From bcd92b5708083a6c10d4f0aa785cbd69fd8f7035 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Eli Zaretskii Date: Tue, 11 May 2021 20:06:02 +0300 Subject: [PATCH] Improve documentation of Hexl mode * doc/emacs/misc.texi (Editing Binary Files): Explain that Hexl can also be used for editing text, including non-ASCII text. --- doc/emacs/misc.texi | 11 +++++++++++ 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+) diff --git a/doc/emacs/misc.texi b/doc/emacs/misc.texi index 68941727f4a..dcbfd75f923 100644 --- a/doc/emacs/misc.texi +++ b/doc/emacs/misc.texi @@ -2566,6 +2566,17 @@ Other Hexl commands let you insert strings (sequences) of binary bytes, move by @code{short}s or @code{int}s, etc.; type @kbd{C-h a hexl-@key{RET}} for details. + Hexl mode can also be used for editing text files. This could come +in handy if the text file includes unusual characters or uses unusual +encoding (@pxref{Coding Systems}). For this purpose, Hexl commands +that insert bytes can also insert @acronym{ASCII} and +non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, including multibyte characters. To +edit a text file with Hexl, visit the file as usual, and then type +@w{@kbd{M-x hexl-mode @key{RET}}} to switch to Hexl mode. You can now +insert text characters by typing them. However, inserting multibyte +characters requires special care, to avoid the danger of creating +invalid multibyte sequences: you should start typing such characters +when point is on the first byte of a multibyte sequence in the file. @node Saving Emacs Sessions @section Saving Emacs Sessions -- 2.39.5