Emacs @dfn{registers} are compartments where you can save text,
rectangles, positions, and other things for later use. Once you save
text or a rectangle in a register, you can copy it into the buffer
-once, or many times; you can move point to a position saved in a
-register once, or many times.
+once, or many times; once you save a position in a register, you can
+jump back to that position once, or many times.
+
+ Each register has a name that consists of a single character, which
+we will denote by @var{r}; @var{r} can be a letter (such as @samp{a})
+or a number (such as @samp{1}); case matters, so register @samp{a} is
+not the same as register @samp{A}.
@findex view-register
- Each register has a name, which consists of a single character. A
-register can store a number, a piece of text, a rectangle, a position,
-a window configuration, or a file name, but only one thing at any
-given time. Whatever you store in a register remains there until you
-store something else in that register. To see what a register @var{r}
-contains, use @kbd{M-x view-register}.
+ A register can store a position, a piece of text, a rectangle, a
+number, a window configuration, or a file name, but only one thing at
+any given time. Whatever you store in a register remains there until
+you store something else in that register. To see what register
+@var{r} contains, use @kbd{M-x view-register}:
@table @kbd
@item M-x view-register @key{RET} @var{r}
@section Saving Positions in Registers
@cindex saving position in a register
- Saving a position records a place in a buffer so that you can move
-back there later. Moving to a saved position switches to that buffer
-and moves point to that place in it.
-
@table @kbd
@item C-x r @key{SPC} @var{r}
-Save position of point in register @var{r} (@code{point-to-register}).
+Record the position of point and the current buffer in register
+@var{r} (@code{point-to-register}).
@item C-x r j @var{r}
-Jump to the position saved in register @var{r} (@code{jump-to-register}).
+Jump to the position and buffer saved in register @var{r}
+(@code{jump-to-register}).
@end table
@kindex C-x r SPC
@findex point-to-register
- To save the current position of point in a register, choose a name
-@var{r} and type @kbd{C-x r @key{SPC} @var{r}}. The register @var{r}
-retains the position thus saved until you store something else in that
-register.
+ Typing @kbd{C-x r @key{SPC}} (@code{point-to-register}), followed by
+a character @kbd{@var{r}}, saves both the position of point and the
+current buffer in register @var{r}. The register retains this
+information until you store something else in it.
@kindex C-x r j
@findex jump-to-register
- The command @kbd{C-x r j @var{r}} moves point to the position recorded
-in register @var{r}. The register is not affected; it continues to
-hold the same position. You can jump to the saved position any number
-of times.
+ The command @kbd{C-x r j @var{r}} switches to the buffer recorded in
+register @var{r}, and moves point to the recorded position. The
+contents of the register are not changed, so you can jump to the saved
+position any number of times.
If you use @kbd{C-x r j} to go to a saved position, but the buffer it
was saved from has been killed, @kbd{C-x r j} tries to create the buffer
@end table
@kindex C-x r s
-@kindex C-x r i
@findex copy-to-register
-@findex insert-register
@kbd{C-x r s @var{r}} stores a copy of the text of the region into
-the register named @var{r}. @kbd{C-u C-x r s @var{r}}, the same
-command with a numeric argument, deletes the text from the buffer as
-well; you can think of this as ``moving'' the region text into the register.
+the register named @var{r}. If the mark is inactive, Emacs first
+reactivates the mark where it was last set. The mark is deactivated
+at the end of this command. @xref{Mark}. @kbd{C-u C-x r s @var{r}},
+the same command with a prefix argument, copies the text into register
+@var{r} and deletes the text from the buffer as well; you can think of
+this as ``moving'' the region text into the register.
@findex append-to-register
@findex prepend-to-register
@kbd{M-x append-to-register @key{RET} @var{r}} appends the copy of
the text in the region to the text already stored in the register
-named @var{r}. If invoked with a numeric argument, it deletes the
+named @var{r}. If invoked with a prefix argument, it deletes the
region after appending it to the register. The command
@code{prepend-to-register} is similar, except that it @emph{prepends}
-the region text to the text in the register, rather than
+the region text to the text in the register instead of
@emph{appending} it.
+@kindex C-x r i
+@findex insert-register
@kbd{C-x r i @var{r}} inserts in the buffer the text from register
@var{r}. Normally it leaves point before the text and places the mark
after, but with a numeric argument (@kbd{C-u}) it puts point after the
@section Saving Rectangles in Registers
@cindex saving rectangle in a register
- A register can contain a rectangle instead of linear text. The
-rectangle is represented as a list of strings. @xref{Rectangles}, for
-basic information on how to specify a rectangle in the buffer.
+ A register can contain a rectangle instead of linear text.
+@xref{Rectangles}, for basic information on how to specify a rectangle
+in the buffer.
@table @kbd
@findex copy-rectangle-to-register
@kindex C-x r f
You can save the window configuration of the selected frame in a
register, or even the configuration of all windows in all frames, and
-restore the configuration later.
+restore the configuration later. @xref{Windows}, for information
+about window configurations.
@table @kbd
@item C-x r w @var{r}
bookmarks persist from one Emacs session to the next.
@vindex bookmark-save-flag
- If you set the variable @code{bookmark-save-flag} to 1, then each
-command that sets a bookmark will also save your bookmarks; this way,
-you don't lose any bookmark values even if Emacs crashes. (The value,
-if a number, says how many bookmark modifications should go by between
+ If you set the variable @code{bookmark-save-flag} to 1, each command
+that sets a bookmark will also save your bookmarks; this way, you
+don't lose any bookmark values even if Emacs crashes. (The value, if
+a number, says how many bookmark modifications should go by between
saving.)
@vindex bookmark-search-size
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