1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes.
3 Copyright (C) 2010-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 See the end of the file for license conditions.
6 Please send Emacs bug reports to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.
7 If possible, use M-x report-emacs-bug.
9 This file is about changes in Emacs version 24.
11 See files NEWS.23, NEWS.22, NEWS.21, NEWS.20, NEWS.19, NEWS.18,
12 and NEWS.1-17 for changes in older Emacs versions.
14 You can narrow news to a specific version by calling `view-emacs-news'
15 with a prefix argument or by typing C-u C-h C-n.
18 +++ indicates that the appropriate manual has already been updated.
19 --- means no change in the manuals is called for.
20 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
21 so we will look at it and add it to the manual.
24 * Installation Changes in Emacs 24.4
25 * Startup Changes in Emacs 24.4
26 * Changes in Emacs 24.4
27 * Editing Changes in Emacs 24.4
30 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.4
34 *** Calc by default now uses the Gregorian calendar for all dates, and
35 uses January 1, 1 AD as its day number 1. Previously Calc used the
36 Julian calendar for dates before September 14, 1752, and it used
37 December 31, 1 BC as its day number 1; the new scheme is more
38 consistent with Calendar's calendrical system and day numbering.
40 *** The new variable `calc-gregorian-switch' lets you configure the
41 date when Calc switches from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
42 Nil, the default value, means to always use the Gregorian calendar.
43 The value (YEAR MONTH DAY) means to start using the Gregorian calendar
48 *** New option `erc-accidental-paste-threshold-seconds'.
49 If set to a number, this can be used to avoid accidentally paste large
50 amounts of data into the ERC input.
52 ** Icomplete is a bit more like IDO.
53 *** key bindings to navigate through and select the completions.
54 *** The icomplete-separator is customizable, and its default has changed.
55 *** Removed icomplete-show-key-bindings.
57 ** MH-E has been updated to MH-E version 8.4.
58 See MH-E-NEWS for details.
61 ** New function `ses-rename-cell' to give SES cells arbitrary names.
63 ** trace-function was largely rewritten.
65 - no prompting for the destination buffer, unless a prefix-arg was used.
66 - additionally to prompting for a destination buffer, when a prefix-arg is
67 used, the user can enter a "context", i.e. Lisp expression whose value at the
68 time the function is entered/exited will be printed along with the function
69 name and arguments. Useful to trace the value of (current-buffer) or
70 (point) when the function is invoked.
72 ** New command `delete-duplicate-lines' has two types of operation:
73 when its arg ADJACENT is non-nil (when called interactively with C-u C-u)
74 it works like the utility `uniq'. Otherwise by default it deletes
75 duplicate lines everywhere in the region without regard to adjacency.
79 *** The commands `woman-default-faces' and `woman-monochrome-faces'
80 are obsolete. Customize the `woman-* faces instead.
84 *** longlines.el is obsolete; use visual-line-mode instead.
86 *** terminal.el is obsolete; use term.el instead.
89 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.4
90 ** New nadvice.el package offering lighter-weight advice facilities.
92 - add-function/remove-function which can be used to add/remove code on any
93 function-carrying place, such as process-filters or `<foo>-function' hooks.
94 - advice-add/advice-remove to add/remove a piece of advice on a named function,
95 much like `defadvice' does.
97 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.4
99 ** nil and "unbound" are indistinguishable in symbol-function.
100 `symbol-function' never signals `void-function' any more.
101 `fboundp' returns non-nil if the symbol was `fset' to nil.
103 ** `defadvice' does not honor the `freeze' flag and cannot advise
104 special-forms any more.
106 ** `dolist' in lexical-binding mode does not bind VAR in RESULT any more.
107 VAR was bound to nil which was not tremendously useful and just lead to
108 spurious warnings about an unused var.
110 * Lisp changes in Emacs 24.4
114 *** The `face-spec-set' is now analogous to `setq' for face specs.
115 Its third arg now accepts values specifying exactly which face spec to
116 set (defface, custom, or user spec), and it directly sets the relevant
117 property using the supplied face spec.
119 *** Face specs set via Custom themes now replace the `defface' spec
120 rather than inheriting from it (as do face specs set via Customize).
122 ** time-to-seconds is not obsolete any more.
123 ** New function special-form-p.
124 ** Docstrings can be made dynamic by adding a `dynamic-docstring-function'
125 text-property on the first char.
127 ** The `defalias-fset-function' property lets you catch calls to defalias
128 and redirect them to your own function instead of `fset'.
130 * Changes in Emacs 24.4 on non-free operating systems
133 ** The "generate a backtrace on fatal error" feature now works on MS Windows.
134 The backtrace is written to the 'emacs_backtrace.txt' file in the
135 directory where Emacs was running.
138 * Installation Changes in Emacs 24.3
141 ** The default toolkit has been changed to Gtk+ version 3.
142 If you don't pass --with-x-toolkit to configure or if you pass
143 --with-x-toolkit=gtk or --with-x-toolkit=yes, configure will try to build
144 with Gtk+ version 3, and if that fails, try Gtk+ version 2.
145 You can explicitly require a specific version by passing
146 --with-x-toolkit=gtk2 or --with-x-toolkit=gtk3 to configure.
149 ** New configure option '--without-all' to disable additional features.
150 This disables most of the features that are normally enabled by default.
153 ** New configure option '--enable-link-time-optimization' to utilize
154 an appropriate feature provided by GCC since version 4.5.0.
157 ** New configure option '--enable-gcc-warnings', intended for developers.
158 If building with GCC, this enables compile-time checks that warn about
159 possibly-questionable C code. On a recent GNU system there should be
160 no warnings; on older and on non-GNU systems the generated warnings
164 ** The configure option '--enable-use-lisp-union-type' has been
165 renamed to '--enable-check-lisp-object-type', as the resulting
166 Lisp_Object type no longer uses a union to implement the compile time
167 check that this option enables.
170 ** The configure option '--disable-maintainer-mode' has been removed,
171 as it was confusingly-named and rarely useful.
174 ** You can use `NO_BIN_LINK=t make install' to prevent the installation
175 overwriting "emacs" in the installation bin/ directory with a link
179 ** The configure options `--program-prefix', `--program-suffix', and
180 `--program-transform-name' apply to more than just the installed
181 binaries. Now they also affect the man pages, icons, and the
182 etc/emacs.desktop file; but not the info pages, since this would break
183 links between the various manuals.
186 ** Emacs uses libtinfo in preference to libncurses, if available.
189 ** On FreeBSD and NetBSD, configure no longer adds /usr/local/lib and
190 /usr/pkg/lib to the linker search path. You must add them yourself if
194 ** The standalone scripts rcs-checkin and vcdiff have been removed
195 (from the bin and libexec directories, respectively). The former is
196 no longer relevant, the latter is replaced by lisp (in vc-sccs.el).
199 * Startup Changes in Emacs 24.3
202 ** Emacs no longer searches for `leim-list.el' files beneath the standard
203 lisp/ directory. There should not be any there anyway. If you have
204 been adding them there, put them somewhere else, eg site-lisp.
207 ** The `--no-site-lisp' command line option now works for Nextstep builds.
210 * Changes in Emacs 24.3
213 ** Most y-or-n prompts now allow you to scroll the selected window.
214 Typing C-v or M-v at a y-or-n prompt scrolls forward or backward
215 respectively, without exiting from the prompt.
219 *** New option `mode-line-default-help-echo' specifies the help text
220 (shown in a tooltip or in the echo area) for any part of the mode line
221 that does not have its own specialized help text.
223 *** You can now click mouse-3 in the coding system indicator to invoke
224 `set-buffer-file-coding-system'.
229 *** `C-h f' (describe-function) can now perform autoloading.
230 When this command is called for an autoloaded function whose docstring
231 contains a key substitution construct, that function's library is
232 automatically loaded, so that the documentation can be shown
233 correctly. To disable this, set `help-enable-auto-load' to nil.
236 *** `C-h f' now reports previously-autoloaded functions as "autoloaded",
237 even after their associated libraries have been loaded (and the
238 autoloads have been redefined as functions).
240 ** Minibuffer changes
242 *** In minibuffer filename prompts, `C-M-f' and `C-M-b' now move to the
243 next and previous path separator, respectively.
245 *** minibuffer-electric-default-mode can rewrite (default ...) to [...].
246 Just set minibuffer-eldef-shorten-default to t before enabling the mode.
249 ** ImageMagick support, if available, is automatically enabled.
250 It is no longer necessary to call `imagemagick-register-types'
251 explicitly to install ImageMagick image types; that function is called
252 automatically at startup, or when customizing an imagemagick- option.
254 *** Setting `imagemagick-types-inhibit' to t now disables the use of
255 ImageMagick to view images. You must call imagemagick-register-types
256 afterwards if you do not use customize to change this.
258 *** The new variable `imagemagick-enabled-types' also affects which
259 ImageMagick types are treated as images. The function
260 `imagemagick-filter-types' returns the list of types that will be
263 *** Images displayed via ImageMagick now support transparency and the
264 :background image spec property.
266 ** Server and client changes
268 *** emacsclient now obeys string values for `initial-buffer-choice',
269 if it is told to open a new frame without specifying any file to visit
270 or expression to evaluate.
272 *** New option `server-auth-key' specifies a shared server key.
275 ** In the Package Menu, newly-available packages are listed as "new",
276 and sorted above the other "available" packages by default.
279 ** `C-x C-q' is now bound to the new minor mode `read-only-mode'.
280 This minor mode replaces `toggle-read-only', which is now obsolete.
283 ** Emacs now generates backtraces on fatal errors.
284 On encountering a fatal error, Emacs now outputs a textual description
285 of the fatal signal, and a short backtrace on platforms like glibc
286 that support backtraces.
289 ** If your Emacs was built from a bzr checkout, the new variable
290 `emacs-bzr-version' contains information about the bzr revision used.
293 ** New variable `create-lockfiles' specifies usage of lockfiles.
294 It defaults to t. Changing it to nil inhibits the creation of lock
295 files (use this with caution).
298 ** Using "unibyte: t" in Lisp source files is obsolete.
299 Use "coding: raw-text" instead.
302 ** Setting `enable-remote-dir-locals' to non-nil allows directory
303 local variables on remote hosts.
306 ** The entry for PCL-CVS has been removed from the Tools menu.
307 The PCL-CVS commands are still available via the keyboard.
309 ** Internationalization changes
311 *** New language environment: Persian.
313 *** New input method `vietnamese-vni'.
315 ** Nextstep (GNUstep / Mac OS X) port changes
317 *** Fullscreen and frame parameter fullscreen is supported.
319 *** A file dialog is used for open/save operations initiated from the
323 * Editing Changes in Emacs 24.3
325 ** Navigation command changes
327 *** New binding `M-g c' for `goto-char'.
329 *** New binding `M-g TAB' for `move-to-column'.
331 *** `M-g TAB' (`move-to-column') prompts for a column number if called
332 interactively with no prefix arg. Previously, it moved to column 1.
334 ** Search and Replace changes
336 *** Non-regexp Isearch now performs "lax" space matching.
337 Each sequence of spaces in the supplied search string may match any
338 sequence of one or more whitespace characters, as specified by the
339 variable `search-whitespace-regexp'. (This variable is also used by a
340 similar existing feature for regexp Isearch).
342 *** New Isearch command `M-s SPC' toggles lax space matching.
343 This applies to both ordinary and regexp Isearch.
345 *** New option `replace-lax-whitespace'.
346 If non-nil, `query-replace' uses flexible whitespace matching too.
349 *** Global `M-s _' starts a symbol (identifier) incremental search,
350 and `M-s _' in Isearch toggles symbol search mode.
351 `M-s c' in Isearch toggles search case-sensitivity.
354 ** `C-x 8 RET' is now bound to `insert-char', which is now a command.
355 `ucs-insert' is now an obsolete alias for `insert-char'.
358 ** The `z' key no longer has a binding in most special modes.
359 It used to be bound to `kill-this-buffer', but `z' is too easy to
363 ** New option `delete-trailing-lines' specifies whether
364 M-x delete-trailing-whitespace should delete trailing lines at the end
365 of the buffer. It defaults to t.
369 *** `C-x r +' is now overloaded to invoke `append-to-register.
371 *** New option `register-separator' specifies the register containing
372 the text to put between collected texts for use with M-x
373 append-to-register and M-x prepend-to-register.
376 ** `C-u M-=' now counts lines/words/characters in the entire buffer.
379 ** New command `C-x r M-w' (copy-rectangle-as-kill).
380 It copies the region-rectangle as the last rectangle kill.
383 ** New option `yank-handled-properties' allows processing of text
384 properties on yanked text, in more ways that are more general than
385 just removing them, as done by `yank-excluded-properties'.
388 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.3
392 *** The faces used by Apropos are now directly customizable.
393 These faces are named `apropos-symbol', `apropos-keybinding', and so on;
394 see the `apropos' Custom group for details.
396 *** The old options whose values specified faces to use were removed
397 (i.e. `apropos-symbol-face', `apropos-keybinding-face', etc.).
400 This package has been rewritten to use Tabulated List mode.
402 *** Option `Buffer-menu-buffer+size-width' is now obsolete.
403 Use `Buffer-menu-name-width' and `Buffer-menu-size-width' instead.
408 *** You can customize the header text that appears above each calendar month.
409 See the variable `calendar-month-header'.
412 *** New LaTeX calendar style, produced by `cal-tex-cursor-week2-summary'.
415 *** The calendars produced by cal-html include holidays.
416 Customize `cal-html-holidays' to change this.
421 *** CL's main entry is now (require 'cl-lib).
422 `cl-lib' is like the old `cl' except that it uses the namespace cleanly,
423 i.e. all its definitions have the "cl-" prefix (and internal definitions use
426 If `cl' provided a feature under the name `foo', then `cl-lib' provides it
427 under the name `cl-foo' instead, with the exceptions of the few definitions
428 that had to use `foo*' to avoid conflicts with pre-existing Elisp entities,
429 which have not been renamed to `cl-foo*' but just `cl-foo'.
431 The old `cl' is now deprecated and is mainly just a bunch of aliases that
432 provide the old non-prefixed names. Some exceptions are listed below.
435 *** `cl-flet' is not like `flet' (which is deprecated).
436 Instead it obeys the behavior of Common-Lisp's `flet'.
437 In particular, in cl-flet function definitions are lexically scoped,
438 whereas in flet the scoping is dynamic.
441 *** `cl-labels' is slightly different from `labels'.
442 The difference is that it relies on the `lexical-binding' machinery (as opposed
443 to the `lexical-let' machinery used previously) to capture definitions in
444 closures, so such closures will only work if `lexical-binding' is in use.
447 *** `cl-letf' is not exactly like `letf'.
448 The only difference is in details that relate to some deprecated usage
449 of `symbol-function' in place forms.
452 *** `progv' was rewritten to use the `let' machinery.
453 A side effect is that vars without corresponding value are bound to nil
454 rather than making them unbound.
457 *** The following methods of extending `setf' are obsolete
458 (use features from gv.el instead):
459 `define-modify-macro' (use `gv-letplace')
460 `defsetf' (use `gv-define-simple-setter' or `gv-define-setter')
461 `define-setf-expander' (use `gv-define-setter' or `gv-define-expander')
462 `get-setf-method' no longer exists (see "Incompatible Lisp Changes")
465 ** New compilation option `compilation-always-kill'.
469 *** `custom-reset-button-menu' now defaults to t.
471 *** Non-option variables are never matched in `customize-apropos' and
472 `customize-apropos-options' (i.e. the prefix argument does nothing for
476 ** `desktop-path' no longer includes the "." directory.
477 Desktop files are now located in ~/.emacs.d by default.
482 *** New variables `dbus-compiled-version' and `dbus-runtime-version'.
485 *** The D-Bus object manager interface is implemented.
488 *** Variables of type :(u)int32 and :(u)int64 accept floating points,
489 if their value does not fit into Emacs's integer range.
492 *** The function `dbus-call-method' works non-blocking now, it can be
493 interrupted by C-g. `dbus-call-method-non-blocking' is obsolete.
496 *** Signals can be sent also as unicast message.
499 *** The argument list of `dbus-register-signal' has been extended,
500 according to the new match rule types of D-Bus. See the manual for
504 *** `dbus-init-bus' supports private connections.
507 *** There is a new function `dbus-setenv'.
512 *** Changes are now highlighted using the same color scheme as in
513 modern VCSes. Deletions are displayed in red (new faces
514 `diff-refine-removed' and `smerge-refined-removed', and new definition
515 of `diff-removed'), insertions in green (new faces `diff-refine-added'
516 and `smerge-refined-added', and new definition of `diff-added').
519 *** The variable `diff-use-changed-face' defines whether to use the
520 face `diff-changed', or `diff-removed' and `diff-added' to highlight
521 changes in context diffs.
524 *** The new command `diff-delete-trailing-whitespace' removes trailing
525 whitespace introduced by a diff.
529 *** `dired-do-async-shell-command' executes each file sequentially
530 if the command ends in `;' (when operating on multiple files).
531 Otherwise, it executes the command on each file in parallel.
533 *** Typing M-n in the minibuffer of `dired-do-chmod', `dired-do-chgrp',
534 `dired-do-chown', `dired-do-touch' pulls the file attributes of the
537 *** When the region is active, `m' (`dired-mark'), `u' (`dired-unmark'),
538 `DEL' (`dired-unmark-backward'), `d' (`dired-flag-file-deletion')
539 mark/unmark/flag all files in the active region.
541 *** The minibuffer default for `=' (`dired-diff) has changed.
542 It is now the backup file for the file at point, if one exists.
543 In Transient Mark mode the default is the file at the active mark.
545 *** `M-=' is no longer bound to `dired-backup-diff' in Dired buffers.
546 The global binding for `M-=', `count-words-region' is in effect.
549 ** Ediff now uses the same color scheme as Diff mode.
554 *** New module "notifications", which can send a notification when you
555 receive a private message or your nickname is mentioned.
558 *** ERC will look up server/channel names via auth-source and use any
562 *** New option `erc-lurker-hide-list', similar to `erc-hide-list', but
563 only applies to messages sent by lurkers.
566 ** Flymake uses fringe bitmaps to indicate errors and warnings.
567 See `flymake-fringe-indicator-position', `flymake-error-bitmap' and
568 `flymake-warning-bitmap'.
571 ** Follow mode no longer works by using advice.
572 The option `follow-intercept-processes' has been removed.
575 ** The FFAP option `ffap-url-unwrap-remote' can now be a list of strings,
576 specifying URL types that should be converted to remote file names at
577 the FFAP prompt. The default is now '("ftp").
580 ** New Ibuffer `derived-mode' filter, bound to `/ M'.
581 The old binding for `/ M' (filter by used-mode) is now bound to `/ m'.
584 ** `javascript-generic-mode' is now an obsolete alias for `js-mode'.
587 ** New option `mouse-avoidance-banish-position' specifies where the
588 `banish' mouse avoidance setting moves the mouse.
591 ** notifications.el supports now version 1.2 of the Notifications API.
592 The function `notifications-get-capabilities' returns the supported
596 ** In Perl mode, new option `perl-indent-parens-as-block' causes non-block
597 closing brackets to be aligned with the line of the opening bracket.
600 ** In Proced mode, new command `proced-renice' renices marked processes.
605 A new version of python.el, which provides several new features, including:
606 per-buffer shells, better indentation, Python 3 support, and improved
607 shell-interaction compatible with iPython (and virtually any other
610 *** Some user options have been replaced/renamed:
611 Old defcustom: | New defcustom:
612 python-indent | python-indent-offset
613 python-guess-indent | python-indent-guess-indent-offset
614 python-pdbtrack-do-tracking-p | python-pdbtrack-activate
615 python-use-skeletons | python-skeleton-autoinsert
617 *** Some user options have been removed:
619 **** `python-indent-string-contents': Strings are never indented.
621 **** `python-honour-comment-indentation':
622 Comments are never considered as indentation markers themselves.
624 **** `python-continuation-offset': Indentation is automatically
625 calculated in a pep8 compliant way depending on the context.
627 **** `python-shell-prompt-alist', `python-shell-continuation-prompt-alist':
628 Have no direct mapping as the shell interaction is completely different.
630 **** `python-python-command', `python-jython-command':
631 Replaced by `python-shell-interpreter'.
633 **** `inferior-python-filter-regexp', `python-remove-cwd-from-path',
634 `python-pdbtrack-minor-mode-string', `python-source-modes':
637 *** Some commands have been replaced:
638 Old command | New command
639 python-insert-class | python-skeleton-class
640 python-insert-def | python-skeleton-def
641 python-insert-for | python-skeleton-for
642 python-insert-if | python-skeleton-if
643 python-insert-try/except | python-skeleton-try
644 python-insert-try/finally | python-skeleton-try
645 python-insert-while | python-skeleton-while
646 python-find-function | python-nav-jump-to-defun
647 python-next-statement | python-nav-forward-sentence
648 python-previous-statement | python-nav-backward-sentence
649 python-beginning-of-defun-function | python-nav-beginning-of-defun
650 python-end-of-defun-function | python-nav-end-of-defun
651 python-send-buffer | python-shell-send-buffer
652 python-send-defun | python-shell-send-defun
653 python-send-region | python-shell-send-region
654 python-send-region-and-go | Emulate with python-shell-send-region and
655 python-shell-switch-to-shell
656 python-send-string | python-shell-send-string
657 python-switch-to-python | python-shell-switch-to-shell
658 python-describe-symbol | python-eldoc-at-point
661 ** reStructuredText mode
663 *** Keybindings (see `C-c C-h'), TAB indentation, filling and auto-filling,
664 fontification, comment handling, and customization have all been revised
667 *** Support for `imenu' and `which-function-mode'.
669 *** The reStructuredText syntax is more closely covered.
670 Sphinx support has been improved.
672 *** `rst-insert-list' inserts new list or continues existing lists.
674 *** A negative prefix argument always works for `rst-adjust'.
676 *** The window configuration is reset after displaying a TOC.
678 *** The constant `rst-version' describes the rst.el package version.
683 *** Pairing of parens/quotes uses electric-pair-mode instead of skeleton-pair.
685 *** `sh-electric-here-document-mode' now controls auto-insertion of here-docs.
687 *** `sh-use-smie' lets you choose a new indentation and navigation code.
690 ** New option `async-shell-command-buffer' specifies the buffer to use
691 for a new asynchronous `shell-command' when the default output buffer
692 `*Async Shell Command*' is already in use.
695 ** SQL mode has a new option `sql-db2-escape-newlines'.
696 If non-nil, newlines sent to the command interpreter will be escaped
697 by a backslash. The default does not escape the newlines and assumes
698 that the sql statement will be terminated by a semicolon.
700 ** Tabulated List and packages derived from it
702 *** New command `tabulated-list-sort', bound to `S', sorts the column
703 at point, or the Nth column if a numeric prefix argument is given.
707 *** The variables `term-default-fg-color' and `term-default-bg-color' are
708 now deprecated in favor of the customizable face `term'.
710 *** You can customize how to display ANSI terminal colors and styles
711 by customizing the corresponding `term-color-<COLOR>',
712 `term-color-underline' and `term-color-bold' faces.
716 *** The syntax has been extended in order to allow ad-hoc proxy definitions.
717 See the manual for details.
719 *** Remote processes are now supported also on remote Windows host.
723 *** Structs made by `url-generic-parse-url' have nil `attributes' slot.
724 Previously, this slot stored semicolon-separated attribute-value pairs
725 appended to some imap URLs, but this is not compatible with RFC 3986.
726 So now the `filename' slot stores the entire path and query components
727 and the `attributes' slot is always nil.
729 *** New function `url-encode-url' for encoding a URI string.
730 The `url-retrieve' function now uses this to encode its URL argument,
731 in case that is not properly encoded.
736 *** The free software compiler GHDL is supported (and now the default).
738 *** Support for the VHDL-AMS packages has been added/updated.
740 *** Updated to the 2002 revision of the VHDL standard.
742 *** Accepts \r and \f as whitespace.
745 ** `which-func-modes' now defaults to t, so Which Function mode, when
746 enabled, applies to all applicable major modes.
749 ** winner-mode-hook now runs when the mode is disabled, as well as when it is
753 ** Hooks renamed to avoid obsolete "-hooks" suffix:
754 *** semantic-lex-reset-hooks -> semantic-lex-reset-functions
755 *** semantic-change-hooks -> semantic-change-functions
756 *** semantic-edits-new-change-hooks -> semantic-edits-new-change-functions
757 *** semantic-edits-delete-change-hooks -> semantic-edits-delete-change-functions
758 *** semantic-edits-reparse-change-hooks -> semantic-edits-reparse-change-functions
759 *** semanticdb-save-database-hooks -> semanticdb-save-database-functions
760 *** c-prepare-bug-report-hooks -> c-prepare-bug-report-hook
761 *** rcirc-sentinel-hooks -> rcirc-sentinel-functions
762 *** rcirc-receive-message-hooks -> rcirc-receive-message-functions
763 *** rcirc-activity-hooks -> rcirc-activity-functions
764 *** rcirc-print-hooks -> rcirc-print-functions
765 *** dbus-event-error-hooks -> dbus-event-error-functions
766 *** eieio-pre-method-execution-hooks -> eieio-pre-method-execution-functions
767 *** checkdoc-style-hooks -> checkdoc-style-functions
768 *** checkdoc-comment-style-hooks -> checkdoc-comment-style-functions
769 *** archive-extract-hooks -> archive-extract-hook
770 *** filesets-cache-fill-content-hooks -> filesets-cache-fill-content-hook
771 *** hfy-post-html-hooks -> hfy-post-html-hook
772 *** nndiary-request-create-group-hooks -> nndiary-request-create-group-functions
773 *** nndiary-request-update-info-hooks -> nndiary-request-update-info-functions
774 *** nndiary-request-accept-article-hooks -> nndiary-request-accept-article-functions
775 *** gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-hooks -> gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-functions
777 ** Obsolete packages:
780 In most cases, assoc+member+push+delq work just as well.
781 And in any case it's just a terrible package: ugly semantics, terrible
782 inefficiency, and not namespace-clean.
797 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.3
800 ** set-buffer-multibyte now signals an error in narrowed buffers.
803 ** (random) by default now returns a different random sequence in
804 every Emacs run. Use (random S), where S is a string, to set the
805 random seed to a value based on S, in order to get a repeatable
806 sequence in later calls.
809 ** The function `x-select-font' can return a font spec, instead of a
810 font name as a string. Whether it returns a font spec or a font name
811 depends on the graphical library.
814 ** If the NEWTEXT arg to `replace-match' contains a substring "\?",
815 that substring is inserted literally even if the LITERAL arg is
816 non-nil, instead of causing an error to be signaled.
819 ** Docstrings starting with `*' no longer indicate user options.
820 Only variables defined using `defcustom' are considered user options.
821 The function `user-variable-p' is now an obsolete alias for
825 ** The return values of `defalias', `defun' and `defmacro' have changed,
826 and are now undefined. For backwards compatibility, `defun' and
827 `defmacro' currently return the name of the newly defined
828 function/macro, but this should not be relied upon.
831 ** `face-spec-set' no longer sets frame-specific attributes when the
832 third argument is a frame (that usage was obsolete since Emacs 22.2).
835 ** The arguments of `dbus-register-signal' are no longer just strings,
836 but keywords or keyword-string pairs. The old argument list will
837 still be supported for Emacs 24.x.
840 ** The CL package's `get-setf-method' function no longer exists.
841 Generalized variables are now part of core Emacs Lisp, and implemented
842 differently to the way cl.el used to do it. It is not possible to
843 define a compatible replacement for `get-setf-method'. See the file
844 gv.el for internal details of the new implementation.
847 Some Lisp symbols have been renamed to avoid problems with spelling
848 that is incorrect or inconsistent with how Emacs normally spells a word.
851 *** Renamed functions
853 **** hangul-input-method-inactivate -> hangul-input-method-deactivate
854 **** inactivate-input-method -> deactivate-input-method
855 **** quail-inactivate -> quail-deactivate
856 **** robin-inactivate -> robin-deactivate
857 **** viper-inactivate-input-method -> viper-deactivate-input-method
858 **** viper-inactivate-input-method-action ->
859 viper-deactivate-input-method-action
860 **** ucs-input-inactivate -> ucs-input-deactivate
864 The old hooks are still supported for backward compatibility, but they
865 are deprecated and will be removed eventually.
866 **** input-method-inactivate-hook -> input-method-deactivate-hook
867 **** robin-inactivate-hook -> robin-deactivate-hook
868 **** quail-inactivate-hook -> quail-deactivate-hook
871 *** Renamed Lisp variables
872 **** follow-deactive-menu -> follow-inactive-menu
873 **** inactivate-current-input-method-function ->
874 deactivate-current-input-method-function
877 ** Some obsolete functions, variables, and faces have been removed:
878 *** `last-input-char', `last-command-char', `unread-command-char'
879 *** `facemenu-unlisted-faces'
880 *** `rmail-decode-mime-charset'
881 *** `iswitchb-read-buffer'
882 *** `sc-version', `sc-submit-bug-report'
883 *** `set-char-table-default'
884 *** `string-to-sequence' (use `string-to-list' or `string-to-vector')
885 *** `compile-internal'
887 *** `mode-line-inverse-video'
888 *** `follow-mode-off-hook'
889 *** `cvs-commit-buffer-require-final-newline'
890 (use `log-edit-require-final-newline' instead)
891 *** `cvs-changelog-full-paragraphs'
892 (use `log-edit-changelog-full-paragraphs' instead)
893 *** `cvs-diff-ignore-marks', `cvs-diff-buffer-name'
894 *** `vc-ignore-vc-files' (use `vc-handled-backends' instead)
895 *** `vc-master-templates' (use `vc-handled-backends' instead)
896 *** `vc-checkout-carefully'
899 * Lisp changes in Emacs 24.3
901 ** New sampling-based Elisp profiler.
902 Try M-x profiler-start, do some work, and then call M-x profiler-report.
903 When finished, use M-x profiler-stop. The sampling rate can be based on
904 CPU time or memory allocations.
907 ** CL-style generalized variables are now in core Elisp.
908 `setf' is autoloaded; `push' and `pop' accept generalized variables.
909 You can define your own generalized variables using `gv-define-simple-setter',
910 `gv-define-setter', etc.
913 ** `defun' also accepts a (declare DECLS) form, like `defmacro'.
914 The interpretation of the DECLS is determined by `defun-declarations-alist'.
918 *** `read-regexp' has a new argument HISTORY; the first argument PROMPT
919 of `read-regexp' accepts a string ending with a colon and space, and its
920 second argument DEFAULTS can be a list of strings accessible via M-n
921 in the minibuffer ahead of other hard-coded useful regexp-related values.
922 More commands use `read-regexp' now to read their regexp arguments.
926 *** New function `completion-table-with-quoting' to handle completion
927 in the presence of quoting, such as file completion in shell buffers.
930 *** New function `completion-table-subvert' to use an existing completion
931 table, but with a different prefix.
936 *** New error type and new function `user-error'.
937 These do not trigger the debugger.
940 *** New option `debugger-bury-or-kill', saying what to do with the
941 debugger buffer when exiting debug.
944 *** Set `debug-on-message' to enter the debugger when a certain
945 message is displayed in the echo area. This can be useful when trying
946 to work out which code is doing something.
948 *** New var `inhibit-debugger', automatically set to prevent accidental
949 recursive invocations.
953 *** The functions get-lru-window, get-mru-window and get-largest-window
954 now accept a third argument to avoid choosing the selected window.
956 *** Additional values recognized for option `window-combination-limit'.
959 *** New macro `with-temp-buffer-window', similar to
960 `with-output-to-temp-buffer'.
963 *** `temp-buffer-resize-mode' no longer resizes windows that have been
967 *** New command `fit-frame-to-buffer' adjusts the frame height to
971 *** The command `fit-window-to-buffer' can adjust the frame height
972 if the new option `fit-frame-to-buffer' is non-nil.
975 *** New option switch-to-buffer-preserve-window-point to restore a
976 window's point when switching buffers.
978 *** New display action functions `display-buffer-below-selected',
979 and `display-buffer-in-previous-window'.
981 *** New display action alist entry `inhibit-switch-frame', if non-nil,
982 tells display action functions to avoid changing which frame is
985 *** New display action alist entry `pop-up-frame-parameters', if
986 non-nil, specifies frame parameters to give any newly-created frame.
988 *** New display action alist entry `previous-window', if non-nil,
989 specifies window to reuse in `display-buffer-in-previous-window'.
991 *** New display action alist entries `window-height' and `window-width'
992 to specify size of new window created by `display-buffer'.
994 *** The following variables are obsolete, as they can be replaced by
995 appropriate entries in the `display-buffer-alist' function introduced
998 **** `display-buffer-reuse-frames'
1000 **** `special-display-regexps'
1002 **** `special-display-frame-alist'
1004 **** `special-display-buffer-names'
1006 **** `special-display-function'
1008 **** `display-buffer-function'
1010 **** `dired-shrink-to-fit'
1014 *** `current-time-string' no longer requires that its argument's year
1015 must be in the range 1000..9999. It now works with any year supported
1016 by the underlying C implementation.
1018 *** `current-time' now returns extended-format time stamps
1019 (HIGH LOW USEC PSEC), where the new PSEC slot specifies picoseconds.
1020 PSEC is typically a multiple of 1000 on current machines. Other
1021 functions that use this format, such as file-attributes and
1022 format-time-string, have been changed accordingly. Old-format time
1023 stamps are still accepted.
1025 *** The format of timers in timer-list and timer-idle-list is now
1026 [TRIGGERED-P HI-SECS LO-SECS USECS REPEAT-DELAY FUNCTION ARGS IDLE-DELAY PSECS].
1027 The PSECS slot is new, and uses picosecond resolution. It can be
1028 accessed via the new timer--psecs accessor.
1030 *** Last-modified time stamps in undo lists now are of the form
1031 (t HI-SECS LO-SECS USECS PSECS) instead of (t HI-SECS . LO-SECS).
1034 ** Floating point functions now always return special values like NaN,
1035 instead of signaling errors, if given invalid args, e.g. (log -1.0).
1036 Previously, they returned NaNs on some platforms but signaled errors
1037 on others. The affected functions are acos, asin, tan, exp, expt,
1038 log, log10, sqrt, and mod.
1041 ** Emacs tries to macroexpand interpreted (non-compiled) files during load.
1042 This can significantly speed up execution of non-byte-compiled code,
1043 but can also bump into previously unnoticed cyclic dependencies.
1044 These are generally harmless: they will simply cause the macro calls
1045 to be left for later expansion (as before), but will result in a
1046 warning ("Eager macro-expansion skipped due to cycle") describing the cycle.
1047 You may wish to restructure your code so this does not happen.
1049 ** Miscellaneous new functions:
1051 *** `autoloadp' tests if its argument is an autoloaded object.
1053 *** `autoload-do-load' performs the autoloading operation.
1055 *** `buffer-narrowed-p' tests if the buffer is narrowed.
1057 *** `file-name-base' returns a file name sans directory and extension.
1059 *** `function-get' fetches a function property, following aliases.
1061 *** `posnp' tests if an object is a `posn'.
1063 *** `set-temporary-overlay-map' sets up a temporary keymap that
1064 takes precedence over most other maps for a short while (normally one key).
1066 *** `system-users' returns the user names on the system.
1068 *** `system-groups' returns the group names on the system.
1070 *** `tty-top-frame' returns the topmost frame of a text terminal.
1073 ** New macros `setq-local' and `defvar-local'.
1075 ** Changes to special forms and macros
1077 *** `defun' and `defmacro' are now macros rather than special forms
1079 *** `kbd' is now a function rather than a macro.
1082 ** New fringe bitmap `exclamation-mark'.
1085 ** Face underlining can now use a wave.
1087 ** The following functions and variables are obsolete:
1089 *** `automount-dir-prefix' (use `directory-abbrev-alist')
1091 *** `buffer-has-markers-at'
1093 *** `macro-declaration-function' (use `macro-declarations-alist')
1095 *** `window-system-version' (provides no useful information)
1097 *** `dired-pop-to-buffer' (use `dired-mark-pop-up')
1099 *** `query-replace-interactive'
1101 *** `font-list-limit' (has had no effect since Emacs < 23)
1104 * Changes in Emacs 24.3 on non-free operating systems
1107 ** Cygwin builds can use the native MS Windows user interface.
1108 Pass --with-w32 to configure. The default remains the X11 interface.
1110 ** Two new functions are available in Cygwin builds:
1111 `cygwin-convert-file-name-from-windows' and
1112 `cygwin-convert-file-name-to-windows'. These functions allow Lisp
1113 code to access the Cygwin file-name mapping machinery to convert
1114 between Cygwin and Windows-native file and directory names.
1116 ** When invoked with the -nw switch to run on the Windows text-mode terminal,
1117 Emacs now supports mouse highlight, help-echo (in the echo area), and
1118 `mouse-autoselect-window'.
1121 ** On MS Windows Vista and later Emacs now supports symbolic links.
1124 ** On MS Windows, you can pass --without-libxml2 to configure.bat to omit
1125 support for libxml2, even if its presence is detected.
1128 ** On Mac OS X, the Nextstep port requires OS X 10.4 or later.
1131 ** On Mac OS X, configure no longer automatically adds the Fink /sw
1132 directories to the search path. You must add them yourself if you want them.
1135 * Changes in Emacs 24.2
1137 ** This is mainly a bug-fix release.
1140 * Installation Changes in Emacs 24.1
1142 ** Emacs can be compiled with Gtk+ 3.0 if you pass --with-x-toolkit=gtk3
1143 to configure. Note that other libraries used by Emacs, RSVG and GConf,
1144 also depend on Gtk+. You can disable them with --without-rsvg and
1147 ** Emacs can be compiled with GnuTLS support.
1148 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
1149 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
1150 `--without-gnutls'. See below for GnuTLS features.
1152 ** Emacs can be compiled with SELinux support.
1153 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
1154 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
1155 `--without-selinux'. See below for SELinux features.
1157 ** Emacs can be compiled with ImageMagick support.
1158 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
1159 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
1160 `--without-imagemagick'. See below for ImageMagick features.
1161 This feature is not available for the Nextstep or MS ports.
1163 ** Emacs can be compiled with libxml2 support.
1164 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
1165 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
1166 `--without-xml2'. See below for libxml2 features.
1168 ** By default, the installed Info and man pages are compressed.
1169 You can disable this by configuring --without-compress-info.
1171 ** New configure option --with-wide-int.
1172 With it, Emacs integers typically have 62 bits, even on 32-bit machines.
1173 On 32-bit hosts, this raises the limit on buffer sizes from about 512 MiB
1176 ** New configure options: --with-mmdf, --with-mail-unlink, --with-mailhost.
1177 These provide no new functionality, they just remove the need to edit
1178 lib-src/Makefile by hand in order to use the associated features.
1180 ** New configure option --enable-use-lisp-union-type.
1181 This is only useful for Emacs developers to debug certain types of bugs.
1182 This is not a new feature; only the configure flag is new.
1184 ** The standalone programs digest-doc and sorted-doc are removed.
1185 Emacs now uses Lisp commands `doc-file-to-man' and `doc-file-to-info'.
1187 ** The standalone program `fakemail' is removed.
1188 If you need it, feedmail.el provides a superset of the functionality.
1191 * Startup Changes in Emacs 24.1
1193 ** The --unibyte, --multibyte, --no-multibyte, and --no-unibyte
1194 command line arguments, and the EMACS_UNIBYTE environment variable, no
1195 longer have any effect. (They were declared obsolete in Emacs 23.)
1197 ** New command line option `--no-site-lisp' removes site-lisp directories
1198 from load-path. -Q now implies this. This option does not affect the
1199 EMACSLOADPATH environment variable (and hence has no effect for
1203 * Changes in Emacs 24.1
1207 *** Many packages now use the `completion-at-point' command,
1208 rather than implementing separate completion commands.
1210 *** `completion-at-point' now handles tags and semantic completion.
1212 *** Completion in a non-minibuffer now tries to detect the end of completion
1213 and pops down the *Completions* buffer accordingly.
1215 *** New option `completion-cycle-threshold' allows completion cycling.
1217 *** New option `completion-category-overrides' for overriding the
1218 default completion style in certain circumstances.
1220 *** New completion style `substring'.
1222 *** Completion of buffer names uses `substring' completion by default.
1224 *** The option `widget-complete-field' has been removed.
1228 *** The first time you try sending mail, Emacs asks for a mail method.
1229 This is implemented by a new default for `send-mail-function', which
1230 is `sendmail-query-once'. This offers to use the smtpmail package, or
1231 to use the old defaults relying on external mail facilities
1232 (`sendmail-send-it' on GNU/Linux and other Unix-like systems, and
1233 `mailclient-send-it' on Windows).
1235 *** Typing C-c m in the buffer made by M-x report-emacs-bug transfers
1236 the report to your desktop's preferred mail client, if there is one.
1237 This uses either the "xdg-email" utility, or Mac OS's "open" command.
1239 *** See Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages for SMTPmail changes
1240 and Mail mode changes
1242 ** Emacs server and client changes
1244 *** New option `server-port' specifies the port for TCP Emacs servers.
1246 *** New emacsclient argument -q/--quiet suppresses some status messages.
1248 *** New emacsclient argument --frame-parameters specifies the frame
1249 parameters of any newly-created graphical frame.
1251 *** If emacsclient shuts down due to Emacs signaling an error,
1252 its exit status is 1.
1254 *** New emacsclient argument --parent-id ID.
1255 This opens a client frame in parent X window ID, via XEmbed, similar
1256 to the --parent-id argument to Emacs.
1258 ** Internationalization changes
1260 *** Emacs now supports display and editing of bidirectional text.
1261 Right-to-left (RTL) scripts, such as Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew, are
1262 displayed in the correct visual order as expected by users of those
1263 scripts. The display reordering is a "full bidirectionality" class
1264 implementation of the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm (UBA). Buffers
1265 with no RTL text should look exactly the same as before.
1267 **** New buffer-local variable `bidi-display-reordering'.
1268 To disable display reordering in a buffer, change this to nil.
1270 **** New buffer-local variable `bidi-paragraph-direction'.
1271 If nil (the default), Emacs determines the base direction of each
1272 paragraph from its text, as specified by the UBA. Setting the value
1273 to `right-to-left' or `left-to-right' forces a base direction on each
1276 Paragraphs with right-to-left base direction are displayed starting at
1277 the right window edge.
1279 *** Enhanced support for characters with no glyphs in available fonts,
1280 or, on text terminals, characters that cannot be encoded by the
1281 terminal coding system. The new option `glyphless-char-display-control'
1282 specifies how to display them: as a hexadecimal code in a box, a thin
1283 1-pixel space, an empty box, etc.
1285 *** New input methods for Farsi and Bulgarian
1286 (farsi-isiri-9147, farsi-transliterate-banan, bulgarian-alt-phonetic).
1288 *** `nobreak-char-display' now also highlights Unicode hyphen chars
1289 (U+2010 and U+2011).
1291 *** New Hebrew translation of the Emacs Tutorial.
1292 Type `C-u C-h t' to choose it in case your language setup doesn't
1293 automatically select it.
1295 ** An Emacs Lisp package manager is now included.
1296 This is a convenient way to download and install additional packages,
1297 from a package repository at http://elpa.gnu.org.
1299 *** M-x list-packages shows a list of packages, which can be
1300 selected for installation.
1302 *** New command `describe-package', bound to `C-h P'.
1304 *** By default, all installed packages are loaded automatically when
1305 Emacs starts up. To disable this, set `package-enable-at-startup' to
1306 nil. To specify the packages to load, customize `package-load-list'.
1308 ** Custom theme changes
1310 *** New command `M-x customize-themes', which provides a convenient
1311 interface for enabling and disabling Custom themes.
1313 *** New option `custom-theme-load-path' is the load path for themes.
1314 Emacs no longer looks for Custom themes in `load-path'. The default
1315 value of `custom-theme-load-path' says to look for themes in
1316 `custom-theme-directory', followed by a subdirectory of
1317 `data-directory' named "themes/", which contains a small selection of
1318 built-in Custom themes.
1320 *** New option `custom-safe-themes' records known-safe theme files.
1321 If a theme is not in this list, Emacs queries before loading it, and
1322 offers to save the theme to `custom-safe-themes' automatically. By
1323 default, all themes included in Emacs are treated as safe.
1325 ** Improved GTK integration
1327 *** GTK scroll-bars are now placed on the right by default.
1328 The function `set-scroll-bar-mode' can change this.
1330 *** GTK tool bars can have just text, just images or images and text.
1331 Customize `tool-bar-style' to choose the style. On a Gnome desktop,
1332 the default is taken from desktop settings.
1334 *** GTK tool bars can be placed on any edge of the frame.
1335 The frame-parameter tool-bar-position controls this. It takes the
1336 values top, left, right or bottom. The Options => Show/Hide menu has
1339 *** The default colors for selected text (the `region' face) are taken
1340 from the GTK theme when Emacs is built with GTK.
1342 *** Emacs uses GTK tooltips by default if built with GTK.
1343 You can disable this by changing `x-gtk-use-system-tooltips' to nil.
1345 ** Graphical interface changes
1347 *** On graphical displays, the mode-line no longer ends in dashes.
1348 Also, the first dash (which does not indicate anything) is just
1349 displayed as a space.
1351 *** `menu-bar-select-buffer-function' lets you choose another operation
1352 instead of `switch-to-buffer' when selecting an item in the Buffers menu.
1354 *** Lucid menus and dialogs can display antialiased fonts if Emacs is
1355 built with Xft. These fonts can be set via X resources, for example:
1356 Emacs.pane.menubar.font: Courier-12
1360 *** Emacs now calls `kill-emacs' if it receives SIGTERM or SIGHUP,
1361 or if it receives a SIGINT signal in batch mode.
1363 *** `kill-emacs-hook' is now also run in batch mode.
1364 Third-party code which adds to `kill-emacs-hook' should check if they
1365 do the right thing in batch mode.
1367 ** Scrolling changes
1369 *** New scrolling commands `scroll-up-command' and `scroll-down-command'
1370 (bound to C-v/[next] and M-v/[prior]) do not signal errors at top/bottom
1371 of buffer at first key-press (instead they move to top/bottom of buffer)
1372 when `scroll-error-top-bottom' is non-nil.
1374 *** New option `scroll-error-top-bottom' (see above).
1376 *** New scrolling commands `scroll-up-line' and `scroll-down-line'
1377 scroll a line instead of full screen.
1379 *** New property `scroll-command' should be set on a command's symbol to
1380 define it as a scroll command affected by `scroll-preserve-screen-position'.
1382 *** If you customize `scroll-conservatively' to a value greater than 100,
1383 Emacs will never recenter point in the window when it scrolls due to
1384 cursor motion commands or commands that move point (e.f., `M-g M-g').
1385 Previously, you needed to use `most-positive-fixnum' as the value of
1386 `scroll-conservatively' to achieve the same effect.
1388 *** "Aggressive" scrolling now honors the scroll margins.
1389 If you customize `scroll-up-aggressively' or
1390 `scroll-down-aggressively' and move point off the window, Emacs now
1391 scrolls the window so as to avoid positioning point inside the scroll
1394 ** Basic SELinux support has been added.
1395 This requires Emacs to be linked with libselinux at build time.
1397 *** Emacs preserves the SELinux file context when backing up.
1398 Also, the function `copy-file' has an extra optional argument for
1399 preserving SELinux context, and the return value of `backup-buffer'
1400 now includes the SELinux context.
1402 *** New functions `file-selinux-context' and `set-file-selinux-context'
1403 get and set the SELinux context of a file.
1407 *** `delete-by-moving-to-trash' now only affects commands that specify
1408 trashing. This avoids inadvertently trashing temporary files.
1410 *** Calling `delete-file' or `delete-directory' with a prefix argument
1411 now forces true deletion, regardless of `delete-by-moving-to-trash'.
1413 ** File- and directory-local variable changes
1415 *** You can stop directory local vars from applying to subdirectories.
1416 Add an element (subdirs . nil) to the alist portion of any variables
1417 settings to indicate that the section should not apply to
1420 *** Directory local variables can apply to some file-less buffers.
1421 Affected modes include dired, vc-dir, and log-edit. For example,
1422 adding "(diff-mode . ((mode . whitespace)))" to .dir-locals.el will
1423 turn on `whitespace-mode' for *vc-diff* buffers. Modes should call
1424 `hack-dir-local-variables-non-file-buffer' to support this.
1426 *** Using "mode: MINOR-MODE" to enable a minor mode is deprecated.
1427 Instead, use "eval: (minor-mode 1)".
1429 *** The variable `inhibit-first-line-modes-regexps' has been renamed
1430 to `inhibit-local-variables-regexps'. As the name suggests, it now
1431 applies to ALL file local variables, not just -*- lines. The
1432 associated `inhibit-first-line-modes-suffixes' has been renamed in the
1437 *** The `quit-window' command now restores the last buffer displayed
1438 in the quitted window.
1440 *** Resizing an Emacs frame now preserves proportional window sizes,
1441 modulo restrictions like window minimum sizes and fixed-size windows.
1443 *** The behavior of `display-buffer' is now customizable in detail.
1445 **** New option `display-buffer-base-action' specifies a list of
1446 user-determined display "actions" (functions and optional arguments
1447 for choosing the displaying window).
1449 This takes precedence over the default display action, which is
1450 specified by `display-buffer-fallback-action'.
1452 **** New option `display-buffer-alist' maps buffer name regexps to
1453 display actions, taking precedence over `display-buffer-base-action'.
1455 *** New option `window-combination-limit'.
1456 The new option `window-combination-limit' allows to return the space
1457 obtained for resizing or creating a window more reliably to the window
1458 from which such space was obtained.
1460 *** New option `window-combination-resize'.
1461 The new option `window-combination-resize' allows to split a window that
1462 otherwise cannot be split because it's too small by stealing space from
1463 other windows in the same combination. Subsequent resizing or deletion
1464 of the window will resize all windows in the same combination as well.
1466 *** New option `frame-auto-hide-function' lets you choose between
1467 iconifying or deleting a frame when burying a buffer in a dedicated
1468 frame, or quitting a window showing a buffer in a frame of its own.
1470 *** New commands `maximize-window' and `minimize-window'.
1471 These maximize and minimize the size of a window within its frame.
1473 *** New commands `switch-to-prev-buffer' and `switch-to-next-buffer'.
1474 These functions allow to navigate through the live buffers that have
1475 been shown in a specific window.
1477 ** Minibuffer changes
1479 *** The inactive minibuffer has its own major mode `minibuffer-inactive-mode'.
1480 This is handy for minibuffer-only frames, and is also used for the feature
1481 where mouse-1 pops up *Messages*"', which can now easily be changed.
1483 *** Minibuffers set `truncate-lines' to nil.
1484 If you want to change the value to something else, you could use
1485 for example `minibuffer-setup-hook'.
1487 ** `auto-mode-case-fold' is now enabled by default.
1489 ** `backup-by-copying-when-mismatch' now defaults to t.
1491 ** New basic faces `error', `warning', `success'.
1492 These are used to highlight text indicating failure, caution or
1493 successful operation.
1495 ** New option `list-colors-sort' defines the color sort order
1496 for `list-colors-display'.
1498 ** The variable `focus-follows-mouse' now always defaults to nil.
1501 * Editing Changes in Emacs 24.1
1505 *** C-y in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-kill', instead of
1506 `isearch-yank-line'.
1508 *** M-y in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-pop', instead of
1509 `isearch-yank-kill'.
1511 *** M-s C-e in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-line'.
1513 ** New commands `count-words-region' and `count-words'.
1515 *** M-= is bound to `count-words-region', not `count-lines-region'.
1516 The `count-words-region' command, when called interactively, reports
1517 the number of lines, words, and characters in the region. It is a
1518 superset of the old `count-lines-region', which is now an obsolete
1521 ** The command `just-one-space' (M-SPC), if given a negative argument,
1522 also deletes newlines around point.
1526 *** New option `delete-active-region'.
1527 If non-nil, [delete] and DEL delete the region if it is active and no
1528 prefix argument is given. If set to `kill', those commands kill
1531 *** New command `delete-forward-char', bound to [delete].
1532 This is meant for interactive use, and obeys `delete-active-region'.
1533 The command `delete-char' does not obey `delete-active-region'.
1535 *** `delete-backward-char' is now a Lisp function.
1536 Apart from obeying `delete-active-region', its behavior is unchanged.
1537 However, the byte compiler now warns if it is called from Lisp; Lisp
1538 callers should use delete-char with a negative argument instead.
1540 *** The option `mouse-region-delete-keys' has been deleted.
1542 ** Selection changes.
1544 The default handling of clipboard and primary selections has been
1545 changed to conform with modern X applications. In short, most
1546 commands for killing and yanking text now use the clipboard, while
1547 mouse commands use the primary selection.
1549 In the following, we provide a list of these changes, followed by a
1550 list of steps to get the old behavior back if you prefer that.
1552 *** `select-active-regions' now defaults to t.
1553 Merely selecting text (e.g. with drag-mouse-1) no longer puts it in
1554 the kill ring. The selected text is put in the primary selection, if
1555 the system possesses a separate primary selection facility (e.g. X).
1557 **** `select-active-regions' also accepts a new value, `only'.
1558 This means to only set the primary selection for temporarily active
1559 regions (usually made by mouse-dragging or shift-selection);
1560 "ordinary" active regions, such as those made with C-SPC followed by
1561 point motion, do not alter the primary selection.
1563 **** `mouse-drag-copy-region' now defaults to nil.
1565 *** mouse-2 is now bound to `mouse-yank-primary'.
1566 This pastes from the primary selection, ignoring the kill-ring.
1567 Previously, mouse-2 was bound to `mouse-yank-at-click'.
1569 *** `x-select-enable-clipboard' now defaults to t on all platforms.
1571 *** `x-select-enable-primary' now defaults to nil.
1572 Thus, commands that kill text or copy it to the kill-ring (such as
1573 M-w, C-w, and C-k) also use the clipboard---not the primary selection.
1575 **** The "Copy", "Cut", and "Paste" items in the "Edit" menu are now
1576 exactly equivalent to M-w, C-w, and C-y respectively.
1578 **** Note that on MS-Windows, `x-select-enable-clipboard' was already
1579 non-nil by default, as Windows does not support the primary selection
1580 between applications.
1582 *** To return to the previous behavior, do the following:
1584 **** Change `select-active-regions' to nil.
1585 **** Change `mouse-drag-copy-region' to t.
1586 **** Change `x-select-enable-primary' to t (on X only).
1587 **** Change `x-select-enable-clipboard' to nil.
1588 **** Bind `mouse-yank-at-click' to mouse-2.
1590 *** Support for X cut buffers has been removed.
1592 *** X clipboard managers are now supported.
1593 To inhibit this, change `x-select-enable-clipboard-manager' to nil.
1595 ** New command `C-x r N' (`rectangle-number-lines') numbers the lines
1596 in the current rectangle. With a prefix argument, this prompts for a
1597 number to count from and for a format string.
1599 ** `redisplay-dont-pause' now defaults to t.
1600 This makes Emacs feel more responsive to editing commands that arrive
1601 at high rate, e.g. if you lean on some key, because stopping redisplay
1602 in the middle (when this variable is nil) forces more expensive
1603 updates later on, and Emacs appears to be unable to keep up.
1605 ** The behavior of <TAB> for active regions in Text mode has changed.
1606 In Text and related modes, typing <TAB> (`indent-for-tab-command')
1607 when the region is active causes Emacs to indent all the lines in the
1608 region, aligning them with the line previous to the first line in the
1609 region (or with the left margin if there is no previous line).
1611 ** When `occur' is called with a prefix argument, matching strings are
1612 collected into the `*Occur*' buffer without line numbers. If there
1613 are parenthesized subexpressions in the specified regexp, `occur'
1614 reads replacement text that may contain \\& and \\N whose convention
1615 follows `replace-match'.
1618 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.1
1620 ** Archive Mode has basic support for browsing and updating 7z archives.
1624 *** BibTeX mode now supports biblatex.
1625 Use the variable `bibtex-dialect' to select different BibTeX dialects.
1626 `bibtex-entry-field-alist' is now an obsolete alias for
1627 `bibtex-BibTeX-entry-alist'.
1629 *** New command `bibtex-search-entries', bound to C-c C-a.
1631 *** New `bibtex-entry-format' option `sort-fields', disabled by default.
1633 *** New variable `bibtex-search-entry-globally'.
1637 *** New option `browse-url-mailto-function' specifies how to handle "mailto:"s.
1639 *** The default browser used by the package is now the "xdg-open" program,
1640 on platforms that support it. This calls your desktop's preferred browser.
1642 ** Calendar, Diary, and Appt
1644 *** Diary entries can contain non-printing "comments".
1645 See the variable `diary-comment-start'.
1647 *** Appointments can specify their individual warning times.
1648 See the variable `appt-warning-time-regexp'.
1650 *** The function specified by `appt-disp-window-function' may be passed
1651 lists of arguments if multiple appointments are due at similar times.
1652 If you are using a custom function for this, you should update it.
1654 *** New function `diary-hebrew-birthday'.
1656 *** Elements of `calendar-day-abbrev-array' and `calendar-month-abbrev-array'
1657 may no longer be nil, but must all be strings.
1659 *** The obsolete (since Emacs 22.1) method of enabling the appt
1660 package by adding `appt-make-list' to `diary-hook' has been removed.
1661 Use `appt-activate' instead.
1663 *** Some appt variables (obsolete since Emacs 22.1) have been removed:
1664 appt-issue-message (use the function appt-activate)
1665 appt-visible/appt-msg-window (use the variable appt-display-format)
1667 *** Some diary function aliases (obsolete since Emacs 22.1) have been removed:
1668 view-diary-entries, list-diary-entries, show-all-diary-entries
1672 *** New feature to "guess" the style in an existing buffer.
1673 The main entry point is M-x c-guess.
1675 *** Java Mode now supports Java 5.0 (Tiger) and 6 (Mustang).
1677 *** `c-beginning-of-defun' and `c-end-of-defun' now respect nested scopes.
1678 Thus C-M-a will, by default, go to the beginning of the immediate function,
1681 *** "Macros with semicolons" can be registered for correct indentation.
1682 Where such a macro ends a line (no semicolon) the next statement is no longer
1683 parsed as a statement continuation.
1685 ** Comint and modes derived from it use the standard completion code.
1689 *** Compilation mode can be used without Font Lock mode.
1690 `compilation-parse-errors-function' is now obsolete.
1692 *** New variable `compilation-filter-start', which is bound while
1693 `compilation-filter-hook' runs. It records the start position of the
1694 text inserted by `compilation-filter'.
1696 *** `compilation-error-screen-columns' and `compilation-first-column'
1697 are obeyed in the editing buffer. So programming language modes can
1698 set them, whereas previously only the value in the *Compilation*
1703 *** Customize buffers now contain a search field.
1704 The search is performed using `customize-apropos'.
1705 To turn off the search field, set `custom-search-field' to nil.
1707 *** Options in customize group buffers start out hidden if not customized.
1708 Use the arrow to the left of the option name to toggle visibility.
1710 *** custom-buffer-sort-alphabetically now defaults to t.
1712 *** The color widget now has a "Choose" button, which allows you to
1713 choose a color via `list-colors-display'.
1717 *** It is now possible to access buses other than the default system
1720 *** The `dbus-register-method' and `dbus-register-property' functions
1721 optionally do not register names.
1723 *** The new function `dbus-register-service' registers a known service
1724 name on a D-Bus without also registering a property or a method.
1728 *** C-x C-j (`dired-jump') and C-x 4 C-j (`dired-jump-other-window'),
1729 if called with a prefix argument, read a file name from the minibuffer
1730 instead of using the current buffer.
1732 *** The "dired local variables" feature of Dired-x is obsolete.
1733 The standard directory local variables feature replaces it.
1737 *** New options `erc-autojoin-timing' and `erc-autojoin-delay',
1738 controlling attempts to autojoin a channel.
1740 *** New variable `erc-coding-system-precedence': If we use `undecided'
1741 as the server coding system, this variable will then be consulted.
1742 The default is to decode strings that can be decoded as utf-8 as
1743 utf-8, and do the normal `undecided' decoding for the rest.
1747 *** The default value of `eshell-directory-name' has changed
1748 to be an "eshell" directory in `user-emacs-directory'.
1749 The old "~/.eshell/" directory is still used if it exists, though.
1753 *** The M-x gdb command now uses the GDB Machine Interface protocol.
1754 It now supports multithread non-stop debugging and simultaneous
1755 debugging of several threads.
1759 *** RET (`image-toggle-animation') toggles animation, if applicable.
1760 Animation plays once, unless the option `image-animate-loop' is non-nil.
1764 *** New command M-x info-display-manual displays a named Info manual.
1765 If that manual is already visited in some Info buffer, it displays
1766 that buffer. (This is handy if you have many manuals in many *info*
1767 buffers, and don't remember the name of the buffer visiting the manual
1768 you want to consult.) Otherwise, it loads and displays the manual.
1770 *** `e' is now bound to `end-of-buffer' rather than to `Info-edit'.
1771 This is for compatibility with the stand-alone Info reader program,
1772 and also because `Info-edit' is a rarely used command that is disabled
1775 ** Mail mode changes (not Message mode)
1777 *** New command M-x mail-add-attachment for adding MIME attachments
1779 *** The command M-x mail-attach-file was renamed to M-x mail-insert-file.
1780 (Its name is misleading, since it has nothing to do with MIME
1781 attachments.) The old name is now an obsolete alias to the new name.
1783 ** MH-E has been updated to MH-E version 8.3.1.
1784 See MH-E-NEWS for details.
1786 ** Modula-2 mode provides auto-indentation.
1788 ** mpc.el: Can use pseudo tags of the form tag1|tag2 as a union of two tags.
1790 ** nXML mode no longer binds C-RET to `nxml-complete'.
1791 Completion is now performed via `completion-at-point', bound to C-M-i
1792 or M-TAB. If `nxml-bind-meta-tab-to-complete-flag' is non-nil (the
1793 default), this performs tag completion.
1795 ** Org mode has been updated to version 7.8.09.
1796 See ORG-NEWS for details.
1798 ** Prolog mode has been completely revamped, with lots of additional
1799 functionality such as more intelligent indentation, electricity,
1800 support for more variants, including Mercury, and a lot more.
1804 *** The command `rmail-epa-decrypt' decrypts OpenPGP data
1805 in the Rmail incoming message.
1807 *** The variable `rmail-message-filter' no longer has any effect.
1808 This change was made in Emacs 23.1 but was not advertised at the time.
1809 Try using `rmail-show-message-hook' instead.
1813 *** M-x shell prompts for the shell path name if the default directory
1814 is a remote file name and neither the environment variable $ESHELL nor
1815 the variable `explicit-shell-file-name' is set.
1817 *** TAB is now bound to the standard `completion-at-point' command,
1818 which now implements the pcomplete rules for shell command completion.
1822 *** SMTPmail now uses encrypted connections (via STARTTLS) by default
1823 if the mail server supports them. This uses either built-in GnuTLS
1824 support, or the starttls.el library. Customize `smtpmail-stream-type'
1827 *** The variable `smtpmail-auth-credentials' has been removed.
1828 By default, the information is now stored in the file ~/.authinfo.
1829 This was the default value of smtpmail-auth-credentials. If you had
1830 customized smtpmail-auth-credentials to a list of user names and
1831 passwords, those settings are not used. During your first connection
1832 to the smtp server, Emacs will prompt for the user name and password,
1833 and offer to save them to ~/.authinfo. Or you can manually copy the
1834 credentials to ~/.authinfo. For example, if you had
1836 (setq smtpmail-auth-credentials
1837 '(("mail.example.org" 25 "jim" "s!cret")))
1839 then the equivalent line in ~/.authinfo would be
1841 machine mail.example.org port 25 login jim password s!cret
1843 See the auth-source manual for more information, e.g. on encrypting
1844 the credentials file.
1846 *** The variable `smtpmail-starttls-credentials' has been removed.
1847 If you had that set, you need to put
1849 machine smtp.whatever.foo port 25 key "~/.my_smtp_tls.key" cert "~/.my_smtp_tls.cert"
1851 in your ~/.authinfo file instead.
1853 *** SMTPmail defaults to using the address in the From: header as the
1854 SMTP MAIL FROM envelope. To override this, set `mail-envelope-from'
1855 to the address you wish to use instead.
1859 *** New options `sql-port', `sql-connection-alist', `sql-send-terminator',
1860 and `sql-oracle-scan-on'.
1862 *** New options controlling prompting for login parameters.
1863 Each supported product has a custom variable `sql-*-login-params',
1864 which is a list of the parameters to be prompted for before a
1865 connection is established.
1867 *** The command `sql-product-interactive' now takes a prefix argument,
1868 which causes it to prompt for an SQL product.
1870 *** Product-specific SQL interactive commands now take prefix arguments.
1871 These commands (`sql-sqlite', `sql-postgres', `sql-mysql', etc.),
1872 given a prefix argument, prompt for a name for the SQL interactive
1873 buffer. This reduces the need for calling `sql-rename-buffer'.
1875 *** SQL interactive modes suppress command continuation prompts, and
1876 replace tabs with spaces. The first change impacts multiple line SQL
1877 statements entered with C-j between each line, statements yanked into
1878 the buffer and statements sent with `sql-send-*' functions. The
1879 second prevents the MySQL and Postgres interpreters from listing
1880 object name completions when sent text via `sql-send-*' functions.
1882 *** New command `sql-connect' starts a predefined SQLi session,
1883 using the login parameters from `sql-connection-alist'.
1885 *** New "Save Connection" menu item in SQLi buffers.
1886 This gathers the login params specified for the SQLi session, if it
1887 was not started by a connection, and saves them as a new connection.
1889 *** New commands for listing database objects and details:
1890 sql-list-all and sql-list-table.
1892 *** An API for manipulating SQL product definitions has been added.
1896 *** latex-electric-env-pair-mode keeps \begin..\end matched on the fly.
1900 *** New inline access method "ksu" (kerberized su).
1902 *** The following access methods are discontinued: "ssh1_old",
1903 "ssh2_old", "scp1_old", "scp2_old", "imap", "imaps" and "fish".
1905 *** The user option `remote-file-name-inhibit-cache' controls whether
1906 remote file attributes are cached for better performance.
1908 *** The option `ange-ftp-binary-file-name-regexp' has changed its
1909 default value to "".
1911 *** Handlers for `file-selinux-context' and `set-file-selinux-context'
1912 for remote machines which support SELinux.
1914 ** New function `url-queue-retrieve', which behaves like url-retrieve,
1915 but with limits (`url-queue-parallel-processes', `url-queue-timeout') on
1916 the degree of parallelism.
1918 ** VC and related modes
1920 *** Support for pulling on distributed version control systems.
1921 The command C-x v + (`vc-pull') runs a "pull" operation, if it is
1922 supported (currently with Bzr, Git, and Mercurial), to update the
1923 current branch and working tree. A prefix argument means to prompt
1924 the user for specifics, e.g. a pull location.
1926 *** `vc-update' is now an alias for `vc-pull'.
1928 *** Support for merging on distributed version control systems.
1929 The command C-x v m (`vc-merge') now runs a "merge" operation, if it
1930 is supported (currently with Bzr, Git, and Mercurial), to merge
1931 changes from another branch into the current one. It prompts for
1932 specifics, e.g. a merge source.
1934 *** New option `vc-revert-show-diff' controls whether `vc-revert'
1935 shows a diff while querying the user. It defaults to t.
1937 *** Log entries in some Log View buffers can be toggled to display a
1938 longer description by typing RET (log-view-toggle-entry-display).
1939 This is currently supported for Bzr, Git, and Mercurial (to support
1940 another backend, define a `log-view-expanded-log-entry-function').
1941 In the Log View buffers made by C-x v L (`vc-print-root-log'), you can
1942 use this to display the full log entry for the revision at point.
1944 *** New command `vc-ediff' allows visual comparison of two revisions
1945 of a file similar to `vc-diff', but using ediff backend.
1947 *** The option `vc-initial-comment' was removed in Emacs 23.2, but
1948 this was not advertised at the time.
1950 *** `vc-toggle-read-only' is an obsolete alias for `toggle-read-only'.
1951 Since Emacs 23, it has done the same thing as `toggle-read-only', but
1952 this was not advertised at the time.
1958 *** erc-hecomplete.el (use erc-pcomplete.el instead)
1960 *** partial-completion-mode (complete.el) is obsolete.
1961 You can get a comparable behavior with:
1962 (setq completion-styles '(partial-completion initials))
1963 (setq completion-pcm-complete-word-inserts-delimiters t)
1965 *** pc-mode.el is obsolete (CUA mode is much more comprehensive).
1967 *** pgg is obsolete (use EasyPG instead).
1969 *** sregex.el is obsolete, since rx.el is a strict superset.
1971 *** s-region.el and pc-select.el are obsolete.
1972 They are superseded by shift-select-mode, enabled by default since 23.1.
1974 *** vc-mcvs.el is obsolete (for lack of a maintainer).
1978 *** The Landmark game is now invoked with `landmark', not `lm'.
1979 Its functions and variables have been similarly renamed.
1981 *** In `ido-file-completion-map', C-v is no longer bound to `ido-toggle-vc'.
1982 (This interfered with cua-mode.)
1984 *** f90.el has some support for Fortran 2008 syntax.
1986 *** `copyright-fix-years' can optionally convert consecutive years to ranges.
1988 *** New command `nato-region' converts text to NATO phonetic alphabet.
1991 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.1
1993 ** Occur Edit mode applies edits made in *Occur* buffers to the
1994 original buffers. It is bound to "e" in Occur mode.
1996 ** New global minor mode electric-pair-mode.
1997 When enabled, typing an open parenthesis automatically inserts the
1998 matching closing one.
2000 ** New global minor mode electric-indent-mode.
2001 When enabled, typing certain characters triggers reindentation.
2002 Major modes wishing to use this can set electric-indent-chars or
2003 electric-indent-functions.
2005 ** New global minor mode electric-layout-mode.
2006 When enabled, typing certain characters automatically inserts newlines.
2007 Major modes wishing to use this can set electric-layout-rules.
2009 ** tabulated-list.el provides a generic major mode for tabulated data,
2010 from which other modes can be derived.
2012 ** pcase.el provides the ML-style pattern matching macro `pcase'.
2014 ** secrets.el is an implementation of the Secret Service API, an
2015 interface to password managers like GNOME Keyring or KDE Wallet. The
2016 Secret Service API requires D-Bus for communication. The command
2017 `secrets-show-secrets' offers a buffer with a visualization of the
2020 ** notifications.el provides an implementation of the Desktop
2021 Notifications API. It requires D-Bus for communication.
2023 ** soap-client.el supports access to SOAP web services from Emacs.
2024 soap-inspect.el is an interactive inspector for SOAP WSDL structures.
2026 ** New generic mode, xmodmap-generic-mode, for xmodmap files.
2028 ** New emacs-lock.el package.
2029 The previous version has been moved to obsolete/old-emacs-lock.el.
2030 Now, there is a proper minor mode `emacs-lock-mode'. Protection
2031 against exiting Emacs and killing the buffer can be set separately.
2032 The mechanism for automatically turning off protection for buffers
2033 with dead inferior processes has been generalized.
2036 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.1
2038 ** Passing a nil argument to a minor mode function call now ENABLES
2039 the minor mode unconditionally. This is so that you can write e.g.
2041 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'foo-mode)
2043 to enable foo-mode in Text mode buffers, removing the need for
2044 `turn-on-foo-mode' style functions. This affects all mode commands
2045 defined by `define-minor-mode'. If called interactively, the mode
2046 command still toggles the minor mode.
2048 ** The return value of `backup-buffer' has changed.
2049 It is now a list of three elements, where the second element is a list
2050 describing the original file's SELinux context. If Emacs or the
2051 system lacks SELinux support, the context list is (nil nil nil nil).
2052 See "Basic SELinux support" above, under "Changes in Emacs 24.1".
2054 ** `char-direction-table' and the `char-direction' function were deleted.
2055 They were buggy and inferior to the new support of bidirectional
2056 editing introduced in Emacs 24. If you need the bidirectional
2057 properties of a character, use `get-char-code-property' with the last
2058 argument `bidi-class'.
2060 ** `copy-directory' now copies the source directory as a subdirectory
2061 of the target directory, if the latter is an existing directory. The
2062 new optional arg COPY-CONTENTS, if non-nil, makes the function copy
2063 the contents directly into a pre-existing target directory.
2065 ** For mouse click input events in the text area, the Y pixel
2066 coordinate in the POSITION list now counts from the top of the text
2067 area, excluding any header line. Previously, it counted from the top
2070 ** Support for "old-style" backquotes, obsolete for 10+ years, has
2071 been further reduced. Now a backquote not followed by a space is
2072 always treated as a "new-style" backquote. Please remove all
2073 "old-style" backquotes from your code. If your code uses backquotes
2074 as documented in the Elisp manual, and compiles without warning, then
2075 you have nothing to do in this regard. Code not following the
2076 appropriate conventions may fail to compile.
2078 The most common cause of trouble seems to be an old-style backquote
2079 followed by a newline. Another cause of trouble is vector notation
2080 for key sequence notation: instead of [(control ,)] and [(control ')],
2081 you should write [(control ?,)] and [(control ?')], which will work in
2084 ** The macro `eval-at-startup' was removed in Emacs 23.2, but this
2085 was not advertised at the time. The function `custom-initialize-delay'
2086 replaced all known uses.
2088 ** `view-buffer' now treats special mode-class in the same way that
2089 `view-file' has since Emacs 22 (i.e. it won't enable View mode if the
2090 major mode is special).
2092 ** Menu and tool bar changes
2094 *** During startup, Emacs no longer adds entries for `menu-bar-lines'
2095 and `tool-bar-lines' to `default-frame-alist' and `initial-frame-alist'.
2096 With these alist entries omitted, `make-frame' checks the value of the
2097 variable `menu-bar-mode'/`tool-bar-mode' to determine whether to create
2098 a menu-bar or tool-bar, respectively. If the alist entries are added,
2099 they override the value of `menu-bar-mode'/`tool-bar-mode'.
2101 *** The menu bar bindings's caches are not used any more.
2102 Use (where-is-internal <def> nil t) instead.
2104 ** Regions created by mouse dragging are now normal active regions,
2105 similar to those created by shift-selection (see Selection changes
2106 above). In previous Emacs versions, these regions were delineated by
2107 `mouse-drag-overlay'; that variable has been removed.
2109 ** The fourth argument of `filter-buffer-substring' has been removed.
2110 If you want to remove text properties from the final result, simply
2111 pass the result through substring-no-properties.
2113 ** cl.el no longer provides `cl-19'.
2115 ** The following obsolete functions and aliases have been removed
2116 (the appropriate new function is given in parentheses; "not needed"
2117 means you can just remove all calls to the function in question):
2119 *** `comint-kill-output' (`comint-delete-output')
2120 *** `decompose-composite-char' (`char-to-string')
2121 *** `outline-visible' (`outline-invisible-p')
2122 *** `internal-find-face' (`facep')
2123 *** `internal-get-face' (`facep and check-face')
2124 *** `frame-update-faces' (not needed)
2125 *** `frame-update-face-colors' (`frame-set-background-mode')
2126 *** `x-frob-font-weight' and `x-frob-font-slant' (`make-face-*' functions)
2127 *** `x-make-font-bold and x-make-font-demibold (`make-face-bold')
2128 *** `x-make-font-italic' and `x-make-font-oblique' (`make-face-italic')
2129 *** `x-make-font-bold-italic' (`make-face-bold-italic')
2130 *** `x-make-font-unbold' (`make-face-unbold')
2131 *** `x-make-font-unitalic' (`make-face-unitalic')
2132 *** `mldrag-drag-mode-line' (`mouse-drag-mode-line')
2133 *** `mldrag-drag-vertical-line' (`mouse-drag-vertical-line')
2134 *** `iswitchb-default-keybindings' (`iswitchb-mode')
2135 *** `char-bytes' (== 1)
2136 *** `isearch-return-char' (`isearch-printing-char')
2137 *** `make-local-hook' (not needed)
2138 *** `set-screen-height' (`set-frame-height')
2139 *** `set-screen-width' (`set-frame-width')
2141 ** The following obsolete variables and varaliases have been removed
2142 (the appropriate new variable is given in parentheses):
2144 *** `checkdoc-minor-keymap' (`checkdoc-minor-mode-map')
2145 *** `vc-header-alist' (`vc-BACKEND-header')
2146 *** `directory-sep-char' (== ?/)
2147 *** `font-lock-defaults-alist' (`font-lock-defaults')
2148 *** `e' (`float-e').
2150 ** The following obsolete files were removed:
2151 sc.el, x-menu.el, rnews.el, rnewspost.el
2153 ** The format of the finder-inf.el file has changed, since the Finder
2154 mechanism is now based on the package system. The variable
2155 `finder-package-info' is replaced by `package--builtins' and
2156 `finder-keywords-hash'.
2158 ** When generating autoloads, `update-directory-autoloads' no longer
2159 assumes every inspected file is in your `load-path'. It instead
2160 generates relative names according to the current `load-path'.
2163 * Lisp changes in Emacs 24.1
2165 ** Code can now use lexical scoping by default instead of dynamic scoping.
2166 The `lexical-binding' variable enables lexical scoping for local
2167 variables. It is typically set via a file-local variable in the first
2168 line of the file, in which case it applies to all the code in that
2171 *** `eval' takes a new optional argument `lexical' to choose the new lexical
2172 binding instead of the old dynamic binding mode.
2174 *** Lexically scoped interpreted functions are represented with a new form
2175 of function value which looks like (closure ENV ARGS &rest BODY).
2177 *** New macro `letrec' to define recursive local functions.
2179 *** `defvar' and `defconst' now mark the variable as special (dynamic).
2180 So do `defcustom' and other forms that call `defvar' as a subroutine.
2182 *** New function `special-variable-p' to check whether a variable is
2183 declared as dynamically bound.
2185 *** The form ((lambda ...) ...) is deprecated.
2187 ** An Emacs Lisp testing tool is now included.
2188 Emacs Lisp developers can use this tool to write automated tests for
2189 their code. See the ERT info manual for details.
2191 ** Changes for bidirectional display and editing
2193 *** New function `current-bidi-paragraph-direction'.
2194 This returns the base direction of the paragraph at point.
2196 *** New function `bidi-string-mark-left-to-right'.
2197 Given a string containing characters from right-to-left scripts, this
2198 function returns another string which can be safely inserted into a
2199 buffer, such that any following text will be always displayed to the
2200 right of that string. (This works by appending an invisible Unicode
2201 "LEFT-TO-RIGHT MARK" character if the argument string might need it.)
2203 This is useful when the buffer has overall left-to-right paragraph
2204 direction and you need to insert a string whose contents are not known
2205 in advance, without disrupting the layout of the line.
2209 *** Window tree functions are accessible in Elisp.
2210 Functions are provided to return the parent, siblings or child windows
2211 of any window including internal windows (windows not associated with a
2212 buffer) in the window tree.
2214 **** New function `window-valid-p' gives non-nil for live and internal
2217 **** Window manipulation can deal with internal windows.
2218 Many window handling functions like `split-window', `delete-window', or
2219 `delete-other-windows' as well as the window resizing functions can now
2220 act on any window including internal ones.
2222 *** window-total-height/-width vs window-body-height/-width.
2223 The function `window-height' has been renamed to `window-total-height'
2224 and `window-width' has been renamed to `window-body-width'. The old
2225 names are provided as aliases. Two new functions `window-total-width'
2226 and `window-body-height' are provided.
2228 *** Window parameters specific to window handling functions.
2229 For each window you can specify a parameter to override the default
2230 behavior of a number of functions like `split-window', `delete-window'
2231 and `delete-other-windows'. The variable `ignore-window-parameters'
2232 allows to ignore processing such parameters.
2234 *** New semantics of third argument of `split-window'.
2235 The third argument of `split-window' has been renamed to SIDE and can be
2236 set to any of the values 'below, 'right, 'above, or 'left to make the
2237 new window appear on the corresponding side of the window that shall be
2238 split. Any other value of SIDE will cause `split-window' to split the
2239 window into two side-by-side windows as before.
2241 *** Window resizing functions.
2242 A new standard function for resizing windows called `window-resize' has
2243 been introduced. This and all other functions for resizing windows no
2244 longer delete any windows when they become too small.
2246 *** Deleting the selected window now selects the most recently selected
2247 live window on that frame instead.
2249 *** `adjust-window-trailing-edge' adjustments.
2250 `adjust-window-trailing-edge' can now deal with fixed-size windows and
2251 is able to resize other windows if a window adjacent to the trailing
2252 edge cannot be shrunk any more. This makes its behavior more similar to
2253 that of Emacs 21 without compromising, however, its inability to delete
2254 windows which was introduced in Emacs 22.
2256 *** Window-local buffer lists.
2257 Windows now have local buffer lists. This means that removing a buffer
2258 from display in a window will preferably show the buffer previously
2259 shown in that window with its previous window-start and window-point
2260 positions. This also means that the same buffer may be automatically
2261 shown twice even if it already appears in another window.
2263 *** `switch-to-buffer' has a new optional argument FORCE-SAME-WINDOW,
2264 which if non-nil requires the buffer to be displayed in the currently
2265 selected window, signaling an error otherwise. If nil, another window
2266 can be used, e.g. if the selected one is strongly dedicated.
2268 *** `split-window-vertically' and `split-window-horizontally' renamed
2269 to `split-window-below' and `split-window-right' respectively.
2270 The old names are kept as aliases.
2274 **** The second arg to `display-buffer' and `pop-to-buffer' is now
2275 named ACTION, and takes a display action of the same form as
2276 `display-buffer-base-action' (see Changes, above). A non-nil,
2277 non-list value is treated specially, as the old meaning.
2279 **** New variable `display-buffer-overriding-action'.
2281 **** The procedure of `display-buffer' etc. to choose a window is
2282 determined by combining `display-buffer-overriding-action',
2283 `display-buffer-alist', the ACTION arg, `display-buffer-base-action',
2284 and `display-buffer-fallback-action'. The second and fourth of these
2285 are user-customizable variables.
2287 See the docstring of `display-buffer' for details.
2289 *** New functions `window-state-get' and `window-state-put'.
2290 These functions allow to save and restore the state of an arbitrary
2291 frame or window as an Elisp object.
2295 *** New variable `completion-extra-properties' used to specify extra
2296 properties of the current completion:
2297 - :annotate-function, same as the old completion-annotate-function.
2298 - :exit-function, function to call after completion took place.
2300 *** Functions on `completion-at-point-functions' can return any of the
2301 properties valid for `completion-extra-properties'.
2303 *** `completion-annotate-function' is obsolete.
2305 *** New `metadata' method for completion tables. The metadata thus returned
2306 can specify various details of the data returned by `all-completions':
2307 - `category' is the kind of objects returned (e.g., `buffer', `file', ...),
2308 used to select a style in completion-category-overrides.
2309 - `annotation-function' to add annotations in *Completions*.
2310 - `display-sort-function' to specify how to sort entries in *Completions*.
2311 - `cycle-sort-function' to specify how to sort entries when cycling.
2313 *** `minibuffer-local-filename-must-match-map' is not used any more.
2314 Instead, the bindings in `minibuffer-local-filename-completion-map'
2315 are combined with `minibuffer-local-must-match-map'.
2317 *** New variable `completing-read-function' allows overriding the
2318 behavior of `completing-read'.
2320 ** `glyphless-char-display' can now distinguish between graphical and
2321 text terminal display, via a char-table entry that is a cons cell.
2323 ** `pre-command-hook'/`post-command-hook' are not reset to nil on error.
2324 Instead, the offending function is removed.
2328 *** New function `run-hook-wrapped' for running an abnormal hook by
2329 passing the hook functions as arguments to a "wrapping" function.
2330 Like `run-hook-with-args-until-success', it stops at the first
2331 non-nil return value.
2333 *** New macro `with-wrapper-hook' for running an abnormal hook as a
2334 set of "wrapping" filters, similar to around advice.
2335 (A version of this macro was actually added in Emacs 23.2 but was not
2336 advertised at the time.)
2340 *** New macro `condition-case-unless-debug' (this was actually added in
2341 Emacs 23.1 as condition-case-no-debug, but not advertised)
2343 *** The macro `with-demoted-errors' was added in Emacs 23.1, but not advertised.
2345 *** Variable `stack-trace-on-error' removed.
2347 *** The debugger can now "continue" from an error, which means it will
2348 jump to the error handler as if the debugger had not been invoked
2349 instead of jumping all the way to the top-level.
2351 *** Set `debug-on-event' to enter the debugger on events like SIGUSR1.
2352 This can be useful when `inhibit-quit' is set.
2354 ** The new function `server-eval-at' allows evaluation of Lisp forms on
2355 named Emacs server instances.
2357 ** `call-process' and `call-process-region' allow a `(:file "file")' spec
2358 to redirect STDOUT to a file.
2360 ** The function `format-time-string' now supports the %N directive,
2361 for higher-resolution time stamps.
2363 ** New input reading functions
2365 *** New function `read-char-choice' reads a restricted set of
2366 characters, discarding any inputs not inside the set.
2368 *** The command `read-color' now requires a match for a color name
2369 or RGB triplet, instead of signaling an error if the user provides
2372 **** `facemenu-read-color' is now an alias for `read-color'.
2374 ** `image-library-alist' is renamed to `dynamic-library-alist'.
2375 The variable is now used to load all kind of supported dynamic libraries,
2376 not just image libraries. The previous name is still available as an
2379 ** Syntax parsing changes
2381 *** New variable `syntax-propertize-function'.
2382 This replaces `font-lock-syntactic-keywords' which is now obsolete.
2383 This allows syntax-table properties to be set independently from font-lock:
2384 just call syntax-propertize to make sure the text is propertized.
2385 Together with this new variable come a new hook
2386 syntax-propertize-extend-region-functions, as well as two helper functions:
2387 syntax-propertize-via-font-lock to reuse old font-lock-syntactic-keywords
2388 as-is; and syntax-propertize-rules which provides a new way to specify
2391 *** Syntax tables support a new "comment style c" additionally to style b.
2393 ** New hook `post-self-insert-hook', run after `self-insert-command'.
2395 ** frame-local variables cannot be let-bound any more.
2397 ** Major and minor mode changes
2399 *** `set-auto-mode' now respects mode: local variables at the end of files,
2400 as well as those in the -*- line.
2402 *** `prog-mode' is a new major mode from which programming modes
2405 **** `prog-mode-hook' can be used to enable features for programming
2406 modes, e.g. (add-hook 'prog-mode-hook 'flyspell-prog-mode) to enable
2407 on-the-fly spell checking for comments and strings.
2409 *** New hook `change-major-mode-after-body-hook', run by
2410 `run-mode-hooks' just before any other mode hooks.
2412 *** Enabled globalized minor modes can be disabled in specific major modes.
2413 If the global mode is global-FOO-mode, then run (FOO-mode -1) in the
2414 major mode's hook, where FOO-mode toggles the mode on a per-buffer basis.
2416 *** `define-minor-mode' accepts new keywords :variable, :after-hook.
2418 ** File-handling changes
2420 *** `delete-file' and `delete-directory' now accept optional arg TRASH.
2421 Trashing is performed if TRASH and `delete-by-moving-to-trash' are
2422 both non-nil. Interactively, TRASH defaults to t, unless a prefix
2423 argument is supplied (see Trash changes, above).
2425 *** New file predicates: `file-equal-p', `file-in-directory-p'.
2427 ** Tool-bars can display separators.
2428 Tool-bar separators are handled like menu separators in menu-bar maps,
2429 i.e. via menu entries of the form `(menu-item "--")'.
2433 *** Animated images support (currently animated gifs only).
2435 **** `image-animated-p' returns non-nil if an image can be animated.
2437 **** `image-animate' animates a supplied image spec.
2439 **** `image-animate-timer' returns the timer object for an image that
2442 *** `image-extension-data' has been renamed to `image-metadata'.
2443 The old name is an obsolete alias to the new one.
2445 *** Image mode can view any image type that ImageMagick supports.
2446 This requires Emacs to be built with ImageMagick support.
2448 **** New function `imagemagick-types', defined if ImageMagick support
2449 is enabled, returns a list of image file extensions that your
2450 ImageMagick installation supports.
2452 **** New function `imagemagick-register-types' enables ImageMagick
2453 image types in Image mode and in `create-image' and other helper
2456 **** New option `imagemagick-types-inhibit' excludes certain
2457 ImageMagick image types from `imagemagick-register-types'.
2459 **** With ImageMagick support, there are extra Image mode commands to
2460 resize and rotate images: `image-transform-fit-to-height',
2461 `image-transform-fit-to-width', `image-transform-set-rotation', and
2462 `image-transform-set-scale'.
2464 ** `compose-mail' now accepts an optional 8th arg, RETURN-ACTION, and
2465 passes it to the mail user agent function. This argument specifies an
2466 action for returning to the caller after finishing with the mail. For
2467 example, this is used by Rmail to optionally delete a mail window.
2469 ** XML and HTML parsing
2470 If Emacs is compiled with libxml2 support, there are two new
2471 functions: `libxml-parse-html-region' (which parses "real world" HTML)
2472 and `libxml-parse-xml-region' (which parses XML). Both return an
2473 Emacs Lisp parse tree.
2475 ** Networking and encryption changes
2477 *** `open-network-stream' can now be used to open an encrypted stream.
2478 It now accepts an optional `:type' parameter for initiating a TLS
2479 connection, directly or via STARTTLS. To do STARTTLS, additional
2480 parameters (`:end-of-command', `:success', `:capabilities-command')
2481 must also be supplied.
2483 *** New library gnutls.el.
2484 The new function `gnutls-available-p' returns non-nil if Emacs is
2485 built with GnuTLS support. The main entry points are
2486 `open-gnutls-stream' and `gnutls-negotiate'. It's easiest to use
2487 these functions through `open-network-stream', because that can
2488 upgrade connections through STARTTLS opportunistically or use plain
2489 SSL, depending on your needs. For debugging, set `gnutls-log-level'
2492 *** New primitive `secure-hash' that supports many secure hash algorithms:
2493 md5, sha1, sha2, sha224, sha256, sha384, and sha512. The lisp library
2494 sha1.el has been removed. The `sha1' feature is provided by default.
2498 *** New hook `isearch-update-post-hook' that runs in `isearch-update'.
2500 ** Progress reporters can now "spin".
2501 The MIN-VALUE and MAX-VALUE arguments of `make-progress-reporter' can
2502 now be nil, or omitted. This makes a "non-numeric" reporter. Each
2503 time you call `progress-reporter-update' on that progress reporter,
2504 with a nil or omitted VALUE argument, the reporter message is
2505 displayed with a "spinning bar".
2507 ** New variable `revert-buffer-in-progress-p' is true while a buffer is
2508 being reverted, even if the buffer has a local `revert-buffer-function'.
2510 ** New variables `delayed-warnings-list' and `delayed-warnings-hook'.
2511 If delayed-warnings-list is non-nil, the command loop calls
2512 `delayed-warnings-hook' after `post-command-hook'. At present, this
2513 is only used by Emacs on some platforms to display warnings during
2514 startup, which might otherwise not be noticed. This uses the
2515 functions `display-delayed-warnings' and `collapse-delayed-warnings'.
2517 ** rx.el has a new `group-n' construct for explicitly numbered groups.
2519 ** New function `make-composed-keymap' that constructs a new keymap
2520 from multiple input maps. You can use this to make a keymap that
2521 inherits from multiple maps, eg:
2522 (set-keymap-parent newmap (make-composed-keymap othermap parent))
2524 ** New function `string-prefix-p'.
2525 (This was actually added in Emacs 23.2 but was not advertised at the time.)
2527 ** New reader macro ## that stands for the empty symbol.
2528 This means that the empty symbol can now be read back. Also, #: by itself
2529 (when not immediately followed by a possible symbol character) stands for
2530 an empty uninterned symbol.
2532 ** New math functions `isnan', `copysign', `frexp', `ldexp'.
2534 ** The following functions and variables are obsolete:
2536 *** `tooltip-use-echo-area' is obsolete.
2537 Rather than setting this to t, disable Tooltip mode instead.
2539 *** buffer-substring-filters is obsolete.
2540 Use `filter-buffer-substring-functions' instead.
2542 *** `byte-compile-disable-print-circle' is obsolete.
2544 *** `deferred-action-list' and `deferred-action-function' are obsolete.
2545 Use `post-command-hook' instead.
2547 *** `font-lock-maximum-size' is obsolete.
2550 * Changes in Emacs 24.1 on non-free operating systems
2552 ** On MS Windows, Emacs warns when using the obsolete init file _emacs,
2553 and also when HOME is set to C:\ by default.
2555 ** New configure.bat options
2557 *** --enable-checking builds Emacs with extra runtime checks.
2559 *** --distfiles specifies files to be included in binary distribution.
2561 *** --without-gnutls disables automatic GnuTLS detection.
2563 *** --lib for general library linkage, works with the USER_LIBS build variable.
2565 ** New make target `dist' to create binary distribution for MS Windows.
2567 ** The Lisp function `w32-default-color-map' is now obsolete.
2568 (It is only used internally in the Emacs C code.)
2570 ** Customize ns-auto-hide-menu-bar to have the menu-bar hidden, but
2571 reappear on mouse-over. (Requires OS X 10.6 or later.)
2573 ** On Mac OS X, dragging a file into Emacs visits the file, like on
2574 other platforms, rather than inserting its contents into the buffer.
2577 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2578 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
2580 GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
2581 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
2582 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
2583 (at your option) any later version.
2585 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
2586 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
2587 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
2588 GNU General Public License for more details.
2590 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
2591 along with GNU Emacs. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
2596 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"