively slow.
-* Bias against scrolling screen far on fast terminals.
+** Bias against scrolling screen far on fast terminals.
Emacs now prefers to redraw a few lines rather than
shift them a long distance on the screen, when the terminal is fast.
-* New major mode, mim-mode.
+** New major mode, mim-mode.
This major mode is for editing MDL code. Perhaps a MDL
user can explain why it is not called mdl-mode.
You must load the library mim-mode explicitly to use this.
-* GNU documentation formatter `texinfo'.
+** GNU documentation formatter `texinfo'.
The `texinfo' library defines a format for documentation
files which can be passed through Tex to make a printed manual
This is not ready for distribution yet, but will appear at
a later time.
-* New function read-from-string (emacs 15.29)
+** New function read-from-string (emacs 15.29)
read-from-string takes three arguments: a string to read from,
and optionally start and end indices which delimit a substring
\f
-Changes in Emacs 14
+* Changes in Emacs 14
-* Completion now prints various messages such as [Sole Completion]
+** Completion now prints various messages such as [Sole Completion]
or [Next Character Not Unique] to describe the results obtained.
These messages appear after the text in the minibuffer, and remain
on the screen until a few seconds go by or you type a key.
-* The buffer-read-only flag is implemented.
+** The buffer-read-only flag is implemented.
Setting or binding this per-buffer variable to a non-nil value
makes illegal any operation which would modify the textual content of
the buffer. (Such operations signal a buffer-read-only error)
by default to prevent accidental damage to the information in those
buffers.
-* Functions car-safe and cdr-safe.
+** Functions car-safe and cdr-safe.
These functions are like car and cdr when the argument is a cons.
Given an argument not a cons, car-safe always returns nil, with
no error; the same for cdr-safe.
-* The new function user-real-login-name returns the name corresponding
+** The new function user-real-login-name returns the name corresponding
to the real uid of the Emacs process. This is usually the same
as what user-login-name returns; however, when Emacs is invoked
from su, user-real-login-name returns "root" but user-login-name
\f
-Changes in Emacs 13
+* Changes in Emacs 13
-* There is a new version numbering scheme.
+** There is a new version numbering scheme.
What used to be the first version number, which was 1,
has been discarded since it does not seem that I need three
Emacs when I distribute it; it will be incremented each time
Emacs is built at another site.
-* There is now a reader syntax for Meta characters:
+** There is now a reader syntax for Meta characters:
\M-CHAR means CHAR or'ed with the Meta bit. For example:
?\M-x is (+ ?x 128)
?\C- can be used likewise for control characters. (13.9)
-* Installation change
+** Installation change
The string "../lisp" now adds to the front of the load-path
used for searching for Lisp files during Emacs initialization.
It used to replace the path specified in paths.h entirely.
\f
-Changes in Emacs 1.12
+* Changes in Emacs 1.12
-* There is a new installation procedure.
+** There is a new installation procedure.
See the file INSTALL that comes in the top level
directory in the tar file or tape.
-* The Meta key is now supported on terminals that have it.
+** The Meta key is now supported on terminals that have it.
This is a shift key which causes the high bit to be turned on
in all input characters typed while it is held down.
explicitly, but not effective if the character comes from
the use of the Meta key.
-* `-' is no longer a completion command in the minibuffer.
+** `-' is no longer a completion command in the minibuffer.
It is an ordinary self-inserting character.
-* The list load-path of directories load to search for Lisp files
+** The list load-path of directories load to search for Lisp files
is now controlled by the EMACSLOADPATH environment variable
[[ Note this was originally EMACS-LOAD-PATH and has been changed
again; sh does not deal properly with hyphens in env variable names]]
ignore EMACSLOADPATH, however; you should avoid having
this variable set while building Emacs.
-* You can now specify a translation table for keyboard
+** You can now specify a translation table for keyboard
input characters, as a way of exchanging or substituting
keys on the keyboard.
(aset keyboard-translate-table (+ 128 ?\_) (+ 128 ?\^?))
(aset keyboard-translate-table (+ 128 ?\^?) (+ 128 ?\_))
-* (process-kill-without-query PROCESS)
+** (process-kill-without-query PROCESS)
This marks the process so that, when you kill Emacs,
you will not on its account be queried about active subprocesses.
\f
-Changes in Emacs 1.11
+* Changes in Emacs 1.11
-* The commands C-c and C-z have been interchanged,
+** The commands C-c and C-z have been interchanged,
for greater compatibility with normal Unix usage.
C-z now runs suspend-emacs and C-c runs exit-recursive-edit.
-* The value returned by file-name-directory now ends
+** The value returned by file-name-directory now ends
with a slash. (file-name-directory "foo/bar") => "foo/".
This avoids confusing results when dealing with files
in the root directory.
The value of the per-buffer variable default-directory
is also supposed to have a final slash now.
-* There are now variables to control the switches passed to
+** There are now variables to control the switches passed to
`ls' by the C-x C-d command (list-directory).
list-directory-brief-switches is a string, initially "-CF",
used for brief listings, and list-directory-verbose-switches
is a string, initially "-l", used for verbose ones.
-* For Ann Arbor Ambassador terminals, the termcap "ti" string
+** For Ann Arbor Ambassador terminals, the termcap "ti" string
is now used to initialize the screen geometry on entry to Emacs,
and the "te" string is used to set it back on exit.
If the termcap entry does not define the "ti" or "te" string,
\f
-Changes in Emacs 1.10
+* Changes in Emacs 1.10
-* GNU Emacs has been made almost 1/3 smaller.
+** GNU Emacs has been made almost 1/3 smaller.
It now dumps out as only 530kbytes on Vax 4.2bsd.
-* The term "checkpoint" has been replaced by "auto save"
+** The term "checkpoint" has been replaced by "auto save"
throughout the function names, variable names and documentation
of GNU Emacs.
-* The function load now tries appending ".elc" and ".el"
+** The function load now tries appending ".elc" and ".el"
to the specified filename BEFORE it tries the filename
without change.
-* rmail now makes the mode line display the total number
+** rmail now makes the mode line display the total number
of messages and the current message number.
The "f" command now means forward a message to another user.
The command to search through all messages for a string is now "F".
The "u" command now means to move back to the previous
message and undelete it. To undelete the selected message, use Meta-u.
-* The hyphen character is now equivalent to a Space while
+** The hyphen character is now equivalent to a Space while
in completing minibuffers. Both mean to complete an additional word.
-* The Lisp function error now takes args like format
+** The Lisp function error now takes args like format
which are used to construct the error message.
-* Redisplay will refuse to start its display at the end of the buffer.
+** Redisplay will refuse to start its display at the end of the buffer.
It will pick a new place to display from, rather than use that.
-* The value returned by garbage-collect has been changed.
+** The value returned by garbage-collect has been changed.
Its first element is no longer a number but a cons,
whose car is the number of cons cells now in use,
and whose cdr is the number of cons cells that have been
The second element is similar but describes symbols rather than cons cells.
The third element is similar but describes markers.
-* The variable buffer-name has been eliminated.
+** The variable buffer-name has been eliminated.
The function buffer-name still exists. This is to prevent
user programs from changing buffer names without going
through the rename-buffer function.
\f
-Changes in Emacs 1.9
+* Changes in Emacs 1.9
-* When a fill prefix is in effect, paragraphs are started
+** When a fill prefix is in effect, paragraphs are started
or separated by lines that do not start with the fill prefix.
Also, a line which consists of the fill prefix followed by
white space separates paragraphs.
-* C-x C-v runs the new function find-alternate-file.
+** C-x C-v runs the new function find-alternate-file.
It finds the specified file, switches to that buffer,
and kills the previous current buffer. (It requires
confirmation if that buffer had changes.) This is
most useful after you find the wrong file due to a typo.
-* Exiting the minibuffer moves the cursor to column 0,
+** Exiting the minibuffer moves the cursor to column 0,
to show you that it has really been exited.
-* Meta-g (fill-region) now fills each paragraph in the
+** Meta-g (fill-region) now fills each paragraph in the
region individually. To fill the region as if it were
a single paragraph (for when the paragraph-delimiting mechanism
does the wrong thing), use fill-region-as-paragraph.
-* Tab in text mode now runs the function tab-to-tab-stop.
+** Tab in text mode now runs the function tab-to-tab-stop.
A new mode called indented-text-mode is like text-mode
except that in it Tab runs the function indent-relative,
which indents the line under the previous line.
If auto fill is enabled while in indented-text-mode,
the new lines that it makes are indented.
-* Functions kill-rectangle and yank-rectangle.
+** Functions kill-rectangle and yank-rectangle.
kill-rectangle deletes the rectangle specified by dot and mark
(or by two arguments) and saves it in the variable killed-rectangle.
yank-rectangle inserts the rectangle in that variable.
not be changed if the rectangle is later reinserted
at a different column position.
-* `+' in a regular expression now means
+** `+' in a regular expression now means
to repeat the previous expression one or more times.
`?' means to repeat it zero or one time.
They are in all regards like `*' except for the
when it is at the beginning of a word; \> matches
the null string at the end of a word.
-* C-x p narrows the buffer so that only the current page
+** C-x p narrows the buffer so that only the current page
is visible.
-* C-x ) with argument repeats the kbd macro just
+** C-x ) with argument repeats the kbd macro just
defined that many times, counting the definition
as one repetition.
-* C-x ( with argument begins defining a kbd macro
+** C-x ( with argument begins defining a kbd macro
starting with the last one defined. It executes that
previous kbd macro initially, just as if you began
by typing it over again.
-* C-x q command queries the user during kbd macro execution.
+** C-x q command queries the user during kbd macro execution.
With prefix argument, enters recursive edit,
reading keyboard commands even within a kbd macro.
You can give different commands each time the macro executes.
C-r -- enter a recursive edit, then on exit ask again for a character
C-l -- redisplay screen and ask again."
-* write-kbd-macro and append-kbd-macro are used to save
+** write-kbd-macro and append-kbd-macro are used to save
a kbd macro definition in a file (as Lisp code to
redefine the macro when the file is loaded).
These commands differ in that write-kbd-macro
record the keys which invoke the macro as well as the
macro's definition.
-* The variable global-minor-modes is used to display
+** The variable global-minor-modes is used to display
strings in the mode line of all buffers. It should be
a list of elements that are conses whose cdrs are strings
to be displayed. This complements the variable
minor-modes, which has the same effect but has a separate
value in each buffer.
-* C-x = describes horizontal scrolling in effect, if any.
+** C-x = describes horizontal scrolling in effect, if any.
-* Return now auto-fills the line it is ending, in auto fill mode.
+** Return now auto-fills the line it is ending, in auto fill mode.
Space with zero as argument auto-fills the line before it
just like Space without an argument.
\f
-Changes in Emacs 1.8
+* Changes in Emacs 1.8
This release mostly fixes bugs. There are a few new features:
-* apropos now sorts the symbols before displaying them.
+** apropos now sorts the symbols before displaying them.
Also, it returns a list of the symbols found.
apropos now accepts a second arg PRED which should be a function
C-h a now runs the new function command-apropos rather than
apropos, and shows only symbols with definitions as commands.
-* M-x shell sends the command
+** M-x shell sends the command
if (-f ~/.emacs_NAME)source ~/.emacs_NAME
invisibly to the shell when it starts. Here NAME
is replaced by the name of shell used,
as it came from your ESHELL or SHELL environment variable
but with directory name, if any, removed.
-* M-, now runs the command tags-loop-continue, which is used
+** M-, now runs the command tags-loop-continue, which is used
to resume a terminated tags-search or tags-query-replace.
\f
-Changes in Emacs 1.7
+* Changes in Emacs 1.7
It's Beat CCA Week.
-* The initial buffer is now called "*scratch*" instead of "scratch",
+** The initial buffer is now called "*scratch*" instead of "scratch",
so that all buffer names used automatically by Emacs now have *'s.
-* Undo information is now stored separately for each buffer.
+** Undo information is now stored separately for each buffer.
The Undo command (C-x u) always applies to the current
buffer only.
kept for buffers whose names start with spaces. (These
buffers also do not appear in the C-x C-b display.)
-* Rectangle operations are now implemented.
+** Rectangle operations are now implemented.
C-x r stores the rectangle described by dot and mark
into a register; it reads the register name from the keyboard.
C-x g, the command to insert the contents of a register,
delete the text of the specified rectangle,
moving the text beyond it on each line leftward.
-* Side-by-side windows are allowed. Use C-x 5 to split the
+** Side-by-side windows are allowed. Use C-x 5 to split the
current window into two windows side by side.
C-x } makes the selected window ARG columns wider at the
expense of the windows at its sides. C-x { makes the selected
C-x 2 now accepts a numeric argument to specify the number of
lines to give to the uppermost of the two windows it makes.
-* Horizontal scrolling of the lines in a window is now implemented.
+** Horizontal scrolling of the lines in a window is now implemented.
C-x < (scroll-left) scrolls all displayed lines left,
with the numeric argument (default 1) saying how far to scroll.
When the window is scrolled left, some amount of the beginning
regardless of the value of the variable truncate-lines in the
buffer being displayed.
-* C-x C-d now uses the default output format of `ls',
+** C-x C-d now uses the default output format of `ls',
which gives just file names in multiple columns.
C-u C-x C-d passes the -l switch to `ls'.
-* C-t at the end of a line now exchanges the two preceding characters.
+** C-t at the end of a line now exchanges the two preceding characters.
All the transpose commands now interpret zero as an argument
to mean to transpose the textual unit after or around dot
with the one after or around the mark.
-* M-! executes a shell command in an inferior shell
+** M-! executes a shell command in an inferior shell
and displays the output from it. With a prefix argument,
it inserts the output in the current buffer after dot
and sets the mark after the output. The shell command
as input to the shell command. A prefix argument makes
the output from the command replace the contents of the region.
-* The mode line will now say "Def" after the major mode
+** The mode line will now say "Def" after the major mode
while a keyboard macro is being defined.
-* The variable fill-prefix is now used by Meta-q.
+** The variable fill-prefix is now used by Meta-q.
Meta-q removes the fill prefix from lines that start with it
before filling, and inserts the fill prefix on each line
after filling.
The command C-x . sets the fill prefix equal to the text
on the current line before dot.
-* The new command Meta-j (indent-new-comment-line),
+** The new command Meta-j (indent-new-comment-line),
is like Linefeed (indent-new-line) except when dot is inside a comment;
in that case, Meta-j inserts a comment starter on the new line,
indented under the comment starter above. It also inserts
a comment terminator at the end of the line above,
if the language being edited calls for one.
-* Rmail should work correctly now, and has some C-h m documentation.
+** Rmail should work correctly now, and has some C-h m documentation.
\f
-Changes in Emacs 1.6
+* Changes in Emacs 1.6
-* save-buffers-kill-emacs is now on C-x C-c
+** save-buffers-kill-emacs is now on C-x C-c
while C-x C-z does suspend-emacs. This is to make
C-x C-c like the normal Unix meaning of C-c
and C-x C-z like the normal Unix meaning of C-z.
-* M-ESC (eval-expression) is now a disabled command by default.
+** M-ESC (eval-expression) is now a disabled command by default.
This prevents users who type ESC ESC accidentally from
getting confusing results. Put
(put 'eval-expression 'disabled nil)
in your ~/.emacs file to enable the command.
-* Self-inserting text is grouped into bunches for undoing.
+** Self-inserting text is grouped into bunches for undoing.
Each C-x u command undoes up to 20 consecutive self-inserting
characters.
-* Help f now uses as a default the function being called
+** Help f now uses as a default the function being called
in the innermost Lisp expression that dot is in.
This makes it more convenient to use while writing
Lisp code to run in Emacs.
Likewise, Help v uses the symbol around or before dot
as a default, if that is a variable name.
-* Commands that read filenames now insert the default
+** Commands that read filenames now insert the default
directory in the minibuffer, to become part of your input.
This allows you to see what the default is.
You may type a filename which goes at the end of the
Set the variable insert-default-directory to nil
to turn off this feature.
-* M-x shell now uses the environment variable ESHELL,
+** M-x shell now uses the environment variable ESHELL,
if it exists, as the file name of the shell to run.
If there is no ESHELL variable, the SHELL variable is used.
This is because some shells do not work properly as inferiors
of Emacs (or anything like Emacs).
-* A new variable minor-modes now exists, with a separate value
+** A new variable minor-modes now exists, with a separate value
in each buffer. Its value should be an alist of elements
(MODE-FUNCTION-SYMBOL . PRETTY-NAME-STRING), one for each
minor mode that is turned on in the buffer. The pretty
turn on the minor mode if given 1 as an argument; they are present
so that Help m can find their documentation strings.
-* The format of tag table files has been changed.
+** The format of tag table files has been changed.
The new format enables Emacs to find tags much faster.
A new program, etags, exists to make the kind of
The tags library can no longer use standard ctags-style
tag tables files.
-* The file of Lisp code Emacs reads on startup is now
+** The file of Lisp code Emacs reads on startup is now
called ~/.emacs rather than ~/.emacs_pro.
-* copy-file now gives the copied file the same mode bits
+** copy-file now gives the copied file the same mode bits
as the original file.
-* Output from a process inserted into the process's buffer
+** Output from a process inserted into the process's buffer
no longer sets the buffer's mark. Instead it sets a
marker associated with the process to point to the end
of the inserted text. You can access this marker with
and then either examine its position with marker-position
or set its position with set-marker.
-* completing-read takes a new optional fifth argument which,
+** completing-read takes a new optional fifth argument which,
if non-nil, should be a string of text to insert into
the minibuffer before reading user commands.
-* The Lisp function elt now exists:
+** The Lisp function elt now exists:
(elt ARRAY N) is like (aref ARRAY N),
(elt LIST N) is like (nth N LIST).
-* rplaca is now a synonym for setcar, and rplacd for setcdr.
+** rplaca is now a synonym for setcar, and rplacd for setcdr.
eql is now a synonym for eq; it turns out that the Common Lisp
distinction between eq and eql is insignificant in Emacs.
numberp is a new synonym for integerp.
-* auto-save has been renamed to auto-save-mode.
+** auto-save has been renamed to auto-save-mode.
-* Auto save file names for buffers are now created by the
+** Auto save file names for buffers are now created by the
function make-auto-save-file-name. This is so you can
redefine that function to change the way auto save file names
are chosen.
-* expand-file-name no longer discards a final slash.
+** expand-file-name no longer discards a final slash.
(expand-file-name "foo" "/lose") => "/lose/foo"
(expand-file-name "foo/" "/lose") => "/lose/foo/"
delete-file call expand-file-name on the file name supplied.
This change makes them considerably faster in the usual case.
-* Interactive calling spec strings allow the new code letter 'D'
+** Interactive calling spec strings allow the new code letter 'D'
which means to read a directory name. It is like 'f' except
that the default if the user makes no change in the minibuffer
is to return the current default directory rather than the
\f
-Changes in Emacs 1.5
+* Changes in Emacs 1.5
-* suspend-emacs now accepts an optional argument
+** suspend-emacs now accepts an optional argument
which is a string to be stuffed as terminal input
to be read by Emacs's superior shell after Emacs exits.
to transmit text to a Lisp job running as a sibling of
Emacs.
-* If find-file is given the name of a directory,
+** If find-file is given the name of a directory,
it automatically invokes dired on that directory
rather than reading in the binary data that make up
the actual contents of the directory according to Unix.
-* Saving an Emacs buffer now preserves the file modes
+** Saving an Emacs buffer now preserves the file modes
of any previously existing file with the same name.
This works using new Lisp functions file-modes and
set-file-modes, which can be used to read or set the mode
bits of any file.
-* The Lisp function cond now exists, with its traditional meaning.
+** The Lisp function cond now exists, with its traditional meaning.
-* defvar and defconst now permit the documentation string
+** defvar and defconst now permit the documentation string
to be omitted. defvar also permits the initial value
to be omitted; then it acts only as a comment.
\f
-Changes in Emacs 1.4
+* Changes in Emacs 1.4
-* Auto-filling now normally indents the new line it creates
+** Auto-filling now normally indents the new line it creates
by calling indent-according-to-mode. This function, meanwhile,
has in Fundamental and Text modes the effect of making the line
have an indentation of the value of left-margin, a per-buffer variable.
it does that in all modes that supply their own indentation routine,
but in Fundamental, Text and allied modes it inserts a tab character.
-* The command M-x grep now invokes grep (on arguments
+** The command M-x grep now invokes grep (on arguments
supplied by the user) and reads the output from grep
asynchronously into a buffer. The command C-x ` can
be used to move to the lines that grep has found.
is proceeding; as more matches or error messages arrive,
C-x ` will parse them and be able to find them.
-* M-x mail now provides a command to send the message
+** M-x mail now provides a command to send the message
and "exit"--that is, return to the previously selected
buffer. It is C-z C-z.
-* Tab in C mode now tries harder to adapt to all indentation styles.
+** Tab in C mode now tries harder to adapt to all indentation styles.
If the line being indented is a statement that is not the first
one in the containing compound-statement, it is aligned under
the beginning of the first statement.
-* The functions screen-width and screen-height return the
+** The functions screen-width and screen-height return the
total width and height of the screen as it is now being used.
set-screen-width and set-screen-height tell Emacs how big
to assume the screen is; they each take one argument,
an integer.
-* The Lisp function 'function' now exists. function is the
+** The Lisp function 'function' now exists. function is the
same as quote, except that it serves as a signal to the
Lisp compiler that the argument should be compiled as
a function. Example:
(mapcar (function (lambda (x) (+ x 5))) list)
-* The function set-key has been renamed to global-set-key.
+** The function set-key has been renamed to global-set-key.
undefine-key and local-undefine-key has been renamed to
global-unset-key and local-unset-key.
-* Emacs now collects input from asynchronous subprocesses
+** Emacs now collects input from asynchronous subprocesses
while waiting in the functions sleep-for and sit-for.
-* Shell mode's Newline command attempts to distinguish subshell
+** Shell mode's Newline command attempts to distinguish subshell
prompts from user input when issued in the middle of the buffer.
It no longer reexecutes from dot to the end of the line;
it reeexecutes the entire line minus any prompt.
\f
-Changes in Emacs 1.3
+* Changes in Emacs 1.3
-* An undo facility exists now. Type C-x u to undo a batch of
+** An undo facility exists now. Type C-x u to undo a batch of
changes (usually one command's changes, but some commands
such as query-replace divide their changes into multiple
batches. You can repeat C-x u to undo further. As long
for each buffer, so it is mainly good if you do something
totally spastic. [This has since been fixed.]
-* A learn-by-doing tutorial introduction to Emacs now exists.
+** A learn-by-doing tutorial introduction to Emacs now exists.
Type C-h t to enter it.
-* An Info documentation browser exists. Do M-x info to enter it.
+** An Info documentation browser exists. Do M-x info to enter it.
It contains a tutorial introduction so that no more documentation
is needed here. As of now, the only documentation in it
is that of Info itself.
-* Help k and Help c are now different. Help c prints just the
+** Help k and Help c are now different. Help c prints just the
name of the function which the specified key invokes. Help k
prints the documentation of the function as well.
-* A document of the differences between GNU Emacs and Twenex Emacs
+** A document of the differences between GNU Emacs and Twenex Emacs
now exists. It is called DIFF, in the same directory as this file.
-* C mode can now indent comments better, including multi-line ones.
+** C mode can now indent comments better, including multi-line ones.
Meta-Control-q now reindents comment lines within the expression
being aligned.
-* Insertion of a close-parenthesis now shows the matching open-parenthesis
+** Insertion of a close-parenthesis now shows the matching open-parenthesis
even if it is off screen, by printing the text following it on its line
in the minibuffer.
-* A file can now contain a list of local variable values
+** A file can now contain a list of local variable values
to be in effect when the file is edited. See the file DIFF
in the same directory as this file for full details.
-* A function nth is defined. It means the same thing as in Common Lisp.
+** A function nth is defined. It means the same thing as in Common Lisp.
-* The function install-command has been renamed to set-key.
+** The function install-command has been renamed to set-key.
It now takes the key sequence as the first argument
and the definition for it as the second argument.
Likewise, local-install-command has been renamed to local-set-key.
\f
-Changes in Emacs 1.2
+* Changes in Emacs 1.2
-* A Lisp single-stepping and debugging facility exists.
+** A Lisp single-stepping and debugging facility exists.
To cause the debugger to be entered when an error
occurs, set the variable debug-on-error non-nil.
You can mark a frame to enter the debugger on exit
with the `b' command, or clear such a mark with `u'.
-* Lisp macros now exist.
+** Lisp macros now exist.
For example, you can write
(defmacro cadr (arg) (list 'car (list 'cdr arg)))
and then the expression
\f
-Changes in Emacs 1.1
+* Changes in Emacs 1.1
-* The initial buffer is now called "scratch" and is in a
+** The initial buffer is now called "scratch" and is in a
new major mode, Lisp Interaction mode. This mode is
intended for typing Lisp expressions, evaluating them,
and having the values printed into the buffer.
The other commands of Lisp mode are available.
-* The C-x C-e command for evaluating the Lisp expression
+** The C-x C-e command for evaluating the Lisp expression
before dot has been changed to print the value in the
minibuffer line rather than insert it in the buffer.
A numeric argument causes the printed value to appear
in the buffer instead.
-* In Lisp mode, the command M-C-x evaluates the defun
+** In Lisp mode, the command M-C-x evaluates the defun
containing or following dot. The value is printed in
the minibuffer.
-* The value of a Lisp expression evaluated using M-ESC
+** The value of a Lisp expression evaluated using M-ESC
is now printed in the minibuffer.
-* M-q now runs fill-paragraph, independent of major mode.
+** M-q now runs fill-paragraph, independent of major mode.
-* C-h m now prints documentation on the current buffer's
+** C-h m now prints documentation on the current buffer's
major mode. What it prints is the documentation of the
major mode name as a function. All major modes have been
equipped with documentation that describes all commands
peculiar to the major mode, for this purpose.
-* You can display a Unix manual entry with
+** You can display a Unix manual entry with
the M-x manual-entry command.
-* You can run a shell, displaying its output in a buffer,
+** You can run a shell, displaying its output in a buffer,
with the M-x shell command. The Return key sends input
to the subshell. Output is printed inserted automatically
in the buffer. Commands C-c, C-d, C-u, C-w and C-z are redefined
enter them, so that the default directory of the Emacs buffer
always remains the same as that of the subshell.
-* C-x $ (that's a real dollar sign) controls line-hiding based
+** C-x $ (that's a real dollar sign) controls line-hiding based
on indentation. With a numeric arg N > 0, it causes all lines
indented by N or more columns to become invisible.
They are, effectively, tacked onto the preceding line, where
C-x $ with no argument turns off this mode, which in any case
is remembered separately for each buffer.
-* Outline mode is another form of selective display.
+** Outline mode is another form of selective display.
It is a major mode invoked with M-x outline-mode.
It is intended for editing files that are structured as
outlines, with heading lines (lines that begin with one
All editing commands treat hidden outline-mode lines
as part of the preceding visible line.
-* C-x C-z runs save-buffers-kill-emacs
+** C-x C-z runs save-buffers-kill-emacs
offers to save each file buffer, then exits.
-* C-c's function is now called suspend-emacs.
+** C-c's function is now called suspend-emacs.
-* The command C-x m runs mail, which switches to a buffer *mail*
+** The command C-x m runs mail, which switches to a buffer *mail*
and lets you compose a message to send. C-x 4 m runs mail in
another window. Type C-z C-s in the mail buffer to send the
message according to what you have entered in the buffer.
You must separate the headers from the message text with
an empty line.
-* You can now dired partial directories (specified with names
+** You can now dired partial directories (specified with names
containing *'s, etc, all processed by the shell). Also, you
can dired more than one directory; dired names the buffer
according to the filespec or directory name. Reinvoking
C-x C-d (list-directory) also allows partial directories now.
\f
-Lisp programming changes
+** Lisp programming changes
-* t as an output stream now means "print to the minibuffer".
+*** t as an output stream now means "print to the minibuffer".
If there is already text in the minibuffer printed via t
as an output stream, the new text is appended to the old
(or is truncated and lost at the margin). If the minibuffer
is ignored; each `read' from t reads fresh input.
t is now the top-level value of standard-input.
-* A marker may be used as an input stream or an output stream.
+*** A marker may be used as an input stream or an output stream.
The effect is to grab input from where the marker points,
advancing it over the characters read, or to insert output
at the marker and advance it.
-* Output from an asynchronous subprocess is now inserted at
+*** Output from an asynchronous subprocess is now inserted at
the end of the associated buffer, not at the buffer's dot,
and the buffer's mark is set to the end of the inserted output
each time output is inserted.
-* (pos-visible-in-window-p POS WINDOW)
+*** (pos-visible-in-window-p POS WINDOW)
returns t if position POS in WINDOW's buffer is in the range
that is being displayed in WINDOW; nil if it is scrolled
vertically out of visibility.
POS defaults to (dot), and WINDOW to (selected-window).
-* Variable buffer-alist replaced by function (buffer-list).
+*** Variable buffer-alist replaced by function (buffer-list).
The actual alist of buffers used internally by Emacs is now
no longer accessible, to prevent the user from crashing Emacs
by modifying it. The function buffer-list returns a list
of all existing buffers. Modifying this list cannot hurt anything
as a new list is constructed by each call to buffer-list.
-* load now takes an optional third argument NOMSG which, if non-nil,
+*** load now takes an optional third argument NOMSG which, if non-nil,
prevents load from printing a message when it starts and when
it is done.
-* byte-recompile-directory is a new function which finds all
+*** byte-recompile-directory is a new function which finds all
the .elc files in a directory, and regenerates each one which
is older than the corresponding .el (Lisp source) file.
\f
Local variables:
+mode: outline
mode: text
end:
projects / emacs.git / commitdiff