book

Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition

by Debra Cameron, James Elliott, Marc Loy, Eric S. Raymond, Bill Rosenblatt

December 2004

Beginner to intermediate

536 pages

19h 28m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition
SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly
A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
Preface
Why Read This Book?
Which Emacs Is Which?
What's New in This Edition?
GNU Emacs and the Free Software Foundation
An Approach to Learning Emacs
What We Haven't Included
The Meta Key

Conventions Used in This Book
Keystroke NotationCommand TablesExamplesFont Usage
How to Contact Us
Acknowledgments
1. Emacs Basics
1.1. Introducing Emacs!
1.2. Understanding Files and Buffers
1.3. A Word About Modes
1.4. Starting Emacs
1.5. About the Emacs Display
1.5.1. The Toolbar1.5.2. The Menus1.5.3. The Mode Line1.5.4. The Minibuffer
1.6. Emacs Commands
1.7. Opening a File
1.7.1. If You Read the Wrong File1.7.2. Letting Emacs Fill in the Blanks1.7.3. Inserting and Appending Files1.7.4. How Emacs Chooses a Default Directory
1.8. Saving Files
1.9. Leaving Emacs
1.10. Getting Help
1.10.1. The Help Menu
1.11. Summary
1.11.1. Problems You May Encounter
2. Editing
2.1. Moving the Cursor2.1.1. Other Ways to Move the Cursor2.1.2. Moving a Screen (or More) at a Time2.1.3. Repeating Commands2.1.4. Centering the Display2.1.5. Emacs Commands and Your Keyboard
2.2. Deleting Text
2.2.1. The Kill Ring
2.3. Marking Text to Delete, Move, or Copy
2.3.1. Copying Text2.3.2. Recovering Earlier Deletions2.3.3. Selecting and Pasting
2.4. Emacs and the Clipboard
2.4.1. Placing Text on the Clipboard2.4.2. Retrieving Text from the Clipboard
2.5. Editing Tricks and Shortcuts
2.5.1. Fixing Transpositions2.5.2. Changing Capitalization2.5.3. Overwrite Mode
2.6. Canceling Commands and Undoing Changes
2.6.1. Canceling Commands2.6.2. Undoing Changes2.6.3. Reverting a Buffer from a File2.6.4. Going Back to a Previous Version: Backup Files2.6.5. Recovering Lost Changes
2.7. Making Emacs Work the Way You Want
2.7.1. Hiding the Toolbar2.7.2. Turning On CUA Mode for C-x, C-c, and C-v to Cut, Copy, and Paste2.7.3. Turning On Text Mode and Auto-Fill Mode Automatically2.7.4. Remapping Keys2.7.5. Problems You May Encounter
3. Search and Replace
3.1. Different Kinds of Searches3.1.1. Incremental Search3.1.2. Simple Searches3.1.3. Word Search
3.2. Search and Replace
3.2.1. Simple Search and Replace Operations3.2.2. Query-Replace3.2.3. Repeating Query-Replaces (and Other Complex Commands)3.2.4. Recursive Editing3.2.5. Are Emacs Searches Case-Sensitive?3.2.6. Regular Expressions for Search and Replacement Operations
3.3. Checking Spelling Using Ispell
3.3.1. Checking a Buffer3.3.2. Checking a Single Word3.3.3. Completing a Word3.3.4. Spellchecking on the Fly with Flyspell
3.4. Word Abbreviations
3.4.1. Dynamic Abbreviations3.4.2. Word Abbreviation Mode3.4.2.1. Trying word abbreviations for one session3.4.2.2. Making word abbreviations part of your startup3.4.2.3. Deleting a word abbreviation3.4.2.4. Disabling word abbreviations3.4.2.5. Abbreviations and capitalization3.4.3. Problems You May Encounter
4. Using Buffers, Windows, and Frames
4.1. Understanding Buffers, Windows, and Frames4.1.1. Windows Versus Frames4.1.2. Buffers: Independent of Windows and Frames4.1.3. More About Buffers
4.2. Working with Multiple Buffers
4.2.1. Switching Buffers4.2.2. Deleting Buffers
4.3. Working with Windows
4.3.1. Creating Horizontal Windows4.3.2. Moving Between Windows4.3.3. Getting Rid of Windows
4.4. Working with Frames
4.4.1. Creating a New Frame4.4.2. Moving Between Frames4.4.3. Deleting and Minimizing Frames
4.5. More About Buffers
4.5.1. Saving Multiple Buffers4.5.2. Renaming Buffers4.5.3. Read-Only Buffers4.5.4. Getting a List of Buffers4.5.5. Working with the Buffer List
4.6. More About Windows
4.6.1. Creating Vertical or Side-by-Side Windows4.6.2. Navigating Windows4.6.3. Enlarging and Shrinking Windows4.6.4. Limits on Window Size4.6.5. Comparing Files Between Windows
4.7. Holding Your Place with Bookmarks
4.7.1. Setting Bookmarks4.7.2. Moving to a Bookmark4.7.3. Renaming and Deleting Bookmarks4.7.4. Working with a List of Bookmarks4.7.5. Annotating Bookmarks4.7.6. A Few More Bookmark Commands
5. Emacs as a Work Environment
5.1. Executing Commands in Shell Buffers5.1.1. Running One Command at a Time5.1.2. Using Shell Mode5.1.2.1. Which shell?5.1.2.2. Making passwords invisible in shell mode
5.2. Using Dired, the Directory Editor
5.2.1. Viewing and Editing Files5.2.2. Deleting, Copying, and Renaming Files5.2.3. Compressing and Uncompressing Files5.2.4. Comparing Files5.2.5. Running Shell Commands on Files5.2.6. Working with Groups of Files5.2.6.1. Selecting files5.2.6.2. Selecting likely candidates for deletion5.2.6.3. Selecting files by type5.2.6.4. Using regular expressions to choose files5.2.6.5. Operating on groups of files5.2.7. Navigating Directories
5.3. Printing from Emacs
5.4. Reading Manpages in Emacs
5.5. Using Time Management Tools
5.5.1. Displaying the Calendar5.5.1.1. Moving in the calendar5.5.1.2. Displaying holidays5.5.2. Using the Diary5.5.2.1. Creating a diary file5.5.2.2. Adding diary entries5.5.2.3. Displaying diary entries5.5.3. Problems You May Encounter
6. Writing Macros
6.1. Defining a Macro
6.2. Tips for Creating Good Macros
6.3. A More Complicated Macro Example
6.4. Editing a Macro
6.5. The Macro Ring
6.6. Binding Your Macro to a Key
6.7. Naming, Saving, and Executing Your Macros
6.8. Building More Complicated Macros
6.8.1. Pausing a Macro for Keyboard Input6.8.1.1. Example6.8.2. Adding a Query to a Macro6.8.2.1. Example
6.9. Executing Macros on a Region
6.10. Beyond Macros
7. Simple Text Formatting and Specialized Editing
7.1. Using Tabs7.1.1. How Emacs 21 Handles Tabs by Default7.1.2. Changing Tab Stops7.1.3. What if You Want Literal Tabs?7.1.4. Changing Tab Width7.1.5. Tabs and Spaces7.1.6. Changing Tabs to Spaces (and Vice Versa)
7.2. Indenting Text
7.2.1. Indenting Paragraphs7.2.2. Indenting the First Line of a Paragraph7.2.3. Filling Indented Paragraphs7.2.3.1. Indenting regions7.2.3.2. Other indentation tricks7.2.4. Changing Margins7.2.5. Using Fill Prefixes
7.3. Centering Text
7.4. Using Outline Mode
7.4.1. Entering Outline Mode7.4.2. Hiding and Showing Text7.4.3. Editing While Text Is Hidden7.4.4. Marking Sections of the Outline7.4.5. Promoting and Demoting Sections7.4.6. Using Outline Minor Mode
7.5. Rectangle Editing
7.5.1. CUA Rectangle Editing
7.6. Making Simple Drawings
7.6.1. Drawing in Picture Mode7.6.2. Editing in Picture Mode7.6.2.1. Cursor motion in picture mode7.6.2.2. Inserting blank lines7.6.3. Drawing with the Mouse Using Artist7.6.4. Problems You May Encounter
8. Markup Language Support
8.1. Comments
8.2. Font-Lock Mode
8.3. Writing HTML
8.3.1. Using HTML Mode8.3.1.1. Character encoding in HTML mode8.3.1.1.1. Using ISO accents mode8.3.1.1.2. Using the C-x 8 prefix8.3.2. Using HTML Helper Mode8.3.2.1. Starting HTML helper mode8.3.2.2. A brief tour of HTML helper mode8.3.2.3. Inserting an HTML template8.3.2.4. Putting tags around a region8.3.2.5. Using completion8.3.2.6. Turning on prompting8.3.2.7. Character encoding in HTML helper mode
8.4. Writing XML
8.4.1. Writing XML with SGML Mode8.4.2. TEI Emacs: XML Authoring for Linux and Windows8.4.3. Writing XHTML Using nxml Mode8.4.4. Using psgml Mode
8.5. Marking up Text for TEX and LATEX
8.5.1. Matching Braces8.5.2. Quotation Marks and Paragraphing8.5.3. Command Pairs8.5.4. Processing and Printing Text
9. Computer Language Support
9.1. Emacs as an IDE9.1.1. Compiling and Debugging
9.2. Writing Code
9.2.1. Language Modes9.2.1.1. Syntax9.2.2. Comments9.2.3. Indenting Code9.2.4. etags9.2.5. Fonts and Font-lock Mode
9.3. C and C++ Support
9.3.1. Motion Commands9.3.2. Customizing Code Indentation Style9.3.3. Additional C and C++ Mode Features9.3.4. C++ Mode Differences
9.4. Java Support
9.4.1. Java Mode
9.5. The Java Development Environment for Emacs (JDEE)
9.5.1. Getting Started9.5.2. Installing CEDET9.5.3. Installing the ELisp Library9.5.4. Installing the JDEE9.5.5. Registering Your Java Tools9.5.5.1. JDK tools.jar problems9.5.6. Editing with the JDEE9.5.7. Compiling and Running with the JDEE9.5.8. Debugging with the JDEE9.5.9. Learning More about the JDEE
9.6. Perl Support
9.6.1. Perl Caveats
9.7. SQL Support
9.7.1. Prerequisites9.7.2. Modes of Operation9.7.2.1. Interactive mode9.7.2.2. Editing mode
9.8. The Lisp Modes
9.8.1. Indentation in Lisp Modes9.8.2. Comments in Lisp Modes9.8.3. Emacs Lisp Mode Differences9.8.4. Lisp Mode Differences9.8.5. Working with Lisp Fragments9.8.5.1. Commands for evaluating a line of Lisp9.8.5.2. Using Lisp interaction mode
10. Customizing Emacs
10.1. Using Custom10.1.1. Navigating Custom10.1.2. Common Options10.1.3. Customizing with Custom10.1.4. An Abbrev Mode Example10.1.5. The Options Menu10.1.6. A Dired Example10.1.7. But Where Is the Variable I Want?
10.2. Modifying the .emacs File Directly
10.2.1. Custom Versus .emacs10.2.1.1. Will the real .emacs please stand up?10.2.2. Basic .emacs Statements10.2.2.1. Caveat editor10.2.3. A Sample .emacs File10.2.3.1. Editing .emacs10.2.3.2. Saving .emacs
10.3. Modifying Fonts and Colors
10.3.1. Changing Fonts Interactively10.3.2. Automatic Highlighting and Coloring10.3.2.1. Isearch10.3.2.2. Buffer highlighting10.3.3. Customizing Fonts Through Custom10.3.4. Changing Colors10.3.4.1. Changing the cursor color10.3.5. Saving Font- and Color-Enriched Text10.3.5.1. Saving enriched text
10.4. Customizing Your Key Bindings
10.4.1. Special Keys10.4.2. Unsetting Key Bindings
10.5. Setting Emacs Variables
10.6. Finding Emacs Lisp Packages
10.7. Starting Modes via Auto-Mode Customization
10.8. Making Emacs Work the Way You Think It Should
11. Emacs Lisp Programming
11.1. Introduction to Lisp11.1.1. Basic Lisp Entities11.1.2. Defining Functions11.1.3. Turning Lisp Functions into Emacs Commands
11.2. Lisp Primitive Functions
11.2.1. Statement Blocks11.2.2. Control Structures
11.3. Useful Built-in Emacs Functions
11.3.1. Buffers, Text, and Regions11.3.2. Regular Expressions11.3.2.1. Basic operators11.3.2.2. Grouping and alternation11.3.2.3. Context11.3.2.4. Retrieving portions of matches11.3.2.5. Regular expression operator summary11.3.3. A Treasure Trove of Examples11.3.4. Functions That Use Regular Expressions11.3.5. Finding Other Built-in Functions
11.4. Building an Automatic Template System
11.5. Programming a Major Mode
11.5.1. Components of a Major Mode11.5.2. More Lisp Basics: Lists11.5.3. The Calculator Mode11.5.4. Lisp Code for the Calculator Mode
11.6. Customizing Existing Modes
11.7. Building Your Own Lisp Library
11.7.1. Byte-Compiling Lisp Files
12. Version Control
12.1. The Uses of Version Control
12.2. Version Control Concepts
12.3. How VC Helps with Basic Operations
12.4. Editing Comment Buffers
12.5. VC Command Summary
12.6. VC Mode Indicators
12.7. Which Version Control System?
12.8. Individual VC Commands
12.8.1. Working with Groups and Subtrees of Files12.8.2. Difference Reports12.8.3. Retrieving Old Revisions12.8.4. Viewing Change Histories12.8.5. Registering a File12.8.6. Inserting Version Control Headers12.8.7. Making and Retrieving Snapshots12.8.8. Updating ChangeLog Files12.8.9. Renaming Version-Controlled Files12.8.10. When VC Gets Confused
12.9. Customizing VC
12.10. Extending VC
12.11. What VC Is Not
12.12. Using VC Effectively
12.13. Comparing with Ediff
12.13.1. Starting Ediff12.13.2. Using Ediff12.13.3. Making Changes12.13.4. Quitting Ediff12.13.5. Recovering from Confusion12.13.6. Learning More12.13.7. Customizing Ediff12.13.8. Invoking Ediff Automatically
13. Platform-Specific Considerations
13.1. Emacs and Unix13.1.1. Where to Get Emacs?13.1.1.1. Downloading Emacs from the Web13.1.2. Where to Put Emacs?13.1.3. Uncompressing and Unpacking13.1.4. Downloading Emacs from CVS13.1.5. Building Emacs
13.2. Emacs and Mac OS X
13.2.1. "But I Already Have Emacs"13.2.2. Installing Prebuilt Emacs on Mac OS X13.2.2.1. Downloading Alex Rice's application bundle of Emacs 21.3.513.2.3. Building Emacs from Source on Mac OS X13.2.3.1. Before you build13.2.3.1.1. Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2) preparation13.2.4. Starting Emacs from the Command Line on Mac OS X13.2.5. Mac OS X and the Meta Key13.2.6. Installing Ispell
13.3. Emacs and Windows
13.3.1. Installing Emacs13.3.1.1. Installing the latest binaries: Nqmacs13.3.1.2. Installing Emacs from the FSF13.3.2. Where to Put Your .emacs File13.3.3. Starting Emacs from the Command Line13.3.4. Making Emacs Act like Windows: CUA Mode13.3.5. Installing Ispell
14. The Help System
14.1. Using the Tutorial
14.2. Help Commands
14.2.1. Detail Information14.2.2. Apropos Commands
14.3. Help with Complex Emacs Commands
14.4. Navigating Emacs Documentation
14.4.1. Using Info to Read Manuals14.4.2. FAQ, News, and Antinews
14.5. Completion
14.5.1. Customizing Completion
A. Emacs Variables
B. Emacs Lisp Packages
C. Bugs and Bug Fixes
D. Online Resources
E. Quick Reference
About the Authors
Colophon
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Content preview from Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition

What's New in This Edition?

This third edition covers GNU Emacs 21, specifically 21.3 and even more specifically 21.3.5.^[2] This new edition has been completely revised and expanded to cover new features and to meet the evolving needs of Emacs users.

Here are some of the highlights of what we've changed:

User interface changes, including the addition of an icon-based toolbar, extensive changes to menus, and a more graphical interface (Chapter 1)
How Emacs interacts with the operating system clipboard, including specific clipboard-related commands (Chapter 2)
Dynamic abbreviations (Chapter 3)
Expanded coverage of the directory editor, Dired, to help you organize and work with files more efficiently (Chapter 5)
Changes to the way Emacs handles tabs and indentation and how to get Emacs to do what you want it to (Chapter 7)
Artist mode for drawing with the mouse (Chapter 7)
Inserting characters from other character sets in HTML files (Chapter 8)
Using font-lock mode for coloring text for easier editing (Chapter 9)
Expanded Java coverage, including how to install and use the Java Development Environment for Emacs (JDEE) (Chapter 9)
Perl support with Cperl mode (Chapter 9)
Managing changes to large, multiple file projects more effectively using etags (Chapter 9)
Customizing Emacs through the interactive Custom interface or through the .emacs startup file (Chapter 10)
Expanded coverage of how version control mode connects with a variety of change control systems, including CVS, RCS, Subversion, and ...

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Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition

by Debra Cameron, James Elliott, Marc Loy, Eric S. Raymond, Bill Rosenblatt

What's New in This Edition?

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