string with @key{RET}, and then the search takes place. If the string
is not found, the search command signals an error.
-@findex search-forward
-@findex search-backward
When you type @kbd{C-s @key{RET}}, the @kbd{C-s} invokes incremental
search as usual. That command is specially programmed to invoke the
-command for nonincremental search, @code{search-forward}, if the
-string you specify is empty. (Such an empty argument would otherwise
-be useless.) @kbd{C-r @key{RET}} does likewise, invoking the command
-@code{search-backward}.
+command for nonincremental search, if the string you specify is empty.
+(Such an empty argument would otherwise be useless.) @kbd{C-r
+@key{RET}} does likewise, invoking the nonincremental
+backward-searching command.
+
+@findex search-forward
+@findex search-backward
+ You can also use two simpler commands, @kbd{M-x search-forward} and
+@kbd{M-x search-backward}. These commands look for the literal
+strings you specify, and don't support any of the lax-search features
+(@pxref{Lax Search}) except case folding.
@node Word Search
@section Word Search
Nonincremental search for a regexp is done with the commands
@code{re-search-forward} and @code{re-search-backward}. You can
invoke these with @kbd{M-x}, or by way of incremental regexp search
-with @kbd{C-M-s @key{RET}} and @kbd{C-M-r @key{RET}}.
+with @kbd{C-M-s @key{RET}} and @kbd{C-M-r @key{RET}}. When you invoke
+these commands with @kbd{M-x}, they search for the exact regexp you
+specify, and thus don't support any lax-search features (@pxref{Lax
+Search}) except case folding.
If you use the incremental regexp search commands with a prefix
argument, they perform ordinary string search, like
@kindex M-s ' @r{(Incremental Search)}
@findex isearch-toggle-character-fold
- Searches in Emacs by default perform character folding, thus
+ Search commands in Emacs by default perform character folding, thus
matching equivalent character sequences. You can disable this
behavior by customizing the variable @code{search-default-regexp-mode}
to @code{nil}. @xref{Search Customizations}. Within an incremental