Skip to Main Content
Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition
book

Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition

by Debra Cameron, James Elliott, Marc Loy, Eric S. Raymond, Bill Rosenblatt
December 2004
Beginner to intermediate content levelBeginner to intermediate
536 pages
19h 28m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition

Appendix A. Emacs Variables

This appendix lists some Emacs variables. We chose them for their general usefulness and for their applicability to subjects in this book.

The variables below are grouped by category, and their default values are shown (where practical to do so). For more details on specific variables, see the chapters referred to at the beginning of each table. For information on variables used in programming language modes, see Chapter 9.

Table A-1. Backups, auto-save, and versioning (Chapter 2, Chapter 12)

Variable

Default

Description

make-backup-files

t

If t, create a backup version of the current file before saving it for the first time.

backup-by-copying

nil

If t, create backup files by copying rather than renaming the file being saved to a backup version. The default is renaming, which is more efficient. Copying can yield different results, especially when you're editing files owned by another user, and in operating systems that allow "hard links" to files (alternate names that are associated with the physical file). There are a raft of variables that can tweak this behavior based on context; check the online help for make-backup-files for the details.

version-control

nil

If t, create numbered versions of files as backups (with names of the form filename~N~). If nil, only do this for files that have numbered versions already. If 'never (note the leading single quote), never make numbered versions.

kept-new-versions

2

Number of latest ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

Learning the vi and Vim Editors, 7th Edition

Learning the vi and Vim Editors, 7th Edition

Arnold Robbins, Elbert Hannah, Linda Lamb
Mastering Vim

Mastering Vim

Ruslan Osipov
Modern Vim

Modern Vim

Drew Neil

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0596006489Supplemental ContentErrata Page