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1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
2 @c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001,
3 @c 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
5 @node Display, Search, Registers, Top
6 @chapter Controlling the Display
7
8 Since only part of a large buffer fits in the window, Emacs tries to
9 show a part that is likely to be interesting. Display-control
10 commands allow you to specify which part of the text you want to see,
11 and how to display it. Many variables also affect the details of
12 redisplay. Unless otherwise stated, the variables described in this
13 chapter have their effect by customizing redisplay itself; therefore,
14 their values only make a difference at the time of redisplay.
15
16 @menu
17 * Scrolling:: Commands to move text up and down in a window.
18 * Auto Scrolling:: Redisplay scrolls text automatically when needed.
19 * Horizontal Scrolling:: Moving text left and right in a window.
20 * Follow Mode:: Follow mode lets two windows scroll as one.
21 * Faces:: How to change the display style using faces.
22 * Standard Faces:: Emacs' predefined faces.
23 * Font Lock:: Minor mode for syntactic highlighting using faces.
24 * Highlight Interactively:: Tell Emacs what text to highlight.
25 * Fringes:: Enabling or disabling window fringes.
26 * Displaying Boundaries:: Displaying top and bottom of the buffer.
27 * Useless Whitespace:: Showing possibly-spurious trailing whitespace.
28 * Selective Display:: Hiding lines with lots of indentation.
29 * Optional Mode Line:: Optional mode line display features.
30 * Text Display:: How text characters are normally displayed.
31 * Cursor Display:: Features for displaying the cursor.
32 * Line Truncation:: Truncating lines to fit the screen width instead
33 of continuing them to multiple screen lines.
34 * Display Custom:: Information on variables for customizing display.
35 @end menu
36
37 @node Scrolling
38 @section Scrolling
39
40 If a buffer contains text that is too large to fit entirely within a
41 window that is displaying the buffer, Emacs shows a contiguous portion of
42 the text. The portion shown always contains point.
43
44 @cindex scrolling
45 @dfn{Scrolling} means moving text up or down in the window so that
46 different parts of the text are visible. Scrolling ``forward'' or
47 ``up'' means that text moves up, and new text appears at the bottom.
48 Scrolling ``backward'' or ``down'' moves text down, and new text
49 appears at the top.
50
51 Scrolling happens automatically if you move point past the bottom or
52 top of the window. You can also scroll explicitly with the commands
53 in this section.
54
55 @table @kbd
56 @item C-l
57 Clear screen and redisplay, scrolling the selected window to center
58 point vertically within it (@code{recenter}).
59 @item C-v
60 Scroll forward (a windowful or a specified number of lines) (@code{scroll-up}).
61 @item @key{NEXT}
62 @itemx @key{PAGEDOWN}
63 Likewise, scroll forward.
64 @item M-v
65 Scroll backward (@code{scroll-down}).
66 @item @key{PRIOR}
67 @itemx @key{PAGEUP}
68 Likewise, scroll backward.
69 @item @var{arg} C-l
70 Scroll so point is on line @var{arg} (@code{recenter}).
71 @item C-M-l
72 Scroll heuristically to bring useful information onto the screen
73 (@code{reposition-window}).
74 @end table
75
76 @kindex C-l
77 @findex recenter
78 The most basic scrolling command is @kbd{C-l} (@code{recenter}) with
79 no argument. It scrolls the selected window so that point is halfway
80 down from the top of the window. On a text terminal, it also clears
81 the screen and redisplays all windows. That is useful in case the
82 screen is garbled (@pxref{Screen Garbled}).
83
84 @kindex C-v
85 @kindex M-v
86 @kindex NEXT
87 @kindex PRIOR
88 @kindex PAGEDOWN
89 @kindex PAGEUP
90 @findex scroll-up
91 @findex scroll-down
92 To read the buffer a windowful at a time, use @kbd{C-v}
93 (@code{scroll-up}) with no argument. This scrolls forward by nearly
94 the whole window height. The effect is to take the two lines at the
95 bottom of the window and put them at the top, followed by nearly a
96 whole windowful of lines that were not previously visible. If point
97 was in the text that scrolled off the top, it ends up at the new top
98 of the window.
99
100 @vindex next-screen-context-lines
101 @kbd{M-v} (@code{scroll-down}) with no argument scrolls backward in
102 a similar way, also with overlap. The number of lines of overlap that
103 the @kbd{C-v} or @kbd{M-v} commands leave is controlled by the
104 variable @code{next-screen-context-lines}; by default, it is 2. The
105 function keys @key{NEXT} and @key{PRIOR}, or @key{PAGEDOWN} and
106 @key{PAGEUP}, are equivalent to @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v}.
107
108 The commands @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v} with a numeric argument scroll
109 the text in the selected window up or down a few lines. @kbd{C-v}
110 with an argument moves the text and point up, together, that many
111 lines; it brings the same number of new lines into view at the bottom
112 of the window. @kbd{M-v} with numeric argument scrolls the text
113 downward, bringing that many new lines into view at the top of the
114 window. @kbd{C-v} with a negative argument is like @kbd{M-v} and vice
115 versa.
116
117 The names of scroll commands are based on the direction that the
118 text moves in the window. Thus, the command to scroll forward is
119 called @code{scroll-up} because it moves the text upward on the
120 screen. The keys @key{PAGEDOWN} and @key{PAGEUP} derive their names
121 and customary meanings from a different convention that developed
122 elsewhere; hence the strange result that @key{PAGEDOWN} runs
123 @code{scroll-up}.
124
125 @vindex scroll-preserve-screen-position
126 Some users like the full-screen scroll commands to keep point at the
127 same screen line. To enable this behavior, set the variable
128 @code{scroll-preserve-screen-position} to a non-@code{nil} value. In
129 this mode, when these commands would scroll the text around point off
130 the screen, or within @code{scroll-margin} lines of the edge, they
131 move point to keep the same vertical position within the window.
132 This mode is convenient for browsing through a file by scrolling by
133 screenfuls; if you come back to the screen where you started, point
134 goes back to the line where it started. However, this mode is
135 inconvenient when you move to the next screen in order to move point
136 to the text there.
137
138 Another way to do scrolling is with @kbd{C-l} with a numeric argument.
139 @kbd{C-l} does not clear the screen when given an argument; it only scrolls
140 the selected window. With a positive argument @var{n}, it repositions text
141 to put point @var{n} lines down from the top. An argument of zero puts
142 point on the very top line. Point does not move with respect to the text;
143 rather, the text and point move rigidly on the screen. @kbd{C-l} with a
144 negative argument puts point that many lines from the bottom of the window.
145 For example, @kbd{C-u - 1 C-l} puts point on the bottom line, and @kbd{C-u
146 - 5 C-l} puts it five lines from the bottom. @kbd{C-u C-l} scrolls to put
147 point at the center (vertically) of the selected window.
148
149 @kindex C-M-l
150 @findex reposition-window
151 The @kbd{C-M-l} command (@code{reposition-window}) scrolls the current
152 window heuristically in a way designed to get useful information onto
153 the screen. For example, in a Lisp file, this command tries to get the
154 entire current defun onto the screen if possible.
155
156 @node Auto Scrolling
157 @section Automatic Scrolling
158
159 @vindex scroll-conservatively
160 Redisplay scrolls the buffer automatically when point moves out of
161 the visible portion of the text. The purpose of automatic scrolling
162 is to make point visible, but you can customize many aspects of how
163 this is done.
164
165 Normally, automatic scrolling centers point vertically within the
166 window. However, if you set @code{scroll-conservatively} to a small
167 number @var{n}, then if you move point just a little off the
168 screen---less than @var{n} lines---then Emacs scrolls the text just
169 far enough to bring point back on screen. By default,
170 @code{scroll-conservatively} is@tie{}0.
171
172 @cindex aggressive scrolling
173 @vindex scroll-up-aggressively
174 @vindex scroll-down-aggressively
175 When the window does scroll by a longer distance, you can control
176 how aggressively it scrolls, by setting the variables
177 @code{scroll-up-aggressively} and @code{scroll-down-aggressively}.
178 The value of @code{scroll-up-aggressively} should be either
179 @code{nil}, or a fraction @var{f} between 0 and 1. A fraction
180 specifies where on the screen to put point when scrolling upward.
181 More precisely, when a window scrolls up because point is above the
182 window start, the new start position is chosen to put point @var{f}
183 part of the window height from the top. The larger @var{f}, the more
184 aggressive the scrolling.
185
186 @code{nil}, which is the default, scrolls to put point at the center.
187 So it is equivalent to .5.
188
189 Likewise, @code{scroll-down-aggressively} is used for scrolling
190 down. The value, @var{f}, specifies how far point should be placed
191 from the bottom of the window; thus, as with
192 @code{scroll-up-aggressively}, a larger value is more aggressive.
193
194 @vindex scroll-margin
195 The variable @code{scroll-margin} restricts how close point can come
196 to the top or bottom of a window. Its value is a number of screen
197 lines; if point comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of the
198 window, Emacs recenters the window. By default, @code{scroll-margin} is
199 0.
200
201 @node Horizontal Scrolling
202 @section Horizontal Scrolling
203 @cindex horizontal scrolling
204
205 @dfn{Horizontal scrolling} means shifting all the lines sideways
206 within a window---so that some of the text near the left margin is not
207 displayed at all. When the text in a window is scrolled horizontally,
208 text lines are truncated rather than continued (@pxref{Line
209 Truncation}). Whenever a window shows truncated lines, Emacs
210 automatically updates its horizontal scrolling whenever point moves
211 off the left or right edge of the screen. You can also use these
212 commands to do explicit horizontal scrolling.
213
214 @table @kbd
215 @item C-x <
216 Scroll text in current window to the left (@code{scroll-left}).
217 @item C-x >
218 Scroll to the right (@code{scroll-right}).
219 @end table
220
221 @kindex C-x <
222 @kindex C-x >
223 @findex scroll-left
224 @findex scroll-right
225 The command @kbd{C-x <} (@code{scroll-left}) scrolls the selected
226 window to the left by @var{n} columns with argument @var{n}. This moves
227 part of the beginning of each line off the left edge of the window.
228 With no argument, it scrolls by almost the full width of the window (two
229 columns less, to be precise).
230
231 @kbd{C-x >} (@code{scroll-right}) scrolls similarly to the right. The
232 window cannot be scrolled any farther to the right once it is displayed
233 normally (with each line starting at the window's left margin);
234 attempting to do so has no effect. This means that you don't have to
235 calculate the argument precisely for @w{@kbd{C-x >}}; any sufficiently large
236 argument will restore the normal display.
237
238 If you use those commands to scroll a window horizontally, that sets
239 a lower bound for automatic horizontal scrolling. Automatic scrolling
240 will continue to scroll the window, but never farther to the right
241 than the amount you previously set by @code{scroll-left}.
242
243 @vindex hscroll-margin
244 The value of the variable @code{hscroll-margin} controls how close
245 to the window's edges point is allowed to get before the window will
246 be automatically scrolled. It is measured in columns. If the value
247 is 5, then moving point within 5 columns of the edge causes horizontal
248 scrolling away from that edge.
249
250 @vindex hscroll-step
251 The variable @code{hscroll-step} determines how many columns to
252 scroll the window when point gets too close to the edge. If it's
253 zero, horizontal scrolling centers point horizontally within the
254 window. If it's a positive integer, it specifies the number of
255 columns to scroll by. If it's a floating-point number, it specifies
256 the fraction of the window's width to scroll by. The default is zero.
257
258 @vindex auto-hscroll-mode
259 To disable automatic horizontal scrolling, set the variable
260 @code{auto-hscroll-mode} to @code{nil}.
261
262 @node Follow Mode
263 @section Follow Mode
264 @cindex Follow mode
265 @cindex mode, Follow
266 @findex follow-mode
267 @cindex windows, synchronizing
268 @cindex synchronizing windows
269
270 @dfn{Follow mode} is a minor mode that makes two windows, both
271 showing the same buffer, scroll as a single tall ``virtual window.''
272 To use Follow mode, go to a frame with just one window, split it into
273 two side-by-side windows using @kbd{C-x 3}, and then type @kbd{M-x
274 follow-mode}. From then on, you can edit the buffer in either of the
275 two windows, or scroll either one; the other window follows it.
276
277 In Follow mode, if you move point outside the portion visible in one
278 window and into the portion visible in the other window, that selects
279 the other window---again, treating the two as if they were parts of
280 one large window.
281
282 To turn off Follow mode, type @kbd{M-x follow-mode} a second time.
283
284 @node Faces
285 @section Faces: Controlling Text Display Style
286 @cindex faces
287
288 You can specify various styles for displaying text using
289 @dfn{faces}. Each face can specify various @dfn{face attributes},
290 such as the font family, the height, weight and slant of the
291 characters, the foreground and background color, and underlining or
292 overlining. A face does not have to specify all of these attributes;
293 often it inherits most of them from another face.
294
295 On graphical display, all the Emacs face attributes are meaningful.
296 On a text-only terminal, only some of them work. Some text-only
297 terminals support inverse video, bold, and underline attributes; some
298 support colors. Text-only terminals generally do not support changing
299 the height and width or the font family.
300
301 Most major modes assign faces to the text automatically through the
302 work of Font Lock mode. @xref{Font Lock}, for more information about
303 Font Lock mode and syntactic highlighting. You can print the current
304 buffer with the highlighting that appears on your screen using the
305 command @code{ps-print-buffer-with-faces}. @xref{PostScript}.
306
307 You control the appearance of a part of the text in the buffer by
308 specifying the face or faces to use for it. The style of display used
309 for any given character is determined by combining the attributes of
310 all the applicable faces specified for that character. Any attribute
311 that isn't specified by these faces is taken from the @code{default} face,
312 whose attributes reflect the default settings of the frame itself.
313
314 Enriched mode, the mode for editing formatted text, includes several
315 commands and menus for specifying faces for text in the buffer.
316 @xref{Format Faces}, for how to specify the font for text in the
317 buffer. @xref{Format Colors}, for how to specify the foreground and
318 background color.
319
320 @cindex face colors, setting
321 @findex set-face-foreground
322 @findex set-face-background
323 To alter the appearance of a face, use the customization buffer.
324 @xref{Face Customization}. You can also use X resources to specify
325 attributes of particular faces (@pxref{Resources}). Alternatively,
326 you can change the foreground and background colors of a specific face
327 with @kbd{M-x set-face-foreground} and @kbd{M-x set-face-background}.
328 These commands prompt in the minibuffer for a face name and a color
329 name, with completion, and then set that face to use the specified
330 color. Changing the colors of the @code{default} face also changes
331 the foreground and background colors on all frames, both existing and
332 those to be created in the future. (You can also set foreground and
333 background colors for the current frame only; see @ref{Frame
334 Parameters}.)
335
336 If you want to alter the appearance of all Emacs frames, you need to
337 customize the frame parameters in the variable
338 @code{default-frame-alist}; see @ref{Creating Frames,
339 default-frame-alist}.
340
341 Emacs can correctly display variable-width fonts, but Emacs commands
342 that calculate width and indentation do not know how to calculate
343 variable widths. This can sometimes lead to incorrect results when
344 you use variable-width fonts. In particular, indentation commands can
345 give inconsistent results, so we recommend you avoid variable-width
346 fonts for editing program source code. Filling will sometimes make
347 lines too long or too short. We plan to address these issues in
348 future Emacs versions.
349
350 @node Standard Faces
351 @section Standard Faces
352
353 @findex list-faces-display
354 To see what faces are currently defined, and what they look like,
355 type @kbd{M-x list-faces-display}. It's possible for a given face to
356 look different in different frames; this command shows the appearance
357 in the frame in which you type it. With a prefix argument, this
358 prompts for a regular expression, and displays only faces with names
359 matching that regular expression.
360
361 Here are the standard faces for specifying text appearance. You can
362 apply them to specific text when you want the effects they produce.
363
364 @table @code
365 @item default
366 This face is used for ordinary text that doesn't specify any face.
367 @item bold
368 This face uses a bold variant of the default font, if it has one.
369 It's up to you to choose a default font that has a bold variant,
370 if you want to use one.
371 @item italic
372 This face uses an italic variant of the default font, if it has one.
373 @item bold-italic
374 This face uses a bold italic variant of the default font, if it has one.
375 @item underline
376 This face underlines text.
377 @item fixed-pitch
378 This face forces use of a particular fixed-width font.
379 @item variable-pitch
380 This face forces use of a particular variable-width font. It's
381 reasonable to customize this face to use a different variable-width font,
382 if you like, but you should not make it a fixed-width font.
383 @item shadow
384 This face is used for making the text less noticeable than the surrounding
385 ordinary text. Usually this can be achieved by using shades of gray in
386 contrast with either black or white default foreground color.
387 @end table
388
389 Here's an incomplete list of faces used to highlight parts of the
390 text temporarily for specific purposes. (Many other modes define
391 their own faces for this purpose.)
392
393 @table @code
394 @item highlight
395 This face is used for highlighting portions of text, in various modes.
396 For example, mouse-sensitive text is highlighted using this face.
397 @item isearch
398 This face is used for highlighting the current Isearch match.
399 @item query-replace
400 This face is used for highlighting the current Query Replace match.
401 @item lazy-highlight
402 This face is used for lazy highlighting of Isearch and Query Replace
403 matches other than the current one.
404 @item region
405 This face is used for displaying a selected region (when Transient Mark
406 mode is enabled---see below).
407 @item secondary-selection
408 This face is used for displaying a secondary X selection (@pxref{Secondary
409 Selection}).
410 @item trailing-whitespace
411 The face for highlighting excess spaces and tabs at the end of a line
412 when @code{show-trailing-whitespace} is non-@code{nil}; see
413 @ref{Useless Whitespace}.
414 @item nobreak-space
415 The face for displaying the character ``nobreak space.''
416 @item escape-glyph
417 The face for highlighting the @samp{\} or @samp{^} that indicates
418 a control character. It's also used when @samp{\} indicates a
419 nobreak space or nobreak (soft) hyphen.
420 @end table
421
422 @cindex @code{region} face
423 When Transient Mark mode is enabled, the text of the region is
424 highlighted when the mark is active. This uses the face named
425 @code{region}; you can control the style of highlighting by changing the
426 style of this face (@pxref{Face Customization}). @xref{Transient Mark},
427 for more information about Transient Mark mode and activation and
428 deactivation of the mark.
429
430 These faces control the appearance of parts of the Emacs frame.
431 They exist as faces to provide a consistent way to customize the
432 appearance of these parts of the frame.
433
434 @table @code
435 @item mode-line
436 @itemx modeline
437 This face is used for the mode line of the currently selected window,
438 and for menu bars when toolkit menus are not used. By default, it's
439 drawn with shadows for a ``raised'' effect on graphical displays, and
440 drawn as the inverse of the default face on non-windowed terminals.
441 @code{modeline} is an alias for the @code{mode-line} face, for
442 compatibility with old Emacs versions.
443 @item mode-line-inactive
444 Like @code{mode-line}, but used for mode lines of the windows other
445 than the selected one (if @code{mode-line-in-non-selected-windows} is
446 non-@code{nil}). This face inherits from @code{mode-line}, so changes
447 in that face affect mode lines in all windows.
448 @item mode-line-highlight
449 Like @code{highlight}, but used for portions of text on mode lines.
450 @item mode-line-buffer-id
451 This face is used for buffer identification parts in the mode line.
452 @item header-line
453 Similar to @code{mode-line} for a window's header line, which appears
454 at the top of a window just as the mode line appears at the bottom.
455 Most windows do not have a header line---only some special modes, such
456 Info mode, create one.
457 @item vertical-border
458 This face is used for the vertical divider between windows.
459 By default this face inherits from the @code{mode-line-inactive} face
460 on character terminals. On graphical displays the foreground color of
461 this face is used for the vertical line between windows without
462 scrollbars.
463 @item minibuffer-prompt
464 @cindex @code{minibuffer-prompt} face
465 @vindex minibuffer-prompt-properties
466 This face is used for the prompt strings displayed in the minibuffer.
467 By default, Emacs automatically adds this face to the value of
468 @code{minibuffer-prompt-properties}, which is a list of text
469 properties used to display the prompt text. (This variable takes
470 effect when you enter the minibuffer.)
471 @item fringe
472 @cindex @code{fringe} face
473 The face for the fringes to the left and right of windows on graphic
474 displays. (The fringes are the narrow portions of the Emacs frame
475 between the text area and the window's right and left borders.)
476 @xref{Fringes}.
477 @item scroll-bar
478 This face determines the visual appearance of the scroll bar.
479 @xref{Scroll Bars}.
480 @item border
481 This face determines the color of the frame border.
482 @item cursor
483 This face determines the color of the cursor.
484 @item mouse
485 This face determines the color of the mouse pointer.
486 @item tool-bar
487 This face determines the color of tool bar icons. @xref{Tool Bars}.
488 @item tooltip
489 This face is used for tooltips. @xref{Tooltips}.
490 @item menu
491 @cindex menu bar appearance
492 @cindex @code{menu} face, no effect if customized
493 @cindex customization of @code{menu} face
494 This face determines the colors and font of Emacs's menus. @xref{Menu
495 Bars}. Setting the font of LessTif/Motif menus is currently not
496 supported; attempts to set the font are ignored in this case.
497 Likewise, attempts to customize this face in Emacs built with GTK and
498 in the MS-Windows/Mac ports are ignored by the respective GUI toolkits;
499 you need to use system-wide styles and options to change the
500 appearance of the menus.
501 @end table
502
503 @node Font Lock
504 @section Font Lock mode
505 @cindex Font Lock mode
506 @cindex mode, Font Lock
507 @cindex syntax highlighting and coloring
508
509 Font Lock mode is a minor mode, always local to a particular buffer,
510 which highlights (or ``fontifies'') the buffer contents according to
511 the syntax of the text you are editing. It can recognize comments and
512 strings in most languages; in several languages, it can also recognize
513 and properly highlight various other important constructs---for
514 example, names of functions being defined or reserved keywords.
515 Some special modes, such as Occur mode and Info mode, have completely
516 specialized ways of assigning fonts for Font Lock mode.
517
518 @findex font-lock-mode
519 Font Lock mode is turned on by default in all modes which support it.
520 You can toggle font-lock for each buffer with the command @kbd{M-x
521 font-lock-mode}. Using a positive argument unconditionally turns Font
522 Lock mode on, and a negative or zero argument turns it off.
523
524 @findex global-font-lock-mode
525 @vindex global-font-lock-mode
526 If you do not wish Font Lock mode to be turned on by default,
527 customize the variable @code{global-font-lock-mode} using the Customize
528 interface (@pxref{Easy Customization}), or use the function
529 @code{global-font-lock-mode} in your @file{.emacs} file, like this:
530
531 @example
532 (global-font-lock-mode 0)
533 @end example
534
535 @noindent
536 This variable, like all the variables that control Font Lock mode,
537 take effect whenever fontification is done; that is, potentially at
538 any time.
539
540 @findex turn-on-font-lock
541 If you have disabled Global Font Lock mode, you can still enable Font
542 Lock for specific major modes by adding the function
543 @code{turn-on-font-lock} to the mode hooks (@pxref{Hooks}). For
544 example, to enable Font Lock mode for editing C files, you can do this:
545
546 @example
547 (add-hook 'c-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
548 @end example
549
550 Font Lock mode uses several specifically named faces to do its job,
551 including @code{font-lock-string-face}, @code{font-lock-comment-face},
552 and others. The easiest way to find them all is to use @kbd{M-x
553 customize-group @key{RET} font-lock-faces @key{RET}}. You can then
554 use that customization buffer to customize the appearance of these
555 faces. @xref{Face Customization}.
556
557 You can also customize these faces using @kbd{M-x
558 set-face-foreground} or @kbd{M-x set-face-background}. @xref{Faces}.
559
560 @vindex font-lock-maximum-decoration
561 The variable @code{font-lock-maximum-decoration} specifies the
562 preferred level of fontification, for modes that provide multiple
563 levels. Level 1 is the least amount of fontification; some modes
564 support levels as high as 3. The normal default is ``as high as
565 possible.'' You can specify an integer, which applies to all modes, or
566 you can specify different numbers for particular major modes; for
567 example, to use level 1 for C/C++ modes, and the default level
568 otherwise, use this:
569
570 @example
571 (setq font-lock-maximum-decoration
572 '((c-mode . 1) (c++-mode . 1)))
573 @end example
574
575 @vindex font-lock-maximum-size
576 Fontification can be too slow for large buffers, so you can suppress
577 it for buffers above a certain size. The variable
578 @code{font-lock-maximum-size} specifies a buffer size, beyond which
579 buffer fontification is suppressed.
580
581 @c @w is used below to prevent a bad page-break.
582 @vindex font-lock-beginning-of-syntax-function
583 @cindex incorrect fontification
584 @cindex parenthesis in column zero and fontification
585 @cindex brace in column zero and fontification
586 Comment and string fontification (or ``syntactic'' fontification)
587 relies on analysis of the syntactic structure of the buffer text. For
588 the sake of speed, some modes, including Lisp mode, rely on a special
589 convention: an open-parenthesis or open-brace in the leftmost column
590 always defines the @w{beginning} of a defun, and is thus always
591 outside any string or comment. (@xref{Left Margin Paren}.) If you
592 don't follow this convention, Font Lock mode can misfontify the text
593 that follows an open-parenthesis or open-brace in the leftmost column
594 that is inside a string or comment.
595
596 @cindex slow display during scrolling
597 The variable @code{font-lock-beginning-of-syntax-function} (always
598 buffer-local) specifies how Font Lock mode can find a position
599 guaranteed to be outside any comment or string. In modes which use the
600 leftmost column parenthesis convention, the default value of the variable
601 is @code{beginning-of-defun}---that tells Font Lock mode to use the
602 convention. If you set this variable to @code{nil}, Font Lock no longer
603 relies on the convention. This avoids incorrect results, but the price
604 is that, in some cases, fontification for a changed text must rescan
605 buffer text from the beginning of the buffer. This can considerably
606 slow down redisplay while scrolling, particularly if you are close to
607 the end of a large buffer.
608
609 @findex font-lock-add-keywords
610 Font Lock highlighting patterns already exist for many modes, but you
611 may want to fontify additional patterns. You can use the function
612 @code{font-lock-add-keywords}, to add your own highlighting patterns for
613 a particular mode. For example, to highlight @samp{FIXME:} words in C
614 comments, use this:
615
616 @example
617 (font-lock-add-keywords
618 'c-mode
619 '(("\\<\\(FIXME\\):" 1 font-lock-warning-face t)))
620 @end example
621
622 @findex font-lock-remove-keywords
623 To remove keywords from the font-lock highlighting patterns, use the
624 function @code{font-lock-remove-keywords}. @xref{Search-based
625 Fontification,,, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}, for
626 documentation of the format of this list.
627
628 @cindex just-in-time (JIT) font-lock
629 @cindex background syntax highlighting
630 Fontifying large buffers can take a long time. To avoid large
631 delays when a file is visited, Emacs fontifies only the visible
632 portion of a buffer. As you scroll through the buffer, each portion
633 that becomes visible is fontified as soon as it is displayed. The
634 parts of the buffer that are not displayed are fontified
635 ``stealthily,'' in the background, i.e.@: when Emacs is idle. You can
636 control this background fontification, also called @dfn{Just-In-Time}
637 (or @dfn{JIT}) Lock, by customizing variables in the customization
638 group @samp{jit-lock}. @xref{Specific Customization}.
639
640 @node Highlight Interactively
641 @section Interactive Highlighting
642 @cindex highlighting by matching
643 @cindex interactive highlighting
644 @cindex Highlight Changes mode
645
646 @findex highlight-changes-mode
647 Use @kbd{M-x highlight-changes-mode} to enable (or disable)
648 Highlight Changes mode, a minor mode that uses faces (colors,
649 typically) to indicate which parts of the buffer were changed most
650 recently.
651
652 @cindex Hi Lock mode
653 @findex hi-lock-mode
654 Hi Lock mode highlights text that matches regular expressions you
655 specify. For example, you might wish to see all the references to a
656 certain variable in a program source file, highlight certain parts in
657 a voluminous output of some program, or make certain names stand out
658 in an article. Use the @kbd{M-x hi-lock-mode} command to enable (or
659 disable) Hi Lock mode. To enable Hi Lock mode for all buffers, use
660 @kbd{M-x global-hi-lock-mode} or place @code{(global-hi-lock-mode 1)}
661 in your @file{.emacs} file.
662
663 Hi Lock mode works like Font Lock mode (@pxref{Font Lock}), except
664 that you specify explicitly the regular expressions to highlight. You
665 control them with these commands:
666
667 @table @kbd
668 @item C-x w h @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
669 @kindex C-x w h
670 @findex highlight-regexp
671 Highlight text that matches @var{regexp} using face @var{face}
672 (@code{highlight-regexp}). The highlighting will remain as long as
673 the buffer is loaded. For example, to highlight all occurrences of
674 the word ``whim'' using the default face (a yellow background)
675 @kbd{C-x w h whim @key{RET} @key{RET}}. Any face can be used for
676 highlighting, Hi Lock provides several of its own and these are
677 pre-loaded into a history list. While being prompted for a face use
678 @kbd{M-p} and @kbd{M-n} to cycle through them.
679
680 You can use this command multiple times, specifying various regular
681 expressions to highlight in different ways.
682
683 @item C-x w r @var{regexp} @key{RET}
684 @kindex C-x w r
685 @findex unhighlight-regexp
686 Unhighlight @var{regexp} (@code{unhighlight-regexp}).
687
688 If you invoke this from the menu, you select the expression to
689 unhighlight from a list. If you invoke this from the keyboard, you
690 use the minibuffer. It will show the most recently added regular
691 expression; use @kbd{M-p} to show the next older expression and
692 @kbd{M-n} to select the next newer expression. (You can also type the
693 expression by hand, with completion.) When the expression you want to
694 unhighlight appears in the minibuffer, press @kbd{@key{RET}} to exit
695 the minibuffer and unhighlight it.
696
697 @item C-x w l @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
698 @kindex C-x w l
699 @findex highlight-lines-matching-regexp
700 @cindex lines, highlighting
701 @cindex highlighting lines of text
702 Highlight entire lines containing a match for @var{regexp}, using face
703 @var{face} (@code{highlight-lines-matching-regexp}).
704
705 @item C-x w b
706 @kindex C-x w b
707 @findex hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns
708 Insert all the current highlighting regexp/face pairs into the buffer
709 at point, with comment delimiters to prevent them from changing your
710 program. (This key binding runs the
711 @code{hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns} command.)
712
713 These patterns are extracted from the comments, if appropriate, if you
714 invoke @kbd{M-x hi-lock-find-patterns}, or if you visit the file while
715 Hi Lock mode is enabled (since that runs @code{hi-lock-find-patterns}).
716
717 @item C-x w i
718 @kindex C-x w i
719 @findex hi-lock-find-patterns
720 Extract regexp/face pairs from comments in the current buffer
721 (@code{hi-lock-find-patterns}). Thus, you can enter patterns
722 interactively with @code{highlight-regexp}, store them into the file
723 with @code{hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns}, edit them (perhaps
724 including different faces for different parenthesized parts of the
725 match), and finally use this command (@code{hi-lock-find-patterns}) to
726 have Hi Lock highlight the edited patterns.
727
728 @vindex hi-lock-file-patterns-policy
729 The variable @code{hi-lock-file-patterns-policy} controls whether Hi
730 Lock mode should automatically extract and highlight patterns found in
731 a file when it is visited. Its value can be @code{nil} (never
732 highlight), @code{t} (highlight the patterns), @code{ask} (query the
733 user), or a function. If it is a function,
734 @code{hi-lock-find-patterns} calls it with the patterns as argument;
735 if the function returns non-@code{nil}, the patterns are used. The
736 default is @code{nil}. Note that patterns are always highlighted if
737 you call @code{hi-lock-find-patterns} directly, regardless of the
738 value of this variable.
739
740 @vindex hi-lock-exclude-modes
741 Also, @code{hi-lock-find-patterns} does nothing if the current major
742 mode's symbol is a member of the list @code{hi-lock-exclude-modes}.
743 @end table
744
745 @node Fringes
746 @section Window Fringes
747 @cindex fringes
748
749 On a graphical display, each Emacs window normally has narrow
750 @dfn{fringes} on the left and right edges. The fringes display
751 indications about the text in the window.
752
753 The most common use of the fringes is to indicate a continuation
754 line, when one line of text is split into multiple lines on the
755 screen. The left fringe shows a curving arrow for each screen line
756 except the first, indicating that ``this is not the real beginning.''
757 The right fringe shows a curving arrow for each screen line except the
758 last, indicating that ``this is not the real end.''
759
760 The fringes indicate line truncation with short horizontal arrows
761 meaning ``there's more text on this line which is scrolled
762 horizontally out of view;'' clicking the mouse on one of the arrows
763 scrolls the display horizontally in the direction of the arrow. The
764 fringes can also indicate other things, such as empty lines, or where a
765 program you are debugging is executing (@pxref{Debuggers}).
766
767 @findex set-fringe-style
768 @findex fringe-mode
769 You can enable and disable the fringes for all frames using
770 @kbd{M-x fringe-mode}. To enable and disable the fringes
771 for the selected frame, use @kbd{M-x set-fringe-style}.
772
773 @node Displaying Boundaries
774 @section Displaying Boundaries
775
776 @vindex indicate-buffer-boundaries
777 On a graphical display, Emacs can indicate the buffer boundaries in
778 the fringes. It indicates the first line and the last line with
779 angle images in the fringes. This can be combined with up and down
780 arrow images which say whether it is possible to scroll the window up
781 and down.
782
783 The buffer-local variable @code{indicate-buffer-boundaries} controls
784 how the buffer boundaries and window scrolling is indicated in the
785 fringes. If the value is @code{left} or @code{right}, both angle and
786 arrow bitmaps are displayed in the left or right fringe, respectively.
787
788 If value is an alist, each element @code{(@var{indicator} .
789 @var{position})} specifies the position of one of the indicators.
790 The @var{indicator} must be one of @code{top}, @code{bottom},
791 @code{up}, @code{down}, or @code{t} which specifies the default
792 position for the indicators not present in the alist.
793 The @var{position} is one of @code{left}, @code{right}, or @code{nil}
794 which specifies not to show this indicator.
795
796 For example, @code{((top . left) (t . right))} places the top angle
797 bitmap in left fringe, the bottom angle bitmap in right fringe, and
798 both arrow bitmaps in right fringe. To show just the angle bitmaps in
799 the left fringe, but no arrow bitmaps, use @code{((top . left)
800 (bottom . left))}.
801
802 @vindex default-indicate-buffer-boundaries
803 The value of the variable @code{default-indicate-buffer-boundaries}
804 is the default value for @code{indicate-buffer-boundaries} in buffers
805 that do not override it.
806
807 @node Useless Whitespace
808 @section Useless Whitespace
809
810 @cindex trailing whitespace
811 @cindex whitespace, trailing
812 @vindex show-trailing-whitespace
813 It is easy to leave unnecessary spaces at the end of a line, or
814 empty lines at the end of a file, without realizing it. In most
815 cases, this @dfn{trailing whitespace} has no effect, but there are
816 special circumstances where it matters. It can also be a nuisance
817 that the line has ``changed,'' when the change is just spaces added or
818 removed at the end.
819
820 You can make trailing whitespace at the end of a line visible on the
821 screen by setting the buffer-local variable
822 @code{show-trailing-whitespace} to @code{t}. Then Emacs displays
823 trailing whitespace in the face @code{trailing-whitespace}.
824
825 This feature does not apply when point is at the end of the line
826 containing the whitespace. Strictly speaking, that is ``trailing
827 whitespace'' nonetheless, but displaying it specially in that case
828 looks ugly while you are typing in new text. In this special case,
829 the location of point is enough to show you that the spaces are
830 present.
831
832 @findex delete-trailing-whitespace
833 To delete all trailing whitespace within the current buffer's
834 accessible portion (@pxref{Narrowing}), type @kbd{M-x
835 delete-trailing-whitespace @key{RET}}. (This command does not remove
836 the form-feed characters.)
837
838 @vindex indicate-empty-lines
839 @vindex default-indicate-empty-lines
840 @cindex unused lines
841 @cindex fringes, and unused line indication
842 Emacs can indicate unused lines at the end of the window with a
843 small image in the left fringe (@pxref{Fringes}). The image appears
844 for window lines that do not correspond to any buffer text. Blank
845 lines at the end of the buffer then stand out because they do not have
846 this image in the fringe.
847
848 To enable this feature, set the buffer-local variable
849 @code{indicate-empty-lines} to a non-@code{nil} value. The default
850 value of this variable is controlled by the variable
851 @code{default-indicate-empty-lines}; by setting that variable, you
852 can enable or disable this feature for all new buffers. (This feature
853 currently doesn't work on text-only terminals.)
854
855 @node Selective Display
856 @section Selective Display
857 @cindex selective display
858 @findex set-selective-display
859 @kindex C-x $
860
861 Emacs has the ability to hide lines indented more than a certain number
862 of columns (you specify how many columns). You can use this to get an
863 overview of a part of a program.
864
865 To hide lines in the current buffer, type @kbd{C-x $}
866 (@code{set-selective-display}) with a numeric argument @var{n}. Then
867 lines with at least @var{n} columns of indentation disappear from the
868 screen. The only indication of their presence is that three dots
869 (@samp{@dots{}}) appear at the end of each visible line that is
870 followed by one or more hidden ones.
871
872 The commands @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} move across the hidden lines as
873 if they were not there.
874
875 The hidden lines are still present in the buffer, and most editing
876 commands see them as usual, so you may find point in the middle of the
877 hidden text. When this happens, the cursor appears at the end of the
878 previous line, after the three dots. If point is at the end of the
879 visible line, before the newline that ends it, the cursor appears before
880 the three dots.
881
882 To make all lines visible again, type @kbd{C-x $} with no argument.
883
884 @vindex selective-display-ellipses
885 If you set the variable @code{selective-display-ellipses} to
886 @code{nil}, the three dots do not appear at the end of a line that
887 precedes hidden lines. Then there is no visible indication of the
888 hidden lines. This variable becomes local automatically when set.
889
890 See also @ref{Outline Mode} for another way to hide part of
891 the text in a buffer.
892
893 @node Optional Mode Line
894 @section Optional Mode Line Features
895
896 @cindex buffer size display
897 @cindex display of buffer size
898 @findex size-indication-mode
899 The buffer percentage @var{pos} indicates the percentage of the
900 buffer above the top of the window. You can additionally display the
901 size of the buffer by typing @kbd{M-x size-indication-mode} to turn on
902 Size Indication mode. The size will be displayed immediately
903 following the buffer percentage like this:
904
905 @example
906 @var{POS} of @var{SIZE}
907 @end example
908
909 @noindent
910 Here @var{SIZE} is the human readable representation of the number of
911 characters in the buffer, which means that @samp{k} for 10^3, @samp{M}
912 for 10^6, @samp{G} for 10^9, etc., are used to abbreviate.
913
914 @cindex narrowing, and buffer size display
915 If you have narrowed the buffer (@pxref{Narrowing}), the size of the
916 accessible part of the buffer is shown.
917
918 @cindex line number display
919 @cindex display of line number
920 @findex line-number-mode
921 The current line number of point appears in the mode line when Line
922 Number mode is enabled. Use the command @kbd{M-x line-number-mode} to
923 turn this mode on and off; normally it is on. The line number appears
924 after the buffer percentage @var{pos}, with the letter @samp{L} to
925 indicate what it is.
926
927 @cindex Column Number mode
928 @cindex mode, Column Number
929 @findex column-number-mode
930 Similarly, you can display the current column number by turning on
931 Column number mode with @kbd{M-x column-number-mode}. The column
932 number is indicated by the letter @samp{C}. However, when both of
933 these modes are enabled, the line and column numbers are displayed in
934 parentheses, the line number first, rather than with @samp{L} and
935 @samp{C}. For example: @samp{(561,2)}. @xref{Minor Modes}, for more
936 information about minor modes and about how to use these commands.
937
938 @cindex narrowing, and line number display
939 If you have narrowed the buffer (@pxref{Narrowing}), the displayed
940 line number is relative to the accessible portion of the buffer.
941 Thus, it isn't suitable as an argument to @code{goto-line}. (Use
942 @code{what-line} command to see the line number relative to the whole
943 file.)
944
945 @vindex line-number-display-limit
946 If the buffer is very large (larger than the value of
947 @code{line-number-display-limit}), then the line number doesn't appear.
948 Emacs doesn't compute the line number when the buffer is large, because
949 that would be too slow. Set it to @code{nil} to remove the limit.
950
951 @vindex line-number-display-limit-width
952 Line-number computation can also be slow if the lines in the buffer
953 are too long. For this reason, Emacs normally doesn't display line
954 numbers if the average width, in characters, of lines near point is
955 larger than the value of the variable
956 @code{line-number-display-limit-width}. The default value is 200
957 characters.
958
959 @findex display-time
960 @cindex time (on mode line)
961 Emacs can optionally display the time and system load in all mode
962 lines. To enable this feature, type @kbd{M-x display-time} or customize
963 the option @code{display-time-mode}. The information added to the mode
964 line usually appears after the buffer name, before the mode names and
965 their parentheses. It looks like this:
966
967 @example
968 @var{hh}:@var{mm}pm @var{l.ll}
969 @end example
970
971 @noindent
972 @vindex display-time-24hr-format
973 Here @var{hh} and @var{mm} are the hour and minute, followed always by
974 @samp{am} or @samp{pm}. @var{l.ll} is the average number of running
975 processes in the whole system recently. (Some fields may be missing if
976 your operating system cannot support them.) If you prefer time display
977 in 24-hour format, set the variable @code{display-time-24hr-format}
978 to @code{t}.
979
980 @cindex mail (on mode line)
981 @vindex display-time-use-mail-icon
982 @vindex display-time-mail-face
983 @vindex display-time-mail-file
984 @vindex display-time-mail-directory
985 The word @samp{Mail} appears after the load level if there is mail
986 for you that you have not read yet. On a graphical display you can use
987 an icon instead of @samp{Mail} by customizing
988 @code{display-time-use-mail-icon}; this may save some space on the mode
989 line. You can customize @code{display-time-mail-face} to make the mail
990 indicator prominent. Use @code{display-time-mail-file} to specify
991 the mail file to check, or set @code{display-time-mail-directory}
992 to specify the directory to check for incoming mail (any nonempty regular
993 file in the directory is considered as ``newly arrived mail'').
994
995 @cindex mode line, 3D appearance
996 @cindex attributes of mode line, changing
997 @cindex non-integral number of lines in a window
998 By default, the mode line is drawn on graphics displays with
999 3D-style highlighting, like that of a button when it is not being
1000 pressed. If you don't like this effect, you can disable the 3D
1001 highlighting of the mode line, by customizing the attributes of the
1002 @code{mode-line} face. @xref{Face Customization}.
1003
1004 @cindex non-selected windows, mode line appearance
1005 By default, the mode line of nonselected windows is displayed in a
1006 different face, called @code{mode-line-inactive}. Only the selected
1007 window is displayed in the @code{mode-line} face. This helps show
1008 which window is selected. When the minibuffer is selected, since
1009 it has no mode line, the window from which you activated the minibuffer
1010 has its mode line displayed using @code{mode-line}; as a result,
1011 ordinary entry to the minibuffer does not change any mode lines.
1012
1013 @vindex mode-line-in-non-selected-windows
1014 You can disable use of @code{mode-line-inactive} by setting variable
1015 @code{mode-line-in-non-selected-windows} to @code{nil}; then all mode
1016 lines are displayed in the @code{mode-line} face.
1017
1018 @vindex eol-mnemonic-unix
1019 @vindex eol-mnemonic-dos
1020 @vindex eol-mnemonic-mac
1021 @vindex eol-mnemonic-undecided
1022 You can customize the mode line display for each of the end-of-line
1023 formats by setting each of the variables @code{eol-mnemonic-unix},
1024 @code{eol-mnemonic-dos}, @code{eol-mnemonic-mac}, and
1025 @code{eol-mnemonic-undecided} to the strings you prefer.
1026
1027 @node Text Display
1028 @section How Text Is Displayed
1029 @cindex characters (in text)
1030
1031 @acronym{ASCII} printing characters (octal codes 040 through 0176) in Emacs
1032 buffers are displayed with their graphics, as are non-ASCII multibyte
1033 printing characters (octal codes above 0400).
1034
1035 Some @acronym{ASCII} control characters are displayed in special ways. The
1036 newline character (octal code 012) is displayed by starting a new line.
1037 The tab character (octal code 011) is displayed by moving to the next
1038 tab stop column (normally every 8 columns).
1039
1040 Other @acronym{ASCII} control characters are normally displayed as a caret
1041 (@samp{^}) followed by the non-control version of the character; thus,
1042 control-A is displayed as @samp{^A}. The caret appears in face
1043 @code{escape-glyph}.
1044
1045 Non-@acronym{ASCII} characters 0200 through 0237 (octal) are
1046 displayed with octal escape sequences; thus, character code 0230
1047 (octal) is displayed as @samp{\230}. The backslash appears in face
1048 @code{escape-glyph}.
1049
1050 @vindex ctl-arrow
1051 If the variable @code{ctl-arrow} is @code{nil}, control characters in
1052 the buffer are displayed with octal escape sequences, except for newline
1053 and tab. Altering the value of @code{ctl-arrow} makes it local to the
1054 current buffer; until that time, the default value is in effect. The
1055 default is initially @code{t}.
1056
1057 The display of character codes 0240 through 0377 (octal) may be
1058 either as escape sequences or as graphics. They do not normally occur
1059 in multibyte buffers, but if they do, they are displayed as Latin-1
1060 graphics. In unibyte mode, if you enable European display they are
1061 displayed using their graphics (assuming your terminal supports them),
1062 otherwise as escape sequences. @xref{Unibyte Mode}.
1063
1064 @vindex nobreak-char-display
1065 @cindex no-break space, display
1066 @cindex no-break hyphen, display
1067 @cindex soft hyphen, display
1068 Some character sets define ``no-break'' versions of the space and
1069 hyphen characters, which are used where a line should not be broken.
1070 Emacs normally displays these characters with special faces
1071 (respectively, @code{nobreak-space} and @code{escape-glyph}) to
1072 distinguish them from ordinary spaces and hyphens. You can turn off
1073 this feature by setting the variable @code{nobreak-char-display} to
1074 @code{nil}. If you set the variable to any other value, that means to
1075 prefix these characters with an escape character.
1076
1077 @vindex tab-width
1078 @vindex default-tab-width
1079 Normally, a tab character in the buffer is displayed as whitespace which
1080 extends to the next display tab stop position, and display tab stops come
1081 at intervals equal to eight spaces. The number of spaces per tab is
1082 controlled by the variable @code{tab-width}, which is made local by
1083 changing it. Note that how the tab character
1084 in the buffer is displayed has nothing to do with the definition of
1085 @key{TAB} as a command. The variable @code{tab-width} must have an
1086 integer value between 1 and 1000, inclusive. The variable
1087 @code{default-tab-width} controls the default value of this variable
1088 for buffers where you have not set it locally.
1089
1090 You can customize the way any particular character code is displayed
1091 by means of a display table. @xref{Display Tables,, Display Tables,
1092 elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
1093
1094 @node Cursor Display
1095 @section Displaying the Cursor
1096
1097 @findex blink-cursor-mode
1098 @vindex blink-cursor-alist
1099 @cindex cursor, locating visually
1100 @cindex cursor, blinking
1101 You can customize the cursor's color, and whether it blinks, using
1102 the @code{cursor} Custom group (@pxref{Easy Customization}). On
1103 a graphical display, the command @kbd{M-x blink-cursor-mode} enables
1104 or disables the blinking of the cursor. (On text terminals, the
1105 terminal itself blinks the cursor, and Emacs has no control over it.)
1106 You can control how the cursor appears when it blinks off by setting
1107 the variable @code{blink-cursor-alist}.
1108
1109 @vindex visible-cursor
1110 Some text terminals offer two different cursors: the normal cursor
1111 and the very visible cursor, where the latter may be e.g. bigger or
1112 blinking. By default Emacs uses the very visible cursor, and switches
1113 to it when you start or resume Emacs. If the variable
1114 @code{visible-cursor} is @code{nil} when Emacs starts or resumes, it
1115 doesn't switch, so it uses the normal cursor.
1116
1117 @cindex cursor in non-selected windows
1118 @vindex cursor-in-non-selected-windows
1119 Normally, the cursor appears in non-selected windows without
1120 blinking, with the same appearance as when the blinking cursor blinks
1121 ``off.'' For a box cursor, this is a hollow box; for a bar cursor,
1122 this is a thinner bar. To turn off cursors in non-selected windows,
1123 customize the variable @code{cursor-in-non-selected-windows} and
1124 assign it a @code{nil} value.
1125
1126 @vindex x-stretch-cursor
1127 @cindex wide block cursor
1128 On graphical displays, Emacs can optionally draw the block cursor
1129 as wide as the character under the cursor---for example, if the cursor
1130 is on a tab character, it would cover the full width occupied by that
1131 tab character. To enable this feature, set the variable
1132 @code{x-stretch-cursor} to a non-@code{nil} value.
1133
1134 @findex hl-line-mode
1135 @findex global-hl-line-mode
1136 @cindex highlight current line
1137 To make the cursor even more visible, you can use HL Line mode, a
1138 minor mode that highlights the line containing point. Use @kbd{M-x
1139 hl-line-mode} to enable or disable it in the current buffer. @kbd{M-x
1140 global-hl-line-mode} enables or disables the same mode globally.
1141
1142 @node Line Truncation
1143 @section Truncation of Lines
1144
1145 @cindex truncation
1146 @cindex line truncation, and fringes
1147 As an alternative to continuation, Emacs can display long lines by
1148 @dfn{truncation}. This means that all the characters that do not fit
1149 in the width of the screen or window do not appear at all. On
1150 graphical displays, a small straight arrow in the fringe indicates
1151 truncation at either end of the line. On text-only terminals, @samp{$}
1152 appears in the first column when there is text truncated to the left,
1153 and in the last column when there is text truncated to the right.
1154
1155 @vindex truncate-lines
1156 @findex toggle-truncate-lines
1157 Horizontal scrolling automatically causes line truncation
1158 (@pxref{Horizontal Scrolling}). You can explicitly enable line
1159 truncation for a particular buffer with the command @kbd{M-x
1160 toggle-truncate-lines}. This works by locally changing the variable
1161 @code{truncate-lines}. If that variable is non-@code{nil}, long lines
1162 are truncated; if it is @code{nil}, they are continued onto multiple
1163 screen lines. Setting the variable @code{truncate-lines} in any way
1164 makes it local to the current buffer; until that time, the default
1165 value is in effect. The default value is normally @code{nil}.
1166
1167 @c @vindex truncate-partial-width-windows @c Idx entry is in Split Windows.
1168 If the variable @code{truncate-partial-width-windows} is
1169 non-@code{nil}, it forces truncation rather than continuation in any
1170 window less than the full width of the screen or frame, regardless of
1171 the value of @code{truncate-lines}. For information about side-by-side
1172 windows, see @ref{Split Window}. See also @ref{Display,, Display,
1173 elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
1174
1175 @vindex overflow-newline-into-fringe
1176 If the variable @code{overflow-newline-into-fringe} is
1177 non-@code{nil} on a graphical display, then Emacs does not continue or
1178 truncate a line which is exactly as wide as the window. Instead, the
1179 newline overflows into the right fringe, and the cursor appears in the
1180 fringe when positioned on that newline.
1181
1182 @node Display Custom
1183 @section Customization of Display
1184
1185 This section describes variables (@pxref{Variables}) that you can
1186 change to customize how Emacs displays. Beginning users can skip
1187 it.
1188 @c the reason for that pxref is because an xref early in the
1189 @c ``echo area'' section leads here.
1190
1191 @vindex inverse-video
1192 If the variable @code{inverse-video} is non-@code{nil}, Emacs attempts
1193 to invert all the lines of the display from what they normally are.
1194
1195 @vindex visible-bell
1196 If the variable @code{visible-bell} is non-@code{nil}, Emacs attempts
1197 to make the whole screen blink when it would normally make an audible bell
1198 sound. This variable has no effect if your terminal does not have a way
1199 to make the screen blink.
1200
1201 @vindex echo-keystrokes
1202 The variable @code{echo-keystrokes} controls the echoing of multi-character
1203 keys; its value is the number of seconds of pause required to cause echoing
1204 to start, or zero, meaning don't echo at all. The value takes effect when
1205 there is someting to echo. @xref{Echo Area}.
1206
1207 @vindex baud-rate
1208 The variable @anchor{baud-rate}@code{baud-rate} holds the output
1209 speed of the terminal, as far as Emacs knows. Setting this variable
1210 does not change the speed of actual data transmission, but the value
1211 is used for calculations. On text-only terminals, it affects padding,
1212 and decisions about whether to scroll part of the screen or redraw it
1213 instead. It also affects the behavior of incremental search.
1214
1215 On graphical displays, @code{baud-rate} is only used to determine
1216 how frequently to look for pending input during display updating. A
1217 higher value of @code{baud-rate} means that check for pending input
1218 will be done less frequently.
1219
1220 @cindex hourglass pointer display
1221 @vindex hourglass-delay
1222 On graphical display, Emacs can optionally display the mouse pointer
1223 in a special shape to say that Emacs is busy. To turn this feature on
1224 or off, customize the group @code{cursor}. You can also control the
1225 amount of time Emacs must remain busy before the busy indicator is
1226 displayed, by setting the variable @code{hourglass-delay}.
1227
1228 @vindex overline-margin
1229 On graphical display, this variables specifies the vertical position
1230 of an overline above the text, including the height of the overline
1231 itself (1 pixel). The default value is 2 pixels.
1232
1233 @vindex x-underline-at-descent-line
1234 On graphical display, Emacs normally draws an underline at the
1235 baseline level of the font. If @code{x-underline-at-descent-line} is
1236 non-@code{nil}, Emacs draws the underline at the same height as the
1237 font's descent line.
1238
1239 @findex tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors
1240 On some text-only terminals, bold face and inverse video together
1241 result in text that is hard to read. Call the function
1242 @code{tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors} with a non-@code{nil}
1243 argument to suppress the effect of bold-face in this case.
1244
1245 @vindex no-redraw-on-reenter
1246 On a text-only terminal, when you reenter Emacs after suspending, Emacs
1247 normally clears the screen and redraws the entire display. On some
1248 terminals with more than one page of memory, it is possible to arrange
1249 the termcap entry so that the @samp{ti} and @samp{te} strings (output
1250 to the terminal when Emacs is entered and exited, respectively) switch
1251 between pages of memory so as to use one page for Emacs and another
1252 page for other output. On such terminals, you might want to set the variable
1253 @code{no-redraw-on-reenter} non-@code{nil}; this tells Emacs to
1254 assume, when resumed, that the screen page it is using still contains
1255 what Emacs last wrote there.
1256
1257 @ignore
1258 arch-tag: 2219f910-2ff0-4521-b059-1bd231a536c4
1259 @end ignore