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1 Emacs tutorial. See end for copying conditions.
2
3 Emacs commands generally involve the CONTROL key (sometimes labeled
4 CTRL or CTL) or the META key (sometimes labeled EDIT or ALT). Rather than
5 write that in full each time, we'll use the following abbreviations:
6
7 C-<chr> means hold the CONTROL key while typing the character <chr>
8 Thus, C-f would be: hold the CONTROL key and type f.
9 M-<chr> means hold the META or EDIT or ALT key down while typing <chr>.
10 If there is no META, EDIT or ALT key, instead press and release the
11 ESC key and then type <chr>. We write <ESC> for the ESC key.
12
13 Important note: to end the Emacs session, type C-x C-c. (Two characters.)
14 To quit a partially entered command, type C-g.
15 The characters ">>" at the left margin indicate directions for you to
16 try using a command. For instance:
17 <<Blank lines inserted around following line by help-with-tutorial>>
18 [Middle of page left blank for didactic purposes. Text continues below]
19 >> Now type C-v (View next screen) to move to the next screen.
20 (go ahead, do it by holding down the CONTROL key while typing v).
21 From now on, you should do this again whenever you finish
22 reading the screen.
23
24 Note that there is an overlap of two lines when you move from screen
25 to screen; this provides some continuity so you can continue reading
26 the text.
27
28 The first thing that you need to know is how to move around from place
29 to place in the text. You already know how to move forward one screen,
30 with C-v. To move backwards one screen, type M-v (hold down the META key
31 and type v, or type <ESC>v if you do not have a META, EDIT, or ALT key).
32
33 >> Try typing M-v and then C-v, a few times.
34
35
36 * SUMMARY
37 ---------
38
39 The following commands are useful for viewing screenfuls:
40
41 C-v Move forward one screenful
42 M-v Move backward one screenful
43 C-l Clear screen and redisplay all the text,
44 moving the text around the cursor
45 to the center of the screen.
46 (That's CONTROL-L, not CONTROL-1.)
47
48 >> Find the cursor, and note what text is near it. Then type C-l.
49 Find the cursor again and notice that the same text is still near
50 the cursor, but now it is in the center of the screen.
51 If you press C-l again, this piece of text will move to the top of
52 the screen. Press C-l again, and it moves to the bottom.
53
54 You can also use the PageUp and PageDn keys to move by screenfuls, if
55 your terminal has them, but you can edit more efficiently if you use
56 C-v and M-v.
57
58
59 * BASIC CURSOR CONTROL
60 ----------------------
61
62 Moving from screenful to screenful is useful, but how do you
63 move to a specific place within the text on the screen?
64
65 There are several ways you can do this. You can use the arrow keys,
66 but it's more efficient to keep your hands in the standard position
67 and use the commands C-p, C-b, C-f, and C-n. These characters
68 are equivalent to the four arrow keys, like this:
69
70 Previous line, C-p
71 :
72 :
73 Backward, C-b .... Current cursor position .... Forward, C-f
74 :
75 :
76 Next line, C-n
77
78 >> Move the cursor to the line in the middle of that diagram
79 using C-n or C-p. Then type C-l to see the whole diagram
80 centered in the screen.
81
82 You'll find it easy to remember these letters by words they stand for:
83 P for previous, N for next, B for backward and F for forward. You
84 will be using these basic cursor positioning commands all the time.
85
86 >> Do a few C-n's to bring the cursor down to this line.
87
88 >> Move into the line with C-f's and then up with C-p's.
89 See what C-p does when the cursor is in the middle of the line.
90
91 Each line of text ends with a Newline character, which serves to
92 separate it from the following line. (Normally, the last line in
93 a file will have a Newline at the end, but Emacs does not require it.)
94
95 >> Try to C-b at the beginning of a line. It should move to
96 the end of the previous line. This is because it moves back
97 across the Newline character.
98
99 C-f can move across a Newline just like C-b.
100
101 >> Do a few more C-b's, so you get a feel for where the cursor is.
102 Then do C-f's to return to the end of the line.
103 Then do one more C-f to move to the following line.
104
105 When you move past the top or bottom of the screen, the text beyond
106 the edge shifts onto the screen. This is called "scrolling". It
107 enables Emacs to move the cursor to the specified place in the text
108 without moving it off the screen.
109
110 >> Try to move the cursor off the bottom of the screen with C-n, and
111 see what happens.
112
113 If moving by characters is too slow, you can move by words. M-f
114 (META-f) moves forward a word and M-b moves back a word.
115
116 >> Type a few M-f's and M-b's.
117
118 When you are in the middle of a word, M-f moves to the end of the word.
119 When you are in whitespace between words, M-f moves to the end of the
120 following word. M-b works likewise in the opposite direction.
121
122 >> Type M-f and M-b a few times, interspersed with C-f's and C-b's
123 so that you can observe the action of M-f and M-b from various
124 places inside and between words.
125
126 Notice the parallel between C-f and C-b on the one hand, and M-f and
127 M-b on the other hand. Very often Meta characters are used for
128 operations related to the units defined by language (words, sentences,
129 paragraphs), while Control characters operate on basic units that are
130 independent of what you are editing (characters, lines, etc).
131
132 This parallel applies between lines and sentences: C-a and C-e move to
133 the beginning or end of a line, and M-a and M-e move to the beginning
134 or end of a sentence.
135
136 >> Try a couple of C-a's, and then a couple of C-e's.
137 Try a couple of M-a's, and then a couple of M-e's.
138
139 See how repeated C-a's do nothing, but repeated M-a's keep moving one
140 more sentence. Although these are not quite analogous, each one seems
141 natural.
142
143 The location of the cursor in the text is also called "point". To
144 paraphrase, the cursor shows on the screen where point is located in
145 the text.
146
147 Here is a summary of simple cursor-moving operations, including the
148 word and sentence moving commands:
149
150 C-f Move forward a character
151 C-b Move backward a character
152
153 M-f Move forward a word
154 M-b Move backward a word
155
156 C-n Move to next line
157 C-p Move to previous line
158
159 C-a Move to beginning of line
160 C-e Move to end of line
161
162 M-a Move back to beginning of sentence
163 M-e Move forward to end of sentence
164
165 >> Try all of these commands now a few times for practice.
166 These are the most often used commands.
167
168 Two other important cursor motion commands are M-< (META Less-than),
169 which moves to the beginning of the whole text, and M-> (META
170 Greater-than), which moves to the end of the whole text.
171
172 On most terminals, the "<" is above the comma, so you must use the
173 shift key to type it. On these terminals you must use the shift key
174 to type M-< also; without the shift key, you would be typing M-comma.
175
176 >> Try M-< now, to move to the beginning of the tutorial.
177 Then use C-v repeatedly to move back here.
178
179 >> Try M-> now, to move to the end of the tutorial.
180 Then use M-v repeatedly to move back here.
181
182 You can also move the cursor with the arrow keys, if your terminal has
183 arrow keys. We recommend learning C-b, C-f, C-n and C-p for three
184 reasons. First, they work on all kinds of terminals. Second, once
185 you gain practice at using Emacs, you will find that typing these Control
186 characters is faster than typing the arrow keys (because you do not
187 have to move your hands away from touch-typing position). Third, once
188 you form the habit of using these Control character commands, you can
189 easily learn to use other advanced cursor motion commands as well.
190
191 Most Emacs commands accept a numeric argument; for most commands, this
192 serves as a repeat-count. The way you give a command a repeat count
193 is by typing C-u and then the digits before you type the command. If
194 you have a META (or EDIT or ALT) key, there is another, alternative way
195 to enter a numeric argument: type the digits while holding down the
196 META key. We recommend learning the C-u method because it works on
197 any terminal. The numeric argument is also called a "prefix argument",
198 because you type the argument before the command it applies to.
199
200 For instance, C-u 8 C-f moves forward eight characters.
201
202 >> Try using C-n or C-p with a numeric argument, to move the cursor
203 to a line near this one with just one command.
204
205 Most commands use the numeric argument as a repeat count, but some
206 commands use it in some other way. Several commands (but none of
207 those you have learned so far) use it as a flag--the presence of a
208 prefix argument, regardless of its value, makes the command do
209 something different.
210
211 C-v and M-v are another kind of exception. When given an argument,
212 they scroll the text up or down by that many lines, rather than by a
213 screenful. For example, C-u 8 C-v scrolls by 8 lines.
214
215 >> Try typing C-u 8 C-v now.
216
217 This should have scrolled the text up by 8 lines. If you would like
218 to scroll it down again, you can give an argument to M-v.
219
220 If you are using a graphical display, such as X or MS-Windows, there
221 should be a tall rectangular area called a scroll bar on one side of
222 the Emacs window. You can scroll the text by clicking the mouse in
223 the scroll bar.
224
225 If your mouse has a wheel button, you can also use this to scroll.
226
227
228 * IF EMACS STOPS RESPONDING
229 ---------------------------
230
231 If Emacs stops responding to your commands, you can stop it safely by
232 typing C-g. You can use C-g to stop a command which is taking too
233 long to execute.
234
235 You can also use C-g to discard a numeric argument or the beginning of
236 a command that you do not want to finish.
237
238 >> Type C-u 100 to make a numeric argument of 100, then type C-g.
239 Now type C-f. It should move just one character, because you
240 canceled the argument with C-g.
241
242 If you have typed an <ESC> by mistake, you can get rid of it with a C-g.
243
244
245 * DISABLED COMMANDS
246 -------------------
247
248 Some Emacs commands are "disabled" so that beginning users cannot use
249 them by accident.
250
251 If you type one of the disabled commands, Emacs displays a message
252 saying what the command was, and asking you whether you want to go
253 ahead and execute the command.
254
255 If you really want to try the command, type <SPC> (the Space bar) in
256 answer to the question. Normally, if you do not want to execute the
257 disabled command, answer the question with "n".
258
259 >> Type C-x C-l (which is a disabled command),
260 then type n to answer the question.
261
262
263 * WINDOWS
264 ---------
265
266 Emacs can have several "windows", each displaying its own text. We
267 will explain later on how to use multiple windows. Right now we want
268 to explain how to get rid of extra windows and go back to basic
269 one-window editing. It is simple:
270
271 C-x 1 One window (i.e., kill all other windows).
272
273 That is CONTROL-x followed by the digit 1. C-x 1 expands the window
274 which contains the cursor, to occupy the full screen. It deletes all
275 other windows.
276
277 >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l.
278 >> Type C-h k C-f.
279 See how this window shrinks, while a new one appears
280 to display documentation on the C-f command.
281
282 >> Type C-x 1 and see the documentation listing window disappear.
283
284 There is a whole series of commands that start with CONTROL-x; many of
285 them have to do with windows, files, buffers, and related things.
286 These commands are two, three or four characters long.
287
288
289 * INSERTING AND DELETING
290 ------------------------
291
292 If you want to insert text, just type the text. Ordinary characters,
293 like A, 7, *, etc., are inserted as you type them. To insert a
294 Newline character, type <Return> (this is the key on the keyboard
295 which is sometimes labeled "Enter").
296
297 To delete the character immediately before the current cursor
298 position, type <DEL>. This is the key on the keyboard usually labeled
299 "Backspace"--the same one you normally use, outside Emacs, to delete
300 the last character typed.
301
302 There may also be another key on your keyboard labeled <Delete>, but
303 that's not the one we refer to as <DEL>.
304
305 >> Do this now--type a few characters, then delete them by
306 typing <DEL> a few times. Don't worry about this file
307 being changed; you will not alter the master tutorial.
308 This is your personal copy of it.
309
310 When a line of text gets too big for one line on the screen, the line
311 of text is "continued" onto a second screen line. If you're using a
312 graphical display, little curved arrows appear in the narrow spaces on
313 each side of the text area (the left and right "fringes"), to indicate
314 where a line has been continued. If you're using a text terminal, the
315 continued line is indicated by a backslash ("\") on the rightmost
316 screen column.
317
318 >> Insert text until you reach the right margin, and keep on inserting.
319 You'll see a continuation line appear.
320
321 >> Use <DEL>s to delete the text until the line fits on one screen
322 line again. The continuation line goes away.
323
324 You can delete a Newline character just like any other character.
325 Deleting the Newline character between two lines merges them into
326 one line. If the resulting combined line is too long to fit in the
327 screen width, it will be displayed with a continuation line.
328
329 >> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line and type <DEL>. This
330 merges that line with the previous line.
331
332 >> Type <Return> to reinsert the Newline you deleted.
333
334 Remember that most Emacs commands can be given a repeat count;
335 this includes text characters. Repeating a text character inserts
336 it several times.
337
338 >> Try that now -- type C-u 8 * to insert ********.
339
340 You've now learned the most basic way of typing something in
341 Emacs and correcting errors. You can delete by words or lines
342 as well. Here is a summary of the delete operations:
343
344 <DEL> Delete the character just before the cursor
345 C-d Delete the next character after the cursor
346
347 M-<DEL> Kill the word immediately before the cursor
348 M-d Kill the next word after the cursor
349
350 C-k Kill from the cursor position to end of line
351 M-k Kill to the end of the current sentence
352
353 Notice that <DEL> and C-d vs M-<DEL> and M-d extend the parallel
354 started by C-f and M-f (well, <DEL> is not really a control character,
355 but let's not worry about that). C-k and M-k are like C-e and M-e,
356 sort of, in that lines are paired with sentences.
357
358 You can also kill a segment of text with one uniform method. Move to
359 one end of that part, and type C-<SPC>. (<SPC> is the Space bar.)
360 Next, move the cursor to the other end of the text you intend to kill.
361 As you do this, Emacs highlights the text between the cursor and the
362 position where you typed C-<SPC>. Finally, type C-w. This kills all
363 the text between the two positions.
364
365 >> Move the cursor to the Y at the start of the previous paragraph.
366 >> Type C-<SPC>. Emacs should display a message "Mark set"
367 at the bottom of the screen.
368 >> Move the cursor to the n in "end", on the second line of the
369 paragraph.
370 >> Type C-w. This will kill the text starting from the Y,
371 and ending just before the n.
372
373 The difference between "killing" and "deleting" is that "killed" text
374 can be reinserted (at any position), whereas "deleted" things cannot
375 be reinserted in this way (you can, however, undo a deletion--see
376 below). Reinsertion of killed text is called "yanking". (Think of it
377 as yanking back, or pulling back, some text that was taken away.)
378 Generally, the commands that can remove a lot of text kill the text
379 (they are set up so that you can yank the text), while the commands
380 that remove just one character, or only remove blank lines and spaces,
381 do deletion (so you cannot yank that text). <DEL> and C-d do deletion
382 in the simplest case, with no argument. When given an argument, they
383 kill instead.
384
385 >> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line which is not empty.
386 Then type C-k to kill the text on that line.
387 >> Type C-k a second time. You'll see that it kills the Newline
388 which follows that line.
389
390 Note that a single C-k kills the contents of the line, and a second
391 C-k kills the line itself, and makes all the other lines move up. C-k
392 treats a numeric argument specially: it kills that many lines AND
393 their contents. This is not mere repetition. C-u 2 C-k kills two
394 lines and their newlines; typing C-k twice would not do that.
395
396 You can yank the killed text either at the same place where it was
397 killed, or at some other place in the text you are editing, or even in
398 a different file. You can yank the same text several times; that
399 makes multiple copies of it. Some other editors call killing and
400 yanking "cutting" and "pasting" (see the Glossary in the Emacs
401 manual).
402
403 The command for yanking is C-y. It reinserts the last killed text,
404 at the current cursor position.
405
406 >> Try it; type C-y to yank the text back.
407
408 If you do several C-k's in a row, all of the killed text is saved
409 together, so that one C-y will yank all of the lines at once.
410
411 >> Do this now, type C-k several times.
412
413 Now to retrieve that killed text:
414
415 >> Type C-y. Then move the cursor down a few lines and type C-y
416 again. You now see how to copy some text.
417
418 What do you do if you have some text you want to yank back, and then
419 you kill something else? C-y would yank the more recent kill. But
420 the previous text is not lost. You can get back to it using the M-y
421 command. After you have done C-y to get the most recent kill, typing
422 M-y replaces that yanked text with the previous kill. Typing M-y
423 again and again brings in earlier and earlier kills. When you have
424 reached the text you are looking for, you do not have to do anything to
425 keep it. Just go on with your editing, leaving the yanked text where
426 it is.
427
428 If you M-y enough times, you come back to the starting point (the most
429 recent kill).
430
431 >> Kill a line, move around, kill another line.
432 Then do C-y to get back the second killed line.
433 Then do M-y and it will be replaced by the first killed line.
434 Do more M-y's and see what you get. Keep doing them until
435 the second kill line comes back, and then a few more.
436 If you like, you can try giving M-y positive and negative
437 arguments.
438
439
440 * UNDO
441 ------
442
443 If you make a change to the text, and then decide that it was a
444 mistake, you can undo the change with the undo command, C-/.
445
446 Normally, C-/ undoes the changes made by one command; if you repeat
447 C-/ several times in a row, each repetition undoes one more command.
448
449 But there are two exceptions: commands that do not change the text
450 don't count (this includes cursor motion commands and scrolling
451 commands), and self-inserting characters are usually handled in groups
452 of up to 20. (This is to reduce the number of C-/'s you have to type
453 to undo insertion of text.)
454
455 >> Kill this line with C-k, then type C-/ and it should reappear.
456
457 C-_ is an alternative undo command; it works exactly the same as C-/.
458 On some text terminals, typing C-/ actually sends C-_ to Emacs.
459 Alternatively, C-x u also works exactly like C-/, but is a little less
460 convenient to type.
461
462 A numeric argument to C-/, C-_, or C-x u acts as a repeat count.
463
464 You can undo deletion of text just as you can undo killing of text.
465 The distinction between killing something and deleting it affects
466 whether you can yank it with C-y; it makes no difference for undo.
467
468
469 * FILES
470 -------
471
472 In order to make the text you edit permanent, you must put it in a
473 file. Otherwise, it will go away when you exit Emacs. In order to
474 put your text in a file, you must "find" the file before you enter the
475 text. (This is also called "visiting" the file.)
476
477 Finding a file means that you see the contents of the file within
478 Emacs. In many ways, it is as if you were editing the file itself.
479 However, the changes you make using Emacs do not become permanent
480 until you "save" the file. This is so you can avoid leaving a
481 half-changed file on the system when you do not want to. Even when
482 you save, Emacs leaves the original file under a changed name in case
483 you later decide that your changes were a mistake.
484
485 If you look near the bottom of the screen you will see a line that
486 begins with dashes, and starts with " -:--- TUTORIAL" or something
487 like that. This part of the screen normally shows the name of the
488 file that you are visiting. Right now, you are visiting your personal
489 copy of the Emacs tutorial, which is called "TUTORIAL". When you find
490 a file with Emacs, that file's name will appear in that precise spot.
491
492 One special thing about the command for finding a file is that you
493 have to say what file name you want. We say the command "reads an
494 argument" (in this case, the argument is the name of the file). After
495 you type the command
496
497 C-x C-f Find a file
498
499 Emacs asks you to type the file name. The file name you type appears
500 on the bottom line of the screen. The bottom line is called the
501 minibuffer when it is used for this sort of input. You can use
502 ordinary Emacs editing commands to edit the file name.
503
504 While you are entering the file name (or any minibuffer input),
505 you can cancel the command with C-g.
506
507 >> Type C-x C-f, then type C-g. This cancels the minibuffer,
508 and also cancels the C-x C-f command that was using the
509 minibuffer. So you do not find any file.
510
511 When you have finished entering the file name, type <Return> to
512 terminate it. The minibuffer disappears, and the C-x C-f command goes
513 to work to find the file you chose.
514
515 The file contents now appear on the screen, and you can edit the
516 contents. When you wish to make your changes permanent, type the
517 command
518
519 C-x C-s Save the file
520
521 This copies the text within Emacs into the file. The first time you
522 do this, Emacs renames the original file to a new name so that it is
523 not lost. The new name is made by adding "~" to the end of the
524 original file's name. When saving is finished, Emacs displays the
525 name of the file written.
526
527 >> Type C-x C-s TUTORIAL <Return>.
528 This should save this tutorial to a file named TUTORIAL, and show
529 "Wrote ...TUTORIAL" at the bottom of the screen.
530
531 You can find an existing file, to view it or edit it. You can also
532 find a file which does not already exist. This is the way to create a
533 file with Emacs: find the file, which starts out empty, and then begin
534 inserting the text for the file. When you ask to "save" the file,
535 Emacs actually creates the file with the text that you have inserted.
536 From then on, you can consider yourself to be editing an already
537 existing file.
538
539
540 * BUFFERS
541 ---------
542
543 If you find a second file with C-x C-f, the first file remains
544 inside Emacs. You can switch back to it by finding it again with
545 C-x C-f. This way you can get quite a number of files inside Emacs.
546
547 Emacs stores each file's text inside an object called a "buffer".
548 Finding a file makes a new buffer inside Emacs. To see a list of the
549 buffers that currently exist, type
550
551 C-x C-b List buffers
552
553 >> Try C-x C-b now.
554
555 See how each buffer has a name, and it may also have a file name for
556 the file whose contents it holds. ANY text you see in an Emacs window
557 is always part of some buffer.
558
559 >> Type C-x 1 to get rid of the buffer list.
560
561 When you have several buffers, only one of them is "current" at any
562 time. That buffer is the one you edit. If you want to edit another
563 buffer, you need to "switch" to it. If you want to switch to a buffer
564 that corresponds to a file, you can do it by visiting the file again
565 with C-x C-f. But there is an easier way: use the C-x b command.
566 In that command, you have to type the buffer's name.
567
568 >> Create a file named "foo" by typing C-x C-f foo <Return>.
569 Then type C-x b TUTORIAL <Return> to come back to this tutorial.
570
571 Most of the time, the buffer's name is the same as the file name
572 (without the file directory part). However, this is not always true.
573 The buffer list you make with C-x C-b shows you both the buffer name
574 and the file name of every buffer.
575
576 Some buffers do not correspond to files. The buffer named
577 "*Buffer List*", which contains the buffer list that you made with
578 C-x C-b, does not have any file. This TUTORIAL buffer initially did
579 not have a file, but now it does, because in the previous section you
580 typed C-x C-s and saved it to a file.
581
582 The buffer named "*Messages*" also does not correspond to any file.
583 This buffer contains the messages that have appeared on the bottom
584 line during your Emacs session.
585
586 >> Type C-x b *Messages* <Return> to look at the buffer of messages.
587 Then type C-x b TUTORIAL <Return> to come back to this tutorial.
588
589 If you make changes to the text of one file, then find another file,
590 this does not save the first file. Its changes remain inside Emacs,
591 in that file's buffer. The creation or editing of the second file's
592 buffer has no effect on the first file's buffer. This is very useful,
593 but it also means that you need a convenient way to save the first
594 file's buffer. Having to switch back to that buffer, in order to save
595 it with C-x C-s, would be a nuisance. So we have
596
597 C-x s Save some buffers
598
599 C-x s asks you about each buffer which contains changes that you have
600 not saved. It asks you, for each such buffer, whether to save the
601 buffer.
602
603 >> Insert a line of text, then type C-x s.
604 It should ask you whether to save the buffer named TUTORIAL.
605 Answer yes to the question by typing "y".
606
607
608 * EXTENDING THE COMMAND SET
609 ---------------------------
610
611 There are many, many more Emacs commands than could possibly be put
612 on all the control and meta characters. Emacs gets around this with
613 the X (eXtend) command. This comes in two flavors:
614
615 C-x Character eXtend. Followed by one character.
616 M-x Named command eXtend. Followed by a long name.
617
618 These are commands that are generally useful but are used less than the
619 commands you have already learned about. You have already seen a few
620 of them: the file commands C-x C-f to Find and C-x C-s to Save, for
621 example. Another example is the command to end the Emacs
622 session--this is the command C-x C-c. (Do not worry about losing
623 changes you have made; C-x C-c offers to save each changed file before
624 it kills Emacs.)
625
626 If you are using a graphical display, you don't need any special
627 command to move from Emacs to another application. You can do this
628 with the mouse or with window manager commands. However, if you're
629 using a text terminal which can only show one application at a time,
630 you need to "suspend" Emacs to move to any other application.
631
632 C-z is the command to exit Emacs *temporarily*--so that you can go
633 back to the same Emacs session afterward. When Emacs is running on a
634 text terminal, C-z "suspends" Emacs; that is, it returns to the shell
635 but does not destroy the Emacs job. In the most common shells, you
636 can resume Emacs with the `fg' command or with `%emacs'.
637
638 The time to use C-x C-c is when you are about to log out. It's also
639 the right thing to use to exit an Emacs invoked for a quick edit, such
640 as by a mail handling utility.
641
642 There are many C-x commands. Here is a list of the ones you have learned:
643
644 C-x C-f Find file
645 C-x C-s Save file
646 C-x s Save some buffers
647 C-x C-b List buffers
648 C-x b Switch buffer
649 C-x C-c Quit Emacs
650 C-x 1 Delete all but one window
651 C-x u Undo
652
653 Named eXtended commands are commands which are used even less
654 frequently, or commands which are used only in certain modes. An
655 example is the command replace-string, which replaces one string with
656 another in the buffer. When you type M-x, Emacs prompts you at the
657 bottom of the screen with M-x and you should type the name of the
658 command; in this case, "replace-string". Just type "repl s<TAB>" and
659 Emacs will complete the name. (<TAB> is the Tab key, usually found
660 above the CapsLock or Shift key near the left edge of the keyboard.)
661 Submit the command name with <Return>.
662
663 The replace-string command requires two arguments--the string to be
664 replaced, and the string to replace it with. You must end each
665 argument with <Return>.
666
667 >> Move the cursor to the blank line two lines below this one.
668 Then type M-x repl s<Return>changed<Return>altered<Return>.
669
670 Notice how this line has changed: you've replaced the word
671 "changed" with "altered" wherever it occurred, after the
672 initial position of the cursor.
673
674
675 * AUTO SAVE
676 -----------
677
678 When you have made changes in a file, but you have not saved them yet,
679 they could be lost if your computer crashes. To protect you from
680 this, Emacs periodically writes an "auto save" file for each file that
681 you are editing. The auto save file name has a # at the beginning and
682 the end; for example, if your file is named "hello.c", its auto save
683 file's name is "#hello.c#". When you save the file in the normal way,
684 Emacs deletes its auto save file.
685
686 If the computer crashes, you can recover your auto-saved editing by
687 finding the file normally (the file you were editing, not the auto
688 save file) and then typing M-x recover-file <Return>. When it asks for
689 confirmation, type yes<Return> to go ahead and recover the auto-save
690 data.
691
692
693 * ECHO AREA
694 -----------
695
696 If Emacs sees that you are typing multicharacter commands slowly, it
697 shows them to you at the bottom of the screen in an area called the
698 "echo area". The echo area contains the bottom line of the screen.
699
700
701 * MODE LINE
702 -----------
703
704 The line immediately above the echo area is called the "mode line".
705 The mode line says something like this:
706
707 -:**- TUTORIAL 63% L749 (Fundamental)
708
709 This line gives useful information about the status of Emacs and
710 the text you are editing.
711
712 You already know what the filename means--it is the file you have
713 found. NN% indicates your current position in the buffer text; it
714 means that NN percent of the buffer is above the top of the screen.
715 If the top of the buffer is on the screen, it will say "Top" instead
716 of " 0%". If the bottom of the buffer is on the screen, it will say
717 "Bot". If you are looking at a buffer so small that all of it fits on
718 the screen, the mode line says "All".
719
720 The L and digits indicate position in another way: they give the
721 current line number of point.
722
723 The stars near the front mean that you have made changes to the text.
724 Right after you visit or save a file, that part of the mode line shows
725 no stars, just dashes.
726
727 The part of the mode line inside the parentheses is to tell you what
728 editing modes you are in. The default mode is Fundamental which is
729 what you are using now. It is an example of a "major mode".
730
731 Emacs has many different major modes. Some of them are meant for
732 editing different languages and/or kinds of text, such as Lisp mode,
733 Text mode, etc. At any time one and only one major mode is active,
734 and its name can always be found in the mode line just where
735 "Fundamental" is now.
736
737 Each major mode makes a few commands behave differently. For example,
738 there are commands for creating comments in a program, and since each
739 programming language has a different idea of what a comment should
740 look like, each major mode has to insert comments differently. Each
741 major mode is the name of an extended command, which is how you can
742 switch to that mode. For example, M-x fundamental-mode is a command to
743 switch to Fundamental mode.
744
745 If you are going to be editing human-language text, such as this file, you
746 should probably use Text Mode.
747
748 >> Type M-x text-mode <Return>.
749
750 Don't worry, none of the Emacs commands you have learned changes in
751 any great way. But you can observe that M-f and M-b now treat
752 apostrophes as part of words. Previously, in Fundamental mode,
753 M-f and M-b treated apostrophes as word-separators.
754
755 Major modes usually make subtle changes like that one: most commands
756 do "the same job" in each major mode, but they work a little bit
757 differently.
758
759 To view documentation on your current major mode, type C-h m.
760
761 >> Move the cursor to the line following this line.
762 >> Type C-l C-l to bring this line to the top of screen.
763 >> Type C-h m, to see how Text mode differs from Fundamental mode.
764 >> Type C-x 1 to remove the documentation from the screen.
765
766 Major modes are called major because there are also minor modes.
767 Minor modes are not alternatives to the major modes, just minor
768 modifications of them. Each minor mode can be turned on or off by
769 itself, independent of all other minor modes, and independent of your
770 major mode. So you can use no minor modes, or one minor mode, or any
771 combination of several minor modes.
772
773 One minor mode which is very useful, especially for editing
774 human-language text, is Auto Fill mode. When this mode is on, Emacs
775 breaks the line in between words automatically whenever you insert
776 text and make a line that is too wide.
777
778 You can turn Auto Fill mode on by doing M-x auto-fill-mode <Return>.
779 When the mode is on, you can turn it off again by doing
780 M-x auto-fill-mode <Return>. If the mode is off, this command turns
781 it on, and if the mode is on, this command turns it off. We say that
782 the command "toggles the mode".
783
784 >> Type M-x auto-fill-mode <Return> now. Then insert a line of "asdf "
785 over again until you see it divide into two lines. You must put in
786 spaces between them because Auto Fill breaks lines only at spaces.
787
788 The margin is usually set at 70 characters, but you can change it
789 with the C-x f command. You should give the margin setting you want
790 as a numeric argument.
791
792 >> Type C-x f with an argument of 20. (C-u 2 0 C-x f).
793 Then type in some text and see Emacs fill lines of 20
794 characters with it. Then set the margin back to 70 using
795 C-x f again.
796
797 If you make changes in the middle of a paragraph, Auto Fill mode
798 does not re-fill it for you.
799 To re-fill the paragraph, type M-q (META-q) with the cursor inside
800 that paragraph.
801
802 >> Move the cursor into the previous paragraph and type M-q.
803
804
805 * SEARCHING
806 -----------
807
808 Emacs can do searches for strings (a "string" is a group of contiguous
809 characters) either forward through the text or backward through it.
810 Searching for a string is a cursor motion command; it moves the cursor
811 to the next place where that string appears.
812
813 The Emacs search command is "incremental". This means that the
814 search happens while you type in the string to search for.
815
816 The command to initiate a search is C-s for forward search, and C-r
817 for reverse search. BUT WAIT! Don't try them now.
818
819 When you type C-s you'll notice that the string "I-search" appears as
820 a prompt in the echo area. This tells you that Emacs is in what is
821 called an incremental search waiting for you to type the thing that
822 you want to search for. <Return> terminates a search.
823
824 >> Now type C-s to start a search. SLOWLY, one letter at a time,
825 type the word 'cursor', pausing after you type each
826 character to notice what happens to the cursor.
827 Now you have searched for "cursor", once.
828 >> Type C-s again, to search for the next occurrence of "cursor".
829 >> Now type <DEL> four times and see how the cursor moves.
830 >> Type <Return> to terminate the search.
831
832 Did you see what happened? Emacs, in an incremental search, tries to
833 go to the occurrence of the string that you've typed out so far. To
834 go to the next occurrence of 'cursor' just type C-s again. If no such
835 occurrence exists, Emacs beeps and tells you the search is currently
836 "failing". C-g would also terminate the search.
837
838 If you are in the middle of an incremental search and type <DEL>, the
839 search "retreats" to an earlier location. If you type <DEL> just
840 after you had typed C-s to advance to the next occurrence of a search
841 string, the <DEL> moves the cursor back to an earlier occurrence. If
842 there are no earlier occurrences, the <DEL> erases the last character
843 in the search string. For instance, suppose you have typed "c", to
844 search for the first occurrence of "c". Now if you type "u", the
845 cursor will move to the first occurrence of "cu". Now type <DEL>.
846 This erases the "u" from the search string, and the cursor moves back
847 to the first occurrence of "c".
848
849 If you are in the middle of a search and type a control or meta
850 character (with a few exceptions--characters that are special in a
851 search, such as C-s and C-r), the search is terminated.
852
853 C-s starts a search that looks for any occurrence of the search string
854 AFTER the current cursor position. If you want to search for
855 something earlier in the text, type C-r instead. Everything that we
856 have said about C-s also applies to C-r, except that the direction of
857 the search is reversed.
858
859
860 * MULTIPLE WINDOWS
861 ------------------
862
863 One of the nice features of Emacs is that you can display more than
864 one window on the screen at the same time. (Note that Emacs uses the
865 term "frames"--described in the next section--for what some other
866 applications call "windows". The Emacs manual contains a Glossary of
867 Emacs terms.)
868
869 >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-l C-l.
870
871 >> Now type C-x 2 which splits the screen into two windows.
872 Both windows display this tutorial. The editing cursor stays in
873 the top window.
874
875 >> Type C-M-v to scroll the bottom window.
876 (If you do not have a real META key, type <ESC> C-v.)
877
878 >> Type C-x o ("o" for "other") to move the cursor to the bottom window.
879 >> Use C-v and M-v in the bottom window to scroll it.
880 Keep reading these directions in the top window.
881
882 >> Type C-x o again to move the cursor back to the top window.
883 The cursor in the top window is just where it was before.
884
885 You can keep using C-x o to switch between the windows. The "selected
886 window", where most editing takes place, is the one with a prominent
887 cursor which blinks when you are not typing. The other windows have
888 their own cursor positions; if you are running Emacs in a graphical
889 display, those cursors are drawn as unblinking hollow boxes.
890
891 The command C-M-v is very useful when you are editing text in one
892 window and using the other window just for reference. Without leaving
893 the selected window, you can scroll the text in the other window with
894 C-M-v.
895
896 C-M-v is an example of a CONTROL-META character. If you have a META
897 (or Alt) key, you can type C-M-v by holding down both CONTROL and META
898 while typing v. It does not matter whether CONTROL or META "comes
899 first," as both of these keys act by modifying the characters you
900 type.
901
902 If you do not have a META key, and you use <ESC> instead, the order
903 does matter: you must type <ESC> followed by CONTROL-v, because
904 CONTROL-<ESC> v will not work. This is because <ESC> is a character
905 in its own right, not a modifier key.
906
907 >> Type C-x 1 (in the top window) to get rid of the bottom window.
908
909 (If you had typed C-x 1 in the bottom window, that would get rid
910 of the top one. Think of this command as "Keep just one
911 window--the window I am already in.")
912
913 You do not have to display the same buffer in both windows. If you
914 use C-x C-f to find a file in one window, the other window does not
915 change. You can find a file in each window independently.
916
917 Here is another way to use two windows to display two different things:
918
919 >> Type C-x 4 C-f followed by the name of one of your files.
920 End with <Return>. See the specified file appear in the bottom
921 window. The cursor goes there, too.
922
923 >> Type C-x o to go back to the top window, and C-x 1 to delete
924 the bottom window.
925
926
927 * MULTIPLE FRAMES
928 ------------------
929
930 Emacs can also create multiple "frames". A frame is what we call one
931 collection of windows, together with its menus, scroll bars, echo
932 area, etc. On graphical displays, what Emacs calls a "frame" is what
933 most other applications call a "window". Multiple graphical frames
934 can be shown on the screen at the same time. On a text terminal, only
935 one frame can be shown at a time.
936
937 >> Type M-x make-frame <Return>.
938 See a new frame appear on your screen.
939
940 You can do everything you did in the original frame in the new frame.
941 There is nothing special about the first frame.
942
943 >> Type M-x delete-frame <Return>.
944 This removes the selected frame.
945
946 You can also remove a frame by using the normal method provided by the
947 graphical system (often clicking a button with an "X" at a top corner
948 of the frame). If you remove the Emacs job's last frame this way,
949 that exits Emacs.
950
951
952 * RECURSIVE EDITING LEVELS
953 --------------------------
954
955 Sometimes you will get into what is called a "recursive editing
956 level". This is indicated by square brackets in the mode line,
957 surrounding the parentheses around the major mode name. For
958 example, you might see [(Fundamental)] instead of (Fundamental).
959
960 To get out of the recursive editing level, type <ESC> <ESC> <ESC>.
961 That is an all-purpose "get out" command. You can also use it for
962 eliminating extra windows, and getting out of the minibuffer.
963
964 >> Type M-x to get into a minibuffer; then type <ESC> <ESC> <ESC> to
965 get out.
966
967 You cannot use C-g to get out of a recursive editing level. This is
968 because C-g is used for canceling commands and arguments WITHIN the
969 recursive editing level.
970
971
972 * GETTING MORE HELP
973 -------------------
974
975 In this tutorial we have tried to supply just enough information to
976 get you started using Emacs. There is so much available in Emacs that
977 it would be impossible to explain it all here. However, you may want
978 to learn more about Emacs since it has many other useful features.
979 Emacs provides commands for reading documentation about Emacs
980 commands. These "help" commands all start with the character
981 CONTROL-h, which is called "the Help character".
982
983 To use the Help features, type the C-h character, and then a
984 character saying what kind of help you want. If you are REALLY lost,
985 type C-h ? and Emacs will tell you what kinds of help it can give.
986 If you have typed C-h and decide you do not want any help, just
987 type C-g to cancel it.
988
989 (If C-h does not display a message about help at the bottom of the
990 screen, try typing the F1 key or M-x help <Return> instead.)
991
992 The most basic HELP feature is C-h c. Type C-h, the character c, and
993 a command character or sequence; then Emacs displays a very brief
994 description of the command.
995
996 >> Type C-h c C-p.
997
998 The message should be something like this:
999
1000 C-p runs the command previous-line
1001
1002 This tells you the "name of the function". Since function names
1003 are chosen to indicate what the command does, they can serve as
1004 very brief documentation--sufficient to remind you of commands you
1005 have already learned.
1006
1007 Multi-character commands such as C-x C-s and (if you have no META or
1008 EDIT or ALT key) <ESC>v are also allowed after C-h c.
1009
1010 To get more information about a command, use C-h k instead of C-h c.
1011
1012 >> Type C-h k C-p.
1013
1014 This displays the documentation of the function, as well as its name,
1015 in an Emacs window. When you are finished reading the output, type
1016 C-x 1 to get rid of that window. You do not have to do this right
1017 away. You can do some editing while referring to the help text, and
1018 then type C-x 1.
1019
1020 Here are some other useful C-h options:
1021
1022 C-h f Describe a function. You type in the name of the
1023 function.
1024
1025 >> Try typing C-h f previous-line <Return>.
1026 This displays all the information Emacs has about the
1027 function which implements the C-p command.
1028
1029 A similar command C-h v displays the documentation of variables,
1030 including those whose values you can set to customize Emacs behavior.
1031 You need to type in the name of the variable when Emacs prompts for it.
1032
1033 C-h a Command Apropos. Type in a keyword and Emacs will list
1034 all the commands whose names contain that keyword.
1035 These commands can all be invoked with META-x.
1036 For some commands, Command Apropos will also list a one
1037 or two character sequence which runs the same command.
1038
1039 >> Type C-h a file <Return>.
1040
1041 This displays in another window a list of all M-x commands with "file"
1042 in their names. You will see character-commands listed beside the
1043 corresponding command names (such as C-x C-f beside find-file).
1044
1045 >> Type C-M-v to scroll the help window. Do this a few times.
1046
1047 >> Type C-x 1 to delete the help window.
1048
1049 C-h i Read included Manuals (a.k.a. Info). This command puts
1050 you into a special buffer called `*info*' where you
1051 can read manuals for the packages installed on your system.
1052 Type m emacs <Return> to read the Emacs manual.
1053 If you have never before used Info, type ? and Emacs
1054 will take you on a guided tour of Info mode facilities.
1055 Once you are through with this tutorial, you should
1056 consult the Emacs Info manual as your primary documentation.
1057
1058
1059 * MORE FEATURES
1060 ---------------
1061
1062 You can learn more about Emacs by reading its manual, either as a
1063 printed book, or inside Emacs (use the Help menu or type C-h r).
1064 Two features that you may like especially are completion, which saves
1065 typing, and dired, which simplifies file handling.
1066
1067 Completion is a way to avoid unnecessary typing. For instance, if you
1068 want to switch to the *Messages* buffer, you can type C-x b *M<Tab>
1069 and Emacs will fill in the rest of the buffer name as far as it can
1070 determine from what you have already typed. Completion also works for
1071 command names and file names. Completion is described in the Emacs
1072 manual in the node called "Completion".
1073
1074 Dired enables you to list files in a directory (and optionally its
1075 subdirectories), move around that list, visit, rename, delete and
1076 otherwise operate on the files. Dired is described in the Emacs
1077 manual in the node called "Dired".
1078
1079 The manual also describes many other Emacs features.
1080
1081
1082 * CONCLUSION
1083 ------------
1084
1085 To exit Emacs use C-x C-c.
1086
1087 This tutorial is meant to be understandable to all new users, so if
1088 you found something unclear, don't sit and blame yourself - complain!
1089
1090
1091 * COPYING
1092 ---------
1093
1094 This tutorial descends from a long line of Emacs tutorials
1095 starting with the one written by Stuart Cracraft for the original Emacs.
1096
1097 This version of the tutorial is a part of GNU Emacs. It is copyrighted
1098 and comes with permission to distribute copies on certain conditions:
1099
1100 Copyright (C) 1985, 1996, 1998, 2001-2013 Free Software Foundation,
1101 Inc.
1102
1103 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
1104
1105 GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
1106 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
1107 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
1108 (at your option) any later version.
1109
1110 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
1111 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1112 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1113 GNU General Public License for more details.
1114
1115 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
1116 along with GNU Emacs. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
1117
1118 Please read the file COPYING and then do give copies of GNU Emacs to
1119 your friends. Help stamp out software obstructionism ("ownership") by
1120 using, writing, and sharing free software!
1121