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1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
2 @c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997, 2000, 2001
3 @c Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
5 @node Display, Search, Registers, Top
6 @chapter Controlling the Display
7
8 Since only part of a large buffer fits in the window, Emacs tries to
9 show a part that is likely to be interesting. Display-control commands
10 allow you to specify which part of the text you want to see, and how to
11 display it.
12
13 @menu
14 * Faces:: How to change the display style using faces.
15 * Font Lock:: Minor mode for syntactic highlighting using faces.
16 * Highlight Changes:: Using colors to show where you changed the buffer.
17 * Highlight Interactively:: Tell Emacs what text to highlight.
18 * Trailing Whitespace:: Showing possibly-spurious trailing whitespace.
19 * Scrolling:: Moving text up and down in a window.
20 * Horizontal Scrolling:: Moving text left and right in a window.
21 * Follow Mode:: Follow mode lets two windows scroll as one.
22 * Selective Display:: Hiding lines with lots of indentation.
23 * Optional Mode Line:: Optional mode line display features.
24 * Text Display:: How text characters are normally displayed.
25 * Display Custom:: Information on variables for customizing display.
26 * Cursor Display:: Features for displaying the cursor.
27 @end menu
28
29 @node Faces
30 @section Using Multiple Typefaces
31 @cindex faces
32
33 When using Emacs with a window system, you can set up multiple
34 styles of displaying characters. Each style is called a @dfn{face}.
35 Each face can specify various attributes, such as the height, weight
36 and slant of the characters, the foreground and background color, and
37 underlining. But it does not have to specify all of them.
38
39 Features which rely on text in multiple faces (such as Font Lock mode)
40 will also work on non-windowed terminals that can display more than one
41 face, whether by colors or underlining and emboldening. This includes
42 the console on GNU/Linux, an @code{xterm} which supports colors, the
43 MS-DOS display (@pxref{MS-DOS}), and the MS-Windows version invoked with
44 the @option{-nw} option. Emacs determines automatically whether the
45 terminal has this capability.
46
47 You control the appearance of a part of the text in the buffer by
48 specifying the face or faces to use for it. The style of display used
49 for any given character is determined by combining the attributes of
50 all the applicable faces specified for that character. Any attribute
51 that isn't specified by these faces is taken from the @code{default} face,
52 whose attributes reflect the default settings of the frame itself.
53
54 Enriched mode, the mode for editing formatted text, includes several
55 commands and menus for specifying faces for text in the buffer.
56 @xref{Format Faces}, for how to specify the font for text in the
57 buffer. @xref{Format Colors}, for how to specify the foreground and
58 background color.
59
60 @cindex face colors, setting
61 @findex set-face-foreground
62 @findex set-face-background
63 To alter the appearance of a face, use the customization buffer.
64 @xref{Face Customization}. You can also use X resources to specify
65 attributes of particular faces (@pxref{Resources}). Alternatively,
66 you can change the foreground and background colors of a specific face
67 with @kbd{M-x set-face-foreground} and @kbd{M-x set-face-background}.
68 These commands prompt in the minibuffer for a face name and a color
69 name, with completion, and then set that face to use the specified
70 color. Changing the colors of the @code{default} face also changes
71 the foreground and background colors on all frames, both existing and
72 those to be created in the future. (You can also set foreground and
73 background colors for the current frame only; see @ref{Frame
74 Parameters}.)
75
76 Emacs 21 can correctly display variable-width fonts, but Emacs
77 commands that calculate width and indentation do not know how to
78 calculate variable widths. This can sometimes lead to incorrect
79 results when you use variable-width fonts. In particular, indentation
80 commands can give inconsistent results, so we recommend you avoid
81 variable-width fonts for editing program source code. Filling will
82 sometimes make lines too long or too short. We plan to address these
83 issues in future Emacs versions.
84
85 @findex list-faces-display
86 To see what faces are currently defined, and what they look like, type
87 @kbd{M-x list-faces-display}. It's possible for a given face to look
88 different in different frames; this command shows the appearance in the
89 frame in which you type it. Here's a list of the standard defined
90 faces:
91
92 @table @code
93 @item default
94 This face is used for ordinary text that doesn't specify any other face.
95 @item mode-line
96 This face is used for mode lines. By default, it's drawn with shadows
97 for a ``raised'' effect on window systems, and drawn as the inverse of
98 the default face on non-windowed terminals. @xref{Display Custom}.
99 @item header-line
100 Similar to @code{mode-line} for a window's header line. Most modes
101 don't use the header line, but the Info mode does.
102 @item highlight
103 This face is used for highlighting portions of text, in various modes.
104 For example, mouse-sensitive text is highlighted using this face.
105 @item isearch
106 This face is used for highlighting Isearch matches.
107 @item isearch-lazy-highlight-face
108 This face is used for lazy highlighting of Isearch matches other than
109 the current one.
110 @item region
111 This face is used for displaying a selected region (when Transient Mark
112 mode is enabled---see below).
113 @item secondary-selection
114 This face is used for displaying a secondary X selection (@pxref{Secondary
115 Selection}).
116 @item bold
117 This face uses a bold variant of the default font, if it has one.
118 @item italic
119 This face uses an italic variant of the default font, if it has one.
120 @item bold-italic
121 This face uses a bold italic variant of the default font, if it has one.
122 @item underline
123 This face underlines text.
124 @item fixed-pitch
125 The basic fixed-pitch face.
126 @item fringe
127 @cindex fringe
128 The face for the fringes to the left and right of windows on graphic
129 displays. (The fringes are the narrow portions of the Emacs frame
130 between the text area and the window's right and left borders.)
131 @item scroll-bar
132 This face determines the visual appearance of the scroll bar.
133 @item border
134 This face determines the color of the frame border.
135 @item cursor
136 This face determines the color of the cursor.
137 @item mouse
138 This face determines the color of the mouse pointer.
139 @item tool-bar
140 This is the basic tool-bar face. No text appears in the tool bar, but the
141 colors of this face affect the appearance of tool bar icons.
142 @item tooltip
143 This face is used for tooltips.
144 @item menu
145 This face determines the colors and font of Emacs's menus. Setting the
146 font of LessTif/Motif menus is currently not supported; attempts to set
147 the font are ignored in this case.
148 @item trailing-whitespace
149 The face for highlighting trailing whitespace when
150 @code{show-trailing-whitespace} is non-nil; see @ref{Trailing Whitespace}.
151 @item variable-pitch
152 The basic variable-pitch face.
153 @end table
154
155 @cindex @code{region} face
156 When Transient Mark mode is enabled, the text of the region is
157 highlighted when the mark is active. This uses the face named
158 @code{region}; you can control the style of highlighting by changing the
159 style of this face (@pxref{Face Customization}). @xref{Transient Mark},
160 for more information about Transient Mark mode and activation and
161 deactivation of the mark.
162
163 One easy way to use faces is to turn on Font Lock mode. This minor
164 mode, which is always local to a particular buffer, arranges to
165 choose faces according to the syntax of the text you are editing. It
166 can recognize comments and strings in most languages; in several
167 languages, it can also recognize and properly highlight various other
168 important constructs. @xref{Font Lock}, for more information about
169 Font Lock mode and syntactic highlighting.
170
171 You can print out the buffer with the highlighting that appears
172 on your screen using the command @code{ps-print-buffer-with-faces}.
173 @xref{PostScript}.
174
175 @node Font Lock
176 @section Font Lock mode
177 @cindex Font Lock mode
178 @cindex mode, Font Lock
179 @cindex syntax highlighting and coloring
180
181 Font Lock mode is a minor mode, always local to a particular
182 buffer, which highlights (or ``fontifies'') using various faces
183 according to the syntax of the text you are editing. It can
184 recognize comments and strings in most languages; in several
185 languages, it can also recognize and properly highlight various other
186 important constructs---for example, names of functions being defined
187 or reserved keywords.
188
189 @findex font-lock-mode
190 @findex turn-on-font-lock
191 The command @kbd{M-x font-lock-mode} turns Font Lock mode on or off
192 according to the argument, and toggles the mode when it has no argument.
193 The function @code{turn-on-font-lock} unconditionally enables Font Lock
194 mode. This is useful in mode-hook functions. For example, to enable
195 Font Lock mode whenever you edit a C file, you can do this:
196
197 @example
198 (add-hook 'c-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
199 @end example
200
201 @findex global-font-lock-mode
202 @vindex global-font-lock-mode
203 To turn on Font Lock mode automatically in all modes which support
204 it, customize the user option @code{global-font-lock-mode} or use the
205 function @code{global-font-lock-mode} in your @file{.emacs} file, like
206 this:
207
208 @example
209 (global-font-lock-mode 1)
210 @end example
211
212 Font Lock mode uses several specifically named faces to do its job,
213 including @code{font-lock-string-face}, @code{font-lock-comment-face},
214 and others. The easiest way to find them all is to use completion
215 on the face name in @code{set-face-foreground}.
216
217 To change the colors or the fonts used by Font Lock mode to fontify
218 different parts of text, just change these faces. There are
219 two ways to do it:
220
221 @itemize @bullet
222 @item
223 Invoke @kbd{M-x set-face-foreground} or @kbd{M-x set-face-background}
224 to change the colors of a particular face used by Font Lock.
225 @xref{Faces}. The command @kbd{M-x list-faces-display} displays all
226 the faces currently known to Emacs, including those used by Font Lock.
227
228 @item
229 Customize the faces interactively with @kbd{M-x customize-face}, as
230 described in @ref{Face Customization}.
231 @end itemize
232
233 To get the full benefit of Font Lock mode, you need to choose a
234 default font which has bold, italic, and bold-italic variants; or else
235 you need to have a color or gray-scale screen.
236
237 @vindex font-lock-maximum-decoration
238 The variable @code{font-lock-maximum-decoration} specifies the
239 preferred level of fontification, for modes that provide multiple
240 levels. Level 1 is the least amount of fontification; some modes
241 support levels as high as 3. The normal default is ``as high as
242 possible.'' You can specify an integer, which applies to all modes, or
243 you can specify different numbers for particular major modes; for
244 example, to use level 1 for C/C++ modes, and the default level
245 otherwise, use this:
246
247 @example
248 (setq font-lock-maximum-decoration
249 '((c-mode . 1) (c++-mode . 1)))
250 @end example
251
252 @vindex font-lock-maximum-size
253 Fontification can be too slow for large buffers, so you can suppress
254 it. The variable @code{font-lock-maximum-size} specifies a buffer size,
255 beyond which buffer fontification is suppressed.
256
257 @c @w is used below to prevent a bad page-break.
258 @vindex font-lock-beginning-of-syntax-function
259 @cindex incorrect fontification
260 @cindex parenthesis in column zero and fontification
261 @cindex brace in column zero and fontification
262 Comment and string fontification (or ``syntactic'' fontification)
263 relies on analysis of the syntactic structure of the buffer text. For
264 the sake of speed, some modes, including C mode and Lisp mode,
265 rely on a special convention: an open-parenthesis or open-brace in the
266 leftmost column always defines the @w{beginning} of a defun, and is
267 thus always outside any string or comment. (@xref{Left Margin
268 Paren}.) If you don't follow this convention, Font Lock mode can
269 misfontify the text that follows an open-parenthesis or open-brace in
270 the leftmost column that is inside a string or comment.
271
272 @cindex slow display during scrolling
273 The variable @code{font-lock-beginning-of-syntax-function} (always
274 buffer-local) specifies how Font Lock mode can find a position
275 guaranteed to be outside any comment or string. In modes which use the
276 leftmost column parenthesis convention, the default value of the variable
277 is @code{beginning-of-defun}---that tells Font Lock mode to use the
278 convention. If you set this variable to @code{nil}, Font Lock no longer
279 relies on the convention. This avoids incorrect results, but the price
280 is that, in some cases, fontification for a changed text must rescan
281 buffer text from the beginning of the buffer. This can considerably
282 slow down redisplay while scrolling, particularly if you are close to
283 the end of a large buffer.
284
285 @findex font-lock-add-keywords
286 Font Lock highlighting patterns already exist for many modes, but you
287 may want to fontify additional patterns. You can use the function
288 @code{font-lock-add-keywords}, to add your own highlighting patterns for
289 a particular mode. For example, to highlight @samp{FIXME:} words in C
290 comments, use this:
291
292 @example
293 (font-lock-add-keywords
294 'c-mode
295 '(("\\<\\(FIXME\\):" 1 font-lock-warning-face t)))
296 @end example
297
298 @findex font-lock-remove-keywords
299 To remove keywords from the font-lock highlighting patterns, use the
300 function @code{font-lock-remove-keywords}.
301
302 @node Highlight Changes
303 @section Highlight Changes Mode
304
305 @findex highlight-changes-mode
306 Use @kbd{M-x highlight-changes-mode} to enable a minor mode
307 that uses faces (colors, typically) to indicate which parts of
308 the buffer were changed most recently.
309
310 @node Highlight Interactively
311 @section Interactive Highlighting by Matching
312 @cindex highlighting by matching
313 @cindex interactive highlighting
314
315 It is sometimes useful to highlight the strings that match a certain
316 regular expression. For example, you might wish to see all the
317 references to a certain variable in a program source file, or highlight
318 certain parts in a voluminous output of some program, or make certain
319 cliches stand out in an article.
320
321 @findex hi-lock-mode
322 Use the @kbd{M-x hi-lock-mode} command to turn on a minor mode that
323 allows you to specify regular expressions of the text to be
324 highlighted. Hi-lock mode works like Font Lock (@pxref{Font Lock}),
325 except that it lets you specify explicitly what parts of text to
326 highlight. You control Hi-lock mode with these commands:
327
328 @table @kbd
329 @item C-x w h @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
330 @kindex C-x w h
331 @findex highlight-regexp
332 Highlight text that matches
333 @var{regexp} using face @var{face} (@code{highlight-regexp}).
334 By using this command more than once, you can highlight various
335 parts of the text in different ways.
336
337 @item C-x w r @var{regexp} @key{RET}
338 @kindex C-x w r
339 @findex unhighlight-regexp
340 Unhighlight @var{regexp} (@code{unhighlight-regexp}). You must enter
341 one of the regular expressions currently specified for highlighting.
342 (You can use completion, or choose from a menu, to enter one of them
343 conveniently.)
344
345 @item C-x w l @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
346 @kindex C-x w l
347 @findex highlight-lines-matching-regexp
348 @cindex lines, highlighting
349 @cindex highlighting lines of text
350 Highlight entire lines containing a match for @var{regexp}, using face
351 @var{face} (@code{highlight-lines-matching-regexp}).
352
353 @item C-x w b
354 @kindex C-x w b
355 @findex hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns
356 Insert all the current highlighting regexp/face pairs into the buffer
357 at point, with comment delimiters to prevent them from changing your
358 program. This key binding runs the
359 @code{hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns} command.
360
361 These patterns will be read the next time you visit the file while
362 Hi-lock mode is enabled, or whenever you use the @kbd{M-x
363 hi-lock-find-patterns} command.
364
365 @item C-x w i
366 @kindex C-x w i
367 @findex hi-lock-find-patterns
368 @vindex hi-lock-exclude-modes
369 Re-read regexp/face pairs in the current buffer
370 (@code{hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns}). The list of pairs is
371 found no matter where in the buffer it may be.
372
373 This command does nothing if the major mode is a member of the list
374 @code{hi-lock-exclude-modes}.
375 @end table
376
377 @node Trailing Whitespace
378 @section Trailing Whitespace
379
380 @cindex trailing whitespace
381 @cindex whitespace, trailing
382 @vindex show-trailing-whitespace
383 It is easy to leave unnecessary spaces at the end of a line without
384 realizing it. In most cases, this @dfn{trailing whitespace} has no
385 effect, but there are special circumstances where it matters.
386
387 You can make trailing whitespace visible on the screen by setting the
388 buffer-local variable @code{show-trailing-whitespace} to @code{t}. Then
389 Emacs displays trailing whitespace in the face
390 @code{trailing-whitespace}.
391
392 Trailing whitespace is defined as spaces or tabs at the end of a
393 line. But trailing whitespace is not displayed specially if point is
394 at the end of the line containing the whitespace. (Doing that looks
395 ugly while you are typing in new text, and the location of point is
396 enough in that case to show you that the spaces are present.)
397
398 @findex delete-trailing-whitespace
399 To delete all trailing whitespace within the current buffer's
400 restriction (@pxref{Narrowing}), type @kbd{M-x
401 delete-trailing-whitespace @key{RET}}. (This command does not remove
402 the form-feed characters.)
403
404 @vindex indicate-empty-lines
405 @vindex default-indicate-empty-lines
406 @cindex empty lines
407 Emacs can indicate empty lines at the end of the buffer with a
408 special bitmap on the left fringe of the window. To enable this
409 feature, set the buffer-local variable @code{indicate-empty-lines} to
410 a non-@code{nil} value. The default value of this variable is
411 controlled by the variable @code{default-indicate-empty-lines};
412 by setting that variable, you can enable or disable this feature
413 for all new buffers.
414
415 @node Scrolling
416 @section Scrolling
417
418 If a buffer contains text that is too large to fit entirely within a
419 window that is displaying the buffer, Emacs shows a contiguous portion of
420 the text. The portion shown always contains point.
421
422 @cindex scrolling
423 @dfn{Scrolling} means moving text up or down in the window so that
424 different parts of the text are visible. Scrolling forward means that text
425 moves up, and new text appears at the bottom. Scrolling backward moves
426 text down and new text appears at the top.
427
428 Scrolling happens automatically if you move point past the bottom or top
429 of the window. You can also explicitly request scrolling with the commands
430 in this section.
431
432 @table @kbd
433 @item C-l
434 Clear screen and redisplay, scrolling the selected window to center
435 point vertically within it (@code{recenter}).
436 @item C-v
437 Scroll forward (a windowful or a specified number of lines) (@code{scroll-up}).
438 @item @key{NEXT}
439 @itemx @key{PAGEDOWN}
440 Likewise, scroll forward.
441 @item M-v
442 Scroll backward (@code{scroll-down}).
443 @item @key{PRIOR}
444 @itemx @key{PAGEUP}
445 Likewise, scroll backward.
446 @item @var{arg} C-l
447 Scroll so point is on line @var{arg} (@code{recenter}).
448 @item C-M-l
449 Scroll heuristically to bring useful information onto the screen
450 (@code{reposition-window}).
451 @end table
452
453 @kindex C-l
454 @findex recenter
455 The most basic scrolling command is @kbd{C-l} (@code{recenter}) with
456 no argument. It clears the entire screen and redisplays all windows.
457 In addition, it scrolls the selected window so that point is halfway
458 down from the top of the window.
459
460 @kindex C-v
461 @kindex M-v
462 @kindex NEXT
463 @kindex PRIOR
464 @kindex PAGEDOWN
465 @kindex PAGEUP
466 @findex scroll-up
467 @findex scroll-down
468 @vindex next-screen-context-lines
469 To read the buffer a windowful at a time, use @kbd{C-v}
470 (@code{scroll-up}) with no argument. This scrolls forward by nearly
471 the whole window height. The effect is to take the two lines at the
472 bottom of the window and put them at the top, followed by nearly a
473 whole windowful of lines that were not previously visible. If point
474 was in the text that scrolled off the top, it ends up at the new top
475 of the window.
476
477 @kbd{M-v} (@code{scroll-down}) with no argument scrolls backward in
478 a similar way, also with overlap. The number of lines of overlap
479 across a @kbd{C-v} or @kbd{M-v} is controlled by the variable
480 @code{next-screen-context-lines}; by default, it is 2. The function
481 keys @key{NEXT} and @key{PRIOR}, or @key{PAGEDOWN} and @key{PAGEUP},
482 are equivalent to @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v}.
483
484 The commands @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v} with a numeric argument scroll
485 the text in the selected window up or down a few lines. @kbd{C-v}
486 with an argument moves the text and point up, together, that many
487 lines; it brings the same number of new lines into view at the bottom
488 of the window. @kbd{M-v} with numeric argument scrolls the text
489 downward, bringing that many new lines into view at the top of the
490 window. @kbd{C-v} with a negative argument is like @kbd{M-v} and vice
491 versa.
492
493 The names of scroll commands are based on the direction that the
494 text moves in the window. Thus, the command to scroll forward is
495 called @code{scroll-up} because it moves the text upward on the
496 screen. The keys @key{PAGEDOWN} and @key{PAGEUP} derive their names
497 and customary meanings from a different convention that developed
498 elsewhere; hence the strange result that @key{PAGEDOWN} runs
499 @code{scroll-up}.
500
501 @vindex scroll-preserve-screen-position
502 Some users like the full-screen scroll commands to keep point at the
503 same screen line. To enable this behavior, set the variable
504 @code{scroll-preserve-screen-position} to a non-@code{nil} value. This
505 mode is convenient for browsing through a file by scrolling by
506 screenfuls; if you come back to the screen where you started, point goes
507 back to the line where it started. However, this mode is inconvenient
508 when you move to the next screen in order to move point to the text
509 there.
510
511 Another way to do scrolling is with @kbd{C-l} with a numeric argument.
512 @kbd{C-l} does not clear the screen when given an argument; it only scrolls
513 the selected window. With a positive argument @var{n}, it repositions text
514 to put point @var{n} lines down from the top. An argument of zero puts
515 point on the very top line. Point does not move with respect to the text;
516 rather, the text and point move rigidly on the screen. @kbd{C-l} with a
517 negative argument puts point that many lines from the bottom of the window.
518 For example, @kbd{C-u - 1 C-l} puts point on the bottom line, and @kbd{C-u
519 - 5 C-l} puts it five lines from the bottom. @kbd{C-u C-l} scrolls to put
520 point at the center (vertically) of the selected window.
521
522 @kindex C-M-l
523 @findex reposition-window
524 The @kbd{C-M-l} command (@code{reposition-window}) scrolls the current
525 window heuristically in a way designed to get useful information onto
526 the screen. For example, in a Lisp file, this command tries to get the
527 entire current defun onto the screen if possible.
528
529 @vindex scroll-conservatively
530 Scrolling happens automatically when point moves out of the visible
531 portion of the text. Normally, automatic scrolling centers point
532 vertically within the window. However, if you set
533 @code{scroll-conservatively} to a small number @var{n}, then if you
534 move point just a little off the screen---less than @var{n}
535 lines---then Emacs scrolls the text just far enough to bring point
536 back on screen. By default, @code{scroll-conservatively} is 0.
537
538 @cindex aggressive scrolling
539 @vindex scroll-up-aggressively
540 @vindex scroll-down-aggressively
541 When the window does scroll by a longer distance, you can control
542 how aggressively it scrolls, by setting the variables
543 @code{scroll-up-aggressively} and @code{scroll-down-aggressively}.
544 The value of @code{scroll-up-aggressively} should be either
545 @code{nil}, or a fraction @var{f} between 0 and 1. A fraction
546 specifies where on the screen to put point when scrolling upward.
547 More precisely, when a window scrolls up because point is above the
548 window start, the new start position is chosen to put point @var{f}
549 part of the window height from the top. The larger @var{f}, the more
550 aggressive the scrolling.
551
552 @code{nil}, which is the default, scrolls to put point at the center.
553 So it is equivalent to .5.
554
555 Likewise, @code{scroll-down-aggressively} is used for scrolling
556 down. The value, @var{f}, specifies how far point should be placed
557 from the bottom of the window; thus, as with
558 @code{scroll-up-aggressively}, a larger value is more aggressive.
559
560 @vindex scroll-margin
561 The variable @code{scroll-margin} restricts how close point can come
562 to the top or bottom of a window. Its value is a number of screen
563 lines; if point comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of the
564 window, Emacs recenters the window. By default, @code{scroll-margin} is
565 0.
566
567 @node Horizontal Scrolling
568 @section Horizontal Scrolling
569 @cindex horizontal scrolling
570
571 @dfn{Horizontal scrolling} means shifting all the lines sideways
572 within a window---so that some of the text near the left margin is not
573 displayed at all. Emacs does this automatically in any window that
574 uses line truncation rather than continuation: whenever point moves
575 off the left or right edge of the screen, Emacs scrolls the buffer
576 horizontally to make point visible.
577
578 When a window has been scrolled horizontally, text lines are truncated
579 rather than continued (@pxref{Continuation Lines}), with a @samp{$}
580 appearing in the first column when there is text truncated to the left,
581 and in the last column when there is text truncated to the right.
582
583 You can use these commands to do explicit horizontal scrolling.
584
585 @table @kbd
586 @item C-x <
587 Scroll text in current window to the left (@code{scroll-left}).
588 @item C-x >
589 Scroll to the right (@code{scroll-right}).
590 @end table
591
592 @kindex C-x <
593 @kindex C-x >
594 @findex scroll-left
595 @findex scroll-right
596 The command @kbd{C-x <} (@code{scroll-left}) scrolls the selected
597 window to the left by @var{n} columns with argument @var{n}. This moves
598 part of the beginning of each line off the left edge of the window.
599 With no argument, it scrolls by almost the full width of the window (two
600 columns less, to be precise).
601
602 @kbd{C-x >} (@code{scroll-right}) scrolls similarly to the right. The
603 window cannot be scrolled any farther to the right once it is displayed
604 normally (with each line starting at the window's left margin);
605 attempting to do so has no effect. This means that you don't have to
606 calculate the argument precisely for @w{@kbd{C-x >}}; any sufficiently large
607 argument will restore the normal display.
608
609 If you scroll a window horizontally by hand, that sets a lower bound
610 for automatic horizontal scrolling. Automatic scrolling will continue
611 to scroll the window, but never farther to the right than the amount
612 you previously set by @code{scroll-left}.
613
614 @vindex automatic-hscrolling
615 To disable automatic horizontal scrolling, set the variable
616 @code{automatic-hscrolling} to @code{nil}.
617
618 @node Follow Mode
619 @section Follow Mode
620 @cindex Follow mode
621 @cindex mode, Follow
622 @findex follow-mode
623 @cindex windows, synchronizing
624 @cindex synchronizing windows
625
626 @dfn{Follow mode} is a minor mode that makes two windows showing the
627 same buffer scroll as one tall ``virtual window.'' To use Follow mode,
628 go to a frame with just one window, split it into two side-by-side
629 windows using @kbd{C-x 3}, and then type @kbd{M-x follow-mode}. From
630 then on, you can edit the buffer in either of the two windows, or scroll
631 either one; the other window follows it.
632
633 In Follow mode, if you move point outside the portion visible in one
634 window and into the portion visible in the other window, that selects
635 the other window---again, treating the two as if they were parts of
636 one large window.
637
638 To turn off Follow mode, type @kbd{M-x follow-mode} a second time.
639
640 @node Selective Display
641 @section Selective Display
642 @cindex selective display
643 @findex set-selective-display
644 @kindex C-x $
645
646 Emacs has the ability to hide lines indented more than a certain number
647 of columns (you specify how many columns). You can use this to get an
648 overview of a part of a program.
649
650 To hide lines, type @kbd{C-x $} (@code{set-selective-display}) with a
651 numeric argument @var{n}. Then lines with at least @var{n} columns of
652 indentation disappear from the screen. The only indication of their
653 presence is that three dots (@samp{@dots{}}) appear at the end of each
654 visible line that is followed by one or more hidden ones.
655
656 The commands @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} move across the hidden lines as
657 if they were not there.
658
659 The hidden lines are still present in the buffer, and most editing
660 commands see them as usual, so you may find point in the middle of the
661 hidden text. When this happens, the cursor appears at the end of the
662 previous line, after the three dots. If point is at the end of the
663 visible line, before the newline that ends it, the cursor appears before
664 the three dots.
665
666 To make all lines visible again, type @kbd{C-x $} with no argument.
667
668 @vindex selective-display-ellipses
669 If you set the variable @code{selective-display-ellipses} to
670 @code{nil}, the three dots do not appear at the end of a line that
671 precedes hidden lines. Then there is no visible indication of the
672 hidden lines. This variable becomes local automatically when set.
673
674 @node Optional Mode Line
675 @section Optional Mode Line Features
676
677 @cindex line number display
678 @cindex display of line number
679 @findex line-number-mode
680 The current line number of point appears in the mode line when Line
681 Number mode is enabled. Use the command @kbd{M-x line-number-mode} to
682 turn this mode on and off; normally it is on. The line number appears
683 before the buffer percentage @var{pos}, with the letter @samp{L} to
684 indicate what it is. @xref{Minor Modes}, for more information about
685 minor modes and about how to use this command.
686
687 @cindex narrowing, and line number display
688 If you have narrowed the buffer (@pxref{Narrowing}), the displayed
689 line number is relative to the accessible portion of the buffer.
690
691 @vindex line-number-display-limit
692 If the buffer is very large (larger than the value of
693 @code{line-number-display-limit}), then the line number doesn't appear.
694 Emacs doesn't compute the line number when the buffer is large, because
695 that would be too slow. Set it to @code{nil} to remove the limit.
696
697 @vindex line-number-display-limit-width
698 Line-number computation can also be slow if the lines in the buffer
699 are too long. For this reason, Emacs normally doesn't display line
700 numbers if the average width, in characters, of lines near point is
701 larger than the value of the variable
702 @code{line-number-display-limit-width}. The default value is 200
703 characters.
704
705 @cindex Column Number mode
706 @cindex mode, Column Number
707 @findex column-number-mode
708 You can also display the current column number by turning on Column
709 Number mode. It displays the current column number preceded by the
710 letter @samp{C}. Type @kbd{M-x column-number-mode} to toggle this mode.
711
712 @findex display-time
713 @cindex time (on mode line)
714 Emacs can optionally display the time and system load in all mode
715 lines. To enable this feature, type @kbd{M-x display-time} or customize
716 the option @code{display-time-mode}. The information added to the mode
717 line usually appears after the buffer name, before the mode names and
718 their parentheses. It looks like this:
719
720 @example
721 @var{hh}:@var{mm}pm @var{l.ll}
722 @end example
723
724 @noindent
725 @vindex display-time-24hr-format
726 Here @var{hh} and @var{mm} are the hour and minute, followed always by
727 @samp{am} or @samp{pm}. @var{l.ll} is the average number of running
728 processes in the whole system recently. (Some fields may be missing if
729 your operating system cannot support them.) If you prefer time display
730 in 24-hour format, set the variable @code{display-time-24hr-format}
731 to @code{t}.
732
733 @cindex mail (on mode line)
734 @vindex display-time-use-mail-icon
735 @vindex display-time-mail-face
736 The word @samp{Mail} appears after the load level if there is mail
737 for you that you have not read yet. On a graphical display you can use
738 an icon instead of @samp{Mail} by customizing
739 @code{display-time-use-mail-icon}; this may save some space on the mode
740 line. You can customize @code{display-time-mail-face} to make the mail
741 indicator prominent.
742
743 @cindex mode line, 3D appearance
744 @cindex attributes of mode line, changing
745 @cindex non-integral number of lines in a window
746 By default, the mode line is drawn on graphics displays with
747 3D-style highlighting, like that of a button when it is not being
748 pressed. If you don't like this effect, you can disable the 3D
749 highlighting of the mode line, by customizing the attributes of the
750 @code{mode-line} face in your @file{.emacs} init file, like this:
751
752 @example
753 (set-face-attribute 'mode-line nil :box nil)
754 @end example
755
756 @noindent
757 Alternatively, you can turn off the box attribute in your
758 @file{.Xdefaults} file:
759
760 @example
761 Emacs.mode-line.AttributeBox: off
762 @end example
763
764 @node Text Display
765 @section How Text Is Displayed
766 @cindex characters (in text)
767
768 ASCII printing characters (octal codes 040 through 0176) in Emacs
769 buffers are displayed with their graphics, as are non-ASCII multibyte
770 printing characters (octal codes above 0400).
771
772 Some ASCII control characters are displayed in special ways. The
773 newline character (octal code 012) is displayed by starting a new line.
774 The tab character (octal code 011) is displayed by moving to the next
775 tab stop column (normally every 8 columns).
776
777 Other ASCII control characters are normally displayed as a caret
778 (@samp{^}) followed by the non-control version of the character; thus,
779 control-A is displayed as @samp{^A}.
780
781 Non-ASCII characters 0200 through 0237 (octal) are displayed with
782 octal escape sequences; thus, character code 0230 (octal) is displayed
783 as @samp{\230}. The display of character codes 0240 through 0377
784 (octal) may be either as escape sequences or as graphics. They do not
785 normally occur in multibyte buffers, but if they do, they are displayed
786 as Latin-1 graphics. In unibyte mode, if you enable European display
787 they are displayed using their graphics (assuming your terminal supports
788 them), otherwise as escape sequences. @xref{Single-Byte Character
789 Support}.
790
791 @node Display Custom
792 @section Customization of Display
793
794 This section contains information for customization only. Beginning
795 users should skip it.
796
797 @vindex mode-line-inverse-video
798 The variable @code{mode-line-inverse-video} is an obsolete way of
799 controlling whether the mode line is displayed in inverse video; the
800 preferred way of doing this is to change the @code{mode-line} face.
801 @xref{Mode Line}. However, if @code{mode-line-inverse-video} has a
802 value of @code{nil}, then the @code{mode-line} face will be ignored,
803 and mode-lines will be drawn using the default text face.
804 @xref{Faces}.
805
806 @vindex inverse-video
807 If the variable @code{inverse-video} is non-@code{nil}, Emacs attempts
808 to invert all the lines of the display from what they normally are.
809
810 @vindex visible-bell
811 If the variable @code{visible-bell} is non-@code{nil}, Emacs attempts
812 to make the whole screen blink when it would normally make an audible bell
813 sound. This variable has no effect if your terminal does not have a way
814 to make the screen blink.@refill
815
816 @vindex no-redraw-on-reenter
817 When you reenter Emacs after suspending, Emacs normally clears the
818 screen and redraws the entire display. On some terminals with more than
819 one page of memory, it is possible to arrange the termcap entry so that
820 the @samp{ti} and @samp{te} strings (output to the terminal when Emacs
821 is entered and exited, respectively) switch between pages of memory so
822 as to use one page for Emacs and another page for other output. Then
823 you might want to set the variable @code{no-redraw-on-reenter}
824 non-@code{nil}; this tells Emacs to assume, when resumed, that the
825 screen page it is using still contains what Emacs last wrote there.
826
827 @vindex echo-keystrokes
828 The variable @code{echo-keystrokes} controls the echoing of multi-character
829 keys; its value is the number of seconds of pause required to cause echoing
830 to start, or zero meaning don't echo at all. @xref{Echo Area}.
831
832 @vindex ctl-arrow
833 If the variable @code{ctl-arrow} is @code{nil}, all control characters in
834 the buffer are displayed with octal escape sequences, except for newline
835 and tab. Altering the value of @code{ctl-arrow} makes it local to the
836 current buffer; until that time, the default value is in effect. The
837 default is initially @code{t}. @xref{Display Tables,, Display Tables,
838 elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
839
840 @vindex tab-width
841 Normally, a tab character in the buffer is displayed as whitespace which
842 extends to the next display tab stop position, and display tab stops come
843 at intervals equal to eight spaces. The number of spaces per tab is
844 controlled by the variable @code{tab-width}, which is made local by
845 changing it, just like @code{ctl-arrow}. Note that how the tab character
846 in the buffer is displayed has nothing to do with the definition of
847 @key{TAB} as a command. The variable @code{tab-width} must have an
848 integer value between 1 and 1000, inclusive.
849
850 @c @vindex truncate-lines @c No index entry here, because we have one
851 @c in the continuation section.
852 If the variable @code{truncate-lines} is non-@code{nil}, then each
853 line of text gets just one screen line for display; if the text line is
854 too long, display shows only the part that fits. If
855 @code{truncate-lines} is @code{nil}, then long text lines display as
856 more than one screen line, enough to show the whole text of the line.
857 @xref{Continuation Lines}. Altering the value of @code{truncate-lines}
858 makes it local to the current buffer; until that time, the default value
859 is in effect. The default is initially @code{nil}.
860
861 @c @vindex truncate-partial-width-windows @c Idx entry is in Split Windows.
862 If the variable @code{truncate-partial-width-windows} is
863 non-@code{nil}, it forces truncation rather than continuation in any
864 window less than the full width of the screen or frame, regardless of
865 the value of @code{truncate-lines}. For information about side-by-side
866 windows, see @ref{Split Window}. See also @ref{Display,, Display,
867 elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
868
869 @vindex baud-rate
870 The variable @code{baud-rate} holds the output speed of the
871 terminal, as far as Emacs knows. Setting this variable does not
872 change the speed of actual data transmission, but the value is used
873 for calculations. On terminals, it affects padding, and decisions
874 about whether to scroll part of the screen or redraw it instead.
875 It also affects the behavior of incremental search.
876
877 On window-systems, @code{baud-rate} is only used to determine how
878 frequently to look for pending input during display updating. A
879 higher value of @code{baud-rate} means that check for pending input
880 will be done less frequently.
881
882 You can customize the way any particular character code is displayed
883 by means of a display table. @xref{Display Tables,, Display Tables,
884 elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
885
886 @cindex hourglass pointer display
887 @vindex hourglass-delay
888 On a window system, Emacs can optionally display the mouse pointer
889 in a special shape to say that Emacs is busy. To turn this feature on
890 or off, customize the group @code{cursor}. You can also control the
891 amount of time Emacs must remain busy before the busy indicator is
892 displayed, by setting the variable @code{hourglass-delay}.
893
894 @findex tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors
895 On some text-only terminals, bold face and inverse video together
896 result in text that is hard to read. Call the function
897 @code{tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors} with a non-@code{nil}
898 argument to suppress the effect of bold-face in this case.
899
900 @node Cursor Display
901 @section Displaying the Cursor
902
903 @findex hl-line-mode
904 @cindex highlight current line
905 @findex blink-cursor-mode
906 @cindex cursor, locating visually
907 @cindex cursor, blinking
908 There are a number of ways to customize the display of the cursor.
909 @kbd{M-x hl-line-mode} enables or disables a minor mode which
910 highlights the line containing point. On window systems, the command
911 @kbd{M-x blink-cursor-mode} turns on or off the blinking of the
912 cursor. (On terminals, the terminal itself blinks the cursor, and
913 Emacs has no control over it.)
914
915 You can customize the cursor's color, and whether it blinks, using
916 the @code{cursor} Custom group (@pxref{Easy Customization}).
917
918 @vindex x-stretch-cursor
919 @cindex wide block cursor
920 When displaying on a window system, Emacs can optionally draw the
921 block cursor as wide as the character under the cursor---for example,
922 if the cursor is on a tab character, it would cover the full width
923 occupied by that tab character. To enable this feature, set the
924 variable @code{x-stretch-cursor} to a non-@code{nil} value.
925
926 @cindex cursor in non-selected windows
927 @vindex cursor-in-non-selected-windows
928 Normally, the cursor in non-selected windows is shown as a hollow box.
929 To turn off cursor display in non-selected windows, customize the option
930 @code{cursor-in-non-selected-windows} to assign it a @code{nil} value.