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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 X}). 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 Comment and string fontification (or ``syntactic'' fontification)
260 relies on analysis of the syntactic structure of the buffer text. For
261 the sake of speed, some modes, including C mode and Lisp mode,
262 rely on a special convention: an open-parenthesis or open-brace in the
263 leftmost column always defines the @w{beginning} of a defun, and is
264 thus always outside any string or comment. (@xref{Left Margin
265 Paren}.) If you don't follow this convention, Font Lock mode can
266 misfontify the text that follows an open-parenthesis or open-brace in
267 the leftmost column that is inside a string or comment.
268
269 @cindex slow display during scrolling
270 The variable @code{font-lock-beginning-of-syntax-function} (always
271 buffer-local) specifies how Font Lock mode can find a position
272 guaranteed to be outside any comment or string. In modes which use the
273 leftmost column parenthesis convention, the default value of the variable
274 is @code{beginning-of-defun}---that tells Font Lock mode to use the
275 convention. If you set this variable to @code{nil}, Font Lock no longer
276 relies on the convention. This avoids incorrect results, but the price
277 is that, in some cases, fontification for a changed text must rescan
278 buffer text from the beginning of the buffer. This can considerably
279 slow down redisplay while scrolling, particularly if you are close to
280 the end of a large buffer.
281
282 @findex font-lock-add-keywords
283 Font Lock highlighting patterns already exist for many modes, but you
284 may want to fontify additional patterns. You can use the function
285 @code{font-lock-add-keywords}, to add your own highlighting patterns for
286 a particular mode. For example, to highlight @samp{FIXME:} words in C
287 comments, use this:
288
289 @example
290 (font-lock-add-keywords
291 'c-mode
292 '(("\\<\\(FIXME\\):" 1 font-lock-warning-face t)))
293 @end example
294
295 @findex font-lock-remove-keywords
296 To remove keywords from the font-lock highlighting patterns, use the
297 function @code{font-lock-remove-keywords}.
298
299 @node Highlight Changes
300 @section Highlight Changes Mode
301
302 @findex highlight-changes-mode
303 Use @kbd{M-x highlight-changes-mode} to enable a minor mode
304 that uses faces (colors, typically) to indicate which parts of
305 the buffer were changed most recently.
306
307 @node Highlight Interactively
308 @section Interactive Highlighting by Matching
309 @cindex highlighting by matching
310 @cindex interactive highlighting
311
312 It is sometimes useful to highlight the strings that match a certain
313 regular expression. For example, you might wish to see all the
314 references to a certain variable in a program source file, or highlight
315 certain parts in a voluminous output of some program, or make certain
316 cliches stand out in an article.
317
318 @findex hi-lock-mode
319 Use the @kbd{M-x hi-lock-mode} command to turn on a minor mode that
320 allows you to specify regular expressions of the text to be
321 highlighted. Hi-lock mode works like Font Lock (@pxref{Font Lock}),
322 except that it lets you specify explicitly what parts of text to
323 highlight. You control Hi-lock mode with these commands:
324
325 @table @kbd
326 @item C-x w h @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
327 @kindex C-x w h
328 @findex highlight-regexp
329 Highlight text that matches
330 @var{regexp} using face @var{face} (@code{highlight-regexp}).
331 By using this command more than once, you can highlight various
332 parts of the text in different ways.
333
334 @item C-x w r @var{regexp} @key{RET}
335 @kindex C-x w r
336 @findex unhighlight-regexp
337 Unhighlight @var{regexp} (@code{unhighlight-regexp}). You must enter
338 one of the regular expressions currently specified for highlighting.
339 (You can use completion, or choose from a menu, to enter one of them
340 conveniently.)
341
342 @item C-x w l @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
343 @kindex C-x w l
344 @findex highlight-lines-matching-regexp
345 @cindex lines, highlighting
346 @cindex highlighting lines of text
347 Highlight entire lines containing a match for @var{regexp}, using face
348 @var{face} (@code{highlight-lines-matching-regexp}).
349
350 @item C-x w b
351 @kindex C-x w b
352 @findex hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns
353 Insert all the current highlighting regexp/face pairs into the buffer
354 at point, with comment delimiters to prevent them from changing your
355 program. This key binding runs the
356 @code{hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns} command.
357
358 These patterns will be read the next time you visit the file while
359 Hi-lock mode is enabled, or whenever you use the @kbd{M-x
360 hi-lock-find-patterns} command.
361
362 @item C-x w i
363 @kindex C-x w i
364 @findex hi-lock-find-patterns
365 @vindex hi-lock-exclude-modes
366 Re-read regexp/face pairs in the current buffer
367 (@code{hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns}). The list of pairs is
368 found no matter where in the buffer it may be.
369
370 This command does nothing if the major mode is a member of the list
371 @code{hi-lock-exclude-modes}.
372 @end table
373
374 @node Trailing Whitespace
375 @section Trailing Whitespace
376
377 @cindex trailing whitespace
378 @cindex whitespace, trailing
379 @vindex show-trailing-whitespace
380 It is easy to leave unnecessary spaces at the end of a line without
381 realizing it. In most cases, this @dfn{trailing whitespace} has no
382 effect, but there are special circumstances where it matters.
383
384 You can make trailing whitespace visible on the screen by setting the
385 buffer-local variable @code{show-trailing-whitespace} to @code{t}. Then
386 Emacs displays trailing whitespace in the face
387 @code{trailing-whitespace}.
388
389 Trailing whitespace is defined as spaces or tabs at the end of a
390 line. But trailing whitespace is not displayed specially if point is
391 at the end of the line containing the whitespace. (Doing that looks
392 ugly while you are typing in new text, and the location of point is
393 enough in that case to show you that the spaces are present.)
394
395 @findex delete-trailing-whitespace
396 To delete all trailing whitespace within the current buffer's
397 restriction (@pxref{Narrowing}), type @kbd{M-x
398 delete-trailing-whitespace @key{RET}}. (This command does not remove
399 the form-feed characters.)
400
401 @vindex indicate-empty-lines
402 @vindex default-indicate-empty-lines
403 @cindex empty lines
404 Emacs can indicate empty lines at the end of the buffer with a
405 special bitmap on the left fringe of the window. To enable this
406 feature, set the buffer-local variable @code{indicate-empty-lines} to
407 a non-@code{nil} value. The default value of this variable is
408 controlled by the variable @code{default-indicate-empty-lines};
409 by setting that variable, you can enable or disable this feature
410 for all new buffers.
411
412 @node Scrolling
413 @section Scrolling
414
415 If a buffer contains text that is too large to fit entirely within a
416 window that is displaying the buffer, Emacs shows a contiguous portion of
417 the text. The portion shown always contains point.
418
419 @cindex scrolling
420 @dfn{Scrolling} means moving text up or down in the window so that
421 different parts of the text are visible. Scrolling forward means that text
422 moves up, and new text appears at the bottom. Scrolling backward moves
423 text down and new text appears at the top.
424
425 Scrolling happens automatically if you move point past the bottom or top
426 of the window. You can also explicitly request scrolling with the commands
427 in this section.
428
429 @table @kbd
430 @item C-l
431 Clear screen and redisplay, scrolling the selected window to center
432 point vertically within it (@code{recenter}).
433 @item C-v
434 Scroll forward (a windowful or a specified number of lines) (@code{scroll-up}).
435 @item @key{NEXT}
436 @itemx @key{PAGEDOWN}
437 Likewise, scroll forward.
438 @item M-v
439 Scroll backward (@code{scroll-down}).
440 @item @key{PRIOR}
441 @itemx @key{PAGEUP}
442 Likewise, scroll backward.
443 @item @var{arg} C-l
444 Scroll so point is on line @var{arg} (@code{recenter}).
445 @item C-M-l
446 Scroll heuristically to bring useful information onto the screen
447 (@code{reposition-window}).
448 @end table
449
450 @kindex C-l
451 @findex recenter
452 The most basic scrolling command is @kbd{C-l} (@code{recenter}) with
453 no argument. It clears the entire screen and redisplays all windows.
454 In addition, it scrolls the selected window so that point is halfway
455 down from the top of the window.
456
457 @kindex C-v
458 @kindex M-v
459 @kindex NEXT
460 @kindex PRIOR
461 @kindex PAGEDOWN
462 @kindex PAGEUP
463 @findex scroll-up
464 @findex scroll-down
465 @vindex next-screen-context-lines
466 To read the buffer a windowful at a time, use @kbd{C-v}
467 (@code{scroll-up}) with no argument. This scrolls forward by nearly
468 the whole window height. The effect is to take the two lines at the
469 bottom of the window and put them at the top, followed by nearly a
470 whole windowful of lines that were not previously visible. If point
471 was in the text that scrolled off the top, it ends up at the new top
472 of the window.
473
474 @kbd{M-v} (@code{scroll-down}) with no argument scrolls backward in
475 a similar way, also with overlap. The number of lines of overlap
476 across a @kbd{C-v} or @kbd{M-v} is controlled by the variable
477 @code{next-screen-context-lines}; by default, it is 2. The function
478 keys @key{NEXT} and @key{PRIOR}, or @key{PAGEDOWN} and @key{PAGEUP},
479 are equivalent to @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v}.
480
481 The commands @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v} with a numeric argument scroll
482 the text in the selected window up or down a few lines. @kbd{C-v}
483 with an argument moves the text and point up, together, that many
484 lines; it brings the same number of new lines into view at the bottom
485 of the window. @kbd{M-v} with numeric argument scrolls the text
486 downward, bringing that many new lines into view at the top of the
487 window. @kbd{C-v} with a negative argument is like @kbd{M-v} and vice
488 versa.
489
490 The names of scroll commands are based on the direction that the
491 text moves in the window. Thus, the command to scroll forward is
492 called @code{scroll-up} because it moves the text upward on the
493 screen. The keys @key{PAGEDOWN} and @key{PAGEUP} derive their names
494 and customary meanings from a different convention that developed
495 elsewhere; hence the strange result that @key{PAGEDOWN} runs
496 @code{scroll-up}.
497
498 @vindex scroll-preserve-screen-position
499 Some users like the full-screen scroll commands to keep point at the
500 same screen line. To enable this behavior, set the variable
501 @code{scroll-preserve-screen-position} to a non-@code{nil} value. This
502 mode is convenient for browsing through a file by scrolling by
503 screenfuls; if you come back to the screen where you started, point goes
504 back to the line where it started. However, this mode is inconvenient
505 when you move to the next screen in order to move point to the text
506 there.
507
508 Another way to do scrolling is with @kbd{C-l} with a numeric argument.
509 @kbd{C-l} does not clear the screen when given an argument; it only scrolls
510 the selected window. With a positive argument @var{n}, it repositions text
511 to put point @var{n} lines down from the top. An argument of zero puts
512 point on the very top line. Point does not move with respect to the text;
513 rather, the text and point move rigidly on the screen. @kbd{C-l} with a
514 negative argument puts point that many lines from the bottom of the window.
515 For example, @kbd{C-u - 1 C-l} puts point on the bottom line, and @kbd{C-u
516 - 5 C-l} puts it five lines from the bottom. @kbd{C-u C-l} scrolls to put
517 point at the center (vertically) of the selected window.
518
519 @kindex C-M-l
520 @findex reposition-window
521 The @kbd{C-M-l} command (@code{reposition-window}) scrolls the current
522 window heuristically in a way designed to get useful information onto
523 the screen. For example, in a Lisp file, this command tries to get the
524 entire current defun onto the screen if possible.
525
526 @vindex scroll-conservatively
527 Scrolling happens automatically when point moves out of the visible
528 portion of the text. Normally, automatic scrolling centers point
529 vertically within the window. However, if you set
530 @code{scroll-conservatively} to a small number @var{n}, then if you
531 move point just a little off the screen---less than @var{n}
532 lines---then Emacs scrolls the text just far enough to bring point
533 back on screen. By default, @code{scroll-conservatively} is 0.
534
535 @cindex aggressive scrolling
536 @vindex scroll-up-aggressively
537 @vindex scroll-down-aggressively
538 When the window does scroll by a longer distance, you can control
539 how aggressively it scrolls, by setting the variables
540 @code{scroll-up-aggressively} and @code{scroll-down-aggressively}.
541 The value of @code{scroll-up-aggressively} should be either
542 @code{nil}, or a fraction @var{f} between 0 and 1. A fraction
543 specifies where on the screen to put point when scrolling upward.
544 More precisely, when a window scrolls up because point is above the
545 window start, the new start position is chosen to put point @var{f}
546 part of the window height from the top. The larger @var{f}, the more
547 aggressive the scrolling.
548
549 @code{nil}, which is the default, scrolls to put point at the center.
550 So it is equivalent to .5.
551
552 Likewise, @code{scroll-down-aggressively} is used for scrolling
553 down. The value, @var{f}, specifies how far point should be placed
554 from the bottom of the window; thus, as with
555 @code{scroll-up-aggressively}, a larger value is more aggressive.
556
557 @vindex scroll-margin
558 The variable @code{scroll-margin} restricts how close point can come
559 to the top or bottom of a window. Its value is a number of screen
560 lines; if point comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of the
561 window, Emacs recenters the window. By default, @code{scroll-margin} is
562 0.
563
564 @node Horizontal Scrolling
565 @section Horizontal Scrolling
566 @cindex horizontal scrolling
567
568 @dfn{Horizontal scrolling} means shifting all the lines sideways
569 within a window---so that some of the text near the left margin is not
570 displayed at all. Emacs does this automatically in any window that
571 uses line truncation rather than continuation: whenever point moves
572 off the left or right edge of the screen, Emacs scrolls the buffer
573 horizontally to make point visible.
574
575 When a window has been scrolled horizontally, text lines are truncated
576 rather than continued (@pxref{Continuation Lines}), with a @samp{$}
577 appearing in the first column when there is text truncated to the left,
578 and in the last column when there is text truncated to the right.
579
580 You can use these commands to do explicit horizontal scrolling.
581
582 @table @kbd
583 @item C-x <
584 Scroll text in current window to the left (@code{scroll-left}).
585 @item C-x >
586 Scroll to the right (@code{scroll-right}).
587 @end table
588
589 @kindex C-x <
590 @kindex C-x >
591 @findex scroll-left
592 @findex scroll-right
593 The command @kbd{C-x <} (@code{scroll-left}) scrolls the selected
594 window to the left by @var{n} columns with argument @var{n}. This moves
595 part of the beginning of each line off the left edge of the window.
596 With no argument, it scrolls by almost the full width of the window (two
597 columns less, to be precise).
598
599 @kbd{C-x >} (@code{scroll-right}) scrolls similarly to the right. The
600 window cannot be scrolled any farther to the right once it is displayed
601 normally (with each line starting at the window's left margin);
602 attempting to do so has no effect. This means that you don't have to
603 calculate the argument precisely for @w{@kbd{C-x >}}; any sufficiently large
604 argument will restore the normal display.
605
606 If you scroll a window horizontally by hand, that sets a lower bound
607 for automatic horizontal scrolling. Automatic scrolling will continue
608 to scroll the window, but never farther to the right than the amount
609 you previously set by @code{scroll-left}.
610
611 @vindex automatic-hscrolling
612 To disable automatic horizontal scrolling, set the variable
613 @code{automatic-hscrolling} to @code{nil}.
614
615 @node Follow Mode
616 @section Follow Mode
617 @cindex Follow mode
618 @cindex mode, Follow
619 @findex follow-mode
620 @cindex windows, synchronizing
621 @cindex synchronizing windows
622
623 @dfn{Follow mode} is a minor mode that makes two windows showing the
624 same buffer scroll as one tall ``virtual window.'' To use Follow mode,
625 go to a frame with just one window, split it into two side-by-side
626 windows using @kbd{C-x 3}, and then type @kbd{M-x follow-mode}. From
627 then on, you can edit the buffer in either of the two windows, or scroll
628 either one; the other window follows it.
629
630 In Follow mode, if you move point outside the portion visible in one
631 window and into the portion visible in the other window, that selects
632 the other window---again, treating the two as if they were parts of
633 one large window.
634
635 To turn off Follow mode, type @kbd{M-x follow-mode} a second time.
636
637 @node Selective Display
638 @section Selective Display
639 @cindex selective display
640 @findex set-selective-display
641 @kindex C-x $
642
643 Emacs has the ability to hide lines indented more than a certain number
644 of columns (you specify how many columns). You can use this to get an
645 overview of a part of a program.
646
647 To hide lines, type @kbd{C-x $} (@code{set-selective-display}) with a
648 numeric argument @var{n}. Then lines with at least @var{n} columns of
649 indentation disappear from the screen. The only indication of their
650 presence is that three dots (@samp{@dots{}}) appear at the end of each
651 visible line that is followed by one or more hidden ones.
652
653 The commands @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} move across the hidden lines as
654 if they were not there.
655
656 The hidden lines are still present in the buffer, and most editing
657 commands see them as usual, so you may find point in the middle of the
658 hidden text. When this happens, the cursor appears at the end of the
659 previous line, after the three dots. If point is at the end of the
660 visible line, before the newline that ends it, the cursor appears before
661 the three dots.
662
663 To make all lines visible again, type @kbd{C-x $} with no argument.
664
665 @vindex selective-display-ellipses
666 If you set the variable @code{selective-display-ellipses} to
667 @code{nil}, the three dots do not appear at the end of a line that
668 precedes hidden lines. Then there is no visible indication of the
669 hidden lines. This variable becomes local automatically when set.
670
671 @node Optional Mode Line
672 @section Optional Mode Line Features
673
674 @cindex line number display
675 @cindex display of line number
676 @findex line-number-mode
677 The current line number of point appears in the mode line when Line
678 Number mode is enabled. Use the command @kbd{M-x line-number-mode} to
679 turn this mode on and off; normally it is on. The line number appears
680 before the buffer percentage @var{pos}, with the letter @samp{L} to
681 indicate what it is. @xref{Minor Modes}, for more information about
682 minor modes and about how to use this command.
683
684 @cindex narrowing, and line number display
685 If you have narrowed the buffer (@pxref{Narrowing}), the displayed
686 line number is relative to the accessible portion of the buffer.
687
688 @vindex line-number-display-limit
689 If the buffer is very large (larger than the value of
690 @code{line-number-display-limit}), then the line number doesn't appear.
691 Emacs doesn't compute the line number when the buffer is large, because
692 that would be too slow. Set it to @code{nil} to remove the limit.
693
694 @vindex line-number-display-limit-width
695 Line-number computation can also be slow if the lines in the buffer
696 are too long. For this reason, Emacs normally doesn't display line
697 numbers if the average width, in characters, of lines near point is
698 larger than the value of the variable
699 @code{line-number-display-limit-width}. The default value is 200
700 characters.
701
702 @cindex Column Number mode
703 @cindex mode, Column Number
704 @findex column-number-mode
705 You can also display the current column number by turning on Column
706 Number mode. It displays the current column number preceded by the
707 letter @samp{C}. Type @kbd{M-x column-number-mode} to toggle this mode.
708
709 @findex display-time
710 @cindex time (on mode line)
711 Emacs can optionally display the time and system load in all mode
712 lines. To enable this feature, type @kbd{M-x display-time} or customize
713 the option @code{display-time-mode}. The information added to the mode
714 line usually appears after the buffer name, before the mode names and
715 their parentheses. It looks like this:
716
717 @example
718 @var{hh}:@var{mm}pm @var{l.ll}
719 @end example
720
721 @noindent
722 @vindex display-time-24hr-format
723 Here @var{hh} and @var{mm} are the hour and minute, followed always by
724 @samp{am} or @samp{pm}. @var{l.ll} is the average number of running
725 processes in the whole system recently. (Some fields may be missing if
726 your operating system cannot support them.) If you prefer time display
727 in 24-hour format, set the variable @code{display-time-24hr-format}
728 to @code{t}.
729
730 @cindex mail (on mode line)
731 @vindex display-time-use-mail-icon
732 @vindex display-time-mail-face
733 The word @samp{Mail} appears after the load level if there is mail
734 for you that you have not read yet. On a graphical display you can use
735 an icon instead of @samp{Mail} by customizing
736 @code{display-time-use-mail-icon}; this may save some space on the mode
737 line. You can customize @code{display-time-mail-face} to make the mail
738 indicator prominent.
739
740 @cindex mode line, 3D appearence
741 @cindex attributes of mode line, changing
742 @cindex non-integral number of lines in a window
743 By default, the mode line is drawn on graphics displays with
744 3D-style highlighting, like that of a button when it is not being
745 pressed. If you don't like this effect, you can disable the 3D
746 highlighting of the mode line, by customizing the attributes of the
747 @code{mode-line} face in your @file{.emacs} init file, like this:
748
749 @example
750 (set-face-attribute 'mode-line nil :box nil)
751 @end example
752
753 @noindent
754 Alternatively, you can turn off the box attribute in your
755 @file{.Xdefaults} file:
756
757 @example
758 Emacs.mode-line.AttributeBox: off
759 @end example
760
761 @node Text Display
762 @section How Text Is Displayed
763 @cindex characters (in text)
764
765 ASCII printing characters (octal codes 040 through 0176) in Emacs
766 buffers are displayed with their graphics, as are non-ASCII multibyte
767 printing characters (octal codes above 0400).
768
769 Some ASCII control characters are displayed in special ways. The
770 newline character (octal code 012) is displayed by starting a new line.
771 The tab character (octal code 011) is displayed by moving to the next
772 tab stop column (normally every 8 columns).
773
774 Other ASCII control characters are normally displayed as a caret
775 (@samp{^}) followed by the non-control version of the character; thus,
776 control-A is displayed as @samp{^A}.
777
778 Non-ASCII characters 0200 through 0237 (octal) are displayed with
779 octal escape sequences; thus, character code 0230 (octal) is displayed
780 as @samp{\230}. The display of character codes 0240 through 0377
781 (octal) may be either as escape sequences or as graphics. They do not
782 normally occur in multibyte buffers, but if they do, they are displayed
783 as Latin-1 graphics. In unibyte mode, if you enable European display
784 they are displayed using their graphics (assuming your terminal supports
785 them), otherwise as escape sequences. @xref{Single-Byte Character
786 Support}.
787
788 @node Display Custom
789 @section Customization of Display
790
791 This section contains information for customization only. Beginning
792 users should skip it.
793
794 @vindex mode-line-inverse-video
795 The variable @code{mode-line-inverse-video} is an obsolete way of
796 controlling whether the mode line is displayed in inverse video; the
797 preferred way of doing this is to change the @code{mode-line} face.
798 @xref{Mode Line}. However, if @code{mode-line-inverse-video} has a
799 value of @code{nil}, then the @code{mode-line} face will be ignored,
800 and mode-lines will be drawn using the default text face.
801 @xref{Faces}.
802
803 @vindex inverse-video
804 If the variable @code{inverse-video} is non-@code{nil}, Emacs attempts
805 to invert all the lines of the display from what they normally are.
806
807 @vindex visible-bell
808 If the variable @code{visible-bell} is non-@code{nil}, Emacs attempts
809 to make the whole screen blink when it would normally make an audible bell
810 sound. This variable has no effect if your terminal does not have a way
811 to make the screen blink.@refill
812
813 @vindex no-redraw-on-reenter
814 When you reenter Emacs after suspending, Emacs normally clears the
815 screen and redraws the entire display. On some terminals with more than
816 one page of memory, it is possible to arrange the termcap entry so that
817 the @samp{ti} and @samp{te} strings (output to the terminal when Emacs
818 is entered and exited, respectively) switch between pages of memory so
819 as to use one page for Emacs and another page for other output. Then
820 you might want to set the variable @code{no-redraw-on-reenter}
821 non-@code{nil}; this tells Emacs to assume, when resumed, that the
822 screen page it is using still contains what Emacs last wrote there.
823
824 @vindex echo-keystrokes
825 The variable @code{echo-keystrokes} controls the echoing of multi-character
826 keys; its value is the number of seconds of pause required to cause echoing
827 to start, or zero meaning don't echo at all. @xref{Echo Area}.
828
829 @vindex ctl-arrow
830 If the variable @code{ctl-arrow} is @code{nil}, all control characters in
831 the buffer are displayed with octal escape sequences, except for newline
832 and tab. Altering the value of @code{ctl-arrow} makes it local to the
833 current buffer; until that time, the default value is in effect. The
834 default is initially @code{t}. @xref{Display Tables,, Display Tables,
835 elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
836
837 @vindex tab-width
838 Normally, a tab character in the buffer is displayed as whitespace which
839 extends to the next display tab stop position, and display tab stops come
840 at intervals equal to eight spaces. The number of spaces per tab is
841 controlled by the variable @code{tab-width}, which is made local by
842 changing it, just like @code{ctl-arrow}. Note that how the tab character
843 in the buffer is displayed has nothing to do with the definition of
844 @key{TAB} as a command. The variable @code{tab-width} must have an
845 integer value between 1 and 1000, inclusive.
846
847 @c @vindex truncate-lines @c No index entry here, because we have one
848 @c in the continuation section.
849 If the variable @code{truncate-lines} is non-@code{nil}, then each
850 line of text gets just one screen line for display; if the text line is
851 too long, display shows only the part that fits. If
852 @code{truncate-lines} is @code{nil}, then long text lines display as
853 more than one screen line, enough to show the whole text of the line.
854 @xref{Continuation Lines}. Altering the value of @code{truncate-lines}
855 makes it local to the current buffer; until that time, the default value
856 is in effect. The default is initially @code{nil}.
857
858 @c @vindex truncate-partial-width-windows @c Idx entry is in Split Windows.
859 If the variable @code{truncate-partial-width-windows} is
860 non-@code{nil}, it forces truncation rather than continuation in any
861 window less than the full width of the screen or frame, regardless of
862 the value of @code{truncate-lines}. For information about side-by-side
863 windows, see @ref{Split Window}. See also @ref{Display,, Display,
864 elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
865
866 @vindex baud-rate
867 The variable @code{baud-rate} holds the output speed of the
868 terminal, as far as Emacs knows. Setting this variable does not
869 change the speed of actual data transmission, but the value is used
870 for calculations. On terminals, it affects padding, and decisions
871 about whether to scroll part of the screen or redraw it instead.
872 It also affects the behavior of incremental search.
873
874 On window-systems, @code{baud-rate} is only used to determine how
875 frequently to look for pending input during display updating. A
876 higher value of @code{baud-rate} means that check for pending input
877 will be done less frequently.
878
879 You can customize the way any particular character code is displayed
880 by means of a display table. @xref{Display Tables,, Display Tables,
881 elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
882
883 @cindex hourglass pointer display
884 @vindex hourglass-delay
885 On a window system, Emacs can optionally display the mouse pointer
886 in a special shape to say that Emacs is busy. To turn this feature on
887 or off, customize the group @code{cursor}. You can also control the
888 amount of time Emacs must remain busy before the busy indicator is
889 displayed, by setting the variable @code{hourglass-delay}.
890
891 @node Cursor Display
892 @section Displaying the Cursor
893
894 @findex hl-line-mode
895 @cindex highlight current line
896 @findex blink-cursor-mode
897 @cindex cursor, locating visually
898 @cindex cursor, blinking
899 There are a number of ways to customize the display of the cursor.
900 @kbd{M-x hl-line-mode} enables or disables a global minor mode which
901 highlights the line containing point. On window systems, the command
902 @kbd{M-x blink-cursor-mode} turns on or off the blinking of the
903 cursor. (On terminals, the terminal itself blinks the cursor, and
904 Emacs has no control over it.)
905
906 You can customize the cursor's color, and whether it blinks, using
907 the @code{cursor} Custom group (@pxref{Easy Customization}).
908
909 @vindex x-stretch-cursor
910 @cindex wide block cursor
911 When displaying on a window system, Emacs can optionally draw the
912 block cursor as wide as the character under the cursor---for example,
913 if the cursor is on a tab character, it would cover the full width
914 occupied by that tab character. To enable this feature, set the
915 variable @code{x-stretch-cursor} to a non-@code{nil} value.
916
917 @cindex cursor in non-selected windows
918 @vindex cursor-in-non-selected-windows
919 Normally, the cursor in non-selected windows is shown as a hollow box.
920 To turn off cursor display in non-selected windows, customize the option
921 @code{cursor-in-non-selected-windows} to assign it a @code{nil} value.