Emacs commands to move around in this buffer, and special Dired commands
to operate on the files listed.
+ The Dired buffer is ``read-only,'' and inserting text in it is not
+useful, so ordinary printing characters such as @kbd{d} and @kbd{x} are
+used for special Dired commands. Some Dired commands @dfn{mark} or
+@dfn{flag} the @dfn{current file} (that is, the file on the current
+line); other commands operate on the marked files or on the flagged
+files.
+
The Dired-X package provides various extra features for Dired mode.
@xref{Dired-X,,,dired-x, Dired Extra Version 2 User's Manual}.
@menu
* Enter: Dired Enter. How to invoke Dired.
-* Commands: Dired Commands. Commands in the Dired buffer.
+* Navigation: Dired Navigation. How to move in the Dired buffer.
* Deletion: Dired Deletion. Deleting files with Dired.
* Flagging Many Files:: Flagging files based on their names.
* Visit: Dired Visiting. Other file operations through Dired.
of @kbd{C-x d}. @kbd{C-x 5 d} (@code{dired-other-frame}) uses a
separate frame to display the Dired buffer.
-@node Dired Commands
-@section Commands in the Dired Buffer
-
- The Dired buffer is ``read-only,'' and inserting text in it is not
-useful, so ordinary printing characters such as @kbd{d} and @kbd{x} are
-used for special Dired commands. Some Dired commands @dfn{mark} or
-@dfn{flag} the @dfn{current file} (that is, the file on the current
-line); other commands operate on the marked files or on the flagged
-files.
+@node Dired Navigation
+@section Navigation in the Dired Buffer
@kindex C-n @r{(Dired)}
@kindex C-p @r{(Dired)}
so common in Dired that it deserves to be easy to type.) @key{DEL}
(move up and unflag) is often useful simply for moving up.
+ Some additional navigation commands are available when the Dired
+buffer includes several directories. @xref{Subdirectory Motion}.
+
@node Dired Deletion
@section Deleting Files with Dired
@cindex flagging files (in Dired)
@cindex deleting files (in Dired)
- The primary use of Dired is to @dfn{flag} files for deletion and then
-delete the files previously flagged.
+ One of the most frequent uses of Dired is to @dfn{flag} files for
+deletion and then delete the files previously flagged.
@table @kbd
@item d
and supplying that file name (@code{dired-find-file}). @xref{Visiting}.
@item @key{RET}
+@itemx e
@kindex RET @r{(Dired)}
+@kindex e @r{(Dired)}
Equivalent to @kbd{f}.
@item a
Viewing a file is like visiting it, but is slanted toward moving around
in the file conveniently and does not allow changing the file.
@xref{Misc File Ops,View File, Miscellaneous File Operations}.
+
+@item ^
+@kindex ^ @r{(Dired)}
+@findex dired-up-directory
+Visit the parent directory of the current directory
+(@code{dired-up-directory}). This is more convenient than moving to
+the parent directory's line and typing @kbd{f} there.
@end table
@node Marks vs Flags