1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes.
3 Copyright (C) 2010-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 See the end of the file for license conditions.
6 Please send Emacs bug reports to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.
7 If possible, use M-x report-emacs-bug.
9 This file is about changes in Emacs version 24.
11 See files NEWS.23, NEWS.22, NEWS.21, NEWS.20, NEWS.19, NEWS.18,
12 and NEWS.1-17 for changes in older Emacs versions.
14 You can narrow news to a specific version by calling `view-emacs-news'
15 with a prefix argument or by typing C-u C-h C-n.
18 +++ indicates that the appropriate manual has already been updated.
19 --- means no change in the manuals is called for.
20 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
21 so we will look at it and add it to the manual.
24 * Installation Changes in Emacs 24.3
27 ** The default toolkit has been changed to Gtk+ version 3.
28 If you don't pass --with-x-toolkit to configure or if you pass
29 --with-x-toolkit=gtk or --with-x-toolkit=yes, configure will try to build
30 with Gtk+ version 3, and if that fails, try Gtk+ version 2.
31 You can explicitly require a specific version by passing
32 --with-x-toolkit=gtk2 or --with-x-toolkit=gtk3 to configure.
35 ** New configure option '--without-all' to disable additional features.
36 This disables most of the features that are normally enabled by default.
39 ** New configure option '--enable-link-time-optimization' to utilize
40 an appropriate feature provided by GCC since version 4.5.0.
43 ** New configure option '--enable-gcc-warnings', intended for developers.
44 If building with GCC, this enables compile-time checks that warn about
45 possibly-questionable C code. On a recent GNU system there should be
46 no warnings; on older and on non-GNU systems the generated warnings
50 ** The configure option '--enable-use-lisp-union-type' has been
51 renamed to '--enable-check-lisp-object-type', as the resulting
52 Lisp_Object type no longer uses a union to implement the compile time
53 check that this option enables.
56 ** The configure option '--disable-maintainer-mode' has been removed,
57 as it was confusingly-named and rarely useful.
60 ** You can use `NO_BIN_LINK=t make install' to prevent the installation
61 overwriting "emacs" in the installation bin/ directory with a link
65 ** The configure options `--program-prefix', `--program-suffix', and
66 `--program-transform-name' apply to more than just the installed
67 binaries. Now they also affect the man pages, icons, and the
68 etc/emacs.desktop file; but not the info pages, since this would break
69 links between the various manuals.
72 ** Emacs uses libtinfo in preference to libncurses, if available.
75 ** On FreeBSD and NetBSD, configure no longer adds /usr/local/lib and
76 /usr/pkg/lib to the linker search path. You must add them yourself if
80 ** The standalone scripts rcs-checkin and vcdiff have been removed
81 (from the bin and libexec directories, respectively). The former is
82 no longer relevant, the latter is replaced by lisp (in vc-sccs.el).
85 * Startup Changes in Emacs 24.3
88 ** Emacs no longer searches for `leim-list.el' files beneath the standard
89 lisp/ directory. There should not be any there anyway. If you have
90 been adding them there, put them somewhere else, eg site-lisp.
93 ** The `--no-site-lisp' command line option now works for Nextstep builds.
96 * Changes in Emacs 24.3
99 ** Most y-or-n prompts now allow you to scroll the selected window.
100 Typing C-v or M-v at a y-or-n prompt scrolls forward or backward
101 respectively, without exiting from the prompt.
105 *** New option `mode-line-default-help-echo' specifies the help text
106 (shown in a tooltip or in the echo area) for any part of the mode line
107 that does not have its own specialized help text.
109 *** You can now click mouse-3 in the coding system indicator to invoke
110 `set-buffer-file-coding-system'.
115 *** `C-h f' (describe-function) can now perform autoloading.
116 When this command is called for an autoloaded function whose docstring
117 contains a key substitution construct, that function's library is
118 automatically loaded, so that the documentation can be shown
119 correctly. To disable this, set `help-enable-auto-load' to nil.
122 *** `C-h f' now reports previously-autoloaded functions as "autoloaded",
123 even after their associated libraries have been loaded (and the
124 autoloads have been redefined as functions).
126 ** Minibuffer changes
128 *** In minibuffer filename prompts, `C-M-f' and `C-M-b' now move to the
129 next and previous path separator, respectively.
131 *** minibuffer-electric-default-mode can rewrite (default ...) to [...].
132 Just set minibuffer-eldef-shorten-default to t before enabling the mode.
135 ** ImageMagick support, if available, is automatically enabled.
136 It is no longer necessary to call `imagemagick-register-types'
137 explicitly to install ImageMagick image types; that function is called
138 automatically at startup, or when customizing an imagemagick- option.
140 *** Setting `imagemagick-types-inhibit' to t now disables the use of
141 ImageMagick to view images. You must call imagemagick-register-types
142 afterwards if you do not use customize to change this.
144 *** The new variable `imagemagick-enabled-types' also affects which
145 ImageMagick types are treated as images. The function
146 `imagemagick-filter-types' returns the list of types that will be
149 *** Images displayed via ImageMagick now support transparency and the
150 :background image spec property.
152 ** Server and client changes
154 *** emacsclient now obeys string values for `initial-buffer-choice',
155 if it is told to open a new frame without specifying any file to visit
156 or expression to evaluate.
158 *** New option `server-auth-key' specifies a shared server key.
161 ** In the Package Menu, newly-available packages are listed as "new",
162 and sorted above the other "available" packages by default.
165 ** `C-x C-q' is now bound to the new minor mode `read-only-mode'.
166 This minor mode replaces `toggle-read-only', which is now obsolete.
169 ** Emacs now generates backtraces on fatal errors.
170 On encountering a fatal error, Emacs now outputs a textual description
171 of the fatal signal, and a short backtrace on platforms like glibc
172 that support backtraces.
175 ** If your Emacs was built from a bzr checkout, the new variable
176 `emacs-bzr-version' contains information about the bzr revision used.
179 ** New variable `create-lockfiles' specifies usage of lockfiles.
180 It defaults to t. Changing it to nil inhibits the creation of lock
181 files (use this with caution).
184 ** Using "unibyte: t" in Lisp source files is obsolete.
185 Use "coding: raw-text" instead.
188 ** Setting `enable-remote-dir-locals' to non-nil allows directory
189 local variables on remote hosts.
192 ** The entry for PCL-CVS has been removed from the Tools menu.
193 The PCL-CVS commands are still available via the keyboard.
195 ** Internationalization changes
197 *** New language environment: Persian.
199 *** New input method `vietnamese-vni'.
201 ** Nextstep (GNUstep / Mac OS X) port changes
203 *** Fullscreen and frame parameter fullscreen is supported.
205 *** A file dialog is used for open/save operations initiated from the
209 * Editing Changes in Emacs 24.3
211 ** Navigation command changes
213 *** New binding `M-g c' for `goto-char'.
215 *** New binding `M-g TAB' for `move-to-column'.
217 *** `M-g TAB' (`move-to-column') prompts for a column number if called
218 interactively with no prefix arg. Previously, it moved to column 1.
220 ** Search and Replace changes
222 *** Non-regexp Isearch now performs "lax" space matching.
223 Each sequence of spaces in the supplied search string may match any
224 sequence of one or more whitespace characters, as specified by the
225 variable `search-whitespace-regexp'. (This variable is also used by a
226 similar existing feature for regexp Isearch).
228 *** New Isearch command `M-s SPC' toggles lax space matching.
229 This applies to both ordinary and regexp Isearch.
231 *** New option `replace-lax-whitespace'.
232 If non-nil, `query-replace' uses flexible whitespace matching too.
235 *** Global `M-s _' starts a symbol (identifier) incremental search,
236 and `M-s _' in Isearch toggles symbol search mode.
237 `M-s c' in Isearch toggles search case-sensitivity.
240 ** `C-x 8 RET' is now bound to `insert-char', which is now a command.
241 `ucs-insert' is now an obsolete alias for `insert-char'.
244 ** The `z' key no longer has a binding in most special modes.
245 It used to be bound to `kill-this-buffer', but `z' is too easy to
249 ** New option `delete-trailing-lines' specifies whether
250 M-x delete-trailing-whitespace should delete trailing lines at the end
251 of the buffer. It defaults to t.
255 *** `C-x r +' is now overloaded to invoke `append-to-register.
257 *** New option `register-separator' specifies the register containing
258 the text to put between collected texts for use with M-x
259 append-to-register and M-x prepend-to-register.
262 ** `C-u M-=' now counts lines/words/characters in the entire buffer.
265 ** New command `C-x r M-w' (copy-rectangle-as-kill).
266 It copies the region-rectangle as the last rectangle kill.
269 ** New option `yank-handled-properties' allows processing of text
270 properties on yanked text, in more ways that are more general than
271 just removing them, as done by `yank-excluded-properties'.
274 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.3
278 *** The faces used by Apropos are now directly customizable.
279 These faces are named `apropos-symbol', `apropos-keybinding', and so on;
280 see the `apropos' Custom group for details.
282 *** The old options whose values specified faces to use were removed
283 (i.e. `apropos-symbol-face', `apropos-keybinding-face', etc.).
286 This package has been rewritten to use Tabulated List mode.
288 *** Option `Buffer-menu-buffer+size-width' is now obsolete.
289 Use `Buffer-menu-name-width' and `Buffer-menu-size-width' instead.
294 *** You can customize the header text that appears above each calendar month.
295 See the variable `calendar-month-header'.
298 *** New LaTeX calendar style, produced by `cal-tex-cursor-week2-summary'.
301 *** The calendars produced by cal-html include holidays.
302 Customize `cal-html-holidays' to change this.
307 *** CL's main entry is now (require 'cl-lib).
308 `cl-lib' is like the old `cl' except that it uses the namespace cleanly,
309 i.e. all its definitions have the "cl-" prefix (and internal definitions use
312 If `cl' provided a feature under the name `foo', then `cl-lib' provides it
313 under the name `cl-foo' instead, with the exceptions of the few definitions
314 that had to use `foo*' to avoid conflicts with pre-existing Elisp entities,
315 which have not been renamed to `cl-foo*' but just `cl-foo'.
317 The old `cl' is now deprecated and is mainly just a bunch of aliases that
318 provide the old non-prefixed names. Some exceptions are listed below.
321 *** `cl-flet' is not like `flet' (which is deprecated).
322 Instead it obeys the behavior of Common-Lisp's `flet'.
325 *** `cl-labels' is slightly different from `labels'.
326 The difference is that it relies on the `lexical-binding' machinery (as opposed
327 to the `lexical-let' machinery used previously) to capture definitions in
328 closures, so such closures will only work if `lexical-binding' is in use.
331 *** `cl-letf' is not exactly like `letf'.
332 The only difference is in details that relate to some deprecated usage
333 of `symbol-function' in place forms.
336 *** `progv' was rewritten to use the `let' machinery.
337 A side effect is that vars without corresponding value are bound to nil
338 rather than making them unbound.
341 *** The following methods of extending `setf' are obsolete
342 (use features from gv.el instead):
343 `define-modify-macro' (use `gv-letplace')
344 `defsetf' (use `gv-define-simple-setter' or `gv-define-setter')
345 `define-setf-expander' (use `gv-define-setter' or `gv-define-expander')
346 `get-setf-method' no longer exists (see "Incompatible Lisp Changes")
349 ** New compilation option `compilation-always-kill'.
353 *** `custom-reset-button-menu' now defaults to t.
355 *** Non-option variables are never matched in `customize-apropos' and
356 `customize-apropos-options' (i.e. the prefix argument does nothing for
360 ** `desktop-path' no longer includes the "." directory.
361 Desktop files are now located in ~/.emacs.d by default.
366 *** New variables `dbus-compiled-version' and `dbus-runtime-version'.
369 *** The D-Bus object manager interface is implemented.
372 *** Variables of type :(u)int32 and :(u)int64 accept floating points,
373 if their value does not fit into Emacs's integer range.
376 *** The function `dbus-call-method' works non-blocking now, it can be
377 interrupted by C-g. `dbus-call-method-non-blocking' is obsolete.
380 *** Signals can be sent also as unicast message.
383 *** The argument list of `dbus-register-signal' has been extended,
384 according to the new match rule types of D-Bus. See the manual for
388 *** `dbus-init-bus' supports private connections.
391 *** There is a new function `dbus-setenv'.
396 *** Changes are now highlighted using the same color scheme as in
397 modern VCSes. Deletions are displayed in red (new faces
398 `diff-refine-removed' and `smerge-refined-removed', and new definition
399 of `diff-removed'), insertions in green (new faces `diff-refine-added'
400 and `smerge-refined-added', and new definition of `diff-added').
403 *** The variable `diff-use-changed-face' defines whether to use the
404 face `diff-changed', or `diff-removed' and `diff-added' to highlight
405 changes in context diffs.
408 *** The new command `diff-delete-trailing-whitespace' removes trailing
409 whitespace introduced by a diff.
413 *** `dired-do-async-shell-command' executes each file sequentially
414 if the command ends in `;' (when operating on multiple files).
415 Otherwise, it executes the command on each file in parallel.
417 *** Typing M-n in the minibuffer of `dired-do-chmod', `dired-do-chgrp',
418 `dired-do-chown', `dired-do-touch' pulls the file attributes of the
421 *** When the region is active, `m' (`dired-mark'), `u' (`dired-unmark'),
422 `DEL' (`dired-unmark-backward'), `d' (`dired-flag-file-deletion')
423 mark/unmark/flag all files in the active region.
425 *** The minibuffer default for `=' (`dired-diff) has changed.
426 It is now the backup file for the file at point, if one exists.
427 In Transient Mark mode the default is the file at the active mark.
429 *** `M-=' is no longer bound to `dired-backup-diff' in Dired buffers.
430 The global binding for `M-=', `count-words-region' is in effect.
433 ** Ediff now uses the same color scheme as Diff mode.
437 *** New package `erc-desktop-notifications.el', which can send a notification
438 when you receive a private message or your nickname is mentioned.
440 *** ERC will look up server/channel names via auth-source and use any
444 ** Flymake uses fringe bitmaps to indicate errors and warnings.
445 See `flymake-fringe-indicator-position', `flymake-error-bitmap' and
446 `flymake-warning-bitmap'.
449 ** Follow mode no longer works by using advice.
450 The option `follow-intercept-processes' has been removed.
453 ** The FFAP option `ffap-url-unwrap-remote' can now be a list of strings,
454 specifying URL types that should be converted to remote file names at
455 the FFAP prompt. The default is now '("ftp").
458 ** New Ibuffer `derived-mode' filter, bound to `/ M'.
459 The old binding for `/ M' (filter by used-mode) is now bound to `/ m'.
462 ** `javascript-generic-mode' is now an obsolete alias for `js-mode'.
465 ** New option `mouse-avoidance-banish-position' specifies where the
466 `banish' mouse avoidance setting moves the mouse.
469 ** notifications.el supports now version 1.2 of the Notifications API.
470 The function `notifications-get-capabilities' returns the supported
474 ** In Perl mode, new option `perl-indent-parens-as-block' causes non-block
475 closing brackets to be aligned with the line of the opening bracket.
478 ** In Proced mode, new command `proced-renice' renices marked processes.
483 A new version of python.el, which provides several new features, including:
484 per-buffer shells, better indentation, Python 3 support, and improved
485 shell-interaction compatible with iPython (and virtually any other
488 *** Some user options have been replaced/renamed:
489 Old defcustom: | New defcustom:
490 python-indent | python-indent-offset
491 python-guess-indent | python-indent-guess-indent-offset
492 python-pdbtrack-do-tracking-p | python-pdbtrack-activate
493 python-use-skeletons | python-skeleton-autoinsert
495 *** Some user options have been removed:
497 **** `python-indent-string-contents': Strings are never indented.
499 **** `python-honour-comment-indentation':
500 Comments are never considered as indentation markers themselves.
502 **** `python-continuation-offset': Indentation is automatically
503 calculated in a pep8 compliant way depending on the context.
505 **** `python-shell-prompt-alist', `python-shell-continuation-prompt-alist':
506 Have no direct mapping as the shell interaction is completely different.
508 **** `python-python-command', `python-jython-command':
509 Replaced by `python-shell-interpreter'.
511 **** `inferior-python-filter-regexp', `python-remove-cwd-from-path',
512 `python-pdbtrack-minor-mode-string', `python-source-modes':
515 *** Some commands have been replaced:
516 Old command | New command
517 python-insert-class | python-skeleton-class
518 python-insert-def | python-skeleton-def
519 python-insert-for | python-skeleton-for
520 python-insert-if | python-skeleton-if
521 python-insert-try/except | python-skeleton-try
522 python-insert-try/finally | python-skeleton-try
523 python-insert-while | python-skeleton-while
524 python-find-function | python-nav-jump-to-defun
525 python-next-statement | python-nav-forward-sentence
526 python-previous-statement | python-nav-backward-sentence
527 python-beginning-of-defun-function | python-nav-beginning-of-defun
528 python-end-of-defun-function | python-nav-end-of-defun
529 python-send-buffer | python-shell-send-buffer
530 python-send-defun | python-shell-send-defun
531 python-send-region | python-shell-send-region
532 python-send-region-and-go | Emulate with python-shell-send-region and
533 python-shell-switch-to-shell
534 python-send-string | python-shell-send-string
535 python-switch-to-python | python-shell-switch-to-shell
536 python-describe-symbol | python-eldoc-at-point
539 ** reStructuredText mode
541 *** Keybindings (see `C-c C-h'), TAB indentation, filling and auto-filling,
542 fontification, comment handling, and customization have all been revised
545 *** Support for `imenu' and `which-function-mode'.
547 *** The reStructuredText syntax is more closely covered.
548 Sphinx support has been improved.
550 *** `rst-insert-list' inserts new list or continues existing lists.
552 *** A negative prefix argument always works for `rst-adjust'.
554 *** The window configuration is reset after displaying a TOC.
556 *** The constant `rst-version' describes the rst.el package version.
561 *** Pairing of parens/quotes uses electric-pair-mode instead of skeleton-pair.
563 *** `sh-electric-here-document-mode' now controls auto-insertion of here-docs.
565 *** `sh-use-smie' lets you choose a new indentation and navigation code.
568 ** New option `async-shell-command-buffer' specifies the buffer to use
569 for a new asynchronous `shell-command' when the default output buffer
570 `*Async Shell Command*' is already in use.
573 ** SQL mode has a new option `sql-db2-escape-newlines'.
574 If non-nil, newlines sent to the command interpreter will be escaped
575 by a backslash. The default does not escape the newlines and assumes
576 that the sql statement will be terminated by a semicolon.
578 ** Tabulated List and packages derived from it
580 *** New command `tabulated-list-sort', bound to `S', sorts the column
581 at point, or the Nth column if a numeric prefix argument is given.
585 *** The variables `term-default-fg-color' and `term-default-bg-color' are
586 now deprecated in favor of the customizable face `term'.
588 *** You can customize how to display ANSI terminal colors and styles
589 by customizing the corresponding `term-color-<COLOR>',
590 `term-color-underline' and `term-color-bold' faces.
594 *** The syntax has been extended in order to allow ad-hoc proxy definitions.
595 See the manual for details.
597 *** Remote processes are now supported also on remote Windows host.
601 *** Structs made by `url-generic-parse-url' have nil `attributes' slot.
602 Previously, this slot stored semicolon-separated attribute-value pairs
603 appended to some imap URLs, but this is not compatible with RFC 3986.
604 So now the `filename' slot stores the entire path and query components
605 and the `attributes' slot is always nil.
607 *** New function `url-encode-url' for encoding a URI string.
608 The `url-retrieve' function now uses this to encode its URL argument,
609 in case that is not properly encoded.
614 *** The free software compiler GHDL is supported (and now the default).
616 *** Support for the VHDL-AMS packages has been added/updated.
618 *** Updated to the 2002 revision of the VHDL standard.
620 *** Accepts \r and \f as whitespace.
623 ** `which-func-modes' now defaults to t, so Which Function mode, when
624 enabled, applies to all applicable major modes.
627 ** winner-mode-hook now runs when the mode is disabled, as well as when it is
631 ** Hooks renamed to avoid obsolete "-hooks" suffix:
632 *** semantic-lex-reset-hooks -> semantic-lex-reset-functions
633 *** semantic-change-hooks -> semantic-change-functions
634 *** semantic-edits-new-change-hooks -> semantic-edits-new-change-functions
635 *** semantic-edits-delete-change-hooks -> semantic-edits-delete-change-functions
636 *** semantic-edits-reparse-change-hooks -> semantic-edits-reparse-change-functions
637 *** semanticdb-save-database-hooks -> semanticdb-save-database-functions
638 *** c-prepare-bug-report-hooks -> c-prepare-bug-report-hook
639 *** rcirc-sentinel-hooks -> rcirc-sentinel-functions
640 *** rcirc-receive-message-hooks -> rcirc-receive-message-functions
641 *** rcirc-activity-hooks -> rcirc-activity-functions
642 *** rcirc-print-hooks -> rcirc-print-functions
643 *** dbus-event-error-hooks -> dbus-event-error-functions
644 *** eieio-pre-method-execution-hooks -> eieio-pre-method-execution-functions
645 *** checkdoc-style-hooks -> checkdoc-style-functions
646 *** checkdoc-comment-style-hooks -> checkdoc-comment-style-functions
647 *** archive-extract-hooks -> archive-extract-hook
648 *** filesets-cache-fill-content-hooks -> filesets-cache-fill-content-hook
649 *** hfy-post-html-hooks -> hfy-post-html-hook
650 *** nndiary-request-create-group-hooks -> nndiary-request-create-group-functions
651 *** nndiary-request-update-info-hooks -> nndiary-request-update-info-functions
652 *** nndiary-request-accept-article-hooks -> nndiary-request-accept-article-functions
653 *** gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-hooks -> gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-functions
655 ** Obsolete packages:
658 In most cases, assoc+member+push+delq work just as well.
659 And in any case it's just a terrible package: ugly semantics, terrible
660 inefficiency, and not namespace-clean.
675 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.3
678 ** set-buffer-multibyte now signals an error in narrowed buffers.
681 ** (random) by default now returns a different random sequence in
682 every Emacs run. Use (random S), where S is a string, to set the
683 random seed to a value based on S, in order to get a repeatable
684 sequence in later calls.
687 ** The function `x-select-font' can return a font spec, instead of a
688 font name as a string. Whether it returns a font spec or a font name
689 depends on the graphical library.
692 ** If the NEWTEXT arg to `replace-match' contains a substring "\?",
693 that substring is inserted literally even if the LITERAL arg is
694 non-nil, instead of causing an error to be signaled.
697 ** Docstrings starting with `*' no longer indicate user options.
698 Only variables defined using `defcustom' are considered user options.
699 The function `user-variable-p' is now an obsolete alias for
703 ** The return values of `defalias', `defun' and `defmacro' have changed,
704 and are now undefined. For backwards compatibility, defun and
705 defmacro currently return the name of the newly defined function/macro
706 but this should not be relied upon.
709 ** `face-spec-set' no longer sets frame-specific attributes when the
710 third argument is a frame (that usage was obsolete since Emacs 22.2).
713 ** The arguments of `dbus-register-signal' are no longer just strings,
714 but keywords or keyword-string pairs. The old argument list will
715 still be supported for Emacs 24.x.
718 ** The CL package's `get-setf-method' function no longer exists.
719 Generalized variables are now part of core Emacs Lisp, and implemented
720 differently to the way cl.el used to do it. It is not possible to
721 define a compatible replacement for `get-setf-method'. See the file
722 gv.el for internal details of the new implementation.
725 Some Lisp symbols have been renamed to avoid problems with spelling
726 that is incorrect or inconsistent with how Emacs normally spells a word.
729 *** Renamed functions
731 **** hangul-input-method-inactivate -> hangul-input-method-deactivate
732 **** inactivate-input-method -> deactivate-input-method
733 **** quail-inactivate -> quail-deactivate
734 **** robin-inactivate -> robin-deactivate
735 **** viper-inactivate-input-method -> viper-deactivate-input-method
736 **** viper-inactivate-input-method-action ->
737 viper-deactivate-input-method-action
738 **** ucs-input-inactivate -> ucs-input-deactivate
742 The old hooks are still supported for backward compatibility, but they
743 are deprecated and will be removed eventually.
744 **** input-method-inactivate-hook -> input-method-deactivate-hook
745 **** robin-inactivate-hook -> robin-deactivate-hook
746 **** quail-inactivate-hook -> quail-deactivate-hook
749 *** Renamed Lisp variables
750 **** follow-deactive-menu -> follow-inactive-menu
751 **** inactivate-current-input-method-function ->
752 deactivate-current-input-method-function
755 ** Some obsolete functions, variables, and faces have been removed:
756 *** `last-input-char', `last-command-char', `unread-command-char'
757 *** `facemenu-unlisted-faces'
758 *** `rmail-decode-mime-charset'
759 *** `iswitchb-read-buffer'
760 *** `sc-version', `sc-submit-bug-report'
761 *** `set-char-table-default'
762 *** `string-to-sequence' (use `string-to-list' or `string-to-vector')
763 *** `compile-internal'
765 *** `mode-line-inverse-video'
766 *** `follow-mode-off-hook'
767 *** `cvs-commit-buffer-require-final-newline'
768 (use `log-edit-require-final-newline' instead)
769 *** `cvs-changelog-full-paragraphs'
770 (use `log-edit-changelog-full-paragraphs' instead)
771 *** `cvs-diff-ignore-marks', `cvs-diff-buffer-name'
772 *** `vc-ignore-vc-files' (use `vc-handled-backends' instead)
773 *** `vc-master-templates' (use `vc-handled-backends' instead)
774 *** `vc-checkout-carefully'
777 * Lisp changes in Emacs 24.3
779 ** New sampling-based Elisp profiler.
780 Try M-x profiler-start, do some work, and then call M-x profiler-report.
781 When finished, use M-x profiler-stop. The sampling rate can be based on
782 CPU time (only supported on some systems) or memory allocations.
785 ** CL-style generalized variables are now in core Elisp.
786 `setf' is autoloaded; `push' and `pop' accept generalized variables.
787 You can define your own generalized variables using `gv-define-simple-setter',
788 `gv-define-setter', etc.
791 ** `defun' also accepts a (declare DECLS) form, like `defmacro'.
792 The interpretation of the DECLS is determined by `defun-declarations-alist'.
796 *** `read-regexp' has a new argument HISTORY; the first argument PROMPT
797 of `read-regexp' accepts a string ending with a colon and space, and its
798 second argument DEFAULTS can be a list of strings accessible via M-n
799 in the minibuffer ahead of other hard-coded useful regexp-related values.
800 More commands use `read-regexp' now to read their regexp arguments.
804 *** New function `completion-table-with-quoting' to handle completion
805 in the presence of quoting, such as file completion in shell buffers.
807 *** New function `completion-table-subvert' to use an existing completion
808 table, but with a different prefix.
813 *** New error type and new function `user-error'.
814 These do not trigger the debugger.
817 *** New option `debugger-bury-or-kill', saying what to do with the
818 debugger buffer when exiting debug.
821 *** Set `debug-on-message' to enter the debugger when a certain
822 message is displayed in the echo area. This can be useful when trying
823 to work out which code is doing something.
825 *** New var `inhibit-debugger', automatically set to prevent accidental
826 recursive invocations.
830 *** The functions get-lru-window, get-mru-window and get-largest-window
831 now accept a third argument to avoid choosing the selected window.
833 *** Additional values recognized for option `window-combination-limit'.
835 *** New macro `with-temp-buffer-window'.
837 *** `temp-buffer-resize-mode' no longer resizes windows that have been
840 *** New function `fit-frame-to-buffer' and new options
841 `fit-frame-to-buffer' and `fit-frame-to-buffer-bottom-margin'.
843 *** New option switch-to-buffer-preserve-window-point to restore a
844 window's point when switching buffers.
846 *** New display action functions `display-buffer-below-selected',
847 and `display-buffer-in-previous-window'.
849 *** New display action alist entry `inhibit-switch-frame', if non-nil,
850 tells display action functions to avoid changing which frame is
853 *** New display action alist entry `pop-up-frame-parameters', if
854 non-nil, specifies frame parameters to give any newly-created frame.
856 *** New display action alist entry `previous-window', if non-nil,
857 specifies window to reuse in `display-buffer-in-previous-window'.
859 *** New display action alist entries `window-height' and `window-width'
860 to specify size of new window created by `display-buffer'.
862 *** The following variables are obsolete, as they can be replaced by
863 appropriate entries in the `display-buffer-alist' function introduced
866 **** `display-buffer-reuse-frames'
868 **** `special-display-regexps'
870 **** `special-display-frame-alist'
872 **** `special-display-buffer-names'
874 **** `special-display-function'
876 **** `display-buffer-function'
878 **** `dired-shrink-to-fit'
882 *** `current-time-string' no longer requires that its argument's year
883 must be in the range 1000..9999. It now works with any year supported
884 by the underlying C implementation.
886 *** `current-time' now returns extended-format time stamps
887 (HIGH LOW USEC PSEC), where the new PSEC slot specifies picoseconds.
888 PSEC is typically a multiple of 1000 on current machines. Other
889 functions that use this format, such as file-attributes and
890 format-time-string, have been changed accordingly. Old-format time
891 stamps are still accepted.
893 *** The format of timers in timer-list and timer-idle-list is now
894 [TRIGGERED-P HI-SECS LO-SECS USECS REPEAT-DELAY FUNCTION ARGS IDLE-DELAY PSECS].
895 The PSECS slot is new, and uses picosecond resolution. It can be
896 accessed via the new timer--psecs accessor.
898 *** Last-modified time stamps in undo lists now are of the form
899 (t HI-SECS LO-SECS USECS PSECS) instead of (t HI-SECS . LO-SECS).
902 ** Floating point functions now always return special values like NaN,
903 instead of signaling errors, if given invalid args, e.g. (log -1.0).
904 Previously, they returned NaNs on some platforms but signaled errors
905 on others. The affected functions are acos, asin, tan, exp, expt,
906 log, log10, sqrt, and mod.
908 ** Interpreted files are eagerly macro-expanded during load.
909 This can significantly speed up execution of non-byte-compiled code,
910 but can also bump into harmless and previously unnoticed cyclic
911 dependencies. These should not be fatal: they will simply cause the
912 macro-calls to be left for later expansion (as before), but will also
913 result in a warning ("Eager macro-expansion skipped due to cycle")
914 describing the cycle.
916 ** Miscellaneous new functions:
918 *** `autoloadp' tests if its argument is an autoloaded object.
920 *** `autoload-do-load' performs the autoloading operation.
922 *** `buffer-narrowed-p' tests if the buffer is narrowed.
924 *** `file-name-base' returns a file name sans directory and extension.
926 *** `function-get' fetches a function property, following aliases.
928 *** `posnp' tests if an object is a `posn'.
929 *** `set-temporary-overlay-map' sets up a temporary overlay map.
931 *** `system-users' returns the user names on the system.
933 *** `system-groups' returns the group names on the system.
935 *** `tty-top-frame' returns the topmost frame of a text terminal.
938 ** New macros `setq-local' and `defvar-local'.
941 ** New fringe bitmap `exclamation-mark'.
943 ** Face underlining can now use a wave.
944 See the "Face Attributes" section of the Elisp manual.
946 ** The following functions and variables are obsolete:
948 *** `automount-dir-prefix' (use `directory-abbrev-alist')
950 *** `buffer-has-markers-at'
952 *** `macro-declaration-function' (use `macro-declarations-alist')
954 *** `window-system-version' (provides no useful information)
956 *** `dired-pop-to-buffer' (use `dired-mark-pop-up')
958 *** `query-replace-interactive'
960 *** `font-list-limit' (has had no effect since Emacs < 23)
963 * Changes in Emacs 24.3 on non-free operating systems
966 ** Cygwin builds can use the native MS Windows user interface.
967 Pass --with-w32 to configure. The default remains the X11 interface.
969 ** Two new functions are available in Cygwin builds:
970 `cygwin-convert-path-from-windows' and `cygwin-convert-path-to-windows'.
971 These functions allow Lisp code to access the Cygwin file-name mapping
972 machinery to convert between Cygwin and Windows-native file names.
974 ** When invoked with the -nw switch to run on the Windows text-mode terminal,
975 Emacs now supports mouse highlight, help-echo (in the echo area), and
976 `mouse-autoselect-window'.
979 ** On MS Windows Vista and later Emacs now supports symbolic links.
982 ** On MS Windows, you can pass --without-libxml2 to configure.bat to omit
983 support for libxml2, even if its presence is detected.
986 ** On Mac OS X, the Nextstep port requires OS X 10.4 or later.
989 ** On Mac OS X, configure no longer automatically adds the Fink /sw
990 directories to the search path. You must add them yourself if you want them.
993 * Changes in Emacs 24.2
995 ** This is mainly a bug-fix release.
998 * Installation Changes in Emacs 24.1
1000 ** Emacs can be compiled with Gtk+ 3.0 if you pass --with-x-toolkit=gtk3
1001 to configure. Note that other libraries used by Emacs, RSVG and GConf,
1002 also depend on Gtk+. You can disable them with --without-rsvg and
1005 ** Emacs can be compiled with GnuTLS support.
1006 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
1007 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
1008 `--without-gnutls'. See below for GnuTLS features.
1010 ** Emacs can be compiled with SELinux support.
1011 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
1012 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
1013 `--without-selinux'. See below for SELinux features.
1015 ** Emacs can be compiled with ImageMagick support.
1016 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
1017 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
1018 `--without-imagemagick'. See below for ImageMagick features.
1019 This feature is not available for the Nextstep or MS ports.
1021 ** Emacs can be compiled with libxml2 support.
1022 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
1023 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
1024 `--without-xml2'. See below for libxml2 features.
1026 ** By default, the installed Info and man pages are compressed.
1027 You can disable this by configuring --without-compress-info.
1029 ** New configure option --with-wide-int.
1030 With it, Emacs integers typically have 62 bits, even on 32-bit machines.
1031 On 32-bit hosts, this raises the limit on buffer sizes from about 512 MiB
1034 ** New configure options: --with-mmdf, --with-mail-unlink, --with-mailhost.
1035 These provide no new functionality, they just remove the need to edit
1036 lib-src/Makefile by hand in order to use the associated features.
1038 ** New configure option --enable-use-lisp-union-type.
1039 This is only useful for Emacs developers to debug certain types of bugs.
1040 This is not a new feature; only the configure flag is new.
1042 ** The standalone programs digest-doc and sorted-doc are removed.
1043 Emacs now uses Lisp commands `doc-file-to-man' and `doc-file-to-info'.
1045 ** The standalone program `fakemail' is removed.
1046 If you need it, feedmail.el provides a superset of the functionality.
1049 * Startup Changes in Emacs 24.1
1051 ** The --unibyte, --multibyte, --no-multibyte, and --no-unibyte
1052 command line arguments, and the EMACS_UNIBYTE environment variable, no
1053 longer have any effect. (They were declared obsolete in Emacs 23.)
1055 ** New command line option `--no-site-lisp' removes site-lisp directories
1056 from load-path. -Q now implies this. This option does not affect the
1057 EMACSLOADPATH environment variable (and hence has no effect for
1061 * Changes in Emacs 24.1
1065 *** Many packages now use the `completion-at-point' command,
1066 rather than implementing separate completion commands.
1068 *** `completion-at-point' now handles tags and semantic completion.
1070 *** Completion in a non-minibuffer now tries to detect the end of completion
1071 and pops down the *Completions* buffer accordingly.
1073 *** New option `completion-cycle-threshold' allows completion cycling.
1075 *** New option `completion-category-overrides' for overriding the
1076 default completion style in certain circumstances.
1078 *** New completion style `substring'.
1080 *** Completion of buffer names uses `substring' completion by default.
1082 *** The option `widget-complete-field' has been removed.
1086 *** The first time you try sending mail, Emacs asks for a mail method.
1087 This is implemented by a new default for `send-mail-function', which
1088 is `sendmail-query-once'. This offers to use the smtpmail package, or
1089 to use the old defaults relying on external mail facilities
1090 (`sendmail-send-it' on GNU/Linux and other Unix-like systems, and
1091 `mailclient-send-it' on Windows).
1093 *** Typing C-c m in the buffer made by M-x report-emacs-bug transfers
1094 the report to your desktop's preferred mail client, if there is one.
1095 This uses either the "xdg-email" utility, or Mac OS's "open" command.
1097 *** See Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages for SMTPmail changes
1098 and Mail mode changes
1100 ** Emacs server and client changes
1102 *** New option `server-port' specifies the port for TCP Emacs servers.
1104 *** New emacsclient argument -q/--quiet suppresses some status messages.
1106 *** New emacsclient argument --frame-parameters specifies the frame
1107 parameters of any newly-created graphical frame.
1109 *** If emacsclient shuts down due to Emacs signaling an error,
1110 its exit status is 1.
1112 *** New emacsclient argument --parent-id ID.
1113 This opens a client frame in parent X window ID, via XEmbed, similar
1114 to the --parent-id argument to Emacs.
1116 ** Internationalization changes
1118 *** Emacs now supports display and editing of bidirectional text.
1119 Right-to-left (RTL) scripts, such as Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew, are
1120 displayed in the correct visual order as expected by users of those
1121 scripts. The display reordering is a "full bidirectionality" class
1122 implementation of the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm (UBA). Buffers
1123 with no RTL text should look exactly the same as before.
1125 **** New buffer-local variable `bidi-display-reordering'.
1126 To disable display reordering in a buffer, change this to nil.
1128 **** New buffer-local variable `bidi-paragraph-direction'.
1129 If nil (the default), Emacs determines the base direction of each
1130 paragraph from its text, as specified by the UBA. Setting the value
1131 to `right-to-left' or `left-to-right' forces a base direction on each
1134 Paragraphs with right-to-left base direction are displayed starting at
1135 the right window edge.
1137 *** Enhanced support for characters with no glyphs in available fonts,
1138 or, on text terminals, characters that cannot be encoded by the
1139 terminal coding system. The new option `glyphless-char-display-control'
1140 specifies how to display them: as a hexadecimal code in a box, a thin
1141 1-pixel space, an empty box, etc.
1143 *** New input methods for Farsi and Bulgarian
1144 (farsi-isiri-9147, farsi-transliterate-banan, bulgarian-alt-phonetic).
1146 *** `nobreak-char-display' now also highlights Unicode hyphen chars
1147 (U+2010 and U+2011).
1149 *** New Hebrew translation of the Emacs Tutorial.
1150 Type `C-u C-h t' to choose it in case your language setup doesn't
1151 automatically select it.
1153 ** An Emacs Lisp package manager is now included.
1154 This is a convenient way to download and install additional packages,
1155 from a package repository at http://elpa.gnu.org.
1157 *** M-x list-packages shows a list of packages, which can be
1158 selected for installation.
1160 *** New command `describe-package', bound to `C-h P'.
1162 *** By default, all installed packages are loaded automatically when
1163 Emacs starts up. To disable this, set `package-enable-at-startup' to
1164 nil. To specify the packages to load, customize `package-load-list'.
1166 ** Custom theme changes
1168 *** New command `M-x customize-themes', which provides a convenient
1169 interface for enabling and disabling Custom themes.
1171 *** New option `custom-theme-load-path' is the load path for themes.
1172 Emacs no longer looks for Custom themes in `load-path'. The default
1173 value of `custom-theme-load-path' says to look for themes in
1174 `custom-theme-directory', followed by a subdirectory of
1175 `data-directory' named "themes/", which contains a small selection of
1176 built-in Custom themes.
1178 *** New option `custom-safe-themes' records known-safe theme files.
1179 If a theme is not in this list, Emacs queries before loading it, and
1180 offers to save the theme to `custom-safe-themes' automatically. By
1181 default, all themes included in Emacs are treated as safe.
1183 ** Improved GTK integration
1185 *** GTK scroll-bars are now placed on the right by default.
1186 The function `set-scroll-bar-mode' can change this.
1188 *** GTK tool bars can have just text, just images or images and text.
1189 Customize `tool-bar-style' to choose the style. On a Gnome desktop,
1190 the default is taken from desktop settings.
1192 *** GTK tool bars can be placed on any edge of the frame.
1193 The frame-parameter tool-bar-position controls this. It takes the
1194 values top, left, right or bottom. The Options => Show/Hide menu has
1197 *** The default colors for selected text (the `region' face) are taken
1198 from the GTK theme when Emacs is built with GTK.
1200 *** Emacs uses GTK tooltips by default if built with GTK.
1201 You can disable this by changing `x-gtk-use-system-tooltips' to nil.
1203 ** Graphical interface changes
1205 *** On graphical displays, the mode-line no longer ends in dashes.
1206 Also, the first dash (which does not indicate anything) is just
1207 displayed as a space.
1209 *** `menu-bar-select-buffer-function' lets you choose another operation
1210 instead of `switch-to-buffer' when selecting an item in the Buffers menu.
1212 *** Lucid menus and dialogs can display antialiased fonts if Emacs is
1213 built with Xft. These fonts can be set via X resources, for example:
1214 Emacs.pane.menubar.font: Courier-12
1218 *** Emacs now calls `kill-emacs' if it receives SIGTERM or SIGHUP,
1219 or if it receives a SIGINT signal in batch mode.
1221 *** `kill-emacs-hook' is now also run in batch mode.
1222 Third-party code which adds to `kill-emacs-hook' should check if they
1223 do the right thing in batch mode.
1225 ** Scrolling changes
1227 *** New scrolling commands `scroll-up-command' and `scroll-down-command'
1228 (bound to C-v/[next] and M-v/[prior]) do not signal errors at top/bottom
1229 of buffer at first key-press (instead they move to top/bottom of buffer)
1230 when `scroll-error-top-bottom' is non-nil.
1232 *** New option `scroll-error-top-bottom' (see above).
1234 *** New scrolling commands `scroll-up-line' and `scroll-down-line'
1235 scroll a line instead of full screen.
1237 *** New property `scroll-command' should be set on a command's symbol to
1238 define it as a scroll command affected by `scroll-preserve-screen-position'.
1240 *** If you customize `scroll-conservatively' to a value greater than 100,
1241 Emacs will never recenter point in the window when it scrolls due to
1242 cursor motion commands or commands that move point (e.f., `M-g M-g').
1243 Previously, you needed to use `most-positive-fixnum' as the value of
1244 `scroll-conservatively' to achieve the same effect.
1246 *** "Aggressive" scrolling now honors the scroll margins.
1247 If you customize `scroll-up-aggressively' or
1248 `scroll-down-aggressively' and move point off the window, Emacs now
1249 scrolls the window so as to avoid positioning point inside the scroll
1252 ** Basic SELinux support has been added.
1253 This requires Emacs to be linked with libselinux at build time.
1255 *** Emacs preserves the SELinux file context when backing up.
1256 Also, the function `copy-file' has an extra optional argument for
1257 preserving SELinux context, and the return value of `backup-buffer'
1258 now includes the SELinux context.
1260 *** New functions `file-selinux-context' and `set-file-selinux-context'
1261 get and set the SELinux context of a file.
1265 *** `delete-by-moving-to-trash' now only affects commands that specify
1266 trashing. This avoids inadvertently trashing temporary files.
1268 *** Calling `delete-file' or `delete-directory' with a prefix argument
1269 now forces true deletion, regardless of `delete-by-moving-to-trash'.
1271 ** File- and directory-local variable changes
1273 *** You can stop directory local vars from applying to subdirectories.
1274 Add an element (subdirs . nil) to the alist portion of any variables
1275 settings to indicate that the section should not apply to
1278 *** Directory local variables can apply to some file-less buffers.
1279 Affected modes include dired, vc-dir, and log-edit. For example,
1280 adding "(diff-mode . ((mode . whitespace)))" to .dir-locals.el will
1281 turn on `whitespace-mode' for *vc-diff* buffers. Modes should call
1282 `hack-dir-local-variables-non-file-buffer' to support this.
1284 *** Using "mode: MINOR-MODE" to enable a minor mode is deprecated.
1285 Instead, use "eval: (minor-mode 1)".
1287 *** The variable `inhibit-first-line-modes-regexps' has been renamed
1288 to `inhibit-local-variables-regexps'. As the name suggests, it now
1289 applies to ALL file local variables, not just -*- lines. The
1290 associated `inhibit-first-line-modes-suffixes' has been renamed in the
1295 *** The `quit-window' command now restores the last buffer displayed
1296 in the quitted window.
1298 *** Resizing an Emacs frame now preserves proportional window sizes,
1299 modulo restrictions like window minimum sizes and fixed-size windows.
1301 *** The behavior of `display-buffer' is now customizable in detail.
1303 **** New option `display-buffer-base-action' specifies a list of
1304 user-determined display "actions" (functions and optional arguments
1305 for choosing the displaying window).
1307 This takes precedence over the default display action, which is
1308 specified by `display-buffer-fallback-action'.
1310 **** New option `display-buffer-alist' maps buffer name regexps to
1311 display actions, taking precedence over `display-buffer-base-action'.
1313 *** New option `window-combination-limit'.
1314 The new option `window-combination-limit' allows to return the space
1315 obtained for resizing or creating a window more reliably to the window
1316 from which such space was obtained.
1318 *** New option `window-combination-resize'.
1319 The new option `window-combination-resize' allows to split a window that
1320 otherwise cannot be split because it's too small by stealing space from
1321 other windows in the same combination. Subsequent resizing or deletion
1322 of the window will resize all windows in the same combination as well.
1324 *** New option `frame-auto-hide-function' lets you choose between
1325 iconifying or deleting a frame when burying a buffer in a dedicated
1326 frame, or quitting a window showing a buffer in a frame of its own.
1328 *** New commands `maximize-window' and `minimize-window'.
1329 These maximize and minimize the size of a window within its frame.
1331 *** New commands `switch-to-prev-buffer' and `switch-to-next-buffer'.
1332 These functions allow to navigate through the live buffers that have
1333 been shown in a specific window.
1335 ** Minibuffer changes
1337 *** The inactive minibuffer has its own major mode `minibuffer-inactive-mode'.
1338 This is handy for minibuffer-only frames, and is also used for the feature
1339 where mouse-1 pops up *Messages*"', which can now easily be changed.
1341 *** Minibuffers set `truncate-lines' to nil.
1342 If you want to change the value to something else, you could use
1343 for example `minibuffer-setup-hook'.
1345 ** `auto-mode-case-fold' is now enabled by default.
1347 ** `backup-by-copying-when-mismatch' now defaults to t.
1349 ** New basic faces `error', `warning', `success'.
1350 These are used to highlight text indicating failure, caution or
1351 successful operation.
1353 ** New option `list-colors-sort' defines the color sort order
1354 for `list-colors-display'.
1356 ** The variable `focus-follows-mouse' now always defaults to nil.
1359 * Editing Changes in Emacs 24.1
1363 *** C-y in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-kill', instead of
1364 `isearch-yank-line'.
1366 *** M-y in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-pop', instead of
1367 `isearch-yank-kill'.
1369 *** M-s C-e in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-line'.
1371 ** New commands `count-words-region' and `count-words'.
1373 *** M-= is bound to `count-words-region', not `count-lines-region'.
1374 The `count-words-region' command, when called interactively, reports
1375 the number of lines, words, and characters in the region. It is a
1376 superset of the old `count-lines-region', which is now an obsolete
1379 ** The command `just-one-space' (M-SPC), if given a negative argument,
1380 also deletes newlines around point.
1384 *** New option `delete-active-region'.
1385 If non-nil, [delete] and DEL delete the region if it is active and no
1386 prefix argument is given. If set to `kill', those commands kill
1389 *** New command `delete-forward-char', bound to [delete].
1390 This is meant for interactive use, and obeys `delete-active-region'.
1391 The command `delete-char' does not obey `delete-active-region'.
1393 *** `delete-backward-char' is now a Lisp function.
1394 Apart from obeying `delete-active-region', its behavior is unchanged.
1395 However, the byte compiler now warns if it is called from Lisp; Lisp
1396 callers should use delete-char with a negative argument instead.
1398 *** The option `mouse-region-delete-keys' has been deleted.
1400 ** Selection changes.
1402 The default handling of clipboard and primary selections has been
1403 changed to conform with modern X applications. In short, most
1404 commands for killing and yanking text now use the clipboard, while
1405 mouse commands use the primary selection.
1407 In the following, we provide a list of these changes, followed by a
1408 list of steps to get the old behavior back if you prefer that.
1410 *** `select-active-regions' now defaults to t.
1411 Merely selecting text (e.g. with drag-mouse-1) no longer puts it in
1412 the kill ring. The selected text is put in the primary selection, if
1413 the system possesses a separate primary selection facility (e.g. X).
1415 **** `select-active-regions' also accepts a new value, `only'.
1416 This means to only set the primary selection for temporarily active
1417 regions (usually made by mouse-dragging or shift-selection);
1418 "ordinary" active regions, such as those made with C-SPC followed by
1419 point motion, do not alter the primary selection.
1421 **** `mouse-drag-copy-region' now defaults to nil.
1423 *** mouse-2 is now bound to `mouse-yank-primary'.
1424 This pastes from the primary selection, ignoring the kill-ring.
1425 Previously, mouse-2 was bound to `mouse-yank-at-click'.
1427 *** `x-select-enable-clipboard' now defaults to t on all platforms.
1429 *** `x-select-enable-primary' now defaults to nil.
1430 Thus, commands that kill text or copy it to the kill-ring (such as
1431 M-w, C-w, and C-k) also use the clipboard---not the primary selection.
1433 **** The "Copy", "Cut", and "Paste" items in the "Edit" menu are now
1434 exactly equivalent to M-w, C-w, and C-y respectively.
1436 **** Note that on MS-Windows, `x-select-enable-clipboard' was already
1437 non-nil by default, as Windows does not support the primary selection
1438 between applications.
1440 *** To return to the previous behavior, do the following:
1442 **** Change `select-active-regions' to nil.
1443 **** Change `mouse-drag-copy-region' to t.
1444 **** Change `x-select-enable-primary' to t (on X only).
1445 **** Change `x-select-enable-clipboard' to nil.
1446 **** Bind `mouse-yank-at-click' to mouse-2.
1448 *** Support for X cut buffers has been removed.
1450 *** X clipboard managers are now supported.
1451 To inhibit this, change `x-select-enable-clipboard-manager' to nil.
1453 ** New command `C-x r N' (`rectangle-number-lines') numbers the lines
1454 in the current rectangle. With a prefix argument, this prompts for a
1455 number to count from and for a format string.
1457 ** `redisplay-dont-pause' now defaults to t.
1458 This makes Emacs feel more responsive to editing commands that arrive
1459 at high rate, e.g. if you lean on some key, because stopping redisplay
1460 in the middle (when this variable is nil) forces more expensive
1461 updates later on, and Emacs appears to be unable to keep up.
1463 ** The behavior of <TAB> for active regions in Text mode has changed.
1464 In Text and related modes, typing <TAB> (`indent-for-tab-command')
1465 when the region is active causes Emacs to indent all the lines in the
1466 region, aligning them with the line previous to the first line in the
1467 region (or with the left margin if there is no previous line).
1469 ** When `occur' is called with a prefix argument, matching strings are
1470 collected into the `*Occur*' buffer without line numbers. If there
1471 are parenthesized subexpressions in the specified regexp, `occur'
1472 reads replacement text that may contain \\& and \\N whose convention
1473 follows `replace-match'.
1476 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.1
1478 ** Archive Mode has basic support for browsing and updating 7z archives.
1482 *** BibTeX mode now supports biblatex.
1483 Use the variable `bibtex-dialect' to select different BibTeX dialects.
1484 `bibtex-entry-field-alist' is now an obsolete alias for
1485 `bibtex-BibTeX-entry-alist'.
1487 *** New command `bibtex-search-entries', bound to C-c C-a.
1489 *** New `bibtex-entry-format' option `sort-fields', disabled by default.
1491 *** New variable `bibtex-search-entry-globally'.
1495 *** New option `browse-url-mailto-function' specifies how to handle "mailto:"s.
1497 *** The default browser used by the package is now the "xdg-open" program,
1498 on platforms that support it. This calls your desktop's preferred browser.
1500 ** Calendar, Diary, and Appt
1502 *** Diary entries can contain non-printing "comments".
1503 See the variable `diary-comment-start'.
1505 *** Appointments can specify their individual warning times.
1506 See the variable `appt-warning-time-regexp'.
1508 *** The function specified by `appt-disp-window-function' may be passed
1509 lists of arguments if multiple appointments are due at similar times.
1510 If you are using a custom function for this, you should update it.
1512 *** New function `diary-hebrew-birthday'.
1514 *** Elements of `calendar-day-abbrev-array' and `calendar-month-abbrev-array'
1515 may no longer be nil, but must all be strings.
1517 *** The obsolete (since Emacs 22.1) method of enabling the appt
1518 package by adding `appt-make-list' to `diary-hook' has been removed.
1519 Use `appt-activate' instead.
1521 *** Some appt variables (obsolete since Emacs 22.1) have been removed:
1522 appt-issue-message (use the function appt-activate)
1523 appt-visible/appt-msg-window (use the variable appt-display-format)
1525 *** Some diary function aliases (obsolete since Emacs 22.1) have been removed:
1526 view-diary-entries, list-diary-entries, show-all-diary-entries
1530 *** New feature to "guess" the style in an existing buffer.
1531 The main entry point is M-x c-guess.
1533 *** Java Mode now supports Java 5.0 (Tiger) and 6 (Mustang).
1535 *** `c-beginning-of-defun' and `c-end-of-defun' now respect nested scopes.
1536 Thus C-M-a will, by default, go to the beginning of the immediate function,
1539 *** "Macros with semicolons" can be registered for correct indentation.
1540 Where such a macro ends a line (no semicolon) the next statement is no longer
1541 parsed as a statement continuation.
1543 ** Comint and modes derived from it use the standard completion code.
1547 *** Compilation mode can be used without Font Lock mode.
1548 `compilation-parse-errors-function' is now obsolete.
1550 *** New variable `compilation-filter-start', which is bound while
1551 `compilation-filter-hook' runs. It records the start position of the
1552 text inserted by `compilation-filter'.
1554 *** `compilation-error-screen-columns' and `compilation-first-column'
1555 are obeyed in the editing buffer. So programming language modes can
1556 set them, whereas previously only the value in the *Compilation*
1561 *** Customize buffers now contain a search field.
1562 The search is performed using `customize-apropos'.
1563 To turn off the search field, set `custom-search-field' to nil.
1565 *** Options in customize group buffers start out hidden if not customized.
1566 Use the arrow to the left of the option name to toggle visibility.
1568 *** custom-buffer-sort-alphabetically now defaults to t.
1570 *** The color widget now has a "Choose" button, which allows you to
1571 choose a color via `list-colors-display'.
1575 *** It is now possible to access buses other than the default system
1578 *** The `dbus-register-method' and `dbus-register-property' functions
1579 optionally do not register names.
1581 *** The new function `dbus-register-service' registers a known service
1582 name on a D-Bus without also registering a property or a method.
1586 *** C-x C-j (`dired-jump') and C-x 4 C-j (`dired-jump-other-window'),
1587 if called with a prefix argument, read a file name from the minibuffer
1588 instead of using the current buffer.
1590 *** The "dired local variables" feature of Dired-x is obsolete.
1591 The standard directory local variables feature replaces it.
1595 *** New options `erc-autojoin-timing' and `erc-autojoin-delay',
1596 controlling attempts to autojoin a channel.
1598 *** New variable `erc-coding-system-precedence': If we use `undecided'
1599 as the server coding system, this variable will then be consulted.
1600 The default is to decode strings that can be decoded as utf-8 as
1601 utf-8, and do the normal `undecided' decoding for the rest.
1605 *** The default value of `eshell-directory-name' has changed
1606 to be an "eshell" directory in `user-emacs-directory'.
1607 The old "~/.eshell/" directory is still used if it exists, though.
1611 *** The M-x gdb command now uses the GDB Machine Interface protocol.
1612 It now supports multithread non-stop debugging and simultaneous
1613 debugging of several threads.
1617 *** RET (`image-toggle-animation') toggles animation, if applicable.
1618 Animation plays once, unless the option `image-animate-loop' is non-nil.
1622 *** New command M-x info-display-manual displays a named Info manual.
1623 If that manual is already visited in some Info buffer, it displays
1624 that buffer. (This is handy if you have many manuals in many *info*
1625 buffers, and don't remember the name of the buffer visiting the manual
1626 you want to consult.) Otherwise, it loads and displays the manual.
1628 *** `e' is now bound to `end-of-buffer' rather than to `Info-edit'.
1629 This is for compatibility with the stand-alone Info reader program,
1630 and also because `Info-edit' is a rarely used command that is disabled
1633 ** Mail mode changes (not Message mode)
1635 *** New command M-x mail-add-attachment for adding MIME attachments
1637 *** The command M-x mail-attach-file was renamed to M-x mail-insert-file.
1638 (Its name is misleading, since it has nothing to do with MIME
1639 attachments.) The old name is now an obsolete alias to the new name.
1641 ** MH-E has been updated to MH-E version 8.3.1.
1642 See MH-E-NEWS for details.
1644 ** Modula-2 mode provides auto-indentation.
1646 ** mpc.el: Can use pseudo tags of the form tag1|tag2 as a union of two tags.
1648 ** nXML mode no longer binds C-RET to `nxml-complete'.
1649 Completion is now performed via `completion-at-point', bound to C-M-i
1650 or M-TAB. If `nxml-bind-meta-tab-to-complete-flag' is non-nil (the
1651 default), this performs tag completion.
1653 ** Org mode has been updated to version 7.8.09.
1654 See ORG-NEWS for details.
1656 ** Prolog mode has been completely revamped, with lots of additional
1657 functionality such as more intelligent indentation, electricity,
1658 support for more variants, including Mercury, and a lot more.
1662 *** The command `rmail-epa-decrypt' decrypts OpenPGP data
1663 in the Rmail incoming message.
1665 *** The variable `rmail-message-filter' no longer has any effect.
1666 This change was made in Emacs 23.1 but was not advertised at the time.
1667 Try using `rmail-show-message-hook' instead.
1671 *** M-x shell prompts for the shell path name if the default directory
1672 is a remote file name and neither the environment variable $ESHELL nor
1673 the variable `explicit-shell-file-name' is set.
1675 *** TAB is now bound to the standard `completion-at-point' command,
1676 which now implements the pcomplete rules for shell command completion.
1680 *** SMTPmail now uses encrypted connections (via STARTTLS) by default
1681 if the mail server supports them. This uses either built-in GnuTLS
1682 support, or the starttls.el library. Customize `smtpmail-stream-type'
1685 *** The variable `smtpmail-auth-credentials' has been removed.
1686 By default, the information is now stored in the file ~/.authinfo.
1687 This was the default value of smtpmail-auth-credentials. If you had
1688 customized smtpmail-auth-credentials to a list of user names and
1689 passwords, those settings are not used. During your first connection
1690 to the smtp server, Emacs will prompt for the user name and password,
1691 and offer to save them to ~/.authinfo. Or you can manually copy the
1692 credentials to ~/.authinfo. For example, if you had
1694 (setq smtpmail-auth-credentials
1695 '(("mail.example.org" 25 "jim" "s!cret")))
1697 then the equivalent line in ~/.authinfo would be
1699 machine mail.example.org port 25 login jim password s!cret
1701 See the auth-source manual for more information, e.g. on encrypting
1702 the credentials file.
1704 *** The variable `smtpmail-starttls-credentials' has been removed.
1705 If you had that set, you need to put
1707 machine smtp.whatever.foo port 25 key "~/.my_smtp_tls.key" cert "~/.my_smtp_tls.cert"
1709 in your ~/.authinfo file instead.
1711 *** SMTPmail defaults to using the address in the From: header as the
1712 SMTP MAIL FROM envelope. To override this, set `mail-envelope-from'
1713 to the address you wish to use instead.
1717 *** New options `sql-port', `sql-connection-alist', `sql-send-terminator',
1718 and `sql-oracle-scan-on'.
1720 *** New options controlling prompting for login parameters.
1721 Each supported product has a custom variable `sql-*-login-params',
1722 which is a list of the parameters to be prompted for before a
1723 connection is established.
1725 *** The command `sql-product-interactive' now takes a prefix argument,
1726 which causes it to prompt for an SQL product.
1728 *** Product-specific SQL interactive commands now take prefix arguments.
1729 These commands (`sql-sqlite', `sql-postgres', `sql-mysql', etc.),
1730 given a prefix argument, prompt for a name for the SQL interactive
1731 buffer. This reduces the need for calling `sql-rename-buffer'.
1733 *** SQL interactive modes suppress command continuation prompts, and
1734 replace tabs with spaces. The first change impacts multiple line SQL
1735 statements entered with C-j between each line, statements yanked into
1736 the buffer and statements sent with `sql-send-*' functions. The
1737 second prevents the MySQL and Postgres interpreters from listing
1738 object name completions when sent text via `sql-send-*' functions.
1740 *** New command `sql-connect' starts a predefined SQLi session,
1741 using the login parameters from `sql-connection-alist'.
1743 *** New "Save Connection" menu item in SQLi buffers.
1744 This gathers the login params specified for the SQLi session, if it
1745 was not started by a connection, and saves them as a new connection.
1747 *** New commands for listing database objects and details:
1748 sql-list-all and sql-list-table.
1750 *** An API for manipulating SQL product definitions has been added.
1754 *** latex-electric-env-pair-mode keeps \begin..\end matched on the fly.
1758 *** New inline access method "ksu" (kerberized su).
1760 *** The following access methods are discontinued: "ssh1_old",
1761 "ssh2_old", "scp1_old", "scp2_old", "imap", "imaps" and "fish".
1763 *** The user option `remote-file-name-inhibit-cache' controls whether
1764 remote file attributes are cached for better performance.
1766 *** The option `ange-ftp-binary-file-name-regexp' has changed its
1767 default value to "".
1769 *** Handlers for `file-selinux-context' and `set-file-selinux-context'
1770 for remote machines which support SELinux.
1772 ** New function `url-queue-retrieve', which behaves like url-retrieve,
1773 but with limits (`url-queue-parallel-processes', `url-queue-timeout') on
1774 the degree of parallelism.
1776 ** VC and related modes
1778 *** Support for pulling on distributed version control systems.
1779 The command C-x v + (`vc-pull') runs a "pull" operation, if it is
1780 supported (currently with Bzr, Git, and Mercurial), to update the
1781 current branch and working tree. A prefix argument means to prompt
1782 the user for specifics, e.g. a pull location.
1784 *** `vc-update' is now an alias for `vc-pull'.
1786 *** Support for merging on distributed version control systems.
1787 The command C-x v m (`vc-merge') now runs a "merge" operation, if it
1788 is supported (currently with Bzr, Git, and Mercurial), to merge
1789 changes from another branch into the current one. It prompts for
1790 specifics, e.g. a merge source.
1792 *** New option `vc-revert-show-diff' controls whether `vc-revert'
1793 shows a diff while querying the user. It defaults to t.
1795 *** Log entries in some Log View buffers can be toggled to display a
1796 longer description by typing RET (log-view-toggle-entry-display).
1797 This is currently supported for Bzr, Git, and Mercurial (to support
1798 another backend, define a `log-view-expanded-log-entry-function').
1799 In the Log View buffers made by C-x v L (`vc-print-root-log'), you can
1800 use this to display the full log entry for the revision at point.
1802 *** New command `vc-ediff' allows visual comparison of two revisions
1803 of a file similar to `vc-diff', but using ediff backend.
1805 *** The option `vc-initial-comment' was removed in Emacs 23.2, but
1806 this was not advertised at the time.
1808 *** `vc-toggle-read-only' is an obsolete alias for `toggle-read-only'.
1809 Since Emacs 23, it has done the same thing as `toggle-read-only', but
1810 this was not advertised at the time.
1816 *** erc-hecomplete.el (use erc-pcomplete.el instead)
1818 *** partial-completion-mode (complete.el) is obsolete.
1819 You can get a comparable behavior with:
1820 (setq completion-styles '(partial-completion initials))
1821 (setq completion-pcm-complete-word-inserts-delimiters t)
1823 *** pc-mode.el is obsolete (CUA mode is much more comprehensive).
1825 *** pgg is obsolete (use EasyPG instead).
1827 *** sregex.el is obsolete, since rx.el is a strict superset.
1829 *** s-region.el and pc-select.el are obsolete.
1830 They are superseded by shift-select-mode, enabled by default since 23.1.
1832 *** vc-mcvs.el is obsolete (for lack of a maintainer).
1836 *** The Landmark game is now invoked with `landmark', not `lm'.
1837 Its functions and variables have been similarly renamed.
1839 *** In `ido-file-completion-map', C-v is no longer bound to `ido-toggle-vc'.
1840 (This interfered with cua-mode.)
1842 *** f90.el has some support for Fortran 2008 syntax.
1844 *** `copyright-fix-years' can optionally convert consecutive years to ranges.
1846 *** New command `nato-region' converts text to NATO phonetic alphabet.
1849 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.1
1851 ** Occur Edit mode applies edits made in *Occur* buffers to the
1852 original buffers. It is bound to "e" in Occur mode.
1854 ** New global minor mode electric-pair-mode.
1855 When enabled, typing an open parenthesis automatically inserts the
1856 matching closing one.
1858 ** New global minor mode electric-indent-mode.
1859 When enabled, typing certain characters triggers reindentation.
1860 Major modes wishing to use this can set electric-indent-chars or
1861 electric-indent-functions.
1863 ** New global minor mode electric-layout-mode.
1864 When enabled, typing certain characters automatically inserts newlines.
1865 Major modes wishing to use this can set electric-layout-rules.
1867 ** tabulated-list.el provides a generic major mode for tabulated data,
1868 from which other modes can be derived.
1870 ** pcase.el provides the ML-style pattern matching macro `pcase'.
1872 ** secrets.el is an implementation of the Secret Service API, an
1873 interface to password managers like GNOME Keyring or KDE Wallet. The
1874 Secret Service API requires D-Bus for communication. The command
1875 `secrets-show-secrets' offers a buffer with a visualization of the
1878 ** notifications.el provides an implementation of the Desktop
1879 Notifications API. It requires D-Bus for communication.
1881 ** soap-client.el supports access to SOAP web services from Emacs.
1882 soap-inspect.el is an interactive inspector for SOAP WSDL structures.
1884 ** New generic mode, xmodmap-generic-mode, for xmodmap files.
1886 ** New emacs-lock.el package.
1887 The previous version has been moved to obsolete/old-emacs-lock.el.
1888 Now, there is a proper minor mode `emacs-lock-mode'. Protection
1889 against exiting Emacs and killing the buffer can be set separately.
1890 The mechanism for automatically turning off protection for buffers
1891 with dead inferior processes has been generalized.
1894 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.1
1896 ** Passing a nil argument to a minor mode function call now ENABLES
1897 the minor mode unconditionally. This is so that you can write e.g.
1899 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'foo-mode)
1901 to enable foo-mode in Text mode buffers, removing the need for
1902 `turn-on-foo-mode' style functions. This affects all mode commands
1903 defined by `define-minor-mode'. If called interactively, the mode
1904 command still toggles the minor mode.
1906 ** The return value of `backup-buffer' has changed.
1907 It is now a list of three elements, where the second element is a list
1908 describing the original file's SELinux context. If Emacs or the
1909 system lacks SELinux support, the context list is (nil nil nil nil).
1910 See "Basic SELinux support" above, under "Changes in Emacs 24.1".
1912 ** `char-direction-table' and the `char-direction' function were deleted.
1913 They were buggy and inferior to the new support of bidirectional
1914 editing introduced in Emacs 24. If you need the bidirectional
1915 properties of a character, use `get-char-code-property' with the last
1916 argument `bidi-class'.
1918 ** `copy-directory' now copies the source directory as a subdirectory
1919 of the target directory, if the latter is an existing directory. The
1920 new optional arg COPY-CONTENTS, if non-nil, makes the function copy
1921 the contents directly into a pre-existing target directory.
1923 ** For mouse click input events in the text area, the Y pixel
1924 coordinate in the POSITION list now counts from the top of the text
1925 area, excluding any header line. Previously, it counted from the top
1928 ** Support for "old-style" backquotes, obsolete for 10+ years, has
1929 been further reduced. Now a backquote not followed by a space is
1930 always treated as a "new-style" backquote. Please remove all
1931 "old-style" backquotes from your code. If your code uses backquotes
1932 as documented in the Elisp manual, and compiles without warning, then
1933 you have nothing to do in this regard. Code not following the
1934 appropriate conventions may fail to compile.
1936 The most common cause of trouble seems to be an old-style backquote
1937 followed by a newline. Another cause of trouble is vector notation
1938 for key sequence notation: instead of [(control ,)] and [(control ')],
1939 you should write [(control ?,)] and [(control ?')], which will work in
1942 ** The macro `eval-at-startup' was removed in Emacs 23.2, but this
1943 was not advertised at the time. The function `custom-initialize-delay'
1944 replaced all known uses.
1946 ** `view-buffer' now treats special mode-class in the same way that
1947 `view-file' has since Emacs 22 (i.e. it won't enable View mode if the
1948 major mode is special).
1950 ** Menu and tool bar changes
1952 *** During startup, Emacs no longer adds entries for `menu-bar-lines'
1953 and `tool-bar-lines' to `default-frame-alist' and `initial-frame-alist'.
1954 With these alist entries omitted, `make-frame' checks the value of the
1955 variable `menu-bar-mode'/`tool-bar-mode' to determine whether to create
1956 a menu-bar or tool-bar, respectively. If the alist entries are added,
1957 they override the value of `menu-bar-mode'/`tool-bar-mode'.
1959 *** The menu bar bindings's caches are not used any more.
1960 Use (where-is-internal <def> nil t) instead.
1962 ** Regions created by mouse dragging are now normal active regions,
1963 similar to those created by shift-selection (see Selection changes
1964 above). In previous Emacs versions, these regions were delineated by
1965 `mouse-drag-overlay'; that variable has been removed.
1967 ** The fourth argument of `filter-buffer-substring' has been removed.
1968 If you want to remove text properties from the final result, simply
1969 pass the result through substring-no-properties.
1971 ** cl.el no longer provides `cl-19'.
1973 ** The following obsolete functions and aliases have been removed
1974 (the appropriate new function is given in parentheses; "not needed"
1975 means you can just remove all calls to the function in question):
1977 *** `comint-kill-output' (`comint-delete-output')
1978 *** `decompose-composite-char' (`char-to-string')
1979 *** `outline-visible' (`outline-invisible-p')
1980 *** `internal-find-face' (`facep')
1981 *** `internal-get-face' (`facep and check-face')
1982 *** `frame-update-faces' (not needed)
1983 *** `frame-update-face-colors' (`frame-set-background-mode')
1984 *** `x-frob-font-weight' and `x-frob-font-slant' (`make-face-*' functions)
1985 *** `x-make-font-bold and x-make-font-demibold (`make-face-bold')
1986 *** `x-make-font-italic' and `x-make-font-oblique' (`make-face-italic')
1987 *** `x-make-font-bold-italic' (`make-face-bold-italic')
1988 *** `x-make-font-unbold' (`make-face-unbold')
1989 *** `x-make-font-unitalic' (`make-face-unitalic')
1990 *** `mldrag-drag-mode-line' (`mouse-drag-mode-line')
1991 *** `mldrag-drag-vertical-line' (`mouse-drag-vertical-line')
1992 *** `iswitchb-default-keybindings' (`iswitchb-mode')
1993 *** `char-bytes' (== 1)
1994 *** `isearch-return-char' (`isearch-printing-char')
1995 *** `make-local-hook' (not needed)
1996 *** `set-screen-height' (`set-frame-height')
1997 *** `set-screen-width' (`set-frame-width')
1999 ** The following obsolete variables and varaliases have been removed
2000 (the appropriate new variable is given in parentheses):
2002 *** `checkdoc-minor-keymap' (`checkdoc-minor-mode-map')
2003 *** `vc-header-alist' (`vc-BACKEND-header')
2004 *** `directory-sep-char' (== ?/)
2005 *** `font-lock-defaults-alist' (`font-lock-defaults')
2006 *** `e' (`float-e').
2008 ** The following obsolete files were removed:
2009 sc.el, x-menu.el, rnews.el, rnewspost.el
2011 ** The format of the finder-inf.el file has changed, since the Finder
2012 mechanism is now based on the package system. The variable
2013 `finder-package-info' is replaced by `package--builtins' and
2014 `finder-keywords-hash'.
2016 ** When generating autoloads, `update-directory-autoloads' no longer
2017 assumes every inspected file is in your `load-path'. It instead
2018 generates relative names according to the current `load-path'.
2021 * Lisp changes in Emacs 24.1
2023 ** Code can now use lexical scoping by default instead of dynamic scoping.
2024 The `lexical-binding' variable enables lexical scoping for local
2025 variables. It is typically set via a file-local variable in the first
2026 line of the file, in which case it applies to all the code in that
2029 *** `eval' takes a new optional argument `lexical' to choose the new lexical
2030 binding instead of the old dynamic binding mode.
2032 *** Lexically scoped interpreted functions are represented with a new form
2033 of function value which looks like (closure ENV ARGS &rest BODY).
2035 *** New macro `letrec' to define recursive local functions.
2037 *** `defvar' and `defconst' now mark the variable as special (dynamic).
2038 So do `defcustom' and other forms that call `defvar' as a subroutine.
2040 *** New function `special-variable-p' to check whether a variable is
2041 declared as dynamically bound.
2043 *** The form ((lambda ...) ...) is deprecated.
2045 ** An Emacs Lisp testing tool is now included.
2046 Emacs Lisp developers can use this tool to write automated tests for
2047 their code. See the ERT info manual for details.
2049 ** Changes for bidirectional display and editing
2051 *** New function `current-bidi-paragraph-direction'.
2052 This returns the base direction of the paragraph at point.
2054 *** New function `bidi-string-mark-left-to-right'.
2055 Given a string containing characters from right-to-left scripts, this
2056 function returns another string which can be safely inserted into a
2057 buffer, such that any following text will be always displayed to the
2058 right of that string. (This works by appending an invisible Unicode
2059 "LEFT-TO-RIGHT MARK" character if the argument string might need it.)
2061 This is useful when the buffer has overall left-to-right paragraph
2062 direction and you need to insert a string whose contents are not known
2063 in advance, without disrupting the layout of the line.
2067 *** Window tree functions are accessible in Elisp.
2068 Functions are provided to return the parent, siblings or child windows
2069 of any window including internal windows (windows not associated with a
2070 buffer) in the window tree.
2072 **** New function `window-valid-p' gives non-nil for live and internal
2075 **** Window manipulation can deal with internal windows.
2076 Many window handling functions like `split-window', `delete-window', or
2077 `delete-other-windows' as well as the window resizing functions can now
2078 act on any window including internal ones.
2080 *** window-total-height/-width vs window-body-height/-width.
2081 The function `window-height' has been renamed to `window-total-height'
2082 and `window-width' has been renamed to `window-body-width'. The old
2083 names are provided as aliases. Two new functions `window-total-width'
2084 and `window-body-height' are provided.
2086 *** Window parameters specific to window handling functions.
2087 For each window you can specify a parameter to override the default
2088 behavior of a number of functions like `split-window', `delete-window'
2089 and `delete-other-windows'. The variable `ignore-window-parameters'
2090 allows to ignore processing such parameters.
2092 *** New semantics of third argument of `split-window'.
2093 The third argument of `split-window' has been renamed to SIDE and can be
2094 set to any of the values 'below, 'right, 'above, or 'left to make the
2095 new window appear on the corresponding side of the window that shall be
2096 split. Any other value of SIDE will cause `split-window' to split the
2097 window into two side-by-side windows as before.
2099 *** Window resizing functions.
2100 A new standard function for resizing windows called `window-resize' has
2101 been introduced. This and all other functions for resizing windows no
2102 longer delete any windows when they become too small.
2104 *** Deleting the selected window now selects the most recently selected
2105 live window on that frame instead.
2107 *** `adjust-window-trailing-edge' adjustments.
2108 `adjust-window-trailing-edge' can now deal with fixed-size windows and
2109 is able to resize other windows if a window adjacent to the trailing
2110 edge cannot be shrunk any more. This makes its behavior more similar to
2111 that of Emacs 21 without compromising, however, its inability to delete
2112 windows which was introduced in Emacs 22.
2114 *** Window-local buffer lists.
2115 Windows now have local buffer lists. This means that removing a buffer
2116 from display in a window will preferably show the buffer previously
2117 shown in that window with its previous window-start and window-point
2118 positions. This also means that the same buffer may be automatically
2119 shown twice even if it already appears in another window.
2121 *** `switch-to-buffer' has a new optional argument FORCE-SAME-WINDOW,
2122 which if non-nil requires the buffer to be displayed in the currently
2123 selected window, signaling an error otherwise. If nil, another window
2124 can be used, e.g. if the selected one is strongly dedicated.
2126 *** `split-window-vertically' and `split-window-horizontally' renamed
2127 to `split-window-below' and `split-window-right' respectively.
2128 The old names are kept as aliases.
2132 **** The second arg to `display-buffer' and `pop-to-buffer' is now
2133 named ACTION, and takes a display action of the same form as
2134 `display-buffer-base-action' (see Changes, above). A non-nil,
2135 non-list value is treated specially, as the old meaning.
2137 **** New variable `display-buffer-overriding-action'.
2139 **** The procedure of `display-buffer' etc. to choose a window is
2140 determined by combining `display-buffer-overriding-action',
2141 `display-buffer-alist', the ACTION arg, `display-buffer-base-action',
2142 and `display-buffer-fallback-action'. The second and fourth of these
2143 are user-customizable variables.
2145 See the docstring of `display-buffer' for details.
2147 *** New functions `window-state-get' and `window-state-put'.
2148 These functions allow to save and restore the state of an arbitrary
2149 frame or window as an Elisp object.
2153 *** New variable `completion-extra-properties' used to specify extra
2154 properties of the current completion:
2155 - :annotate-function, same as the old completion-annotate-function.
2156 - :exit-function, function to call after completion took place.
2158 *** Functions on `completion-at-point-functions' can return any of the
2159 properties valid for `completion-extra-properties'.
2161 *** `completion-annotate-function' is obsolete.
2163 *** New `metadata' method for completion tables. The metadata thus returned
2164 can specify various details of the data returned by `all-completions':
2165 - `category' is the kind of objects returned (e.g., `buffer', `file', ...),
2166 used to select a style in completion-category-overrides.
2167 - `annotation-function' to add annotations in *Completions*.
2168 - `display-sort-function' to specify how to sort entries in *Completions*.
2169 - `cycle-sort-function' to specify how to sort entries when cycling.
2171 *** `minibuffer-local-filename-must-match-map' is not used any more.
2172 Instead, the bindings in `minibuffer-local-filename-completion-map'
2173 are combined with `minibuffer-local-must-match-map'.
2175 *** New variable `completing-read-function' allows overriding the
2176 behavior of `completing-read'.
2178 ** `glyphless-char-display' can now distinguish between graphical and
2179 text terminal display, via a char-table entry that is a cons cell.
2181 ** `pre-command-hook'/`post-command-hook' are not reset to nil on error.
2182 Instead, the offending function is removed.
2186 *** New function `run-hook-wrapped' for running an abnormal hook by
2187 passing the hook functions as arguments to a "wrapping" function.
2188 Like `run-hook-with-args-until-success', it stops at the first
2189 non-nil return value.
2191 *** New macro `with-wrapper-hook' for running an abnormal hook as a
2192 set of "wrapping" filters, similar to around advice.
2193 (A version of this macro was actually added in Emacs 23.2 but was not
2194 advertised at the time.)
2198 *** New macro `condition-case-unless-debug' (this was actually added in
2199 Emacs 23.1 as condition-case-no-debug, but not advertised)
2201 *** The macro `with-demoted-errors' was added in Emacs 23.1, but not advertised.
2203 *** Variable `stack-trace-on-error' removed.
2205 *** The debugger can now "continue" from an error, which means it will
2206 jump to the error handler as if the debugger had not been invoked
2207 instead of jumping all the way to the top-level.
2209 *** Set `debug-on-event' to enter the debugger on events like SIGUSR1.
2210 This can be useful when `inhibit-quit' is set.
2212 ** The new function `server-eval-at' allows evaluation of Lisp forms on
2213 named Emacs server instances.
2215 ** `call-process' and `call-process-region' allow a `(:file "file")' spec
2216 to redirect STDOUT to a file.
2218 ** The function `format-time-string' now supports the %N directive,
2219 for higher-resolution time stamps.
2221 ** New input reading functions
2223 *** New function `read-char-choice' reads a restricted set of
2224 characters, discarding any inputs not inside the set.
2226 *** The command `read-color' now requires a match for a color name
2227 or RGB triplet, instead of signaling an error if the user provides
2230 **** `facemenu-read-color' is now an alias for `read-color'.
2232 ** `image-library-alist' is renamed to `dynamic-library-alist'.
2233 The variable is now used to load all kind of supported dynamic libraries,
2234 not just image libraries. The previous name is still available as an
2237 ** Syntax parsing changes
2239 *** New variable `syntax-propertize-function'.
2240 This replaces `font-lock-syntactic-keywords' which is now obsolete.
2241 This allows syntax-table properties to be set independently from font-lock:
2242 just call syntax-propertize to make sure the text is propertized.
2243 Together with this new variable come a new hook
2244 syntax-propertize-extend-region-functions, as well as two helper functions:
2245 syntax-propertize-via-font-lock to reuse old font-lock-syntactic-keywords
2246 as-is; and syntax-propertize-rules which provides a new way to specify
2249 *** Syntax tables support a new "comment style c" additionally to style b.
2251 ** New hook `post-self-insert-hook', run after `self-insert-command'.
2253 ** frame-local variables cannot be let-bound any more.
2255 ** Major and minor mode changes
2257 *** `set-auto-mode' now respects mode: local variables at the end of files,
2258 as well as those in the -*- line.
2260 *** `prog-mode' is a new major mode from which programming modes
2263 **** `prog-mode-hook' can be used to enable features for programming
2264 modes, e.g. (add-hook 'prog-mode-hook 'flyspell-prog-mode) to enable
2265 on-the-fly spell checking for comments and strings.
2267 *** New hook `change-major-mode-after-body-hook', run by
2268 `run-mode-hooks' just before any other mode hooks.
2270 *** Enabled globalized minor modes can be disabled in specific major modes.
2271 If the global mode is global-FOO-mode, then run (FOO-mode -1) in the
2272 major mode's hook, where FOO-mode toggles the mode on a per-buffer basis.
2274 *** `define-minor-mode' accepts new keywords :variable, :after-hook.
2276 ** File-handling changes
2278 *** `delete-file' and `delete-directory' now accept optional arg TRASH.
2279 Trashing is performed if TRASH and `delete-by-moving-to-trash' are
2280 both non-nil. Interactively, TRASH defaults to t, unless a prefix
2281 argument is supplied (see Trash changes, above).
2283 *** New file predicates: `file-equal-p', `file-in-directory-p'.
2285 ** Tool-bars can display separators.
2286 Tool-bar separators are handled like menu separators in menu-bar maps,
2287 i.e. via menu entries of the form `(menu-item "--")'.
2291 *** Animated images support (currently animated gifs only).
2293 **** `image-animated-p' returns non-nil if an image can be animated.
2295 **** `image-animate' animates a supplied image spec.
2297 **** `image-animate-timer' returns the timer object for an image that
2300 *** `image-extension-data' has been renamed to `image-metadata'.
2301 The old name is an obsolete alias to the new one.
2303 *** Image mode can view any image type that ImageMagick supports.
2304 This requires Emacs to be built with ImageMagick support.
2306 **** New function `imagemagick-types', defined if ImageMagick support
2307 is enabled, returns a list of image file extensions that your
2308 ImageMagick installation supports.
2310 **** New function `imagemagick-register-types' enables ImageMagick
2311 image types in Image mode and in `create-image' and other helper
2314 **** New option `imagemagick-types-inhibit' excludes certain
2315 ImageMagick image types from `imagemagick-register-types'.
2317 **** With ImageMagick support, there are extra Image mode commands to
2318 resize and rotate images: `image-transform-fit-to-height',
2319 `image-transform-fit-to-width', `image-transform-set-rotation', and
2320 `image-transform-set-scale'.
2322 ** `compose-mail' now accepts an optional 8th arg, RETURN-ACTION, and
2323 passes it to the mail user agent function. This argument specifies an
2324 action for returning to the caller after finishing with the mail. For
2325 example, this is used by Rmail to optionally delete a mail window.
2327 ** XML and HTML parsing
2328 If Emacs is compiled with libxml2 support, there are two new
2329 functions: `libxml-parse-html-region' (which parses "real world" HTML)
2330 and `libxml-parse-xml-region' (which parses XML). Both return an
2331 Emacs Lisp parse tree.
2333 ** Networking and encryption changes
2335 *** `open-network-stream' can now be used to open an encrypted stream.
2336 It now accepts an optional `:type' parameter for initiating a TLS
2337 connection, directly or via STARTTLS. To do STARTTLS, additional
2338 parameters (`:end-of-command', `:success', `:capabilities-command')
2339 must also be supplied.
2341 *** New library gnutls.el.
2342 The new function `gnutls-available-p' returns non-nil if Emacs is
2343 built with GnuTLS support. The main entry points are
2344 `open-gnutls-stream' and `gnutls-negotiate'. It's easiest to use
2345 these functions through `open-network-stream', because that can
2346 upgrade connections through STARTTLS opportunistically or use plain
2347 SSL, depending on your needs. For debugging, set `gnutls-log-level'
2350 *** New primitive `secure-hash' that supports many secure hash algorithms:
2351 md5, sha1, sha2, sha224, sha256, sha384, and sha512. The lisp library
2352 sha1.el has been removed. The `sha1' feature is provided by default.
2356 *** New hook `isearch-update-post-hook' that runs in `isearch-update'.
2358 ** Progress reporters can now "spin".
2359 The MIN-VALUE and MAX-VALUE arguments of `make-progress-reporter' can
2360 now be nil, or omitted. This makes a "non-numeric" reporter. Each
2361 time you call `progress-reporter-update' on that progress reporter,
2362 with a nil or omitted VALUE argument, the reporter message is
2363 displayed with a "spinning bar".
2365 ** New variable `revert-buffer-in-progress-p' is true while a buffer is
2366 being reverted, even if the buffer has a local `revert-buffer-function'.
2368 ** New variables `delayed-warnings-list' and `delayed-warnings-hook'.
2369 If delayed-warnings-list is non-nil, the command loop calls
2370 `delayed-warnings-hook' after `post-command-hook'. At present, this
2371 is only used by Emacs on some platforms to display warnings during
2372 startup, which might otherwise not be noticed. This uses the
2373 functions `display-delayed-warnings' and `collapse-delayed-warnings'.
2375 ** rx.el has a new `group-n' construct for explicitly numbered groups.
2377 ** New function `make-composed-keymap' that constructs a new keymap
2378 from multiple input maps. You can use this to make a keymap that
2379 inherits from multiple maps, eg:
2380 (set-keymap-parent newmap (make-composed-keymap othermap parent))
2382 ** New function `string-prefix-p'.
2383 (This was actually added in Emacs 23.2 but was not advertised at the time.)
2385 ** New reader macro ## that stands for the empty symbol.
2386 This means that the empty symbol can now be read back. Also, #: by itself
2387 (when not immediately followed by a possible symbol character) stands for
2388 an empty uninterned symbol.
2390 ** New math functions `isnan', `copysign', `frexp', `ldexp'.
2392 ** The following functions and variables are obsolete:
2394 *** `tooltip-use-echo-area' is obsolete.
2395 Rather than setting this to t, disable Tooltip mode instead.
2397 *** buffer-substring-filters is obsolete.
2398 Use `filter-buffer-substring-functions' instead.
2400 *** `byte-compile-disable-print-circle' is obsolete.
2402 *** `deferred-action-list' and `deferred-action-function' are obsolete.
2403 Use `post-command-hook' instead.
2405 *** `font-lock-maximum-size' is obsolete.
2408 * Changes in Emacs 24.1 on non-free operating systems
2410 ** On MS Windows, Emacs warns when using the obsolete init file _emacs,
2411 and also when HOME is set to C:\ by default.
2413 ** New configure.bat options
2415 *** --enable-checking builds Emacs with extra runtime checks.
2417 *** --distfiles specifies files to be included in binary distribution.
2419 *** --without-gnutls disables automatic GnuTLS detection.
2421 *** --lib for general library linkage, works with the USER_LIBS build variable.
2423 ** New make target `dist' to create binary distribution for MS Windows.
2425 ** The Lisp function `w32-default-color-map' is now obsolete.
2426 (It is only used internally in the Emacs C code.)
2428 ** Customize ns-auto-hide-menu-bar to have the menu-bar hidden, but
2429 reappear on mouse-over. (Requires OS X 10.6 or later.)
2431 ** On Mac OS X, dragging a file into Emacs visits the file, like on
2432 other platforms, rather than inserting its contents into the buffer.
2435 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2436 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
2438 GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
2439 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
2440 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
2441 (at your option) any later version.
2443 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
2444 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
2445 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
2446 GNU General Public License for more details.
2448 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
2449 along with GNU Emacs. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
2454 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"