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1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes.
2
3 Copyright (C) 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 See the end of the file for license conditions.
5
6 Please send Emacs bug reports to emacs-pretest-bug@gnu.org.
7 If possible, use M-x report-emacs-bug.
8
9 This file is about changes in Emacs version 23.
10
11 See files NEWS.22, NEWS.21, NEWS.20, NEWS.19, NEWS.18, and NEWS.1-17
12 for changes in older Emacs versions.
13
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.
16
17 Temporary note:
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.
22
23 \f
24 * About external Lisp packages
25
26 \f
27 * Installation Changes in Emacs 23.1
28
29 ** The default X toolkit is now Gtk+, rather than Lucid.
30 The configure option `--with-gtk' has been removed. Gtk is now the
31 default toolkit, but you can use --with-x-toolkit=gtk if necessary.
32
33 ** New font code.
34 Fonts are handled by new code capable of dealing with multiple font
35 backends. This uses the freetype and fontconfig libraries.
36
37 *** Emacs now accepts font names supplied in the fontconfig format
38 (e.g. "monospace-12:bold") and GTK format (e.g. "Monospace Bold 12").
39
40 *** Added support for local fonts (fonts installed on the machine
41 where Emacs is running).
42
43 *** Added support for the Xft library for antialiasing.
44
45 *** Added support for the otf library for complex text layout by
46 OpenType fonts.
47
48 *** Added support for the m17n library for text shaping.
49
50 ** Changes to image support
51 ---
52 *** configure now checks for libgif before libungif when searching for
53 a GIF library.
54 +++
55 *** Emacs now supports the SVG image format through librsvg2.
56
57 *** Emacs now supports multi-page TIFF images.
58
59 ** New NeXTSTEP-based port
60 This provides support for GNUstep (via the GNUstep libraries) and Mac
61 OS X (via the Cocoa libraries).
62
63 Specify --with-ns to configure for this. By default, a self-contained
64 app will be built (containing all lisp). To install/share lisp with
65 other emacsen (e.g. X11 build) use --disable-ns-self-contained. See
66 nextstep/README and nextstep/INSTALL in the Emacs source directory.
67
68 ** Mac OS X is no longer supported via Carbon.
69 Use the NeXTSTEP port, described above.
70
71 ** The new configuration option "--with-dbus" enables D-Bus language
72 bindings for Emacs.
73
74 ** Support for many obsolete platforms has been removed.
75 See the list at the end of etc/MACHINES for details.
76 ---
77 *** Support for systems without alloca has been removed.
78 ---
79 *** Support for Sun windows has been removed.
80 ---
81 *** The `emacstool' utility has been removed.
82
83 ** The following platforms will be removed in a future Emacs version:
84 If you are still using Emacs on one of these platforms, please email
85 emacs-devel@gnu.org to inform the Emacs developers.
86
87 *** Old GNU/Linux systems based on libc version 5.
88
89 *** Old FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD systems based on the COFF
90 executable format.
91
92 *** Solaris versions 2.6 and below.
93
94 *** Solaris on IBM RS6000 machines.
95
96 *** UNIX System V (the original SysV, not later platforms based on it).
97
98 *** Unixware on non-x86 machines.
99
100 *** Platforms not supporting shared libraries (i.e., requiring the
101 NO_SHARED_LIBS compilation flag).
102
103 ---
104 ** The configure options `--with-gcc', `--without-gcc' have been removed.
105 Configure will use gcc by default. Set the CC environment variable if
106 you need control over which C compiler is used.
107
108 ** The refcards are now shipped as PDF files.
109
110 ---
111 ** Emacs 23 comes with a new set of default icons.
112 Various resolutions are available as etc/images/icons/hicolor/*/apps/emacs.png.
113 The Emacs 22 icon is available as `emacs22.png' in the same location.
114 \f
115 * Changes in Emacs 23.1
116
117 ** Improved X Window System support
118 +++
119 *** Emacs now supports using both X displays and ttys in one session.
120 With an Emacs server active (M-x server-start), `emacsclient -t'
121 creates a tty frame connected to the running emacs server. You can
122 use any number of different ttys. `emacsclient -c' creates a new X11
123 frame on the current $DISPLAY (or a tty frame if $DISPLAY is not set).
124
125 You can test for the presence of this feature in your Lisp code by
126 testing for the `multi-tty' feature.
127 +++
128 *** Emacs can now start in background, as a daemon when using the
129 --daemon command line argument. It disconnects from the terminal and
130 starts the server. Clients can connect and create graphical or
131 terminal frames using emacsclient.
132
133 *** The new command close-display-connection closes a connection to a
134 remote display.
135
136 *** Emacs now supports the XEmbed specification.
137 You can embed Emacs in another application on X11. The new command line
138 option --parent-id is used to pass the parent window id to Emacs. See
139 http://standards.freedesktop.org/xembed-spec/xembed-spec-latest.html
140 for details about XEmbed.
141
142 *** Emacs can now set the frame opacity.
143 The opacity of a frame can be controlled by setting the `alpha' frame
144 parameter. This only takes effect on a compositing window manager for
145 the X Window System, such as Compiz, Beryl and Compiz Fusion, or on
146 Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows.
147
148 The alpha parameter should be an integer between 0 (transparent) and
149 100 (opaque), or a float number between 0.0 and 1.0. It can also be a
150 cons cell (ACTIVE . INACTIVE), where ACTIVE is the opacity of an
151 active frame and INACTIVE is the opactity of non-active frames.
152
153 The variable `frame-alpha-lower-limit' defines a lower bound for the
154 opacity; the default is 20.
155
156 ** Internationalization changes
157
158 *** The Emacs character set is now a superset of Unicode.
159 (It has about four times the code space, which should be plenty).
160
161 The internal encoding used for buffers and strings is now
162 Unicode-based and called `utf-8-emacs'. This encoding is backwards
163 compatible with Unicode's UTF-8 encoding. The internal encoding
164 previously used by Emacs, `emacs-mule', is still available.
165
166 During byte-compilation, Emacs 23 uses `utf-8-emacs' to write files.
167 As a result, byte-compiled files containing non-ASCII characters can't
168 be read by earlier versions of Emacs. Files compiled by Emacs 20, 21,
169 or 22 are loaded correctly as emacs-mule (whether or not they contain
170 multibyte characters). This takes somewhat more time, so it may be
171 worth recompiling existing .elc files which don't need to be shared
172 with older Emacsen.
173
174 *** There are new coding systems/aliases; see M-x list-coding-systems.
175
176 *** There is a new charset implementation with many new charsets.
177 See M-x list-character-sets. New charsets can be defined conveniently
178 as tables of unicodes.
179
180 **** The dimension of a charset is now 1, 2, 3, or 4, and the size of
181 each dimension is no longer limited to 94 or 96.
182
183 **** A dynamic charset priority list is used to infer the charset of
184 characters for display.
185
186 *** There are new language environments for Chinese-GBK,
187 Chinese-GB18030, Khmer, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Oriya, Telugu,
188 Sinhala, and TaiViet.
189
190 *** The minor modes unify-8859-on-encoding-mode and
191 unify-8859-on-decoding-mode are obsolete.
192
193 *** `ucs-insert' is bound to `C-x 8 RET' and in addition to hex numbers
194 accepts numbers in hash notation (e.g. #o21430 for octal, or #10r8984 for
195 decimal). It also accepts Unicode character names with completion.
196
197 *** The `cyrillic-translit' input method supports many new characters.
198 Common typographical characters available from Unicode were added to
199 `cyrillic-translit': punctuation marks, accented characters, fractions,
200 and others.
201
202 ** Emacs now supports serial port access on GNU/Linux, Unix, and
203 Windows. The new command `serial-term' starts an interactive terminal
204 on a serial port. The serial port can be configured at runtime with
205 the mode-line mouse menu.
206
207 ** Menu Bar changes
208 ---
209 *** In the Options menu, the "Set Default Font" item applies the
210 selected font to the `default' face on all frames, not just the
211 current frame. Furthermore, if Emacs is compiled with both GTK and
212 Fontconfig support, the "Set Default Font" item uses the GTK font
213 selection dialog instead of an Emacs pop-up menu.
214 ---
215 *** The font setting chosen by "Set Default Font" is saved if the
216 "Save Options" item is used.
217
218 *** The Tools menu contains a new Encryption/Decryption submenu.
219 This contains commands provided by EasyPG, the newly-included
220 interface to GnuPG (see New Modes and Packages).
221 ---
222 *** In the Options menu, the "Truncate Long Lines in the Buffer" entry
223 has been replaced with a submenu offering three different ways to
224 handle long lines: truncation, continuation at the window edge, and
225 the new word wrapping behavior (see Editing Changes, below).
226
227 *** Improvements to menus for major and minor modes
228 More major and minor modes now have a mode specific menu, and existing
229 mode menus have been improved to include more functionality.
230
231 ** Mode-line changes
232 +++
233 *** The mode-line displays a `@', instead of `-', if the
234 default-directory for the current buffer is on a remote machine.
235 ---
236 *** The mode-line displays a mode menu when mouse-1 is clicked on a
237 minor mode, in the same way as it already did for major modes.
238
239 *** The `mode-line-emphasis' face is used to highlight certain
240 mode-line information (e.g. waiting for a VC command to finish).
241 ---
242 *** The mode-line tooltips have been improved to provide more details.
243 +++
244 *** The VC, line/colum number and minor mode indicators on the mode
245 line are now interactive: mouse-1 can be used on them to pop up a menu.
246
247 ** File deletion can make use of the Recycle Bin or system Trash folder.
248 Set `delete-by-moving-to-trash' non-nil to use this. Deleted files
249 and directories will then be sent to the Recyle Bin on Windows, and
250 to `trash-directory' on other systems.
251
252 +++
253 ** Directory-local variables can now be defined.
254 By default, Emacs looks in .dir-settings.el for directory-local
255 variables. For more information, see `set-directory-project' and
256 `define-project-bindings'.
257
258 ** Emacs can now use `auth-source' for authentication.
259 `smtpmail' and `url' (Tramp and Gnus also) use `auth-source' to obtain
260 login names and passwords. The match, if found, is reported
261 in *Messages* with the password blanked out.
262
263 ** `where-is-preferred-modifier' can specify your favorite modifier.
264
265 \f
266 * Startup Changes in Emacs 23.1
267
268 +++
269 ** The option `inhibit-startup-screen' (with aliases to old names
270 `inhibit-splash-screen' and `inhibit-startup-message') doesn't inhibit
271 display of the initial message in the *scratch* buffer. If you don't
272 want to display the initial message in the *scratch* buffer at startup,
273 you can set the option `initial-scratch-message' to nil.
274
275 ** New user option `initial-buffer-choice' specifies what to display
276 after starting Emacs: startup screen, *scratch* buffer, visiting a
277 file or directory.
278
279 ** New alias `argv' for `command-line-args-left'
280 This is a convenience alias, so that one can write `(pop argv)'
281 inside of --eval command line arguments in order to access
282 following arguments.
283
284 +++
285 ** The abbrev file is no longer read at startup in batch mode.
286
287 ** Emacs now supports invocation by an X session manager.
288 It can save a session and restore it later. See the documentation of
289 the functions `emacs-session-save' and `emacs-session-restore'.
290 (Actually, this feature was introduced with Emacs 22, but it was not
291 documented.)
292 \f
293 * Incompatible Editing Changes in Emacs 23.1
294
295 +++
296 ** In Dired, `dired-flag-garbage-files' is rebound from `&' to `%&'
297 on the regexp command prefix map.
298
299 +++
300 ** In Dired-x, all command guesses for ! are now added to the default
301 list accessible by M-n instead of pushing all guesses temporarily into
302 the history list.
303
304 +++
305 ** In Isearch mode, a special case of typing `C-w' at the beginning of
306 the minibuffer that toggles word search (i.e. using key sequences
307 `C-s RET C-w' or `C-s M-e C-w') is obsolete. You can use the global key
308 `M-s w' to start word search, or type `M-s w' in Isearch mode to
309 toggle word search.
310
311 ** In Text mode, `center-line' and `center-paragraph' are rebound
312 from `M-s' and `M-S' to global keys `M-o M-s' and `M-o M-S' on the
313 global prefix map `M-o' intended for such formatting commands.
314
315 ---
316 ** The following input methods were removed in Emacs 22.2, but this was
317 not advertised: danish-alt-postfix, esperanto-alt-postfix,
318 finnish-alt-postfix, german-alt-postfix, icelandic-alt-postfix,
319 norwegian-alt-postfix, scandinavian-alt-postfix, spanish-alt-postfix,
320 and swedish-alt-postfix. Use the versions without "alt-", which are
321 identical.
322
323 \f
324 * Editing Changes in Emacs 23.1
325
326 +++
327 ** The C-n and C-p line-motion commands now move by screen lines,
328 taking continued lines and variable-width characters into account.
329 Setting `line-move-visual' to nil reverts this to the previous
330 behavior (motion by logical lines based on buffer contents alone).
331
332 +++
333 ** C-x C-c now invokes `save-buffers-kill-terminal', and C-z now
334 invokes `suspend-frame'. This change is for compatibility with the
335 new multi-tty support (see `Improved X Window System support' above).
336
337 ** Mark changes
338 +++
339 *** Transient Mark mode is now on by default.
340 +++
341 *** mark-even-if-inactive now defaults to t
342 +++
343 *** When Transient Mark mode is on, C-SPC C-SPC pushes a mark without
344 activating it.
345 +++
346 *** When Transient Mark mode is on, M-q now fills the region if the
347 region is active. Otherwise, it fills the current paragraph.
348 +++
349 *** When Transient Mark mode is on, M-$ now checks spelling of the
350 region if the region is active. Otherwise, it checks spelling of the
351 word at point.
352 +++
353 *** When Transient Mark mode is on, TAB now indents the region if the
354 region is active.
355 +++
356 *** `use-empty-active-region' controls whether an empty active region
357 in Transient Mark mode should make commands operate on that empty
358 region.
359
360 ** Temporarily active regions
361 +++
362 *** The new variable shift-select-mode, non-nil by default, controls
363 shift-selection. When Shift Select mode is on, shift-translated
364 motion keys (e.g. S-left and S-down) activate and extend a temporary
365 region, similar to mouse-selection.
366 +++
367 *** Temporarily active regions, created using shift-selection or
368 mouse-selection, are not necessarily deactivated in the next command.
369 They are only deactivated after point motion commands that are not
370 shift-translated, or after commands that would ordinarily deactivate
371 the mark in Transient Mark mode (e.g., any command that modifies the
372 buffer).
373
374 ** Minibuffer and completion changes
375 +++
376 *** When M-n in the minibuffer reaches the end of the list of defaults,
377 it adds the completion list to the end, so next M-n continues putting
378 completion items to the minibuffer. The same principle applies to
379 incremental search commands as well: C-s or C-M-s starts searching
380 the default values and after the end of defaults they continue
381 searching minibuffer completion items.
382 ---
383 *** Minibuffer input of shell commands now comes with completion.
384 +++
385 *** In the `C-x d' (Dired) prompt, typing M-n gives the visited file
386 name of the current buffer.
387
388 *** In the M-! (shell-command) prompt, M-n provides some default commands.
389 These are guessed using the file extension of the current file, based
390 on the file-handlers specified in the operating system's `mailcap'
391 file. The ! command in Dired (dired-do-shell-command) works
392 similarly, using the file displayed on the current line.
393
394 *** A list of regexp default values is available via M-n for `occur',
395 `keep-lines', `flush-lines' and `how-many'. This list includes the active
396 region in transient-mark-mode, the word under the cursor, the last Isearch
397 regexp, the last Isearch string and the last replacement regexp.
398 ---
399 *** When enable-recursive-minibuffers is non-nil, operations which use
400 switch-to-buffer (such as C-x b and C-x C-f) do not fail any more when
401 used in a minibuffer or a dedicated window. Instead, they fallback on
402 using pop-to-buffer, which will use some other window. This change
403 has no effect when enable-recursive-minibuffers is nil (the default).
404 +++
405 *** Isearch started in the minibuffer searches in the minibuffer history.
406 Reverse Isearch commands (C-r, C-M-r) search in previous minibuffer
407 history elements, and forward Isearch commands (C-s, C-M-s) search in
408 next history elements. When the reverse search reaches the first history
409 element, it wraps to the last history element, and the forward search
410 wraps to the first history element. When the search is terminated, the
411 history element containing the search string becomes the current.
412
413 *** The variable read-file-name-completion-ignore-case overrides
414 completion-ignore-case for file name completion.
415
416 *** The variable read-buffer-completion-ignore-case overrides
417 completion-ignore-case for buffer name completion.
418 ---
419 *** `completion-styles' can be customized to choose your favorite
420 completion style.
421 ---
422 *** The default completion styles include a form of partial-completion.
423 ---
424 *** The new command `minibuffer-force-complete' chooses one of the
425 possible completions, rather than stopping at the common prefix.
426 +++
427 *** If `completion-auto-help' is `lazy', Emacs shows the completions
428 buffer only on the second attempt to complete. This was already
429 supported in `partial-completion-mode'.
430
431 ** Face changes
432 +++
433 *** S-down-mouse-1 now pops up a menu for changing the font and text
434 size of the default face in the current buffer. The face is changed
435 via face remapping (see below).
436
437 *** FIXME face-remap
438
439 ** Primary selection changes
440 +++
441 *** If `select-active-regions' is t, setting the mark automatically
442 makes the new region into the primary selection (for interaction with
443 other window applications). If you enable this, you might want to
444 bind `mouse-yank-primary' to Mouse-2.
445 +++
446 *** You can disable kill ring commands from accessing the primary
447 selection by setting `x-select-enable-primary' to nil.
448
449 ** Continuation lines can now be wrapped at word boundaries
450 (word-wrapping). This is controlled by the new per-buffer variable
451 `word-wrap'. Word wrapping does not take place if continuation lines
452 are not shown, e.g. if truncate-lines is non-nil. The most convenient
453 way to enable word-wrapping is using the new minor mode Visual Line
454 mode; in addition to setting `word-wrap' to t, this rebinds some
455 editing commands to work on screen lines rather than text lines. See
456 New Modes and Packages, below.
457
458 ** Window management changes
459
460 *** truncate-partial-width-windows now accepts integer values, which
461 specify a minimum window width for partial-width windows, below which
462 lines are truncated. The default has been changed to 50.
463
464 *** The new command balance-windows-area balances windows both
465 vertically and horizontally.
466
467 *** pop-to-buffer now always sets input focus when the popped-to window
468 is on a different frame.
469
470 ** Miscellaneous changes:
471 +++
472 *** C-l is bound to the new command recenter-top-bottom, rather than recenter.
473 This moves the current line to window center, top and bottom on
474 successive invokations.
475
476 *** scroll-preserve-screen-position also preserves the column position.
477 +++
478 *** If `yank-pop-change-selection' is t, rotating the kill ring also
479 updates the selection or clipboard to the current yank, just as M-w
480 would do so with the text it copies to the kill ring.
481 +++
482 *** C-M-% now shows replacement as it would look in the buffer, with
483 `\N' and `\&' substituted according to the match. Old behavior can be
484 restored by customizing `query-replace-show-replacement'.
485
486 *** The command shell prompts for the default directory, when it is
487 called with a prefix and the default directory is a remote file name.
488 This is because some file name handlers (like ange-ftp) are not able to
489 run processes remotely.
490 +++
491 *** The new command kill-matching-buffers kills buffers whose name
492 matches a regexp.
493
494 *** The new commands `pp-macroexpand-expression' and
495 `pp-macroexpand-last-sexp' pretty-print macro expansions.
496
497 *** The new command `set-file-modes' allows to set file's mode bits.
498 The mode bits can be specified in symbolic notation, like with GNU
499 Coreutils, in addition to an octal number.
500 +++
501 *** If you set find-file-confirm-nonexistent-file to t, then C-x C-f
502 requires confirmation before opening a non-existent file.
503
504 *** `next-error-recenter' specifies how next-error should recenter the
505 visited source file. Its value can be a number (for example, 0 for
506 top line, -1 for bottom line), or nil for no recentering.
507
508 \f
509 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 23.1
510
511 ** FIXME add details of new packages imported from lisp/gnus.
512 [Maybe some information from doc/misc/gnus-coding.texi can be reused]
513
514 ** Auto Composition Mode is a minor mode that composes characters
515 automatically when they are displayed. It is globally on by default.
516 It uses `auto-composition-function' (default `auto-compose-chars').
517
518 ** Bubbles, a new game, is similar to SameGame.
519
520 ** bug-reference.el provides clickable links to bug reports.
521
522 ** dbus.el provides D-Bus language bindings.
523 D-Bus is an inter-process communication mechanism for applications
524 residing on the same host. See the manual for details.
525
526 ** Doc View mode allows viewing of PDF, PostScript and DVI documents.
527 One can also search for a regular expression in the document. For
528 details, see the commentary in doc-view.el.
529
530 PDF and DVI files are now opened in Doc View mode by default.
531
532 In Postcript mode, C-c C-c launches Doc View minor mode for viewing
533 the postscript file.
534
535 ** EasyPG provides an interface to the GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG).
536 It includes a GnuPG keyring browser, cryptographic operations on
537 regions and files, and automatic encryption of *.gpg files. For
538 details, see the EasyPG Assistant User's Manual.
539
540 ** json.el is a library for parsing and generating JSON
541 (JavaScript Object Notation), a lightweight data-interchange format.
542
543 ** linum.el is a new minor mode to display line numbers for the
544 current buffer.
545
546 ** mairix.el is an interface to mairix, a free tool for indexing and
547 searching locally stored mail. It allows you to query mairix and
548 display the search results with Rmail, Gnus and VM. Note that there
549 is an existing Gnus back end, nnmairix.el, which should be used with
550 Maildir/MH setups.
551
552 ** minibuffer-depth-indicate-mode shows the minibuffer depth in the prompt.
553
554 ** nXML Mode
555 This is a new mode for editing XML documents. It allows a schema to
556 be associated with the XML document being edited, using Relax NG as
557 the schema language. The schema is used to provide two key features:
558
559 *** Continuous validation. nXML validates as you type, highlighting
560 any invalid parts of your document.
561
562 *** Completion. nXML can assist you in entering an element name,
563 attribute name or data value by using information about what is
564 allowed by the schema in that context.
565
566 ** proced.el provides a Dired-like interface for operating on processes.
567 Proced makes an Emacs buffer containing a listing of the current
568 processes (using ps(1)). You can use the normal Emacs commands to
569 move around in this buffer, and special Proced commands to operate on
570 the processes listed.
571
572 ** Remember Mode is a mode for jotting down things to remember.
573 Notes can be saved to a Diary file. For details, see the Remember
574 Manual.
575
576 ** RST mode is a major mode for editing ReSTructured-Text files.
577
578 +++
579 ** Visual Line mode provides support for editing by visual lines.
580 It turns on word-wrapping in the current buffer, and rebinds C-a, C-e,
581 and C-k to commands that operate by visual lines instead of logical
582 lines. This is a more reliable replacement for longlines-mode.
583 This can also be turned on using the menu bar, via
584 Options -> Line Wrapping in this Buffer -> Word Wrap
585
586 ** xesam.el is an implementation of Xesam, an interface to (desktop)
587 search engines like Beagle, Strigi, and Tracker. The Xesam API
588 requires D-Bus for communication.
589
590 ** zeroconf.el offers service discovery and service publishing
591 interfaces according to the zeroconf specification. It communicates
592 with Avahi, a zeroconf implementation, via D-Bus messages on systems
593 which have installed this software.
594
595 ** There is a new `whitespace' package.
596 (The pre-existing one has been renamed to `old-whitespace'.)
597 Now, besides reporting bogus blanks, the whitespace package has a
598 minor mode and a global minor mode to visualize blanks (TAB, (HARD)
599 SPACE and NEWLINE). The visualization is made via faces and/or display
600 table. It can also indicate lines that extend beyond a given column,
601 trailing blanks, and empty lines at the start or end of a buffer.
602 See `whitespace-style' for more details. The `whitespace-action' option
603 specifies what to do when a buffer is visited, killed, or written.
604
605 \f
606 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 23.1
607
608 ** Abbrev has been rewritten in Elisp and extended with more flexibility.
609 *** New functions: abbrev-get, abbrev-put, abbrev-table-get, abbrev-table-put,
610 abbrev-table-p, abbrev-insert, abbrev-table-menu.
611 *** Special hook `abbrev-expand-functions' obsoletes `pre-abbrev-expand-hook'.
612 *** `make-abbrev-table', `define-abbrev', `define-abbrev-table' all take
613 extra arguments for arbitrary properties.
614 *** New variable `abbrev-minor-mode-table-alist'.
615 *** `local-abbrev-table' can hold a list of abbrev-tables.
616 *** Abbrevs have now the following special properties:
617 `:count', `:system', `:enable-function', `:case-fixed'.
618 *** Abbrev-tables have now the following special properties:
619 `:parents', `:case-fixed', `:enable-function', `:regexp',
620 `abbrev-table-modiff'.
621
622 ** Apropos
623 *** `apropos-library' describes the elements defined in a given library.
624 *** Set `apropos-compact-layout' is you want a more compact (but wider) layout.
625
626 +++
627 ** Archive Mode has basic support to browse Rar archives.
628 Note, however, that the free version of the unrar command only handles
629 versions 1 and 2 of the Rar format.
630
631 ** BibTeX mode
632
633 *** New command `bibtex-initialize' (re)initializes BibTeX buffers.
634
635 *** New `bibtex-entry-format' options `whitespace', `braces', and
636 `string', disabled by default.
637
638 *** New variable `bibtex-cite-matcher-alist' contains rules to
639 identify cited keys in BibTeX entries, used by `bibtex-find-crossref'.
640
641 *** Command `bibtex-url' allows multiple URLs per entry.
642
643 ** Calendar and diary
644
645 +++
646 *** There is a new date style, `iso', essentially year/month/day.
647 The variable `european-calendar-style' is obsolete - use `calendar-date-style'.
648 Similarly, the commands `american-calendar' and `european-calendar'
649 should be replaced by `calendar-set-date-style'.
650
651 +++
652 *** The calendar namespace has been rationalized.
653 All functions and variables now begin with a `calendar-', `diary-', or
654 `holiday-' prefix. The various calendar systems have secondary
655 prefixes, eg `calendar-french-'. The old names you are likely to use
656 directly still exist, for the time being, as aliases, but please start
657 using the new names.
658
659 +++
660 *** The whitespace in the calendar layout can be customized.
661 See the variables:
662 calendar-left-margin, calendar-intermonth-spacing, calendar-column-width,
663 calendar-day-header-width, and calendar-day-digit-width.
664
665 +++
666 *** Text (e.g. ISO weeks) can be displayed between the calendar months.
667 See the variables calendar-intermonth-header and calendar-intermonth-text.
668
669 +++
670 *** The function `holiday-chinese' computes holidays on the Chinese calendar.
671 It has been used to add items to the list `holiday-oriental-holidays'.
672
673 ---
674 *** `diary-remind' accepts a negative number -DAYS as a shorthand for
675 the list (1 2 ... DAYS).
676
677 ** Change Log mode
678
679 *** The new command C-c C-f (change-log-find-file) finds the file
680 associated with the current log entry.
681
682 *** The new command C-c C-c (change-log-goto-source) goes to the
683 source code associated with a log entry.
684
685 ** Compile and grep modes
686 ---
687 *** The mode-line entry for the *compilation* and *grep* buffer is color coded.
688 It has different colors for to show that: (a) the command is still
689 running, (b) successful completion, (c) error.
690 +++
691 *** compilation-auto-jump-to-first-error tells `compile' to jump to
692 the first error encountered during compilations.
693 ---
694 *** The `cc' alias for C++ files in `grep-file-aliases' has been
695 improved. `hh' can be used to match C++ header files and `cchh' both
696 C++ sources and headers.
697
698 ** Copyright
699
700 *** You can specify your copyright holders' names.
701 Only copyright lines with holders matching `copyright-names-regexp' are
702 considered for update.
703
704 *** Copyrights can be at the end of the buffer.
705 This is controlled by `copyright-at-end-flag' (used by, e.g., change-log-mode).
706
707 ** Custom
708 +++
709 *** defcustom accepts new keyword arguments, `:safe' and `:risky', which
710 set a variable's `safe-local-variable' and `risky-local-variable' property.
711
712 ** Diff mode
713 +++
714 *** diff-refine-hunk highlights word-level details of changes in a diff hunk.
715 It's used automatically as you move through hunks, see
716 diff-auto-refine-mode. It is bound to `C-c C-b'.
717 +++
718 *** diff-add-change-log-entries-other-window iterates through the diff
719 buffer and tries to create ChangeLog entries for each change.
720 It is bound to `C-x 4 A'.
721 +++
722 *** The new function `diff-show-trailing-whitespaces' shows
723 trailing whitespace problems in the modified lines of a diff buffer.
724
725 ** Dired
726 +++
727 *** In Dired, C-x C-q now runs the command wdired-change-to-wdired-mode,
728 and C-x C-q in wdired-mode exits it with asking a question about
729 saving changes.
730 +++
731 *** `&' runs the command `dired-do-async-shell-command' that executes
732 the command asynchronously without the need to manually add ampersand
733 to the end of the command. Its output appears in the buffer `*Async Shell
734 Command*'.
735 +++
736 *** `M-s f C-s' and `M-s f M-C-s' run Isearch that matches only at file names.
737 When a new user option `dired-isearch-filenames' is non-nil, then even
738 ordinary Isearch started with `C-s' and `C-M-s' matches only at file names
739 in the Dired buffer. You can toggle file names matching on or off
740 by typing `M-s f' in Isearch mode.
741 +++
742 *** `M-s a C-s' and `M-s a M-C-s' run multi-file Isearch on the marked files.
743 They visit the first marked file in the sequence and display the usual Isearch
744 prompt for a string or a regexp where all Isearch commands are available.
745 ---
746 *** `Q' in Dired provides two new keys for multi-file replacement.
747 The upper case key `Y' replaces all remaining matches in all remaining files
748 with no more questions. The upper case key `N' stops doing replacements
749 in the current file and skips to the next file. These multi-file keys
750 are available for all commands that use `tags-query-replace'
751 including `dired-do-query-replace-regexp', `vc-dir-query-replace-regexp',
752 `reftex-query-replace-document'.
753
754 ** Fortran
755 +++
756 *** The line length of fixed-form Fortran is not fixed at 72 any more.
757 Customize the variable `fortran-line-length' to change it.
758
759 +++
760 *** In Fortran mode, M-; is now bound to the standard comment-dwim,
761 rather than fortran-indent-comment.
762
763 +++
764 *** (The increasingly misnamed) F90 mode supports Fortran 2003 syntax.
765
766 ** Gnus
767
768 *** The Gnus package has been updated
769 There are many news features, bug fixes and improvements; see the file
770 GNUS-NEWS or the node "No Gnus" in the Gnus manual for details.
771
772 *** In Emacs 23, Gnus uses Emacs' new internal coding system `utf-8-emacs' for
773 saving articles drafts and ~/.newsrc.eld. These file may not be read
774 correctly in Emacs 22 and below. If you want to Gnus across different Emacs
775 versions, you may set `mm-auto-save-coding-system' to `emacs-mule'.
776
777 *** Password are consistently loaded through `auth-source'
778 Gnus can use `auth-source' for POP and IMAP passwords. Also see that
779 `smtpmail' and `url' support `auth-source' for SMTP and HTTP/HTTPS/RSS
780 authentication respectively.
781
782 ** Help mode
783 *** New macro `with-help-window' should set up help windows better
784 than `with-output-to-temp-buffer' with `print-help-return-message'.
785
786 *** New option `help-window-select' permits to customize whether help
787 window shall be automatically selected when invoking help.
788
789 *** New variable `help-window-point-marker' permits to specify new
790 position of point in help window (for example in `view-lossage').
791
792 ** Isearch
793 +++
794 *** New command `isearch-forward-word' bound globally to `M-s w' starts
795 incremental word search. New command `isearch-toggle-word' bound to the
796 same key `M-s w' in Isearch mode toggles word searching on or off
797 while Isearch is active.
798
799 *** New command `isearch-highlight-regexp' bound to `M-s h r' in Isearch
800 mode runs `highlight-regexp' (`hi-lock-face-buffer') with the current
801 search string as its regexp argument. The same key `M-s h r' and
802 other keys on the `M-s h' prefix are bound globally to the command
803 `highlight-regexp' and other hi-lock commands.
804 +++
805 *** New command `isearch-occur' bound to `M-s o' in Isearch mode
806 runs `occur' with the current search string. The same key `M-s o'
807 is bound globally to the command `occur'.
808 ---
809 *** Isearch can now search through multiple ChangeLog files.
810 When running Isearch in a ChangeLog file, if the search fails,
811 then another C-s tries searching the previous ChangeLog,
812 if there is one (e.g. go from ChangeLog to ChangeLog.12).
813 This is enabled if multi-isearch-search is non-nil.
814
815 *** Two new commands to start Isearch on a list of marked buffers
816 for buff-menu.el and ibuffer.el are bound to the keys `M-s a C-s' and
817 `M-s a M-C-s'.
818 +++
819 *** The part of an Isearch that failed to match is highlighted in
820 `isearch-fail' face.
821
822 *** `C-h C-h' in Isearch mode displays isearch-specific Help screen,
823 `C-h b' displays all Isearch key bindings, `C-h k' displays the full
824 documentation of the given Isearch key sequence, `C-h m' displays
825 documentation of Isearch mode. All the rest Help commands exit Isearch mode
826 and execute their global definitions.
827 +++
828 *** When started in the minibuffer, Isearch searches in the minibuffer
829 history. See `Minibuffer changes', above.
830
831 +++
832 ** MH-E
833
834 *** Upgraded to MH-E version 8.1. See MH-E-NEWS for details.
835
836 ** Python
837 *** The file etc/emacs.py now supports both Python 2 and 3, meaning
838 that either version can be used as inferior Python by python.el.
839
840 *** Python mode now has `pdbtrack' functionality. When using pdb to
841 debug a Python program, pdbtrack notices the pdb prompt and displays
842 the source file and line that the program is stopped at, much the same
843 way as gud-mode does for debugging C programs with gdb.
844
845 ** Recentf
846
847 *** The default value of `recentf-keep' prevents from checking of
848 remote files, if there is no established connection to the
849 corresponding remote host.
850
851 ** TeX modes
852
853 *** New option latex-indent-within-escaped-parens
854 permits to customize indentation of LaTeX environments delimited
855 by escaped parens.
856
857 ** T-mouse Mode
858 ---
859 *** If the gpm mouse server is running and t-mouse-mode is enabled,
860 Emacs uses a Unix socket in a GNU/Linux console to talk to server,
861 rather than faking events using the client program mev. This C level
862 approach provides mouse highlighting and help echoing in the
863 minibuffer.
864
865 +++
866 ** Tramp
867
868 *** New connection methods.
869 The new methods "plinkx", "plink2", "psftp", "sftp" and "fish" have
870 been introduced. There are also new so-called gateway methods
871 "tunnel" and "socks".
872
873 *** Multihop syntax has been removed.
874 The pseudo-method "multi" has been removed. Instead of, multi hops
875 can be specified by the new variable `tramp-default-proxies-alist'.
876
877 *** More default settings.
878 Default values can be set via the variables `tramp-default-user',
879 `tramp-default-user-alist' and `tramp-default-host'.
880
881 *** Connection information is cached.
882 In order to reduce connection setup, information about used
883 connections are kept persistent in a file. The name of this file is
884 defined in the variable `tramp-persistency-file-name'.
885
886 *** Control of remote processes.
887 Running processes on a remote host can be controlled by settings in
888 `tramp-remote-path' and `tramp-remote-process-environment'.
889
890 *** Success of remote copy is checked.
891 When the variable `file-precious-flag' is set, the success of a remote
892 file copy is checked via the file's checksum.
893
894 *** Passwords can be read from an authentification file.
895 Tramp uses the package `auth-source' to read passwords from a file, if
896 necessary.
897
898 ** VC and related modes
899 +++
900 *** VC now supports applying VC operations to a set of files at a time.
901 This enables VC to work much more effectively with changeset-oriented
902 version-control systems such as Subversion, GNU Arch, Mercurial, Git
903 and Bzr. VC will now pass a multiple-file commit to these systems as
904 a single changeset.
905 +++
906 *** vc-dir is a new command that displays file names and their VC
907 status. It allows to apply various VC operations to a file, a
908 directory or a set of files/directories.
909 +++
910 *** Clicking on the VC mode-line entry now pops the VC menu.
911 +++
912 *** The VC mode-line entry now has a tooltip that explains the VC file status.
913 +++
914 *** In VC Annotate mode, for VC systems that support changesets, you can
915 see the diff for the whole changeset (not only for the current file)
916 by typing the D key. Using the "Show changeset diff of revision at
917 line" menu entry does the same thing.
918 +++
919 *** In VC Annotate mode, you can type v to toggle the annotation visibility.
920 +++
921 *** In VC Annotate mode, you can type f to show the file revision on
922 the current line.
923 ---
924 *** Asynchronous VC commands display [Waiting...] in the mode-line
925 of the corresponding buffer as long as the asynchronous process is
926 active.
927 +++
928 *** Log entries can be modified using the key "e" in log-view.
929 For now only CVS, RCS, SCCS and SVN support this functionality.
930 This is done by the `modify-change-comment' backend function.
931 +++
932 *** In log-view-mode, for VC systems that support changesets, you can
933 see the diff for the whole changeset (not only for the current file)
934 by typing the D key or using the "Changeset Diff" menu entry.
935 +++
936 *** In Log Edit mode, C-c C-d now shows the diff for the files involved.
937
938 *** vc-git supports the "git grep" command.
939 +++
940 *** VC Support for Meta-CVS has been removed for lack of maintainer able
941 to update it to the new VC.
942
943 ** Miscellaneous
944
945 *** comint-mode uses `start-file-process' now (see Lisp Changes).
946 If `default-directory' is a remote file name, subprocesses are started
947 on the corresponding remote system.
948
949 *** Eldoc highlights the function argument under point
950 with the face `eldoc-highlight-function-argument'.
951 +++
952 *** In Etags, the --members option is now the default.
953 Use --no-members if you want the old default behavior of not tagging
954 struct members in C, members variables in C++ and variables in PHP.
955 +++
956 *** The `gdb' command only works with the graphical interface now.
957 Use `gud-gdb' if you want the (old) text command mode.
958
959 *** goto-address.el provides two new minor modes, goto-address-mode and
960 goto-address-prog-mode, which buttonize URLS and email addresses.
961
962 *** The new command `eshell/info' runs info in an eshell buffer.
963
964 *** The new variable `ffap-rfc-directories' specifies a list of local
965 directories in which `ffap-rfc' will first search for RFCs.
966
967 *** hide-ifdef-mode allows shadowing ifdef-blocks instead of hiding them.
968 See option `hide-ifdef-shadow' and function `hide-ifdef-toggle-shadowing'.
969
970 *** `icomplete-prospects-height' now supercedes `icomplete-prospects-length'.
971
972 *** Info displays breadcrumbs in the header of the page.
973 See Info-breadcrumbs-depth to control it.
974
975 *** net-utils has an `iwconfig' command, similar to the existing `ifconfig'.
976 It is used to configure wireless interfaces.
977
978 *** The pcmpl-unix package supports hostname completion for ssh and scp.
979
980 *** sgml-electric-tag-pair-mode lets you simultaneously edit matched tag pairs.
981
982 *** smerge-refine highlights word-level details of changes in conflict.
983 It's used automatically as you move through conflicts, see
984 smerge-auto-refine-mode.
985
986 *** talk.el has been extended for multiple tty support.
987
988 *** A new command `display-time-world' has been added to the Time
989 package. It creates a buffer with an updating time display using
990 several time zones.
991
992 *** The appearance of superscript and subscript in TeX is more customizable.
993 See the documentation of the variables: tex-fontify-script,
994 tex-font-script-display, tex-suscript-height-ratio, and
995 tex-suscript-height-minimum.
996
997 *** view-remove-frame-by-deleting is now by default t
998 since users found iconification of view-mode frames distracting.
999
1000 *** WoMan tries to add locale-specific manual page directories to the
1001 search path. This can be disabled by setting `woman-locale' to nil.
1002
1003 \f
1004 * Changes in Emacs 23.1 on non-free operating systems
1005
1006 ** Case is now considered significant in completion on MS-Windows.
1007 The default value of `completion-ignore-case' is now nil on
1008 MS-Windows, the same as it is for other operating systems. The
1009 variable doesn't apply to reading a file name -- in that case Emacs
1010 heeds `read-file-name-completion-ignore-case' instead.
1011
1012 ---
1013 ** IPv6 is supported on MS-Windows.
1014 Emacs now supports IPv6 on Windows XP and later, and earlier versions
1015 of Windows with third party IPv6 stacks installed. In Emacs 22, IPv6 was
1016 supported on other platforms, but not on Windows due to using the winsock
1017 1.1 header file, even though Emacs was linking to the winsock 2 library.
1018
1019 ---
1020 ** Busy cursor (hourglass) now displays on MS-Windows.
1021 When Emacs is busy, an hourglass mouse cursor is displayed on Windows.
1022 In Emacs 22 only X supported the busy cursor.
1023
1024 ---
1025 ** Battery status is available on MS-Windows
1026 Emacs can now display the battery status in the mode-line when enabled with
1027 display-battery-mode or from the Options menu. More verbose battery
1028 information is also available with the command `battery'. In Emacs 22
1029 battery status was supported only on GNU/Linux and Mac.
1030
1031 ** More keys available on MS-Windows.
1032 Keys normally associated with IMEs, and some exotic keys not normally found
1033 on standard keyboards have been given names so they can be bound to functions
1034 inside Emacs. If there are keys on your keyboard that have not been exposed
1035 to Emacs in the past, try C-h k to see if they are available now.
1036
1037 Emacs can now bind functions to the extra buttons for media player and
1038 browser control present on some keyboards. These buttons are disabled
1039 by default, since enabling them prevents their system-wide use when
1040 Emacs has focus. To enable them, set the variable
1041 w32-pass-multimedia-buttons to nil. See the doc string of that variable
1042 for the list of extra keys that are available.
1043
1044 ** BDF fonts no longer supported on MS-Windows.
1045 The font backend was completely rewritten for this release. The focus
1046 on Windows has been getting acceptable performance and full unicode
1047 support, including complex script shaping for native Windows fonts. A
1048 rewrite of the BDF font support has not happened due to lack of time
1049 and developers. If demand still exists for such a backend even with
1050 the improved language support for native Windows fonts, future
1051 development in this direction will most likely be based on the
1052 freetype library, giving access to a wider range of font formats.
1053
1054 \f
1055 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 23.1
1056
1057 +++
1058 ** Variables cannot be both buffer-local and frame-local any more.
1059
1060 +++
1061 ** `functionp' returns nil for special forms.
1062 I.e., it only returns t for objects that can be passed to `funcall'.
1063
1064 +++
1065 ** The behavior of map-char-table has changed. It may call the
1066 specified function with a cons (FROM . TO) as a key if characters in
1067 that range have the same value.
1068
1069 ** Process changes
1070 +++
1071 *** The function `dired-call-process' has been removed.
1072 +++
1073 *** The multibyteness of process filters is now determined by the
1074 coding-system used for decoding. The functions
1075 `process-filter-multibyte-p' and `set-process-filter-multibyte' are
1076 obsolete.
1077
1078 ---
1079 ** The variable `byte-compile-warnings' can now be a list starting with `not',
1080 meaning to disable the specified warnings. The meaning of this list
1081 may therefore be the reverse of what you expect (of course, this is
1082 only an issue if you make use of the new `not' syntax). Rather than
1083 checking/manipulating elements directly, use the new functions
1084 `byte-compile-warning-enabled-p', `byte-compile-disable-warning', and
1085 `byte-compile-enable-warning.'
1086
1087 +++
1088 ** `mode-name' is no longer guaranteed to be a string.
1089 Use `(format-mode-line mode-name)' to ensure a string value.
1090
1091 ** Internationalization changes
1092
1093 *** The value of the function `charset-id' is now always 0.
1094
1095 *** The functions `register-char-codings' and `coding-system-spec'
1096 have been removed.
1097
1098 *** The cpXXX coding systems are now supported automatically.
1099 The functions cp-...-codepage, which you had to use in Emacs 22 to
1100 enable support for these coding systems, have been deleted.
1101
1102 *** The following features have been removed. They were used for
1103 displaying various scripts with specific fonts, and are no longer
1104 needed now that OpenType font support is available:
1105
1106 **** `devanagari' and `devan-util', and all associated devanagari-* and
1107 dev-* functions and variables (formerly used for Devanagari script).
1108
1109 **** `kannada' and `knd-util', and all associated kannada-* and knd-*
1110 functions and variables (formerly used for Kannada script).
1111
1112 **** `malayalam' and `mlm-util', and all associated malayalam-* and
1113 mlm-* functions and variables (formerly used for Malayalam script).
1114
1115 **** `tamil' and `tml-util, and all associated tamil-* and tml-*
1116 functions and variables (formerly used for Tamil script).
1117
1118 \f
1119 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 23.1
1120
1121 ** New coding system alias `emacs-internal'.
1122
1123 +++
1124 ** New primitives `list-system-processes' and `system-process-attributes'
1125 let Lisp programs access the processes that are running on the local
1126 machine. See the doc strings of these functions for more details.
1127 Not all platforms support accessing this information; on those that
1128 don't, these primitives will return nil.
1129
1130 +++
1131 ** New variable `user-emacs-directory'.
1132 Use this instead of "~/.emacs.d".
1133
1134 +++
1135 ** If a local hook function has a non-nil `permanent-local-hook'
1136 property, `kill-all-local-variables' does not remove it from the local
1137 value of the hook variable; it remains even if you change major modes.
1138
1139 +++
1140 ** `frame-inherited-parameters' lets new frames inherit parameters from
1141 the selected frame.
1142
1143 +++
1144 ** New keymap `input-decode-map' overrides like key-translation-map, but
1145 applies before function-key-map. Also it is terminal-local contrary to
1146 key-translation-map. Terminal-specific key-sequences are generally added to
1147 this map rather than to function-key-map now.
1148
1149 +++
1150 ** `ignore-errors' is now a standard macro (does not require the CL package).
1151
1152 +++
1153 ** `interprogram-paste-function' can now return one string or a list
1154 of strings. In the latter case, Emacs puts the second and following
1155 strings on the kill ring.
1156
1157 +++
1158 ** In `condition-case', a handler can specify "let the debugger run first".
1159 You do this by writing `debug' in the list of conditions to be handled,
1160 like this:
1161
1162 (condition-case nil
1163 (foo bar)
1164 ((debug error) nil))
1165
1166 +++
1167 ** clone-indirect-buffer now runs the clone-indirect-buffer-hook.
1168
1169 +++
1170 ** `beginning-of-defun-function' now takes one argument, the count
1171 given to `beginning-of-defun'.
1172
1173 +++
1174 ** `file-remote-p' has new optional parameters IDENTIFICATION and CONNECTED.
1175 IDENTIFICATION specifies which part of the remote identifier has to be
1176 returned. With CONNECTED passed non-nil, it is checked whether a
1177 remote connection has been established already.
1178
1179 +++
1180 ** The new macro `declare-function' suppresses compiler warnings about
1181 undefined functions.
1182
1183 ** Changes to interactive function handling
1184
1185 +++
1186 *** The new interactive spec code ^ says to first call
1187 handle-shift-selection if shift-select-mode is non-nil, before reading
1188 the command arguments. This is used for shift-selection (see above).
1189
1190 +++
1191 *** Built-in functions can now have an interactive specification that
1192 is not a prompt string. If the `intspec' parameter of a `DEFUN'
1193 starts with a `(', the string is evaluated as a Lisp form.
1194
1195 +++
1196 *** The interactive-form of a function can be added post-facto via the
1197 `interactive-form' symbol property. Mostly useful to add complex
1198 interactive forms to subroutines.
1199
1200 ** Region changes
1201
1202 +++
1203 *** Commands should use `use-region-p' to test whether there is
1204 an active region that they should operate on.
1205
1206 *** `region-active-p' returns non-nil when Transient Mark mode is
1207 enabled and there is an active region. This is NOT the best function
1208 to use to test whether a command should operate on the region instead
1209 of the usual behavior -- for that, use `use-region-p'.
1210
1211 +++
1212 *** If a command sets `transient-mark-mode' to (only . OLDVAL), that
1213 means to activate transient-mark-mode temporarily, until the next
1214 unshifted point motion command or mark deactivation. Afterwards,
1215 reset transient-mark-mode to the value OLDVAL. The values `only' and
1216 `identity', introduced in Emacs 22, are now deprecated.
1217
1218 ** Emacs session information
1219
1220 +++
1221 *** The new variables `before-init-time' and `after-init-time' record the
1222 value of `current-time' before and after Emacs loads the init files.
1223
1224 +++
1225 *** The new function `emacs-uptime' returns the uptime of an Emacs instance.
1226
1227 +++
1228 *** The new function `emacs-init-time' returns the duration of the
1229 Emacs initialization.
1230
1231 ** Changes affecting display-buffer
1232
1233 +++
1234 *** New value nil for split-height-threshold inhibits vertical splitting
1235 unless there's no other window.
1236
1237 +++
1238 *** New option split-width-threshold controls horizontal splitting.
1239
1240 +++
1241 *** A window can be split horizontally even when it's not full-width.
1242
1243 +++
1244 *** New option split-window-preferred-function can be set to a function
1245 to override the default splitting mechanism of display-buffer.
1246
1247 +++
1248 *** If pop-up-frames has the value `graphic-only', display-buffer only
1249 makes a separate frame on graphic displays.
1250
1251 *** select-frame and set-frame-selected-window have new optional
1252 argument NORECORD. If non-nil, this will avoid messing with the order
1253 of recently selected windows and the buffer list.
1254
1255 ** Window parameters can now be defined.
1256 These are analogous to frame parameters, but are associated with
1257 individual windows.
1258 +++
1259 *** The new functions window-parameters, window-parameter, and
1260 set-window-parameter are used to query and set window parameters.
1261
1262 ** Minibuffer and completion changes
1263 +++
1264 *** A list of default values can be specified for the DEFAULT argument of
1265 functions `read-from-minibuffer', `read-string', `read-command',
1266 `read-variable', `read-buffer', `completing-read'. Elements of this list
1267 are available for inserting into the minibuffer by typing `M-n'.
1268 For empty input these functions return the first element of this list.
1269
1270 +++
1271 *** New function `read-regexp' uses the regexp history and some useful
1272 regexp defaults (string at point, last Isearch/replacement regexp/string)
1273 via M-n when reading a regexp in the minibuffer.
1274
1275 +++
1276 *** minibuffer-local-must-match-filename-map is now named
1277 minibuffer-local-filename-must-match-map.
1278
1279 ---
1280 *** `all-completions' may now return the base size in the last cdr.
1281 Since this means the returned list is not properly nil-terminated, this
1282 is an incompatible change and is thus enabled by the new variable
1283 completion-all-completions-with-base-size.
1284
1285 +++
1286 *** The `require-match' argument to `completing-read' accepts a new value
1287 `confirm-only'.
1288
1289 ** Search and replacement changes
1290 +++
1291 *** The regexp form \(?<num>:<regexp>\) specifies the group number explicitly.
1292 +++
1293 *** New function `match-substitute-replacement' returns the result of
1294 `replace-match' without actually using it in the buffer.
1295
1296 +++
1297 *** The new variable `replace-search-function' determines the function
1298 to use for searching in query-replace and replace-string. The
1299 function it specifies is called by `perform-replace' when its 4th
1300 argument is nil.
1301
1302 +++
1303 *** The new variable `replace-re-search-function' determines the
1304 function to use for searching in `query-replace-regexp',
1305 `replace-regexp', `query-replace-regexp-eval', and
1306 `map-query-replace-regexp'. The function it specifies is called by
1307 `perform-replace' when its 4th argument is non-nil.
1308
1309 +++
1310 *** New keymap `search-map' bound to `M-s' provides global bindings
1311 for search related commands.
1312
1313 +++
1314 *** New keymap `multi-query-replace-map' contains additonal keys bound
1315 to `automatic-all' and `exit-current' for multi-buffer interactive replacement.
1316
1317 ---
1318 *** The variable `inhibit-changing-match-data', if non-nil, prevents
1319 the search and match primitives from changing the match data.
1320
1321 ---
1322 *** New functions `word-search-forward-lax' and `word-search-backward-lax'.
1323 These are like `word-search-forward and `word-search-backward', except
1324 that the end of the search string need not match a word boundary,
1325 unless it ends in whitespace.
1326
1327 ** File handling changes
1328
1329 +++
1330 *** set-file-modes is now interactive and can take the mode value in
1331 symbolic notation thanks to auxiliary functions.
1332 +++
1333 *** file-local-variables-alist stores an alist of file-local
1334 variables defined in the current buffer.
1335
1336 ** Process changes
1337 +++
1338 *** The new function `start-file-process' is similar to `start-process',
1339 but obeys file handlers. The file handler is chosen based on
1340 `default-directory'. The functions `start-file-process-shell-command'
1341 and `process-file-shell-command' are also new; they call internally
1342 `start-file-process' and `process-file', respectively.
1343
1344 +++
1345 *** The new function `process-lines' executes an external program and
1346 returns its output as a list of lines.
1347
1348 ** Character code, representation, and charset changes.
1349
1350 +++
1351 The character code space is now 0x0..0x3FFFFF with no gap.
1352 Characters of code 0x0..0x10FFFF are Unicode characters of the same code points.
1353 Characters of code 0x3FFF80..0x3FFFFF are raw 8-bit bytes.
1354
1355 +++
1356 Generic characters no longer exist.
1357
1358 +++
1359 In buffers and strings, characters are represented by UTF-8 byte
1360 sequences in a multibyte buffer/string.
1361
1362 The concept of a charset has changed. A single character may belong
1363 to multiple charsets (e.g. a-grave, U+00E0, belongs to charsets
1364 unicode, iso-8859-1, iso-8859-3, etc).
1365
1366 *** The functions `split-char' and `make-char' now accept up to 4
1367 positional codes instead of just 2.
1368
1369 *** The functions `encode-char' and `decode-char' now accept any character sets.
1370
1371 *** The function `define-charset' now accepts a completely different
1372 form of arguments (old-style arguments still work).
1373
1374 *** The value of the function `char-charset' depends on the current
1375 priorities of charsets.
1376
1377 *** The function get-char-code-property now accepts many Unicode base
1378 character properties. They are `name', `general-category',
1379 `canonical-combining-class', `bidi-class', `decomposition',
1380 `decimal-digit-value', `digit-value', `numeric-value', `mirrored',
1381 `old-name', `iso-10646-comment', `uppercase', `lowercase', and
1382 `titlecase'.
1383
1384 *** The functions `modify-syntax-entry' and `modify-category-entry' now
1385 accept a cons of characters as the first argument, and modify all
1386 entries in that range of characters.
1387
1388 +++
1389 *** `translation-table-for-input' is now obsolete.
1390
1391 *** New functions:
1392
1393 **** `characterp' returns t if and only if the argument is a character.
1394 This replaces `char-valid-p', which is now obsolete.
1395
1396 **** `max-char' returns the maximum character code (currently #x3FFFFF).
1397
1398 **** `define-charset-alias' defines an alias of a charset.
1399
1400 **** `set-charset-priority' sets priorities of charsets.
1401
1402 **** `charset-priority-list' returns a prioritized list of charsets.
1403
1404 **** `unibyte-string' makes a unibyte string from bytes.
1405
1406 **** `define-char-code-property' defines a character code property.
1407
1408 **** `char-code-property-description' returns the description string of
1409 a character code property.
1410
1411 *** New variables:
1412
1413 **** `find-word-boundary-function-table' is a char-table of functions to
1414 search for a word boundary.
1415
1416 **** `char-script-table' is a char-table of script names.
1417
1418 **** `char-width-table' is a char-table of character widths.
1419
1420 **** `print-charset-text-property' controls how to handle `charset' text
1421 property on printing a string.
1422
1423 **** `printable-chars' is a char-table of printable characters.
1424
1425 ** Code conversion changes
1426
1427 *** The new function `define-coding-system' should be used to define a
1428 coding system instead of `make-coding-system' (which is now obsolete).
1429
1430 *** The functions `encode-coding-region' and `decode-coding-region'
1431 have an optional 4th argument to specify where the result of
1432 conversion should go.
1433
1434 *** The functions `encode-coding-string' and `decode-coding-string'
1435 have an optional 4th argument specifying a buffer to store the result
1436 of conversion.
1437
1438 *** The functions `set-coding-priority' and `make-coding-system' are obsolete.
1439
1440 *** New functions:
1441
1442 **** `with-coding-priority' executes Lisp code using the specified
1443 coding system priority order.
1444
1445 **** `check-coding-systems-region' checks if the text in the region is
1446 encodable by the specified coding systems.
1447
1448 **** `coding-system-aliases' returns a list of aliases of a coding system.
1449
1450 **** `coding-system-charset-list' returns a list of charsets supported
1451 by a coding system.
1452
1453 **** `coding-system-priority-list' returns a list of coding systems
1454 ordered by their priorities.
1455
1456 **** `set-coding-system-priority' sets priorities of coding systems.
1457
1458 ** There is a new input method, Robin, different from Quail.
1459 It has three functionalities:
1460 i) a simple input method (converts an ASCII sequence into a string).
1461 ii) converts an existing buffer substring into another string
1462 iii) reverse conversion (each character produced by a
1463 robin rule can hold the original ASCII sequence as a char-code-property)
1464
1465 *** The new function `robin-define-package' defines a Robin package.
1466
1467 *** The new function `robin-modify-package' modifies an existing Robin package.
1468
1469 *** The new function `robin-use-package' starts using a Robin package
1470 as an input method.
1471
1472 *** The new function `string-to-unibyte' is like `string-as-unibyte'
1473 but signals an error if STRING contains a non-ASCII, non-eight-bit
1474 character.
1475
1476 ** Changes related to the new font backend
1477
1478 Which font backends to use can be specified by the X resource "FontBackend".
1479 For instance, to use both X core fonts and Xft fonts:
1480
1481 Emacs.FontBackend: x,xft
1482
1483 If this resource is not set, Emacs tries to use all font backends
1484 available on your graphic device.
1485
1486 *** New frame parameter `font-backend' specifies a list of
1487 font-backends supported by the frame's graphic device. On X, they are
1488 currently `x' and `xft'.
1489
1490 *** The function `set-fontset-font' now accepts a script name as the
1491 second argument, and has an optional 5th argument to control how to
1492 set the font.
1493
1494 *** New functions:
1495
1496 **** `fontp' checks if the argument is a font-spec or font-entity.
1497
1498 **** `font-spec' creates a new font-spec object.
1499
1500 **** `font-get' returns a font property value.
1501
1502 **** `font-put' sets a font property value.
1503
1504 **** `font-face-attributes' returns a plist of face attributes set by a font.
1505
1506 **** `list-fonts' returns a list of font-entities matching a font spec.
1507
1508 **** `font-font' returns the font-entity best matching the given font spec.
1509
1510 **** `list-families' returns a list of family names of available fonts.
1511
1512 **** `font-xlfd-name' returns an XLFD name of a given font spec, font
1513 entity, or font object.
1514
1515 **** `clear-font-cache' clears all font caches.
1516
1517 ** Changes related to multiple-terminal (multi-tty) support
1518
1519 *** $TERM is now set to `dumb' for subprocesses. If you want to know the
1520 $TERM inherited by Emacs you will have to look inside initial-environment.
1521
1522 *** $DISPLAY is now dynamically inherited from the frame's `display'.
1523
1524 *** The `window-system' variable is now frame-local. The new
1525 `initial-window-system' variable contains the `window-system' value
1526 for the first frame. `window-system' is also now a function that
1527 takes a frame argument.
1528
1529 *** The `keyboard-translate-table' variable and the terminal and
1530 keyboard coding systems are now terminal-local.
1531
1532 *** You can specify a terminal device (`tty' parameter) and a terminal
1533 type (`tty-type' parameter) to `make-terminal-frame'.
1534
1535 *** The function `make-frame-on-display' now works during a tty
1536 session, and `make-frame-on-tty' works during a graphical session.
1537
1538 *** A new data type for terminals with functions: `get-device-terminal',
1539 `terminal-parameters', `terminal-parameter', `set-terminal-parameter'.
1540
1541 *** Function key sequences are now mapped using `local-function-key-map',
1542 a new variable. This inherits from the global variable function-key-map,
1543 which is not used directly any more.
1544
1545 *** New hooks:
1546
1547 +++
1548 **** before-hack-local-variables-hook is called after setting new
1549 variable file-local-variables-alist, and before actually applying the
1550 file-local variables.
1551
1552 **** `suspend-tty-functions' and `resume-tty-functions' are called
1553 after a tty frame has been suspended or resumed, respectively. The
1554 functions are called with the terminal id of the frame being
1555 suspended/resumed as a parameter.
1556
1557 **** The special hook `delete-terminal-functions' is called before
1558 deleting a terminal.
1559
1560 *** New functions:
1561
1562 **** `environment'
1563
1564 **** `make-frame-on-tty' creates a new frame on another tty device.
1565
1566 **** `delete-tty'
1567
1568 **** `suspend-tty'
1569
1570 **** `resume-tty'.
1571
1572 *** `initial-environment' holds the environment inherited from Emacs's parent.
1573
1574 ** Redisplay changes
1575
1576 *** For underlined characters, the distance between the underline and
1577 the baseline is controlled by a new variable, `underline-minimum-offset'.
1578
1579 *** You can now pass the value of the `invisible' property to
1580 invisible-p to check whether it would cause the text to be invisible.
1581 Convenient when checking invisibility of text with no buffer position
1582 (e.g. in before/after-strings).
1583
1584 +++
1585 *** `clear-image-cache' can be told to flush only images of a specific file.
1586
1587 *** `vertical-motion' can now be given a goal column.
1588 It now accepts a cons cell (COLS . LINES) in its first argument, which
1589 says to stop, where possible, at a pixel x-position equal to COLS
1590 times the default column width.
1591
1592 *** redisplay-end-trigger-functions, set-window-redisplay-end-trigger,
1593 and window-redisplay-end-trigger are obsolete. Use `jit-lock-register'
1594 instead.
1595
1596 ** The Lisp interpreter now treats non-breaking space as whitespace.
1597
1598 ** Miscellaneous new functions
1599
1600 +++
1601 *** `format-seconds' converts a number of seconds into a readable
1602 string of days, hours, etc.
1603
1604 +++
1605 *** `apply-partially' performs a "curried" application of a function.
1606
1607 +++
1608 *** `read-shell-command' does what its name says, with completion. It
1609 uses the minibuffer-local-shell-command-map for that.
1610
1611 +++
1612 *** `buffer-swap-text' swaps text between two buffers. This can be
1613 useful for modes such as tar-mode, archive-mode, RMAIL.
1614
1615 +++
1616 *** `read-color' reads a color name using the minibuffer.
1617
1618 +++
1619 *** `face-all-attributes' returns an alist describing all the basic
1620 attributes of a given face.
1621
1622 +++
1623 *** `split-string-and-unquote' splits a string into a list of substrings
1624 on the boundaries of a given delimiter, and unquotes the substrings that
1625 are quoted. Useful for taking apart shell commands.
1626
1627 +++
1628 *** `combine-and-quote-strings' produces a single string from a list of strings
1629 sticking a separator string in between each pair, and quoting those
1630 strings that include the separator as their substring. Useful for
1631 consing shell command lines from the individual arguments.
1632
1633 +++
1634 *** `image-refresh' refreshes all images associated with a given image
1635 specification.
1636
1637 +++
1638 *** The two new functions `looking-at-p' and `string-match-p' can do
1639 the same matching as `looking-at' and `string-match' without changing
1640 the match data.
1641
1642 +++
1643 *** The two new functions `make-serial-process' and
1644 `serial-process-configure' provide a Lisp interface to the new serial
1645 port support (see Emacs changes, above).
1646
1647 *** `locate-user-emacs-file' helps packages to select the appropriate
1648 place to save user-specific files. It defaults to `user-emacs-directory'
1649 unless the file already exists at $HOME.
1650
1651 ** Miscellaneous new variables
1652
1653 +++
1654 *** `this-command-keys-shift-translated' is non-nil if the key
1655 sequence invoking the current command was found by shift-translation.
1656
1657 *** `window-point-insertion-type' determines the insertion-type of the
1658 marker used for window-point.
1659
1660 ---
1661 *** bookmark provides `bookmark-make-record-function' so special major
1662 modes like Info can teach bookmark.el how to save and restore the
1663 relevant data.
1664
1665 *** `fill-forward-paragraph-function' specifies which function the
1666 filling code should use to find paragraph boundaries.
1667
1668 *** `custom-note-var-changed' tells Custom to treat the change in a
1669 certain variable as having been made within Custom.
1670
1671 \f
1672 * New Packages for Lisp Programming in Emacs 23.1
1673
1674 ** The new package avl-tree.el deals with the AVL tree data structure.
1675
1676 +++
1677 ** The new package check-declare.el verifies the accuracy of
1678 declare-function macros (see Lisp Changes, above).
1679
1680 ** find-cmd.el can build `find' commands using lisp syntax.
1681
1682 ** The package misearch.el has been added. It allows Isearch to search
1683 through multiple buffers. A variable `multi-isearch-next-buffer-function'
1684 defines the function to call to get the next buffer to search in the series
1685 of multiple buffers. Top-level commands `multi-isearch-buffers',
1686 `multi-isearch-buffers-regexp', `multi-isearch-files' and
1687 `multi-isearch-files-regexp' accept a single argument that specifies
1688 a list of buffers/files to search for a string/regexp.
1689
1690 ** The new major mode `special-mode' is intended as a parent for
1691 major modes such as those that set the "'mode-class 'special" property.
1692
1693 \f
1694 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1695 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
1696
1697 GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
1698 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
1699 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
1700 (at your option) any later version.
1701
1702 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
1703 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1704 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1705 GNU General Public License for more details.
1706
1707 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
1708 along with GNU Emacs. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
1709
1710 \f
1711 Local variables:
1712 mode: outline
1713 paragraph-separate: "[ \f]*$"
1714 end:
1715
1716 arch-tag: e759449d-88b3-4de4-9900-3a6c3dfa23e2