1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes. 2003-05-21
2 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
3 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 See the end for copying conditions.
6 Please send Emacs bug reports to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.
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9 `view-emacs-news' with a prefix argument or by typing C-u C-h C-n.
12 +++ indicates that the appropriate manual has already been updated.
13 --- means no change in the manuals is called for.
14 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
15 so we will look at it and add it to the manual.
18 * Installation Changes in Emacs 22.1
21 ** Emacs now supports new configure options `--program-prefix',
22 `--program-suffix' and `--program-transform-name' that affect the names of
26 ** Emacs can now be built without sound support.
29 ** You can build Emacs with Gtk+ widgets by specifying `--with-x-toolkit=gtk'
30 when you run configure. This requires Gtk+ 2.0 or newer. This port
31 provides a way to display multilingual text in menus (with some caveats).
34 ** The `emacsserver' program has been removed, replaced with Lisp code.
37 ** By default, Emacs now uses a setgid helper program to update game
38 scores. The directory ${localstatedir}/games/emacs is the normal
39 place for game scores to be stored. You can control this with the
40 configure option `--with-game-dir'. The specific user that Emacs uses
41 to own the game scores is controlled by `--with-game-user'. If access
42 to a game user is not available, then scores will be stored separately
43 in each user's home directory.
46 ** Leim is now part of the Emacs distribution.
47 You no longer need to download a separate tarball in order to build
51 ** The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual is now part of the distribution.
53 The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual in Info format is built as part of the
54 Emacs build procedure and installed together with the Emacs User
55 Manual. A menu item was added to the menu bar that makes it easy
56 accessible (Help->More Manuals->Emacs Lisp Reference).
59 ** The Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp manual is now part of
62 This manual is now part of the standard distribution and is installed,
63 together with the Emacs User Manual, into the Info directory. A menu
64 item was added to the menu bar that makes it easy accessible
65 (Help->More Manuals->Introduction to Emacs Lisp).
68 ** New translations of the Emacs Tutorial are available in the
69 following languages: Brasilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese (both
70 with simplified and traditional characters), French, and Italian.
71 Type `C-u C-h t' to choose one of them in case your language setup
72 doesn't automatically select the right one.
75 ** A French translation of the `Emacs Survival Guide' is available.
78 ** Emacs now includes support for loading image libraries on demand.
79 (Currently this feature is only used on MS Windows.) You can configure
80 the supported image types and their associated dynamic libraries by
81 setting the variable `image-library-alist'.
84 ** Support for Cygwin was added.
87 ** Support for FreeBSD/Alpha has been added.
90 ** Support for GNU/Linux systems on S390 machines was added.
93 ** Support for MacOS X was added.
94 See the files mac/README and mac/INSTALL for build instructions.
97 ** Support for GNU/Linux systems on X86-64 machines was added.
100 ** Mac OS 9 port now uses the Carbon API by default. You can also
101 create non-Carbon build by specifying `NonCarbon' as a target. See
102 the files mac/README and mac/INSTALL for build instructions.
105 ** Building with -DENABLE_CHECKING does not automatically build with union
106 types any more. Add -DUSE_LISP_UNION_TYPE if you want union types.
109 ** When pure storage overflows while dumping, Emacs now prints how
110 much pure storage it will approximately need.
112 ** The script etc/emacs-buffer.gdb can be used with gdb to retrieve the
113 contents of buffers from a core dump and save them to files easily, should
117 ** The Emacs terminal emulation in term.el uses a different terminfo name.
118 The Emacs terminal emulation in term.el now uses "eterm-color" as its
119 terminfo name, since term.el now supports color.
122 * Startup Changes in Emacs 22.1
125 ** New command line option -Q or --quick.
126 This is like using -q --no-site-file, but in addition it also disables
127 the fancy startup screen.
130 ** New command line option -D or --basic-display.
131 Disables the menu-bar, the tool-bar, the scroll-bars, tool tips, and
135 ** New command line option -nbc or --no-blinking-cursor disables
136 the blinking cursor on graphical terminals.
139 ** The option --script FILE runs Emacs in batch mode and loads FILE.
140 It is useful for writing Emacs Lisp shell script files, because they
141 can start with this line:
143 #!/usr/bin/emacs --script
146 ** The option --directory DIR now modifies `load-path' immediately.
147 Directories are added to the front of `load-path' in the order they
148 appear on the command line. For example, with this command line:
150 emacs -batch -L .. -L /tmp --eval "(require 'foo)"
152 Emacs looks for library `foo' in the parent directory, then in /tmp, then
153 in the other directories in `load-path'. (-L is short for --directory.)
156 ** The command line option --no-windows has been changed to
157 --no-window-system. The old one still works, but is deprecated.
160 ** The -f option, used from the command line to call a function,
161 now reads arguments for the function interactively if it is
162 an interactively callable function.
165 ** When you specify a frame size with --geometry, the size applies to
166 all frames you create. A position specified with --geometry only
167 affects the initial frame.
170 ** Emacs can now be invoked in full-screen mode on a windowed display.
171 When Emacs is invoked on a window system, the new command-line options
172 `--fullwidth', `--fullheight', and `--fullscreen' produce a frame
173 whose width, height, or both width and height take up the entire
174 screen size. (For now, this does not work with some window managers.)
177 ** Emacs now displays a splash screen by default even if command-line
178 arguments were given. The new command-line option --no-splash
179 disables the splash screen; see also the variable
180 `inhibit-startup-message' (which is also aliased as
181 `inhibit-splash-screen').
184 ** The default is now to use an bitmap as the icon, so the command-line options
185 --icon-type, -i has been replaced with options --no-bitmap-icon, -nbi to turn
189 ** New user option `inhibit-startup-buffer-menu'.
190 When loading many files, for instance with `emacs *', Emacs normally
191 displays a buffer menu. This option turns the buffer menu off.
195 You can now put the init files .emacs and .emacs_SHELL under
196 ~/.emacs.d or directly under ~. Emacs will find them in either place.
199 ** Emacs now reads the standard abbrevs file ~/.abbrev_defs
200 automatically at startup, if it exists. When Emacs offers to save
201 modified buffers, it saves the abbrevs too if they have changed. It
202 can do this either silently or asking for confirmation first,
203 according to the value of `save-abbrevs'.
205 * Incompatible Editing Changes in Emacs 22.1
208 ** M-g is now a prefix key.
209 M-g g and M-g M-g run goto-line.
210 M-g n and M-g M-n run next-error (like C-x `).
211 M-g p and M-g M-p run previous-error.
214 ** C-u M-g M-g switches to the most recent previous buffer,
215 and goes to the specified line in that buffer.
217 When goto-line starts to execute, if there's a number in the buffer at
218 point then it acts as the default argument for the minibuffer.
221 ** The old bindings C-M-delete and C-M-backspace have been deleted,
222 since there are situations where one or the other will shut down
223 the operating system or your X server.
226 ** line-move-ignore-invisible now defaults to t.
229 ** When the undo information of the current command gets really large
230 (beyond the value of `undo-outer-limit'), Emacs discards it and warns
234 ** `apply-macro-to-region-lines' now operates on all lines that begin
235 in the region, rather than on all complete lines in the region.
238 ** A prefix argument is no longer required to repeat a jump to a
239 previous mark, i.e. C-u C-SPC C-SPC C-SPC ... cycles through the
240 mark ring. Use C-u C-u C-SPC to set the mark immediately after a jump.
243 ** The info-search bindings on C-h C-f, C-h C-k and C-h C-i
244 have been moved to C-h F, C-h K and C-h S.
247 ** In incremental search, C-w is changed. M-%, C-M-w and C-M-y are special.
249 See below under "incremental search changes".
252 ** C-x C-f RET, typing nothing in the minibuffer, is no longer a special case.
254 Since the default input is the current directory, this has the effect
255 of specifying the current directory. Normally that means to visit the
256 directory with Dired.
259 ** The completion commands TAB, SPC and ? in the minibuffer apply only
260 to the text before point. If there is text in the buffer after point,
261 it remains unchanged.
264 ** M-o now is the prefix key for setting text properties;
265 M-o M-o requests refontification.
268 ** You can now follow links by clicking Mouse-1 on the link.
270 See below for more details.
273 ** In Dired's ! command (dired-do-shell-command), `*' and `?' now
274 control substitution of the file names only when they are surrounded
275 by whitespace. This means you can now use them as shell wildcards
276 too. If you want to use just plain `*' as a wildcard, type `*""'; the
277 doublequotes make no difference in the shell, but they prevent
278 special treatment in `dired-do-shell-command'.
280 * Editing Changes in Emacs 22.1
283 ** !MEM FULL! at the start of the mode line indicates that Emacs
284 cannot get any more memory for Lisp data. This often means it could
285 crash soon if you do things that use more memory. On most systems,
286 killing buffers will get out of this state. If killing buffers does
287 not make !MEM FULL! disappear, you should save your work and start
291 ** The max size of buffers and integers has been doubled.
292 On 32bit machines, it is now 256M (i.e. 268435455).
295 ** M-g is now a prefix key.
296 M-g g and M-g M-g run goto-line.
297 M-g n and M-g M-n run next-error (like C-x `).
298 M-g p and M-g M-p run previous-error.
301 ** C-u M-g M-g switches to the most recent previous buffer,
302 and goes to the specified line in that buffer.
304 When goto-line starts to execute, if there's a number in the buffer at
305 point then it acts as the default argument for the minibuffer.
308 ** The old bindings C-M-delete and C-M-backspace have been deleted,
309 since there are situations where one or the other will shut down
310 the operating system or your X server.
313 ** line-move-ignore-invisible now defaults to t.
316 ** When the undo information of the current command gets really large
317 (beyond the value of `undo-outer-limit'), Emacs discards it and warns
321 ** `apply-macro-to-region-lines' now operates on all lines that begin
322 in the region, rather than on all complete lines in the region.
325 ** You can now switch buffers in a cyclic order with C-x C-left and
326 (prev-buffer) and C-x C-right (next-buffer). C-x left and C-x right
330 ** `undo-only' does an undo which does not redo any previous undo.
333 ** M-SPC (just-one-space) when given a numeric argument N
334 converts whitespace around point to N spaces.
337 ** New commands to operate on pairs of open and close characters:
338 `insert-pair', `delete-pair', `raise-sexp'.
341 ** New command `kill-whole-line' kills an entire line at once.
342 By default, it is bound to C-S-<backspace>.
345 ** Yanking text now discards certain text properties that can
346 be inconvenient when you did not expect them. The variable
347 `yank-excluded-properties' specifies which ones. Insertion
348 of register contents and rectangles also discards these properties.
351 ** The default values of paragraph-start and indent-line-function have
352 been changed to reflect those used in Text mode rather than those used
353 in Indented-Text mode.
356 ** M-x setenv now expands environment variable references.
358 Substrings of the form `$foo' and `${foo}' in the specified new value
359 now refer to the value of environment variable foo. To include a `$'
360 in the value, use `$$'.
363 ** `special-display-buffer-names' and `special-display-regexps' now
364 understand two new boolean pseudo-frame-parameters `same-frame' and
368 ** The default for the paper size (variable ps-paper-type) is taken
371 ** The command `list-faces-display' now accepts a prefix arg.
372 When passed, the function prompts for a regular expression and lists
373 only faces matching this regexp.
375 ** Mark command changes:
378 *** A prefix argument is no longer required to repeat a jump to a
379 previous mark, i.e. C-u C-SPC C-SPC C-SPC ... cycles through the
380 mark ring. Use C-u C-u C-SPC to set the mark immediately after a jump.
383 *** Marking commands extend the region when invoked multiple times.
385 If you type C-M-SPC (mark-sexp), M-@ (mark-word), M-h
386 (mark-paragraph), or C-M-h (mark-defun) repeatedly, the marked region
387 extends each time, so you can mark the next two sexps with M-C-SPC
388 M-C-SPC, for example. This feature also works for
389 mark-end-of-sentence, if you bind that to a key. It also extends the
390 region when the mark is active in Transient Mark mode, regardless of
391 the last command. To start a new region with one of marking commands
392 in Transient Mark mode, you can deactivate the active region with C-g,
393 or set the new mark with C-SPC.
396 *** M-h (mark-paragraph) now accepts a prefix arg.
398 With positive arg, M-h marks the current and the following paragraphs;
399 if the arg is negative, it marks the current and the preceding
403 *** Some commands do something special in Transient Mark mode when the
404 mark is active--for instance, they limit their operation to the
405 region. Even if you don't normally use Transient Mark mode, you might
406 want to get this behavior from a particular command. There are two
407 ways you can enable Transient Mark mode and activate the mark, for one
410 One method is to type C-SPC C-SPC; this enables Transient Mark mode
411 and sets the mark at point. The other method is to type C-u C-x C-x.
412 This enables Transient Mark mode temporarily but does not alter the
415 After these commands, Transient Mark mode remains enabled until you
416 deactivate the mark. That typically happens when you type a command
417 that alters the buffer, but you can also deactivate the mark by typing
421 *** Movement commands `beginning-of-buffer', `end-of-buffer',
422 `beginning-of-defun', `end-of-defun' do not set the mark if the mark
423 is already active in Transient Mark mode.
425 ** Help command changes:
428 *** Changes in C-h bindings:
430 C-h e displays the *Messages* buffer.
432 C-h followed by a control character is used for displaying files
435 C-h C-f displays the FAQ.
436 C-h C-e displays the PROBLEMS file.
438 The info-search bindings on C-h C-f, C-h C-k and C-h C-i
439 have been moved to C-h F, C-h K and C-h S.
441 C-h c, C-h k, C-h w, and C-h f now handle remapped interactive commands.
443 - C-h c and C-h k report the actual command (after possible remapping)
444 run by the key sequence.
446 - C-h w and C-h f on a command which has been remapped now report the
447 command it is remapped to, and the keys which can be used to run
450 For example, if C-k is bound to kill-line, and kill-line is remapped
451 to new-kill-line, these commands now report:
453 - C-h c and C-h k C-k reports:
454 C-k runs the command new-kill-line
456 - C-h w and C-h f kill-line reports:
457 kill-line is remapped to new-kill-line which is on C-k, <deleteline>
459 - C-h w and C-h f new-kill-line reports:
460 new-kill-line is on C-k
463 *** Help commands `describe-function' and `describe-key' now show function
464 arguments in lowercase italics on displays that support it. To change the
465 default, customize face `help-argument-name' or redefine the function
466 `help-default-arg-highlight'.
469 *** C-h v and C-h f commands now include a hyperlink to the C source for
470 variables and functions defined in C (if the C source is available).
473 *** Help mode now only makes hyperlinks for faces when the face name is
474 preceded or followed by the word `face'. It no longer makes
475 hyperlinks for variables without variable documentation, unless
476 preceded by one of the words `variable' or `option'. It now makes
477 hyperlinks to Info anchors (or nodes) if the anchor (or node) name is
478 enclosed in single quotes and preceded by `info anchor' or `Info
479 anchor' (in addition to earlier `info node' and `Info node'). In
480 addition, it now makes hyperlinks to URLs as well if the URL is
481 enclosed in single quotes and preceded by `URL'.
484 *** The new command `describe-char' (C-u C-x =) pops up a buffer with
485 description various information about a character, including its
486 encodings and syntax, its text properties, how to input, overlays, and
487 widgets at point. You can get more information about some of them, by
488 clicking on mouse-sensitive areas or moving there and pressing RET.
491 *** The command `list-text-properties-at' has been deleted because
492 C-u C-x = gives the same information and more.
495 *** New command `display-local-help' displays any local help at point
496 in the echo area. It is bound to `C-h .'. It normally displays the
497 same string that would be displayed on mouse-over using the
498 `help-echo' property, but, in certain cases, it can display a more
499 keyboard oriented alternative.
502 *** New user option `help-at-pt-display-when-idle' allows to
503 automatically show the help provided by `display-local-help' on
504 point-over, after suitable idle time. The amount of idle time is
505 determined by the user option `help-at-pt-timer-delay' and defaults
506 to one second. This feature is turned off by default.
509 *** The apropos commands now accept a list of words to match.
510 When more than one word is specified, at least two of those words must
511 be present for an item to match. Regular expression matching is still
515 *** The new option `apropos-sort-by-scores' causes the matching items
516 to be sorted according to their score. The score for an item is a
517 number calculated to indicate how well the item matches the words or
518 regular expression that you entered to the apropos command. The best
519 match is listed first, and the calculated score is shown for each
522 ** Incremental Search changes:
525 *** Vertical scrolling is now possible within incremental search.
526 To enable this feature, customize the new user option
527 `isearch-allow-scroll'. User written commands which satisfy stringent
528 constraints can be marked as "scrolling commands". See the Emacs manual
532 *** C-w in incremental search now grabs either a character or a word,
533 making the decision in a heuristic way. This new job is done by the
534 command `isearch-yank-word-or-char'. To restore the old behavior,
535 bind C-w to `isearch-yank-word' in `isearch-mode-map'.
538 *** C-y in incremental search now grabs the next line if point is already
539 at the end of a line.
542 *** C-M-w deletes and C-M-y grabs a character in isearch mode.
543 Another method to grab a character is to enter the minibuffer by `M-e'
544 and to type `C-f' at the end of the search string in the minibuffer.
547 *** M-% typed in isearch mode invokes `query-replace' or
548 `query-replace-regexp' (depending on search mode) with the current
549 search string used as the string to replace.
552 *** Isearch no longer adds `isearch-resume' commands to the command
553 history by default. To enable this feature, customize the new
554 user option `isearch-resume-in-command-history'.
556 ** Replace command changes:
559 *** New user option `query-replace-skip-read-only': when non-nil,
560 `query-replace' and related functions simply ignore
561 a match if part of it has a read-only property.
564 *** When used interactively, the commands `query-replace-regexp' and
565 `replace-regexp' allow \,expr to be used in a replacement string,
566 where expr is an arbitrary Lisp expression evaluated at replacement
567 time. In many cases, this will be more convenient than using
568 `query-replace-regexp-eval'. `\#' in a replacement string now refers
569 to the count of replacements already made by the replacement command.
570 All regular expression replacement commands now allow `\?' in the
571 replacement string to specify a position where the replacement string
572 can be edited for each replacement.
575 *** query-replace uses isearch lazy highlighting when the new user option
576 `query-replace-lazy-highlight' is non-nil.
579 *** The current match in query-replace is highlighted in new face
580 `query-replace' which by default inherits from isearch face.
582 ** File operation changes:
585 *** Unquoted `$' in file names do not signal an error any more when
586 the corresponding environment variable does not exist.
587 Instead, the `$ENVVAR' text is left as is, so that `$$' quoting
588 is only rarely needed.
591 *** In processing a local variables list, Emacs strips the prefix and
592 suffix are from every line before processing all the lines.
595 *** find-file-read-only visits multiple files in read-only mode,
596 when the file name contains wildcard characters.
599 *** find-alternate-file replaces the current file with multiple files,
600 when the file name contains wildcard characters.
603 *** Auto Compression mode is now enabled by default.
606 *** C-x C-f RET, typing nothing in the minibuffer, is no longer a special case.
608 Since the default input is the current directory, this has the effect
609 of specifying the current directory. Normally that means to visit the
610 directory with Dired.
613 *** When you are root, and you visit a file whose modes specify
614 read-only, the Emacs buffer is now read-only too. Type C-x C-q if you
615 want to make the buffer writable. (As root, you can in fact alter the
619 *** C-x s (save-some-buffers) now offers an option `d' to diff a buffer
620 against its file, so you can see what changes you would be saving.
623 *** The commands copy-file, rename-file, make-symbolic-link and
624 add-name-to-file, when given a directory as the "new name" argument,
625 convert it to a file name by merging in the within-directory part of
626 the existing file's name. (This is the same convention that shell
627 commands cp, mv, and ln follow.) Thus, M-x copy-file RET ~/foo RET
628 /tmp RET copies ~/foo to /tmp/foo.
631 *** When used interactively, `format-write-file' now asks for confirmation
632 before overwriting an existing file, unless a prefix argument is
633 supplied. This behavior is analogous to `write-file'.
636 *** The variable `auto-save-file-name-transforms' now has a third element that
637 controls whether or not the function `make-auto-save-file-name' will
638 attempt to construct a unique auto-save name (e.g. for remote files).
641 *** The new option `write-region-inhibit-fsync' disables calls to fsync
642 in `write-region'. This can be useful on laptops to avoid spinning up
643 the hard drive upon each file save. Enabling this variable may result
644 in data loss, use with care.
647 *** If the user visits a file larger than `large-file-warning-threshold',
648 Emacs asks for confirmation.
651 *** require-final-newline now has two new possible values:
653 `visit' means add a newline (as an undoable change) if it's needed
654 when visiting the file.
656 `visit-save' means add a newline (as an undoable change) if it's
657 needed when visiting the file, and also add a newline if it's needed
658 when saving the file.
661 *** The new option mode-require-final-newline controls how certain
662 major modes enable require-final-newline. Any major mode that's
663 designed for a kind of file that should normally end in a newline
664 sets require-final-newline based on mode-require-final-newline.
665 So you can customize mode-require-final-newline to control what these
668 ** Minibuffer changes:
671 *** There's a new face `minibuffer-prompt'.
672 Emacs adds this face to the list of text properties stored in the
673 variable `minibuffer-prompt-properties', which is used to display the
677 *** Enhanced visual feedback in `*Completions*' buffer.
679 Completions lists use faces to highlight what all completions
680 have in common and where they begin to differ.
682 The common prefix shared by all possible completions uses the face
683 `completions-common-part', while the first character that isn't the
684 same uses the face `completions-first-difference'. By default,
685 `completions-common-part' inherits from `default', and
686 `completions-first-difference' inherits from `bold'. The idea of
687 `completions-common-part' is that you can use it to make the common
688 parts less visible than normal, so that the rest of the differing
689 parts is, by contrast, slightly highlighted.
691 Above fontification is always done when listing completions is
692 triggered at minibuffer. If you want to fontify completions whose
693 listing is triggered at the other normal buffer, you have to pass
694 the common prefix of completions to `display-completion-list' as
698 *** File-name completion can now ignore specified directories.
699 If an element of the list in `completion-ignored-extensions' ends in a
700 slash `/', it indicates a subdirectory that should be ignored when
701 completing file names. Elements of `completion-ignored-extensions'
702 which do not end in a slash are never considered when a completion
703 candidate is a directory.
706 *** The completion commands TAB, SPC and ? in the minibuffer apply only
707 to the text before point. If there is text in the buffer after point,
708 it remains unchanged.
711 *** New user option `history-delete-duplicates'.
712 If set to t when adding a new history element, all previous identical
713 elements are deleted.
715 ** Redisplay changes:
718 *** The mode line position information now comes before the major mode.
719 When the file is maintained under version control, that information
720 appears between the position information and the major mode.
723 *** New face `escape-glyph' highlights control characters and escape glyphs.
726 *** Non-breaking space and hyphens are now displayed with a special
727 face, either nobreak-space or escape-glyph. You can turn this off or
728 specify a different mode by setting the variable `nobreak-char-display'.
731 *** The parameters of automatic hscrolling can now be customized.
732 The variable `hscroll-margin' determines how many columns away from
733 the window edge point is allowed to get before automatic hscrolling
734 will horizontally scroll the window. The default value is 5.
736 The variable `hscroll-step' determines how many columns automatic
737 hscrolling scrolls the window when point gets too close to the
738 window edge. If its value is zero, the default, Emacs scrolls the
739 window so as to center point. If its value is an integer, it says how
740 many columns to scroll. If the value is a floating-point number, it
741 gives the fraction of the window's width to scroll the window.
743 The variable `automatic-hscrolling' was renamed to
744 `auto-hscroll-mode'. The old name is still available as an alias.
747 *** Moving or scrolling through images (and other lines) taller that
748 the window now works sensibly, by automatically adjusting the window's
752 *** The new face `mode-line-inactive' is used to display the mode line
753 of non-selected windows. The `mode-line' face is now used to display
754 the mode line of the currently selected window.
756 The new variable `mode-line-in-non-selected-windows' controls whether
757 the `mode-line-inactive' face is used.
760 *** You can now customize the use of window fringes. To control this
761 for all frames, use M-x fringe-mode or the Show/Hide submenu of the
762 top-level Options menu, or customize the `fringe-mode' variable. To
763 control this for a specific frame, use the command M-x
767 *** Angle icons in the fringes can indicate the buffer boundaries. In
768 addition, up and down arrow bitmaps in the fringe indicate which ways
769 the window can be scrolled.
771 This behavior is activated by setting the buffer-local variable
772 `indicate-buffer-boundaries' to a non-nil value. The default value of
773 this variable is found in `default-indicate-buffer-boundaries'.
775 If value is `left' or `right', both angle and arrow bitmaps are
776 displayed in the left or right fringe, resp.
778 The value can also be an alist which specifies the presence and
779 position of each bitmap individually.
781 For example, ((top . left) (t . right)) places the top angle bitmap
782 in left fringe, the bottom angle bitmap in right fringe, and both
783 arrow bitmaps in right fringe. To show just the angle bitmaps in the
784 left fringe, but no arrow bitmaps, use ((top . left) (bottom . left)).
787 *** On window systems, lines which are exactly as wide as the window
788 (not counting the final newline character) are no longer broken into
789 two lines on the display (with just the newline on the second line).
790 Instead, the newline now "overflows" into the right fringe, and the
791 cursor will be displayed in the fringe when positioned on that newline.
793 The new user option 'overflow-newline-into-fringe' can be set to nil to
794 revert to the old behavior of continuing such lines.
797 *** When a window has display margin areas, the fringes are now
798 displayed between the margins and the buffer's text area, rather than
799 outside those margins.
802 *** A window can now have individual fringe and scroll-bar settings,
803 in addition to the individual display margin settings.
805 Such individual settings are now preserved when windows are split
806 horizontally or vertically, a saved window configuration is restored,
807 or when the frame is resized.
809 ** Cursor display changes:
812 *** On X, MS Windows, and Mac OS, the blinking cursor's "off" state is
813 now controlled by the variable `blink-cursor-alist'.
816 *** The X resource cursorBlink can be used to turn off cursor blinking.
819 *** Emacs can produce an underscore-like (horizontal bar) cursor.
820 The underscore cursor is set by putting `(cursor-type . hbar)' in
821 default-frame-alist. It supports variable heights, like the `bar'
825 *** Display of hollow cursors now obeys the buffer-local value (if any)
826 of `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' in the buffer that the cursor
830 *** The variable `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' can now be set to any
831 of the recognized cursor types.
836 *** `mode-line-highlight' is the standard face indicating mouse sensitive
837 elements on mode-line (and header-line) like `highlight' face on text
841 *** `shadow' face defines the appearance of the "shadowed" text, i.e.
842 the text which should be less noticeable than the surrounding text.
843 This can be achieved by using shades of grey in contrast with either
844 black or white default foreground color. This generic shadow face
845 allows customization of the appearance of shadowed text in one place,
846 so package-specific faces can inherit from it.
849 *** `vertical-border' face is used for the vertical divider between windows.
851 ** Font-Lock changes:
854 *** M-o now is the prefix key for setting text properties;
855 M-o M-o requests refontification.
858 *** All modes now support using M-x font-lock-mode to toggle
859 fontification, even those such as Occur, Info, and comint-derived
860 modes that do their own fontification in a special way.
862 The variable `Info-fontify' is no longer applicable; to disable
863 fontification in Info, remove `turn-on-font-lock' from
867 *** font-lock-lines-before specifies a number of lines before the
868 current line that should be refontified when you change the buffer.
869 The default value is 1.
872 *** font-lock: in modes like C and Lisp where the fontification assumes that
873 an open-paren in column 0 is always outside of any string or comment,
874 font-lock now highlights any such open-paren-in-column-zero in bold-red
875 if it is inside a string or a comment, to indicate that it can cause
876 trouble with fontification and/or indentation.
879 *** New standard font-lock face `font-lock-preprocessor-face'.
882 *** New standard font-lock face `font-lock-comment-delimiter-face'.
885 *** Easy to overlook single character negation can now be font-locked.
886 You can use the new variable `font-lock-negation-char-face' and the face of
887 the same name to customize this. Currently the cc-modes, sh-script-mode,
888 cperl-mode and make-mode support this.
891 *** The default settings for JIT stealth lock parameters are changed.
892 The default value for the user option jit-lock-stealth-time is now 16
893 instead of 3, and the default value of jit-lock-stealth-nice is now
894 0.5 instead of 0.125. The new defaults should lower the CPU usage
895 when Emacs is fontifying in the background.
898 *** jit-lock can now be delayed with `jit-lock-defer-time'.
900 If this variable is non-nil, its value should be the amount of Emacs
901 idle time in seconds to wait before starting fontification. For
902 example, if you set `jit-lock-defer-time' to 0.25, fontification will
903 only happen after 0.25s of idle time.
906 *** contextual refontification is now separate from stealth fontification.
908 jit-lock-defer-contextually is renamed jit-lock-contextually and
909 jit-lock-context-time determines the delay after which contextual
910 refontification takes place.
915 *** A menu item "Show/Hide" was added to the top-level menu "Options".
916 This menu allows you to turn various display features on and off (such
917 as the fringes, the tool bar, the speedbar, and the menu bar itself).
918 You can also move the vertical scroll bar to either side here or turn
919 it off completely. There is also a menu-item to toggle displaying of
920 current date and time, current line and column number in the mode-line.
923 *** Speedbar has moved from the "Tools" top level menu to "Show/Hide".
926 *** You can exit dialog windows and menus by typing C-g.
929 *** The menu item "Open File..." has been split into two items, "New File..."
930 and "Open File...". "Open File..." now opens only existing files. This is
931 to support existing GUI file selection dialogs better.
934 *** The file selection dialog for Gtk+, Mac, W32 and Motif/Lesstif can be
935 disabled by customizing the variable `use-file-dialog'.
938 *** The pop up menus for Lucid now stay up if you do a fast click and can
939 be navigated with the arrow keys (like Gtk+, Mac and W32).
942 *** The Lucid menus can display multilingual text in your locale. You have
943 to explicitly specify a fontSet resource for this to work, for example
944 `-xrm "Emacs*fontSet: -*-helvetica-medium-r-*--*-120-*-*-*-*-*-*,*"'.
947 *** Dialogs for Lucid/Athena and Lesstif/Motif now pops down when pressing
948 ESC, like they do for Gtk+, Mac and W32.
951 *** For Gtk+ version 2.4, you can make Emacs use the old file dialog
952 by setting the variable `x-use-old-gtk-file-dialog' to t. Default is to use
958 *** If you set the new variable `mouse-autoselect-window' to a non-nil
959 value, windows are automatically selected as you move the mouse from
960 one Emacs window to another, even within a frame. A minibuffer window
961 can be selected only when it is active.
964 *** On X, when the window manager requires that you click on a frame to
965 select it (give it focus), the selected window and cursor position
966 normally changes according to the mouse click position. If you set
967 the variable x-mouse-click-focus-ignore-position to t, the selected
968 window and cursor position do not change when you click on a frame
972 *** You can now follow links by clicking Mouse-1 on the link.
974 Traditionally, Emacs uses a Mouse-1 click to set point and a Mouse-2
975 click to follow a link, whereas most other applications use a Mouse-1
976 click for both purposes, depending on whether you click outside or
977 inside a link. Now the behavior of a Mouse-1 click has been changed
978 to match this context-sentitive dual behavior. (If you prefer the old
979 behavior, set the user option `mouse-1-click-follows-link' to nil.)
981 Depending on the current mode, a Mouse-2 click in Emacs can do much
982 more than just follow a link, so the new Mouse-1 behavior is only
983 activated for modes which explicitly mark a clickable text as a "link"
984 (see the new function `mouse-on-link-p' for details). The Lisp
985 packages that are included in release 22.1 have been adapted to do
986 this, but external packages may not yet support this. However, there
987 is no risk in using such packages, as the worst thing that could
988 happen is that you get the original Mouse-1 behavior when you click
989 on a link, which typically means that you set point where you click.
991 If you want to get the original Mouse-1 action also inside a link, you
992 just need to press the Mouse-1 button a little longer than a normal
993 click (i.e. press and hold the Mouse-1 button for half a second before
996 Dragging the Mouse-1 inside a link still performs the original
997 drag-mouse-1 action, typically copy the text.
999 You can customize the new Mouse-1 behavior via the new user options
1000 `mouse-1-click-follows-link' and `mouse-1-click-in-non-selected-windows'.
1003 *** Emacs normally highlights mouse sensitive text whenever the mouse
1004 is over the text. By setting the new variable `mouse-highlight', you
1005 can optionally enable mouse highlighting only after you move the
1006 mouse, so that highlighting disappears when you press a key. You can
1007 also disable mouse highlighting.
1010 *** You can now customize if selecting a region by dragging the mouse
1011 shall not copy the selected text to the kill-ring by setting the new
1012 variable mouse-drag-copy-region to nil.
1015 *** mouse-wheels can now scroll a specific fraction of the window
1016 (rather than a fixed number of lines) and the scrolling is `progressive'.
1019 *** Emacs ignores mouse-2 clicks while the mouse wheel is being moved.
1021 People tend to push the mouse wheel (which counts as a mouse-2 click)
1022 unintentionally while turning the wheel, so these clicks are now
1023 ignored. You can customize this with the mouse-wheel-click-event and
1024 mouse-wheel-inhibit-click-time variables.
1027 *** Under X, mouse-wheel-mode is turned on by default.
1029 ** Multilingual Environment (Mule) changes:
1032 *** Language environment and various default coding systems are setup
1033 more correctly according to the current locale name. If the locale
1034 name doesn't specify a charset, the default is what glibc defines.
1035 This change can result in using the different coding systems as
1036 default in some locale (e.g. vi_VN).
1039 *** The keyboard-coding-system is now automatically set based on your
1040 current locale settings if you are not using a window system. This
1041 can mean that the META key doesn't work but generates non-ASCII
1042 characters instead, depending on how the terminal (or terminal
1043 emulator) works. Use `set-keyboard-coding-system' (or customize
1044 keyboard-coding-system) if you prefer META to work (the old default)
1045 or if the locale doesn't describe the character set actually generated
1046 by the keyboard. See Info node `Single-Byte Character Support'.
1049 *** The new command `revert-buffer-with-coding-system' (C-x RET r)
1050 revisits the current file using a coding system that you specify.
1053 *** New command `recode-region' decodes the region again by a specified
1057 *** The new command `recode-file-name' changes the encoding of the name
1061 *** New command `ucs-insert' inserts a character specified by its
1065 *** The new command `set-file-name-coding-system' (C-x RET F) sets
1066 coding system for encoding and decoding file names. A new menu item
1067 (Options->Mule->Set Coding Systems->For File Name) invokes this
1071 *** New command quail-show-key shows what key (or key sequence) to type
1072 in the current input method to input a character at point.
1075 *** Limited support for character `unification' has been added.
1076 Emacs now knows how to translate between different representations of
1077 the same characters in various Emacs charsets according to standard
1078 Unicode mappings. This applies mainly to characters in the ISO 8859
1079 sets plus some other 8-bit sets, but can be extended. For instance,
1080 translation works amongst the Emacs ...-iso8859-... charsets and the
1081 mule-unicode-... ones.
1083 By default this translation happens automatically on encoding.
1084 Self-inserting characters are translated to make the input conformant
1085 with the encoding of the buffer in which it's being used, where
1088 You can force a more complete unification with the user option
1089 unify-8859-on-decoding-mode. That maps all the Latin-N character sets
1090 into Unicode characters (from the latin-iso8859-1 and
1091 mule-unicode-0100-24ff charsets) on decoding. Note that this mode
1092 will often effectively clobber data with an iso-2022 encoding.
1095 *** There is support for decoding Greek and Cyrillic characters into
1096 either Unicode (the mule-unicode charsets) or the iso-8859 charsets,
1097 when possible. The latter are more space-efficient. This is
1098 controlled by user option utf-fragment-on-decoding.
1101 *** New language environments: French, Ukrainian, Tajik,
1102 Bulgarian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, UTF-8, Windows-1255, Welsh, Latin-6,
1103 Latin-7, Lithuanian, Latvian, Swedish, Slovenian, Croatian, Georgian,
1104 Italian, Russian, Malayalam, Tamil, Russian, Chinese-EUC-TW. (Set up
1105 automatically according to the locale.)
1108 *** New input methods: latin-alt-postfix, latin-postfix, latin-prefix,
1109 ukrainian-computer, belarusian, bulgarian-bds, russian-computer,
1110 vietnamese-telex, lithuanian-numeric, lithuanian-keyboard,
1111 latvian-keyboard, welsh, georgian, rfc1345, ucs, sgml,
1112 bulgarian-phonetic, dutch, slovenian, croatian, malayalam-inscript,
1116 *** New input method chinese-sisheng for inputting Chinese Pinyin
1120 *** Improved Thai support. A new minor mode `thai-word-mode' (which is
1121 automatically activated if you select Thai as a language
1122 environment) changes key bindings of most word-oriented commands to
1123 versions which recognize Thai words. Affected commands are
1127 M-DEL (backward-kill-word)
1128 M-t (transpose-words)
1129 M-q (fill-paragraph)
1132 *** Indian support has been updated.
1133 The in-is13194 coding system is now Unicode-based. CDAC fonts are
1134 assumed. There is a framework for supporting various
1135 Indian scripts, but currently only Devanagari, Malayalam and Tamil are
1139 *** A UTF-7 coding system is available in the library `utf-7'.
1142 *** The utf-8/16 coding systems have been enhanced.
1143 By default, untranslatable utf-8 sequences are simply composed into
1144 single quasi-characters. User option `utf-translate-cjk-mode' (it is
1145 turned on by default) arranges to translate many utf-8 CJK character
1146 sequences into real Emacs characters in a similar way to the Mule-UCS
1147 system. As this loads a fairly big data on demand, people who are not
1148 interested in CJK characters may want to customize it to nil.
1149 You can augment/amend the CJK translation via hash tables
1150 `ucs-mule-cjk-to-unicode' and `ucs-unicode-to-mule-cjk'. The utf-8
1151 coding system now also encodes characters from most of Emacs's
1152 one-dimensional internal charsets, specifically the ISO-8859 ones.
1153 The utf-16 coding system is affected similarly.
1156 *** A new coding system `euc-tw' has been added for traditional Chinese
1157 in CNS encoding; it accepts both Big 5 and CNS as input; on saving,
1158 Big 5 is then converted to CNS.
1161 *** Many new coding systems are available in the `code-pages' library.
1162 These include complete versions of most of those in codepage.el, based
1163 on Unicode mappings. `codepage-setup' is now obsolete and is used
1164 only in the MS-DOS port of Emacs. All coding systems defined in
1165 `code-pages' are auto-loaded.
1168 *** New variable `utf-translate-cjk-unicode-range' controls which
1169 Unicode characters to translate in `utf-translate-cjk-mode'.
1172 *** iso-10646-1 (`Unicode') fonts can be used to display any range of
1173 characters encodable by the utf-8 coding system. Just specify the
1174 fontset appropriately.
1176 ** Customize changes:
1179 *** Custom themes are collections of customize options. Create a
1180 custom theme with M-x customize-create-theme. Use M-x load-theme to
1181 load and enable a theme, and M-x disable-theme to disable it. Use M-x
1182 enable-theme to renable a disabled theme.
1185 *** The commands M-x customize-face and M-x customize-face-other-window
1186 now look at the character after point. If a face or faces are
1187 specified for that character, the commands by default customize those
1191 *** The face-customization widget has been reworked to be less confusing.
1192 In particular, when you enable a face attribute using the corresponding
1193 check-box, there's no longer a redundant `*' option in value selection
1194 for that attribute; the values you can choose are only those which make
1195 sense for the attribute. When an attribute is de-selected by unchecking
1196 its check-box, then the (now ignored, but still present temporarily in
1197 case you re-select the attribute) value is hidden.
1200 *** When you set or reset a variable's value in a Customize buffer,
1201 the previous value becomes the "backup value" of the variable.
1202 You can go back to that backup value by selecting "Use Backup Value"
1203 under the "[State]" button.
1205 ** Buffer Menu changes:
1208 *** New command `Buffer-menu-toggle-files-only' toggles display of file
1209 buffers only in the Buffer Menu. It is bound to `T' in Buffer Menu
1213 *** `buffer-menu' and `list-buffers' now list buffers whose names begin
1214 with a space, when those buffers are visiting files. Normally buffers
1215 whose names begin with space are omitted.
1218 *** The new options `buffers-menu-show-directories' and
1219 `buffers-menu-show-status' let you control how buffers are displayed
1220 in the menu dropped down when you click "Buffers" from the menu bar.
1222 `buffers-menu-show-directories' controls whether the menu displays
1223 leading directories as part of the file name visited by the buffer.
1224 If its value is `unless-uniquify', the default, directories are
1225 shown unless uniquify-buffer-name-style' is non-nil. The value of nil
1226 and t turn the display of directories off and on, respectively.
1228 `buffers-menu-show-status' controls whether the Buffers menu includes
1229 the modified and read-only status of the buffers. By default it is
1230 t, and the status is shown.
1232 Setting these variables directly does not take effect until next time
1233 the Buffers menu is regenerated.
1238 *** New faces dired-header, dired-mark, dired-marked, dired-flagged,
1239 dired-ignored, dired-directory, dired-symlink, dired-warning
1240 introduced for Dired mode instead of font-lock faces.
1243 *** New Dired command `dired-compare-directories' marks files
1244 with different file attributes in two dired buffers.
1247 *** New Dired command `dired-do-touch' (bound to T) changes timestamps
1248 of marked files with the value entered in the minibuffer.
1251 *** In Dired's ! command (dired-do-shell-command), `*' and `?' now
1252 control substitution of the file names only when they are surrounded
1253 by whitespace. This means you can now use them as shell wildcards
1254 too. If you want to use just plain `*' as a wildcard, type `*""'; the
1255 doublequotes make no difference in the shell, but they prevent
1256 special treatment in `dired-do-shell-command'.
1259 *** In Dired, the w command now copies the current line's file name
1260 into the kill ring. With a zero prefix arg, copies absolute file names.
1263 *** In Dired-x, Omitting files is now a minor mode, dired-omit-mode.
1265 The mode toggling command is bound to M-o. A new command
1266 dired-mark-omitted, bound to * O, marks omitted files. The variable
1267 dired-omit-files-p is obsoleted, use the mode toggling function
1271 *** The variables dired-free-space-program and dired-free-space-args
1272 have been renamed to directory-free-space-program and
1273 directory-free-space-args, and they now apply whenever Emacs puts a
1274 directory listing into a buffer.
1279 *** The comint prompt can now be made read-only, using the new user
1280 option `comint-prompt-read-only'. This is not enabled by default,
1281 except in IELM buffers. The read-only status of IELM prompts can be
1282 controlled with the new user option `ielm-prompt-read-only', which
1283 overrides `comint-prompt-read-only'.
1285 The new commands `comint-kill-whole-line' and `comint-kill-region'
1286 support editing comint buffers with read-only prompts.
1288 `comint-kill-whole-line' is like `kill-whole-line', but ignores both
1289 read-only and field properties. Hence, it always kill entire
1290 lines, including any prompts.
1292 `comint-kill-region' is like `kill-region', except that it ignores
1293 read-only properties, if it is safe to do so. This means that if any
1294 part of a prompt is deleted, then the entire prompt must be deleted
1295 and that all prompts must stay at the beginning of a line. If this is
1296 not the case, then `comint-kill-region' behaves just like
1297 `kill-region' if read-only properties are involved: it copies the text
1298 to the kill-ring, but does not delete it.
1301 *** The new command `comint-insert-previous-argument' in comint-derived
1302 modes (shell-mode etc) inserts arguments from previous command lines,
1303 like bash's `ESC .' binding. It is bound by default to `C-c .', but
1304 otherwise behaves quite similarly to the bash version.
1307 *** `comint-use-prompt-regexp-instead-of-fields' has been renamed
1308 `comint-use-prompt-regexp'. The old name has been kept as an alias,
1309 but declared obsolete.
1311 ** M-x Compile changes:
1314 *** M-x compile has become more robust and reliable
1316 Quite a few more kinds of messages are recognized. Messages that are
1317 recognized as warnings or informational come in orange or green, instead of
1318 red. Informational messages are by default skipped with `next-error'
1319 (controlled by `compilation-skip-threshold').
1321 Location data is collected on the fly as the *compilation* buffer changes.
1322 This means you could modify messages to make them point to different files.
1323 This also means you can not go to locations of messages you may have deleted.
1325 The variable `compilation-error-regexp-alist' has now become customizable. If
1326 you had added your own regexps to this, you'll probably need to include a
1327 leading `^', otherwise they'll match anywhere on a line. There is now also a
1328 `compilation-mode-font-lock-keywords' and it nicely handles all the checks
1329 that configure outputs and -o options so you see at a glance where you are.
1331 The new file etc/compilation.txt gives examples of each type of message.
1334 *** New user option `compilation-environment'.
1335 This option allows you to specify environment variables for inferior
1336 compilation processes without affecting the environment that all
1337 subprocesses inherit.
1340 *** New user option `compilation-disable-input'.
1341 If this is non-nil, send end-of-file as compilation process input.
1344 *** New options `next-error-highlight' and `next-error-highlight-no-select'
1345 specify the method of highlighting of the corresponding source line
1346 in new face `next-error'.
1349 *** A new minor mode `next-error-follow-minor-mode' can be used in
1350 compilation-mode, grep-mode, occur-mode, and diff-mode (i.e. all the
1351 modes that can use `next-error'). In this mode, cursor motion in the
1352 buffer causes automatic display in another window of the corresponding
1353 matches, compilation errors, etc. This minor mode can be toggled with
1357 *** When the left fringe is displayed, an arrow points to current message in
1358 the compilation buffer.
1361 *** The new variable `compilation-context-lines' controls lines of leading
1362 context before the current message. If nil and the left fringe is displayed,
1363 it doesn't scroll the compilation output window. If there is no left fringe,
1364 no arrow is displayed and a value of nil means display the message at the top
1367 ** Occur mode changes:
1370 *** In the *Occur* buffer, `o' switches to it in another window, and
1371 C-o displays the current line's occurrence in another window without
1375 *** You can now use next-error (C-x `) and previous-error to advance to
1376 the next/previous matching line found by M-x occur.
1379 *** The new command `multi-occur' is just like `occur', except it can
1380 search multiple buffers. There is also a new command
1381 `multi-occur-by-filename-regexp' which allows you to specify the
1382 buffers to search by their filename. Internally, Occur mode has been
1383 rewritten, and now uses font-lock, among other changes.
1388 *** Grep has been decoupled from compilation mode setup.
1390 There's a new separate package grep.el, with its own submenu and
1391 customization group.
1394 *** M-x grep provides highlighting support.
1396 Hits are fontified in green, and hits in binary files in orange. Grep buffers
1397 can be saved and automatically revisited.
1400 *** `grep-find' is now also available under the name `find-grep' where
1401 people knowing `find-grep-dired' would probably expect it.
1404 *** The new variables `grep-window-height', `grep-auto-highlight', and
1405 `grep-scroll-output' override the corresponding compilation mode
1406 settings, for grep commands only.
1409 *** New option `grep-highlight-matches' highlightes matches in *grep*
1410 buffer. It uses a special feature of some grep programs which accept
1411 --color option to output markers around matches. When going to the next
1412 match with `next-error' the exact match is highlighted in the source
1413 buffer. Otherwise, if `grep-highlight-matches' is nil, the whole
1414 source line is highlighted.
1417 *** New key bindings in grep output window:
1418 SPC and DEL scrolls window up and down. C-n and C-p moves to next and
1419 previous match in the grep window. RET jumps to the source line of
1420 the current match. `n' and `p' shows next and previous match in
1421 other window, but does not switch buffer. `{' and `}' jumps to the
1422 previous or next file in the grep output. TAB also jumps to the next
1426 *** M-x grep now tries to avoid appending `/dev/null' to the command line
1427 by using GNU grep `-H' option instead. M-x grep automatically
1428 detects whether this is possible or not the first time it is invoked.
1429 When `-H' is used, the grep command line supplied by the user is passed
1430 unchanged to the system to execute, which allows more complicated
1431 command lines to be used than was possible before.
1433 ** X Windows Support:
1436 *** Emacs now supports drag and drop for X. Dropping a file on a window
1437 opens it, dropping text inserts the text. Dropping a file on a dired
1438 buffer copies or moves the file to that directory.
1441 *** Under X11, it is possible to swap Alt and Meta (and Super and Hyper).
1442 The new variables `x-alt-keysym', `x-hyper-keysym', `x-meta-keysym',
1443 and `x-super-keysym' can be used to choose which keysyms Emacs should
1444 use for the modifiers. For example, the following two lines swap
1446 (setq x-alt-keysym 'meta)
1447 (setq x-meta-keysym 'alt)
1450 *** The X resource useXIM can be used to turn off use of XIM, which can
1451 speed up Emacs with slow networking to the X server.
1453 If the configure option `--without-xim' was used to turn off use of
1454 XIM by default, the X resource useXIM can be used to turn it on.
1457 *** The new variable `x-select-request-type' controls how Emacs
1458 requests X selection. The default value is nil, which means that
1459 Emacs requests X selection with types COMPOUND_TEXT and UTF8_STRING,
1460 and use the more appropriately result.
1463 *** The scrollbar under LessTif or Motif has a smoother drag-scrolling.
1464 On the other hand, the size of the thumb does not represent the actual
1465 amount of text shown any more (only a crude approximation of it).
1470 *** Emacs now responds to mouse-clicks on the mode-line, header-line and
1471 display margin, when run in an xterm.
1474 *** Improved key bindings support when running in an xterm.
1475 When emacs is running in an xterm more key bindings are available. The
1476 following should work:
1477 {C,S,C-S,A}-{right,left,up,down,prior,next,delete,insert,F1-12}.
1478 These key bindings work on xterm from X.org 6.8, they might not work on
1479 some older versions of xterm, or on some proprietary versions.
1481 ** Character terminal color support changes:
1484 *** The new command-line option --color=MODE lets you specify a standard
1485 mode for a tty color support. It is meant to be used on character
1486 terminals whose capabilities are not set correctly in the terminal
1487 database, or with terminal emulators which support colors, but don't
1488 set the TERM environment variable to a name of a color-capable
1489 terminal. "emacs --color" uses the same color commands as GNU `ls'
1490 when invoked with "ls --color", so if your terminal can support colors
1491 in "ls --color", it will support "emacs --color" as well. See the
1492 user manual for the possible values of the MODE parameter.
1495 *** Emacs now supports several character terminals which provide more
1496 than 8 colors. For example, for `xterm', 16-color, 88-color, and
1497 256-color modes are supported. Emacs automatically notes at startup
1498 the extended number of colors, and defines the appropriate entries for
1499 all of these colors.
1502 *** Emacs now uses the full range of available colors for the default
1503 faces when running on a color terminal, including 16-, 88-, and
1504 256-color xterms. This means that when you run "emacs -nw" on an
1505 88-color or 256-color xterm, you will see essentially the same face
1509 *** There's a new support for colors on `rxvt' terminal emulator.
1511 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 22.1
1513 ** Rcirc is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1515 Rcirc is an Internet relay chat (IRC) client. It supports
1516 simultaneous connections to multiple IRC servers. Each discussion
1517 takes place in its own buffer. For each connection you can join
1518 several channels (many-to-many) and participate in private
1519 (one-to-one) chats. Both channel and private chats are contained in
1522 To start an IRC session, type M-x irc, and follow the prompts for
1523 server, port, nick and initial channels.
1526 ** Newsticker is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1528 Newsticker asynchronously retrieves headlines (RSS) from a list of news
1529 sites, prepares these headlines for reading, and allows for loading the
1530 corresponding articles in a web browser. Its documentation is in a
1534 ** savehist saves minibuffer histories between sessions.
1535 To use this feature, put (savehist-load) in your `.emacs' file.
1538 ** Filesets are collections of files. You can define a fileset in
1539 various ways, such as based on a directory tree or based on
1540 program files that include other program files.
1542 Once you have defined a fileset, you can perform various operations on
1543 all the files in it, such as visiting them or searching and replacing
1547 ** Calc is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1549 Calc is an advanced desk calculator and mathematical tool written in
1550 Emacs Lisp. Its documentation is in a separate manual; within Emacs,
1551 type "C-h i m calc RET" to read that manual. A reference card is
1552 available in `etc/calccard.tex' and `etc/calccard.ps'.
1555 ** The new package ibuffer provides a powerful, completely
1556 customizable replacement for buff-menu.el.
1559 ** Ido mode is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1561 The ido (interactively do) package is an extension of the iswitchb
1562 package to do interactive opening of files and directories in addition
1563 to interactive buffer switching. Ido is a superset of iswitchb (with
1564 a few exceptions), so don't enable both packages.
1567 ** Image files are normally visited in Image mode, which lets you toggle
1568 between viewing the image and viewing the text using C-c C-c.
1571 ** CUA mode is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1573 The new cua package provides CUA-like keybindings using C-x for
1574 cut (kill), C-c for copy, C-v for paste (yank), and C-z for undo.
1575 With cua, the region can be set and extended using shifted movement
1576 keys (like pc-selection-mode) and typed text replaces the active
1577 region (like delete-selection-mode). Do not enable these modes with
1578 cua-mode. Customize the variable `cua-mode' to enable cua.
1580 In addition, cua provides unified rectangle support with visible
1581 rectangle highlighting: Use C-return to start a rectangle, extend it
1582 using the movement commands (or mouse-3), and cut or copy it using C-x
1583 or C-c (using C-w and M-w also works).
1585 Use M-o and M-c to `open' or `close' the rectangle, use M-b or M-f, to
1586 fill it with blanks or another character, use M-u or M-l to upcase or
1587 downcase the rectangle, use M-i to increment the numbers in the
1588 rectangle, use M-n to fill the rectangle with a numeric sequence (such
1589 as 10 20 30...), use M-r to replace a regexp in the rectangle, and use
1590 M-' or M-/ to restrict command on the rectangle to a subset of the
1591 rows. See the commentary in cua-base.el for more rectangle commands.
1593 Cua also provides unified support for registers: Use a numeric
1594 prefix argument between 0 and 9, i.e. M-0 .. M-9, for C-x, C-c, and
1595 C-v to cut or copy into register 0-9, or paste from register 0-9.
1597 The last text deleted (not killed) is automatically stored in
1598 register 0. This includes text deleted by typing text.
1600 Finally, cua provides a global mark which is set using S-C-space.
1601 When the global mark is active, any text which is cut or copied is
1602 automatically inserted at the global mark position. See the
1603 commentary in cua-base.el for more global mark related commands.
1605 The features of cua also works with the standard emacs bindings for
1606 kill, copy, yank, and undo. If you want to use cua mode, but don't
1607 want the C-x, C-c, C-v, and C-z bindings, you can customize the
1608 `cua-enable-cua-keys' variable.
1610 Note: This version of cua mode is not backwards compatible with older
1611 versions of cua.el and cua-mode.el. To ensure proper operation, you
1612 must remove older versions of cua.el or cua-mode.el as well as the
1613 loading and customization of those packages from the .emacs file.
1616 ** Org mode is now part of the Emacs distribution
1618 Org mode is a mode for keeping notes, maintaining ToDo lists, and
1619 doing project planning with a fast and effective plain-text system.
1620 It also contains a plain-text table editor with spreadsheet-like
1623 The Org mode table editor can be integrated into any major mode by
1624 activating the minor Orgtbl-mode.
1626 The documentation for org-mode is in a separate manual; within Emacs,
1627 type "C-h i m org RET" to read that manual. A reference card is
1628 available in `etc/orgcard.tex' and `etc/orgcard.ps'.
1631 ** The new package dns-mode.el add syntax highlight of DNS master files.
1632 The key binding C-c C-s (`dns-mode-soa-increment-serial') can be used
1633 to increment the SOA serial.
1636 ** The new global minor mode `file-name-shadow-mode' modifies the way
1637 filenames being entered by the user in the minibuffer are displayed, so
1638 that it's clear when part of the entered filename will be ignored due to
1639 emacs' filename parsing rules. The ignored portion can be made dim,
1640 invisible, or otherwise less visually noticable. The display method can
1641 be displayed by customizing the variable `file-name-shadow-properties'.
1644 ** The new package flymake.el does on-the-fly syntax checking of program
1645 source files. See the Flymake's Info manual for more details.
1648 ** The new keypad setup package provides several common bindings for
1649 the numeric keypad which is available on most keyboards. The numeric
1650 keypad typically has the digits 0 to 9, a decimal point, keys marked
1651 +, -, /, and *, an Enter key, and a NumLock toggle key. The keypad
1652 package only controls the use of the digit and decimal keys.
1654 By customizing the variables `keypad-setup', `keypad-shifted-setup',
1655 `keypad-numlock-setup', and `keypad-numlock-shifted-setup', or by
1656 using the function `keypad-setup', you can rebind all digit keys and
1657 the decimal key of the keypad in one step for each of the four
1658 possible combinations of the Shift key state (not pressed/pressed) and
1659 the NumLock toggle state (off/on).
1661 The choices for the keypad keys in each of the above states are:
1662 `Plain numeric keypad' where the keys generates plain digits,
1663 `Numeric keypad with decimal key' where the character produced by the
1664 decimal key can be customized individually (for internationalization),
1665 `Numeric Prefix Arg' where the keypad keys produce numeric prefix args
1666 for emacs editing commands, `Cursor keys' and `Shifted Cursor keys'
1667 where the keys work like (shifted) arrow keys, home/end, etc., and
1668 `Unspecified/User-defined' where the keypad keys (kp-0, kp-1, etc.)
1669 are left unspecified and can be bound individually through the global
1673 ** The new kmacro package provides a simpler user interface to
1674 emacs' keyboard macro facilities.
1676 Basically, it uses two function keys (default F3 and F4) like this:
1677 F3 starts a macro, F4 ends the macro, and pressing F4 again executes
1678 the last macro. While defining the macro, F3 inserts a counter value
1679 which automatically increments every time the macro is executed.
1681 There is now a keyboard macro ring which stores the most recently
1684 The C-x C-k sequence is now a prefix for the kmacro keymap which
1685 defines bindings for moving through the keyboard macro ring,
1686 C-x C-k C-p and C-x C-k C-n, editing the last macro C-x C-k C-e,
1687 manipulating the macro counter and format via C-x C-k C-c,
1688 C-x C-k C-a, and C-x C-k C-f. See the commentary in kmacro.el
1691 The normal macro bindings C-x (, C-x ), and C-x e now interfaces to
1692 the keyboard macro ring.
1694 The C-x e command now automatically terminates the current macro
1695 before calling it, if used while defining a macro.
1697 In addition, when ending or calling a macro with C-x e, the macro can
1698 be repeated immediately by typing just the `e'. You can customize
1699 this behavior via the variables kmacro-call-repeat-key and
1700 kmacro-call-repeat-with-arg.
1702 Keyboard macros can now be debugged and edited interactively.
1703 C-x C-k SPC steps through the last keyboard macro one key sequence
1704 at a time, prompting for the actions to take.
1707 ** New minor mode, Visible mode, toggles invisibility in the current buffer.
1708 When enabled, it makes all invisible text visible. When disabled, it
1709 restores the previous value of `buffer-invisibility-spec'.
1712 ** The wdired.el package allows you to use normal editing commands on Dired
1713 buffers to change filenames, permissions, etc...
1716 ** The new package longlines.el provides a minor mode for editing text
1717 files composed of long lines, based on the `use-hard-newlines'
1718 mechanism. The long lines are broken up by inserting soft newlines,
1719 which are automatically removed when saving the file to disk or
1720 copying into the kill ring, clipboard, etc. By default, Longlines
1721 mode inserts soft newlines automatically during editing, a behavior
1722 referred to as "soft word wrap" in other text editors. This is
1723 similar to Refill mode, but more reliable. To turn the word wrap
1724 feature off, set `longlines-auto-wrap' to nil.
1727 ** The printing package is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1729 If you enable the printing package by including (require 'printing) in
1730 the .emacs file, the normal Print item on the File menu is replaced
1731 with a Print sub-menu which allows you to preview output through
1732 ghostview, use ghostscript to print (if you don't have a PostScript
1733 printer) or send directly to printer a PostScript code generated by
1734 `ps-print' package. Use M-x pr-help for more information.
1737 ** The minor mode Reveal mode makes text visible on the fly as you
1738 move your cursor into hidden regions of the buffer.
1739 It should work with any package that uses overlays to hide parts
1740 of a buffer, such as outline-minor-mode, hs-minor-mode, hide-ifdef-mode, ...
1742 There is also Global Reveal mode which affects all buffers.
1745 ** The ruler-mode.el library provides a minor mode for displaying an
1746 "active" ruler in the header line. You can use the mouse to visually
1747 change the `fill-column', `window-margins' and `tab-stop-list'
1751 ** SES mode (ses-mode) is a new major mode for creating and editing
1752 spreadsheet files. Besides the usual Emacs features (intuitive command
1753 letters, undo, cell formulas in Lisp, plaintext files, etc.) it also offers
1754 viral immunity and import/export of tab-separated values.
1757 ** The new global minor mode `size-indication-mode' (off by default)
1758 shows the size of accessible part of the buffer on the mode line.
1761 ** The new package table.el implements editable, WYSIWYG, embedded
1762 `text tables' in Emacs buffers. It simulates the effect of putting
1763 these tables in a special major mode. The package emulates WYSIWYG
1764 table editing available in modern word processors. The package also
1765 can generate a table source in typesetting and markup languages such
1766 as latex and html from the visually laid out text table.
1769 ** The thumbs.el package allows you to preview image files as thumbnails
1770 and can be invoked from a Dired buffer.
1773 ** Tramp is now part of the distribution.
1775 This package is similar to Ange-FTP: it allows you to edit remote
1776 files. But whereas Ange-FTP uses FTP to access the remote host,
1777 Tramp uses a shell connection. The shell connection is always used
1778 for filename completion and directory listings and suchlike, but for
1779 the actual file transfer, you can choose between the so-called
1780 `inline' methods (which transfer the files through the shell
1781 connection using base64 or uu encoding) and the `out-of-band' methods
1782 (which invoke an external copying program such as `rcp' or `scp' or
1783 `rsync' to do the copying).
1785 Shell connections can be acquired via `rsh', `ssh', `telnet' and also
1786 `su' and `sudo'. Ange-FTP is still supported via the `ftp' method.
1788 If you want to disable Tramp you should set
1790 (setq tramp-default-method "ftp")
1793 ** The URL package (which had been part of W3) is now part of Emacs.
1796 ** `cfengine-mode' is a major mode for editing GNU Cfengine
1797 configuration files.
1800 ** The new package conf-mode.el handles thousands of configuration files, with
1801 varying syntaxes for comments (;, #, //, /* */ or !), assignment (var = value,
1802 var : value, var value or keyword var value) and sections ([section] or
1803 section { }). Many files under /etc/, or with suffixes like .cf through
1804 .config, .properties (Java), .desktop (KDE/Gnome), .ini and many others are
1808 ** GDB-Script-mode is used for files like .gdbinit.
1811 ** The new python.el package is used to edit Python and Jython programs.
1814 ** The TCL package tcl-mode.el was replaced by tcl.el.
1815 This was actually done in Emacs-21.1, and was not documented.
1817 ** The new package scroll-lock.el provides the Scroll Lock minor mode
1818 for pager-like scrolling. Keys which normally move point by line or
1819 paragraph will scroll the buffer by the respective amount of lines
1820 instead and point will be kept vertically fixed relative to window
1821 boundaries during scrolling.
1823 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 22.1:
1825 ** Changes in Allout
1827 *** Topic cryptography added, enabling easy gpg topic encryption and
1828 decryption. Per-topic basis enables interspersing encrypted-text and
1829 clear-text within a single file to your hearts content, using symmetric
1830 and/or public key modes. Time-limited key caching, user-provided
1831 symmetric key hinting and consistency verification, auto-encryption of
1832 pending topics on save, and more, make it easy to use encryption in
1835 *** many substantial fixes and refinements, including:
1837 - repaired inhibition of inadvertent edits to concealed text
1838 - repaired retention of topic body hanging indent upon topic depth shifts
1839 - prevent "containment discontinuities" where a topic is shifted deeper
1840 than the offspring-depth of its container
1841 - easy to adopt the distinctive bullet of a topic in a topic created
1842 relative to it, or select a new one, or use the common topic bullet
1843 - plain bullets, by default, now alternate between only two characters
1844 ('.' and ','), yielding less cluttered outlines
1845 - many internal fixes
1846 - version number incremented to 2.1
1848 ** The variable `woman-topic-at-point' was renamed
1849 to `woman-use-topic-at-point' and behaves differently: if this
1850 variable is non-nil, the `woman' command uses the word at point
1851 automatically, without asking for a confirmation. Otherwise, the word
1852 at point is suggested as default, but not inserted at the prompt.
1855 ** Changes to cmuscheme
1857 *** Emacs now offers to start Scheme if the user tries to
1858 evaluate a Scheme expression but no Scheme subprocess is running.
1860 *** If a file `.emacs_NAME' (where NAME is the name of the Scheme interpreter)
1861 exists in the user's home directory or in ~/.emacs.d, its
1862 contents are sent to the Scheme subprocess upon startup.
1864 *** There are new commands to instruct the Scheme interpreter to trace
1865 procedure calls (`scheme-trace-procedure') and to expand syntactic forms
1866 (`scheme-expand-current-form'). The commands actually sent to the Scheme
1867 subprocess are controlled by the user options `scheme-trace-command',
1868 `scheme-untrace-command' and `scheme-expand-current-form'.
1871 ** Makefile mode has submodes for automake, gmake, makepp and BSD make.
1873 The former two couldn't be differentiated before, and the latter two
1874 are new. Font-locking is robust now and offers new customizable
1878 ** In Outline mode, `hide-body' no longer hides lines at the top
1879 of the file that precede the first header line.
1882 ** Telnet now prompts you for a port number with C-u M-x telnet.
1885 ** The terminal emulation code in term.el has been improved; it can
1886 run most curses applications now.
1889 ** M-x diff uses Diff mode instead of Compilation mode.
1892 ** You can now customize `fill-nobreak-predicate' to control where
1893 filling can break lines. The value is now normally a list of
1894 functions, but it can also be a single function, for compatibility.
1896 Emacs provide two predicates, `fill-single-word-nobreak-p' and
1897 `fill-french-nobreak-p', for use as the value of
1898 `fill-nobreak-predicate'.
1901 ** M-x view-file and commands that use it now avoid interfering
1902 with special modes such as Tar mode.
1905 ** Commands `winner-redo' and `winner-undo', from winner.el, are now
1906 bound to C-c <left> and C-c <right>, respectively. This is an
1907 incompatible change.
1910 ** `global-whitespace-mode' is a new alias for `whitespace-global-mode'.
1913 ** M-x compare-windows now can automatically skip non-matching text to
1914 resync points in both windows.
1917 ** New user option `add-log-always-start-new-record'.
1919 When this option is enabled, M-x add-change-log-entry always
1920 starts a new record regardless of when the last record is.
1923 ** PO translation files are decoded according to their MIME headers
1924 when Emacs visits them.
1926 ** Info mode changes:
1929 *** A numeric prefix argument of `info' selects an Info buffer
1930 with the number appended to the `*info*' buffer name (e.g. "*info*<2>").
1933 *** isearch in Info uses Info-search and searches through multiple nodes.
1935 Before leaving the initial Info node isearch fails once with the error
1936 message [initial node], and with subsequent C-s/C-r continues through
1937 other nodes. When isearch fails for the rest of the manual, it wraps
1938 aroung the whole manual to the top/final node. The user option
1939 `Info-isearch-search' controls whether to use Info-search for isearch,
1940 or the default isearch search function that wraps around the current
1944 *** New search commands: `Info-search-case-sensitively' (bound to S),
1945 `Info-search-backward', and `Info-search-next' which repeats the last
1946 search without prompting for a new search string.
1949 *** New command `Info-history-forward' (bound to r and new toolbar icon)
1950 moves forward in history to the node you returned from after using
1951 `Info-history-back' (renamed from `Info-last').
1954 *** New command `Info-history' (bound to L) displays a menu of visited nodes.
1957 *** New command `Info-toc' (bound to T) creates a node with table of contents
1958 from the tree structure of menus of the current Info file.
1961 *** New command `info-apropos' searches the indices of the known
1962 Info files on your system for a string, and builds a menu of the
1966 *** New command `Info-copy-current-node-name' (bound to w) copies
1967 the current Info node name into the kill ring. With a zero prefix
1968 arg, puts the node name inside the `info' function call.
1971 *** New face `info-xref-visited' distinguishes visited nodes from unvisited
1972 and a new option `Info-fontify-visited-nodes' to control this.
1975 *** http and ftp links in Info are now operational: they look like cross
1976 references and following them calls `browse-url'.
1979 *** Info now hides node names in menus and cross references by default.
1981 If you prefer the old behavior, you can set the new user option
1982 `Info-hide-note-references' to nil.
1985 *** Images in Info pages are supported.
1987 Info pages show embedded images, in Emacs frames with image support.
1988 Info documentation that includes images, processed with makeinfo
1989 version 4.7 or newer, compiles to Info pages with embedded images.
1992 *** The default value for `Info-scroll-prefer-subnodes' is now nil.
1995 *** `Info-index' offers completion.
1997 ** Lisp mode changes:
2000 *** Lisp mode now uses `font-lock-doc-face' for doc strings.
2003 *** C-u C-M-q in Emacs Lisp mode pretty-prints the list after point.
2005 *** New features in evaluation commands
2008 **** The function `eval-defun' (C-M-x) called on defface reinitializes
2009 the face to the value specified in the defface expression.
2012 **** Typing C-x C-e twice prints the value of the integer result
2013 in additional formats (octal, hexadecimal, character) specified
2014 by the new function `eval-expression-print-format'. The same
2015 function also defines the result format for `eval-expression' (M-:),
2016 `eval-print-last-sexp' (C-j) and some edebug evaluation functions.
2021 *** Font lock support.
2022 CC Mode now provides font lock support for all its languages. This
2023 supersedes the font lock patterns that have been in the core font lock
2024 package for C, C++, Java and Objective-C. Like indentation, font
2025 locking is done in a uniform way across all languages (except the new
2026 AWK mode - see below). That means that the new font locking will be
2027 different from the old patterns in various details for most languages.
2029 The main goal of the font locking in CC Mode is accuracy, to provide a
2030 dependable aid in recognizing the various constructs. Some, like
2031 strings and comments, are easy to recognize while others like
2032 declarations and types can be very tricky. CC Mode can go to great
2033 lengths to recognize declarations and casts correctly, especially when
2034 the types aren't recognized by standard patterns. This is a fairly
2035 demanding analysis which can be slow on older hardware, and it can
2036 therefore be disabled by choosing a lower decoration level with the
2037 variable font-lock-maximum-decoration.
2039 Note that the most demanding font lock level has been tuned with lazy
2040 fontification in mind, i.e. there should be a support mode that waits
2041 with the fontification until the text is actually shown
2042 (e.g. Just-in-time Lock mode, which is the default, or Lazy Lock
2043 mode). Fontifying a file with several thousand lines in one go can
2044 take the better part of a minute.
2046 **** The (c|c++|objc|java|idl|pike)-font-lock-extra-types variables
2047 are now used by CC Mode to recognize identifiers that are certain to
2048 be types. (They are also used in cases that aren't related to font
2049 locking.) At the maximum decoration level, types are often recognized
2050 properly anyway, so these variables should be fairly restrictive and
2051 not contain patterns for uncertain types.
2053 **** Support for documentation comments.
2054 There is a "plugin" system to fontify documentation comments like
2055 Javadoc and the markup within them. It's independent of the host
2056 language, so it's possible to e.g. turn on Javadoc font locking in C
2057 buffers. See the variable c-doc-comment-style for details.
2059 Currently two kinds of doc comment styles are recognized: Suns Javadoc
2060 and Autodoc which is used in Pike. This is by no means a complete
2061 list of the most common tools; if your doc comment extractor of choice
2062 is missing then please drop a note to bug-cc-mode@gnu.org.
2064 **** Better handling of C++ templates.
2065 As a side effect of the more accurate font locking, C++ templates are
2066 now handled much better. The angle brackets that delimit them are
2067 given parenthesis syntax so that they can be navigated like other
2070 This also improves indentation of templates, although there still is
2071 work to be done in that area. E.g. it's required that multiline
2072 template clauses are written in full and then refontified to be
2073 recognized, and the indentation of nested templates is a bit odd and
2074 not as configurable as it ought to be.
2076 **** Improved handling of Objective-C and CORBA IDL.
2077 Especially the support for Objective-C and IDL has gotten an overhaul.
2078 The special "@" declarations in Objective-C are handled correctly.
2079 All the keywords used in CORBA IDL, PSDL, and CIDL are recognized and
2080 handled correctly, also wrt indentation.
2082 *** Support for the AWK language.
2083 Support for the AWK language has been introduced. The implementation is
2084 based around GNU AWK version 3.1, but it should work pretty well with
2085 any AWK. As yet, not all features of CC Mode have been adapted for AWK.
2088 **** Indentation Engine
2089 The CC Mode indentation engine fully supports AWK mode.
2091 AWK mode handles code formatted in the conventional AWK fashion: `{'s
2092 which start actions, user-defined functions, or compound statements are
2093 placed on the same line as the associated construct; the matching `}'s
2094 are normally placed under the start of the respective pattern, function
2095 definition, or structured statement.
2097 The predefined indentation functions haven't yet been adapted for AWK
2098 mode, though some of them may work serendipitously. There shouldn't be
2099 any problems writing custom indentation functions for AWK mode.
2101 The command C-c C-q (c-indent-defun) hasn't yet been adapted for AWK,
2102 though in practice it works properly nearly all the time. Should it
2103 fail, explicitly set the region around the function (using C-u C-SPC:
2104 C-M-h probably won't work either) then do C-M-\ (indent-region).
2107 There is a single level of font locking in AWK mode, rather than the
2108 three distinct levels the other modes have. There are several
2109 idiosyncrasies in AWK mode's font-locking due to the peculiarities of
2110 the AWK language itself.
2112 **** Comment Commands
2113 M-; (indent-for-comment) works fine. None of the other CC Mode
2114 comment formatting commands have yet been adapted for AWK mode.
2116 **** Movement Commands
2117 Most of the movement commands work in AWK mode. The most important
2118 exceptions are M-a (c-beginning-of-statement) and M-e
2119 (c-end-of-statement) which haven't yet been adapted.
2121 The notion of "defun" has been augmented to include AWK pattern-action
2122 pairs. C-M-a (c-awk-beginning-of-defun) and C-M-e (c-awk-end-of-defun)
2123 recognize these pattern-action pairs, as well as user defined
2126 **** Auto-newline Insertion and Clean-ups
2127 Auto-newline insertion hasn't yet been adapted for AWK. Some of
2128 the clean-ups can actually convert good AWK code into syntactically
2129 invalid code. These features are best disabled in AWK buffers.
2131 *** New syntactic symbols in IDL mode.
2132 The top level constructs "module" and "composition" (from CIDL) are
2133 now handled like "namespace" in C++: They are given syntactic symbols
2134 module-open, module-close, inmodule, composition-open,
2135 composition-close, and incomposition.
2137 *** New functions to do hungry delete without enabling hungry delete mode.
2138 The functions `c-hungry-backspace' and `c-hungry-delete-forward' can be
2139 bound to keys to get this feature without toggling a mode.
2141 *** Better control over `require-final-newline'.
2143 The variable `c-require-final-newline' specifies which of the modes
2144 implemented by CC mode should insert final newlines. Its value is a
2145 list of modes, and only those modes should do it. By default the list
2146 includes C, C++ and Objective-C modes.
2148 Whichever modes are in this list will set `require-final-newline'
2149 based on `mode-require-final-newline'.
2151 *** Format change for syntactic context elements.
2153 The elements in the syntactic context returned by `c-guess-basic-syntax'
2154 and stored in `c-syntactic-context' has been changed somewhat to allow
2155 attaching more information. They are now lists instead of single cons
2156 cells. E.g. a line that previously had the syntactic analysis
2158 ((inclass . 11) (topmost-intro . 13))
2162 ((inclass 11) (topmost-intro 13))
2164 In some cases there are more than one position given for a syntactic
2167 This change might affect code that call `c-guess-basic-syntax' directly,
2168 and custom lineup functions if they use `c-syntactic-context'. However,
2169 the argument given to lineup functions is still a single cons cell
2170 with nil or an integer in the cdr.
2172 *** API changes for derived modes.
2174 There have been extensive changes "under the hood" which can affect
2175 derived mode writers. Some of these changes are likely to cause
2176 incompatibilities with existing derived modes, but on the other hand
2177 care has now been taken to make it possible to extend and modify CC
2178 Mode with less risk of such problems in the future.
2180 **** New language variable system.
2181 See the comment blurb near the top of cc-langs.el.
2183 **** New initialization functions.
2184 The initialization procedure has been split up into more functions to
2185 give better control: `c-basic-common-init', `c-font-lock-init', and
2186 `c-init-language-vars'.
2188 *** Changes in analysis of nested syntactic constructs.
2189 The syntactic analysis engine has better handling of cases where
2190 several syntactic constructs appear nested on the same line. They are
2191 now handled as if each construct started on a line of its own.
2193 This means that CC Mode now indents some cases differently, and
2194 although it's more consistent there might be cases where the old way
2195 gave results that's more to one's liking. So if you find a situation
2196 where you think that the indentation has become worse, please report
2197 it to bug-cc-mode@gnu.org.
2199 **** New syntactic symbol substatement-label.
2200 This symbol is used when a label is inserted between a statement and
2201 its substatement. E.g:
2207 *** Better handling of multiline macros.
2209 **** Syntactic indentation inside macros.
2210 The contents of multiline #define's are now analyzed and indented
2211 syntactically just like other code. This can be disabled by the new
2212 variable `c-syntactic-indentation-in-macros'. A new syntactic symbol
2213 `cpp-define-intro' has been added to control the initial indentation
2216 **** New lineup function `c-lineup-cpp-define'.
2218 Now used by default to line up macro continuation lines. The behavior
2219 of this function closely mimics the indentation one gets if the macro
2220 is indented while the line continuation backslashes are temporarily
2221 removed. If syntactic indentation in macros is turned off, it works
2222 much line `c-lineup-dont-change', which was used earlier, but handles
2223 empty lines within the macro better.
2225 **** Automatically inserted newlines continues the macro if used within one.
2226 This applies to the newlines inserted by the auto-newline mode, and to
2227 `c-context-line-break' and `c-context-open-line'.
2229 **** Better alignment of line continuation backslashes.
2230 `c-backslash-region' tries to adapt to surrounding backslashes. New
2231 variable `c-backslash-max-column' which put a limit on how far out
2232 backslashes can be moved.
2234 **** Automatic alignment of line continuation backslashes.
2235 This is controlled by the new variable `c-auto-align-backslashes'. It
2236 affects `c-context-line-break', `c-context-open-line' and newlines
2237 inserted in Auto-Newline mode.
2238 **** Line indentation works better inside macros.
2240 Regardless whether syntactic indentation and syntactic indentation
2241 inside macros are enabled or not, line indentation now ignores the
2242 line continuation backslashes. This is most noticeable when syntactic
2243 indentation is turned off and there are empty lines (save for the
2244 backslash) in the macro.
2246 *** indent-for-comment is more customizable.
2247 The behavior of M-; (indent-for-comment) is now configurable through
2248 the variable `c-indent-comment-alist'. The indentation behavior based
2249 on the preceding code on the line, e.g. to get two spaces after #else
2250 and #endif but indentation to `comment-column' in most other cases
2251 (something which was hardcoded earlier).
2253 *** New function `c-context-open-line'.
2254 It's the open-line equivalent of `c-context-line-break'.
2256 *** New lineup functions
2258 **** `c-lineup-string-cont'
2259 This lineup function lines up a continued string under the one it
2262 result = prefix + "A message "
2263 "string."; <- c-lineup-string-cont
2265 **** `c-lineup-cascaded-calls'
2266 Lines up series of calls separated by "->" or ".".
2268 **** `c-lineup-knr-region-comment'
2269 Gives (what most people think is) better indentation of comments in
2270 the "K&R region" between the function header and its body.
2272 **** `c-lineup-gcc-asm-reg'
2273 Provides better indentation inside asm blocks.
2275 **** `c-lineup-argcont'
2276 Lines up continued function arguments after the preceding comma.
2278 *** Better caching of the syntactic context.
2279 CC Mode caches the positions of the opening parentheses (of any kind)
2280 of the lists surrounding the point. Those positions are used in many
2281 places as anchor points for various searches. The cache is now
2282 improved so that it can be reused to a large extent when the point is
2283 moved. The less it moves, the less needs to be recalculated.
2285 The effect is that CC Mode should be fast most of the time even when
2286 opening parens are hung (i.e. aren't in column zero). It's typically
2287 only the first time after the point is moved far down in a complex
2288 file that it'll take noticeable time to find out the syntactic
2291 *** Statements are recognized in a more robust way.
2292 Statements are recognized most of the time even when they occur in an
2293 "invalid" context, e.g. in a function argument. In practice that can
2294 happen when macros are involved.
2296 *** Improved the way `c-indent-exp' chooses the block to indent.
2297 It now indents the block for the closest sexp following the point
2298 whose closing paren ends on a different line. This means that the
2299 point doesn't have to be immediately before the block to indent.
2300 Also, only the block and the closing line is indented; the current
2301 line is left untouched.
2303 *** Added toggle for syntactic indentation.
2304 The function `c-toggle-syntactic-indentation' can be used to toggle
2305 syntactic indentation.
2307 ** In sh-script, a continuation line is only indented if the backslash was
2308 preceded by a SPC or a TAB.
2311 ** Perl mode has a new variable `perl-indent-continued-arguments'.
2314 ** The old Octave mode bindings C-c f and C-c i have been changed
2315 to C-c C-f and C-c C-i. The C-c C-i subcommands now have duplicate
2316 bindings on control characters--thus, C-c C-i C-b is the same as
2317 C-c C-i b, and so on.
2319 ** Fortran mode changes:
2322 *** Fortran mode does more font-locking by default. Use level 3
2323 highlighting for the old default.
2326 *** Fortran mode has a new variable `fortran-directive-re'.
2327 Adapt this to match the format of any compiler directives you use.
2328 Lines that match are never indented, and are given distinctive font-locking.
2331 *** F90 mode and Fortran mode have new navigation commands
2332 `f90-end-of-block', `f90-beginning-of-block', `f90-next-block',
2333 `f90-previous-block', `fortran-end-of-block',
2334 `fortran-beginning-of-block'.
2337 *** F90 mode and Fortran mode have support for `hs-minor-mode' (hideshow).
2338 It cannot deal with every code format, but ought to handle a sizeable
2342 *** The new function `f90-backslash-not-special' can be used to change
2343 the syntax of backslashes in F90 buffers.
2346 ** Reftex mode changes
2348 *** Changes to RefTeX's table of contents
2350 The new command keys "<" and ">" in the TOC buffer promote/demote the
2351 section at point or all sections in the current region, with full
2352 support for multifile documents.
2354 The new command `reftex-toc-recenter' (`C-c -') shows the current
2355 section in the TOC buffer without selecting the TOC window.
2356 Recentering can happen automatically in idle time when the option
2357 `reftex-auto-recenter-toc' is turned on. The highlight in the TOC
2358 buffer stays when the focus moves to a different window. A dedicated
2359 frame can show the TOC with the current section always automatically
2360 highlighted. The frame is created and deleted from the toc buffer
2363 The toc window can be split off horizontally instead of vertically.
2364 See new option `reftex-toc-split-windows-horizontally'.
2366 Labels can be renamed globally from the table of contents using the
2369 The new command `reftex-goto-label' jumps directly to a label
2373 *** Changes related to citations and BibTeX database files
2375 Commands that insert a citation now prompt for optional arguments when
2376 called with a prefix argument. Related new options are
2377 `reftex-cite-prompt-optional-args' and `reftex-cite-cleanup-optional-args'.
2379 The new command `reftex-create-bibtex-file' creates a BibTeX database
2380 with all entries referenced in the current document. The keys "e" and
2381 "E" allow to produce a BibTeX database file from entries marked in a
2382 citation selection buffer.
2384 The command `reftex-citation' uses the word in the buffer before the
2385 cursor as a default search string.
2387 The support for chapterbib has been improved. Different chapters can
2388 now use BibTeX or an explicit `thebibliography' environment.
2390 The macros which specify the bibliography file (like \bibliography)
2391 can be configured with the new option `reftex-bibliography-commands'.
2393 Support for jurabib has been added.
2396 *** Global index matched may be verified with a user function
2398 During global indexing, a user function can verify an index match.
2399 See new option `reftex-index-verify-function'.
2402 *** Parsing documents with many labels can be sped up.
2404 Operating in a document with thousands of labels can be sped up
2405 considerably by allowing RefTeX to derive the type of a label directly
2406 from the label prefix like `eq:' or `fig:'. The option
2407 `reftex-trust-label-prefix' needs to be configured in order to enable
2408 this feature. While the speed-up is significant, this may reduce the
2409 quality of the context offered by RefTeX to describe a label.
2412 *** Miscellaneous changes
2414 The macros which input a file in LaTeX (like \input, \include) can be
2415 configured in the new option `reftex-include-file-commands'.
2417 RefTeX supports global incremental search.
2420 ** Prolog mode has a new variable `prolog-font-lock-keywords'
2421 to support use of font-lock.
2423 ** HTML/SGML changes:
2426 *** Emacs now tries to set up buffer coding systems for HTML/XML files
2430 *** SGML mode has indentation and supports XML syntax.
2431 The new variable `sgml-xml-mode' tells SGML mode to use XML syntax.
2432 When this option is enabled, SGML tags are inserted in XML style,
2433 i.e., there is always a closing tag.
2434 By default, its setting is inferred on a buffer-by-buffer basis
2435 from the file name or buffer contents.
2438 *** `xml-mode' is now an alias for `sgml-mode', which has XML support.
2443 *** C-c C-c prompts for a command to run, and tries to offer a good default.
2446 *** The user option `tex-start-options-string' has been replaced
2447 by two new user options: `tex-start-options', which should hold
2448 command-line options to feed to TeX, and `tex-start-commands' which should hold
2449 TeX commands to use at startup.
2452 *** verbatim environments are now highlighted in courier by font-lock
2453 and super/sub-scripts are made into super/sub-scripts.
2456 *** New major mode Doctex mode, for *.dtx files.
2460 *** The new command `bibtex-url' browses a URL for the BibTeX entry at
2461 point (bound to C-c C-l and mouse-2, RET on clickable fields).
2463 *** The new command `bibtex-entry-update' (bound to C-c C-u) updates
2464 an existing BibTeX entry.
2466 *** New `bibtex-entry-format' option `required-fields', enabled by default.
2468 *** `bibtex-maintain-sorted-entries' can take values `plain',
2469 `crossref', and `entry-class' which control the sorting scheme used
2470 for BibTeX entries. `bibtex-sort-entry-class' controls the sorting
2471 scheme `entry-class'. TAB completion for reference keys and
2472 automatic detection of duplicates does not require anymore that
2473 `bibtex-maintain-sorted-entries' is non-nil.
2475 *** If the new variable `bibtex-parse-keys-fast' is non-nil,
2476 use fast but simplified algorithm for parsing BibTeX keys.
2478 *** If the new variable `bibtex-autoadd-commas' is non-nil,
2479 automatically add missing commas at end of BibTeX fields.
2481 *** The new variable `bibtex-autofill-types' contains a list of entry
2482 types for which fields are filled automatically (if possible).
2484 *** The new command `bibtex-complete' completes word fragment before
2485 point according to context (bound to M-tab).
2487 *** The new commands `bibtex-find-entry' and `bibtex-find-crossref'
2488 locate entries and crossref'd entries (bound to C-c C-s and C-c C-x).
2489 Crossref fields are clickable (bound to mouse-2, RET).
2491 *** In BibTeX mode the command `fill-paragraph' (M-q) fills
2492 individual fields of a BibTeX entry.
2494 *** The new variables `bibtex-files' and `bibtex-file-path' define a set
2495 of BibTeX files that are searched for entry keys.
2497 *** The new command `bibtex-validate-globally' checks for duplicate keys
2498 in multiple BibTeX files.
2500 *** The new command `bibtex-copy-summary-as-kill' pushes summary
2501 of BibTeX entry to kill ring (bound to C-c C-t).
2504 ** In Enriched mode, `set-left-margin' and `set-right-margin' are now
2505 by default bound to `C-c [' and `C-c ]' instead of the former `C-c C-l'
2511 *** In GUD mode, when talking to GDB, C-x C-a C-j "jumps" the program
2512 counter to the specified source line (the one where point is).
2515 *** GUD mode has its own tool bar for controlling execution of the inferior
2516 and other common debugger commands.
2519 *** The new package gdb-ui.el provides an enhanced graphical interface to
2520 GDB. You can interact with GDB through the GUD buffer in the usual way, but
2521 there are also further buffers which control the execution and describe the
2522 state of your program. It can separate the input/output of your program from
2523 that of GDB and watches expressions in the speedbar. It also uses features of
2524 Emacs 21/22 such as the toolbar, and bitmaps in the fringe to indicate
2527 Use M-x gdb to start GDB-UI.
2529 *** The variable tooltip-gud-tips-p has been removed. GUD tooltips can now be
2530 toggled independently of normal tooltips with the minor mode
2534 *** In graphical mode, with a C program, GUD Tooltips have been extended to
2535 display the #define directive associated with an identifier when program is
2539 ** GUD mode improvements for jdb:
2541 *** Search for source files using jdb classpath and class
2542 information. Fast startup since there is no need to scan all
2543 source files up front. There is also no need to create and maintain
2544 lists of source directories to scan. Look at `gud-jdb-use-classpath'
2545 and `gud-jdb-classpath' customization variables documentation.
2547 *** Supports the standard breakpoint (gud-break, gud-clear)
2548 set/clear operations from java source files under the classpath, stack
2549 traversal (gud-up, gud-down), and run until current stack finish
2552 *** Supports new jdb (Java 1.2 and later) in addition to oldjdb
2555 *** The previous method of searching for source files has been
2556 preserved in case someone still wants/needs to use it.
2557 Set `gud-jdb-use-classpath' to nil.
2559 Added Customization Variables
2561 *** `gud-jdb-command-name'. What command line to use to invoke jdb.
2563 *** `gud-jdb-use-classpath'. Allows selection of java source file searching
2564 method: set to t for new method, nil to scan `gud-jdb-directories' for
2565 java sources (previous method).
2567 *** `gud-jdb-directories'. List of directories to scan and search for java
2568 classes using the original gud-jdb method (if `gud-jdb-use-classpath'
2573 *** The STARTTLS wrapper (starttls.el) can now use GNUTLS
2574 instead of the OpenSSL based `starttls' tool. For backwards
2575 compatibility, it prefers `starttls', but you can toggle
2576 `starttls-use-gnutls' to switch to GNUTLS (or simply remove the
2579 *** Do not allow debugger output history variable to grow without bounds.
2581 ** Auto-Revert changes:
2584 *** You can now use Auto Revert mode to `tail' a file.
2586 If point is at the end of a file buffer before reverting, Auto Revert
2587 mode keeps it at the end after reverting. Similarly if point is
2588 displayed at the end of a file buffer in any window, it stays at
2589 the end of the buffer in that window. This allows to tail a file:
2590 just put point at the end of the buffer and it stays there. This
2591 rule applies to file buffers. For non-file buffers, the behavior can
2594 If you are sure that the file will only change by growing at the end,
2595 then you can tail the file more efficiently by using the new minor
2596 mode Auto Revert Tail mode. The function `auto-revert-tail-mode'
2600 *** Auto Revert mode is now more careful to avoid excessive reverts and
2601 other potential problems when deciding which non-file buffers to
2602 revert. This matters especially if Global Auto Revert mode is enabled
2603 and `global-auto-revert-non-file-buffers' is non-nil. Auto Revert
2604 mode only reverts a non-file buffer if the buffer has a non-nil
2605 `revert-buffer-function' and a non-nil `buffer-stale-function', which
2606 decides whether the buffer should be reverted. Currently, this means
2607 that auto reverting works for Dired buffers (although this may not
2608 work properly on all operating systems) and for the Buffer Menu.
2611 *** If the new user option `auto-revert-check-vc-info' is non-nil, Auto
2612 Revert mode reliably updates version control info (such as the version
2613 control number in the mode line), in all version controlled buffers in
2614 which it is active. If the option is nil, the default, then this info
2615 only gets updated whenever the buffer gets reverted.
2620 The recent file list is now automatically cleanup when recentf mode is
2621 enabled. The new option `recentf-auto-cleanup' controls when to do
2624 The ten most recent files can be quickly opened by using the shortcut
2625 keys 1 to 9, and 0, when the recent list is displayed in a buffer via
2626 the `recentf-open-files', or `recentf-open-more-files' commands.
2628 The `recentf-keep' option replaces `recentf-keep-non-readable-files-p'
2629 and provides a more general mechanism to customize which file names to
2630 keep in the recent list.
2632 With the more advanced option `recentf-filename-handlers', you can
2633 specify functions that successively transform recent file names. For
2634 example, if set to `file-truename' plus `abbreviate-file-name', the
2635 same file will not be in the recent list with different symbolic
2636 links, and the file name will be abbreviated.
2638 To follow naming convention, `recentf-menu-append-commands-flag'
2639 replaces the misnamed option `recentf-menu-append-commands-p'. The
2640 old name remains available as alias, but has been marked obsolete.
2646 *** Desktop saving is now a minor mode, `desktop-save-mode'.
2649 *** The variable `desktop-enable' is obsolete.
2651 Customize `desktop-save-mode' to enable desktop saving.
2654 *** Buffers are saved in the desktop file in the same order as that in the
2658 *** The desktop package can be customized to restore only some buffers
2659 immediately, remaining buffers are restored lazily (when Emacs is
2664 - desktop-revert reverts to the last loaded desktop.
2665 - desktop-change-dir kills current desktop and loads a new.
2666 - desktop-save-in-desktop-dir saves desktop in the directory from which
2668 - desktop-lazy-complete runs the desktop load to completion.
2669 - desktop-lazy-abort aborts lazy loading of the desktop.
2672 *** New customizable variables:
2673 - desktop-save. Determins whether the desktop should be saved when it is
2675 - desktop-file-name-format. Format in which desktop file names should be saved.
2676 - desktop-path. List of directories in which to lookup the desktop file.
2677 - desktop-locals-to-save. List of local variables to save.
2678 - desktop-globals-to-clear. List of global variables that `desktop-clear' will clear.
2679 - desktop-clear-preserve-buffers-regexp. Regexp identifying buffers that `desktop-clear'
2681 - desktop-restore-eager. Number of buffers to restore immediately. Remaining buffers are
2682 restored lazily (when Emacs is idle).
2683 - desktop-lazy-verbose. Verbose reporting of lazily created buffers.
2684 - desktop-lazy-idle-delay. Idle delay before starting to create buffers.
2687 *** New command line option --no-desktop
2691 - desktop-after-read-hook run after a desktop is loaded.
2692 - desktop-no-desktop-file-hook run when no desktop file is found.
2695 ** The saveplace.el package now filters out unreadable files.
2697 When you exit Emacs, the saved positions in visited files no longer
2698 include files that aren't readable, e.g. files that don't exist.
2699 Customize the new option `save-place-forget-unreadable-files' to nil
2700 to get the old behavior. The new options `save-place-save-skipped'
2701 and `save-place-skip-check-regexp' allow further fine-tuning of this
2707 *** When comparing directories.
2708 Typing D brings up a buffer that lists the differences between the contents of
2709 directories. Now it is possible to use this buffer to copy the missing files
2710 from one directory to another.
2713 *** When comparing files or buffers.
2714 Typing the = key now offers to perform the word-by-word comparison of the
2715 currently highlighted regions in an inferior Ediff session. If you answer 'n'
2716 then it reverts to the old behavior and asks the user to select regions for
2720 *** The new command `ediff-backup' compares a file with its most recent
2721 backup using `ediff'. If you specify the name of a backup file,
2722 `ediff-backup' compares it with the file of which it is a backup.
2727 *** New regular expressions features
2729 **** New syntax for regular expressions, multi-line regular expressions.
2731 The syntax --ignore-case-regexp=/regex/ is now undocumented and retained
2732 only for backward compatibility. The new equivalent syntax is
2733 --regex=/regex/i. More generally, it is --regex=/TAGREGEX/TAGNAME/MODS,
2734 where `/TAGNAME' is optional, as usual, and MODS is a string of 0 or
2735 more characters among `i' (ignore case), `m' (multi-line) and `s'
2736 (single-line). The `m' and `s' modifiers behave as in Perl regular
2737 expressions: `m' allows regexps to match more than one line, while `s'
2738 (which implies `m') means that `.' matches newlines. The ability to
2739 span newlines allows writing of much more powerful regular expressions
2740 and rapid prototyping for tagging new languages.
2742 **** Regular expressions can use char escape sequences as in GCC.
2744 The escaped character sequence \a, \b, \d, \e, \f, \n, \r, \t, \v,
2745 respectively, stand for the ASCII characters BEL, BS, DEL, ESC, FF, NL,
2748 **** Regular expressions can be bound to a given language.
2750 The syntax --regex={LANGUAGE}REGEX means that REGEX is used to make tags
2751 only for files of language LANGUAGE, and ignored otherwise. This is
2752 particularly useful when storing regexps in a file.
2754 **** Regular expressions can be read from a file.
2756 The --regex=@regexfile option means read the regexps from a file, one
2757 per line. Lines beginning with space or tab are ignored.
2759 *** New language parsing features
2761 **** The `::' qualifier triggers C++ parsing in C file.
2763 Previously, only the `template' and `class' keywords had this effect.
2765 **** The GCC __attribute__ keyword is now recognized and ignored.
2767 **** New language HTML.
2769 Tags are generated for `title' as well as `h1', `h2', and `h3'. Also,
2770 when `name=' is used inside an anchor and whenever `id=' is used.
2772 **** In Makefiles, constants are tagged.
2774 If you want the old behavior instead, thus avoiding to increase the
2775 size of the tags file, use the --no-globals option.
2777 **** New language Lua.
2779 All functions are tagged.
2781 **** In Perl, packages are tags.
2783 Subroutine tags are named from their package. You can jump to sub tags
2784 as you did before, by the sub name, or additionally by looking for
2787 **** In Prolog, etags creates tags for rules in addition to predicates.
2789 **** New language PHP.
2791 Functions, classes and defines are tags. If the --members option is
2792 specified to etags, variables are tags also.
2794 **** New default keywords for TeX.
2796 The new keywords are def, newcommand, renewcommand, newenvironment and
2799 *** Honour #line directives.
2801 When Etags parses an input file that contains C preprocessor's #line
2802 directives, it creates tags using the file name and line number
2803 specified in those directives. This is useful when dealing with code
2804 created from Cweb source files. When Etags tags the generated file, it
2805 writes tags pointing to the source file.
2807 *** New option --parse-stdin=FILE.
2809 This option is mostly useful when calling etags from programs. It can
2810 be used (only once) in place of a file name on the command line. Etags
2811 reads from standard input and marks the produced tags as belonging to
2817 *** The key C-x C-q only changes the read-only state of the buffer
2818 (toggle-read-only). It no longer checks files in or out.
2820 We made this change because we held a poll and found that many users
2821 were unhappy with the previous behavior. If you do prefer this
2822 behavior, you can bind `vc-toggle-read-only' to C-x C-q in your
2825 (global-set-key "\C-x\C-q" 'vc-toggle-read-only)
2827 The function `vc-toggle-read-only' will continue to exist.
2830 *** The new variable `vc-cvs-global-switches' specifies switches that
2831 are passed to any CVS command invoked by VC.
2833 These switches are used as "global options" for CVS, which means they
2834 are inserted before the command name. For example, this allows you to
2835 specify a compression level using the `-z#' option for CVS.
2838 *** New backends for Subversion and Meta-CVS.
2841 *** VC-Annotate mode enhancements
2843 In VC-Annotate mode, you can now use the following key bindings for
2844 enhanced functionality to browse the annotations of past revisions, or
2845 to view diffs or log entries directly from vc-annotate-mode:
2847 P: annotates the previous revision
2848 N: annotates the next revision
2849 J: annotates the revision at line
2850 A: annotates the revision previous to line
2851 D: shows the diff of the revision at line with its previous revision
2852 L: shows the log of the revision at line
2853 W: annotates the workfile (most up to date) version
2858 *** In pcl-cvs mode, there is a new `d y' command to view the diffs
2859 between the local version of the file and yesterday's head revision
2863 *** In pcl-cvs mode, there is a new `d r' command to view the changes
2864 anyone has committed to the repository since you last executed
2865 `checkout', `update' or `commit'. That means using cvs diff options
2869 ** The new variable `mail-default-directory' specifies
2870 `default-directory' for mail buffers. This directory is used for
2871 auto-save files of mail buffers. It defaults to "~/".
2874 ** The mode line can indicate new mail in a directory or file.
2876 See the documentation of the user option
2877 `display-time-mail-directory'.
2882 *** Rmail now displays 5-digit message ids in its summary buffer.
2884 *** The new commands rmail-end-of-message and rmail-summary end-of-message,
2885 by default bound to `/', go to the end of the current mail message in
2886 Rmail and Rmail summary buffers.
2889 *** Support for `movemail' from GNU mailutils was added to Rmail.
2891 This version of `movemail' allows to read mail from a wide range of
2892 mailbox formats, including remote POP3 and IMAP4 mailboxes with or
2893 without TLS encryption. If GNU mailutils is installed on the system
2894 and its version of `movemail' can be found in exec-path, it will be
2895 used instead of the native one.
2900 *** Gnus now includes Sieve and PGG
2902 Sieve is a library for managing Sieve scripts. PGG is a library to handle
2906 *** There are many news features, bug fixes and improvements.
2908 See the file GNUS-NEWS or the node "Oort Gnus" in the Gnus manual for details.
2913 Upgraded to MH-E version 7.85. There have been major changes since
2914 version 5.0.2; see MH-E-NEWS for details.
2916 ** Calendar changes:
2919 *** You can now use < and >, instead of C-x < and C-x >, to scroll
2920 the calendar left or right. (The old key bindings still work too.)
2923 *** There is a new calendar package, icalendar.el, that can be used to
2924 convert Emacs diary entries to/from the iCalendar format.
2927 *** Diary sexp entries can have custom marking in the calendar.
2928 Diary sexp functions which only apply to certain days (such as
2929 `diary-block' or `diary-cyclic') now take an optional parameter MARK,
2930 which is the name of a face or a single-character string indicating
2931 how to highlight the day in the calendar display. Specifying a
2932 single-character string as @var{mark} places the character next to the
2933 day in the calendar. Specifying a face highlights the day with that
2934 face. This lets you have different colors or markings for vacations,
2935 appointments, paydays or anything else using a sexp.
2938 *** The new function `calendar-goto-day-of-year' (g D) prompts for a
2939 year and day number, and moves to that date. Negative day numbers
2940 count backward from the end of the year.
2943 *** The new Calendar function `calendar-goto-iso-week' (g w)
2944 prompts for a year and a week number, and moves to the first
2945 day of that ISO week.
2948 *** The new variable `calendar-minimum-window-height' affects the
2949 window generated by the function `generate-calendar-window'.
2952 *** The functions `holiday-easter-etc' and `holiday-advent' now take
2953 optional arguments, in order to only report on the specified holiday
2954 rather than all. This makes customization of variables such as
2955 `christian-holidays' simpler.
2958 *** The function `simple-diary-display' now by default sets a header line.
2959 This can be controlled through the variables `diary-header-line-flag'
2960 and `diary-header-line-format'.
2963 *** The procedure for activating appointment reminders has changed:
2964 use the new function `appt-activate'. The new variable
2965 `appt-display-format' controls how reminders are displayed, replacing
2966 `appt-issue-message', `appt-visible', and `appt-msg-window'.
2969 *** The new functions `diary-from-outlook', `diary-from-outlook-gnus',
2970 and `diary-from-outlook-rmail' can be used to import diary entries
2971 from Outlook-format appointments in mail messages. The variable
2972 `diary-outlook-formats' can be customized to recognize additional
2976 ** Speedbar changes:
2978 *** Speedbar items can now be selected by clicking mouse-1, based on
2979 the `mouse-1-click-follows-link' mechanism.
2981 *** SPC and DEL are no longer bound to scroll up/down in the speedbar
2984 *** The new command `speedbar-toggle-line-expansion', bound to SPC,
2985 contracts or expands the line under the cursor.
2987 *** New command `speedbar-create-directory', bound to `M'.
2989 *** The new commands `speedbar-expand-line-descendants' and
2990 `speedbar-contract-line-descendants', bound to `[' and `]'
2991 respectively, expand and contract the line under cursor with all of
2994 *** The new user option `speedbar-query-confirmation-method' controls
2995 how querying is performed for file operations. A value of 'always
2996 means to always query before file operations; 'none-but-delete means
2997 to not query before any file operations, except before a file
3000 *** The new user option `speedbar-select-frame-method' specifies how
3001 to select a frame for displaying a file opened with the speedbar. A
3002 value of 'attached means to use the attached frame (the frame that
3003 speedbar was started from.) A number such as 1 or -1 means to pass
3004 that number to `other-frame'.
3006 *** The new user option `speedbar-use-tool-tips-flag', if non-nil,
3007 means to display tool-tips for speedbar items.
3009 *** The frame management code in speedbar.el has been split into a new
3010 `dframe' library. Emacs Lisp code that makes use of the speedbar
3011 should use `dframe-attached-frame' instead of
3012 `speedbar-attached-frame', `dframe-timer' instead of `speedbar-timer',
3013 `dframe-close-frame' instead of `speedbar-close-frame', and
3014 `dframe-activity-change-focus-flag' instead of
3015 `speedbar-activity-change-focus-flag'. The variables
3016 `speedbar-update-speed' and `speedbar-navigating-speed' are also
3017 obsolete; use `dframe-update-speed' instead.
3022 *** The variable `sql-product' controls the highlightng of different
3023 SQL dialects. This variable can be set globally via Customize, on a
3024 buffer-specific basis via local variable settings, or for the current
3025 session using the new SQL->Product submenu. (This menu replaces the
3026 SQL->Highlighting submenu.)
3028 The following values are supported:
3030 ansi ANSI Standard (default)
3044 The current product name will be shown on the mode line following the
3047 The technique of setting `sql-mode-font-lock-defaults' directly in
3048 your `.emacs' will no longer establish the default highlighting -- Use
3049 `sql-product' to accomplish this.
3051 ANSI keywords are always highlighted.
3053 *** The function `sql-add-product-keywords' can be used to add
3054 font-lock rules to the product specific rules. For example, to have
3055 all identifiers ending in `_t' under MS SQLServer treated as a type,
3056 you would use the following line in your .emacs file:
3058 (sql-add-product-keywords 'ms
3059 '(("\\<\\w+_t\\>" . font-lock-type-face)))
3061 *** Oracle support includes keyword highlighting for Oracle 9i.
3063 Most SQL and PL/SQL keywords are implemented. SQL*Plus commands are
3064 highlighted in `font-lock-doc-face'.
3066 *** Microsoft SQLServer support has been significantly improved.
3068 Keyword highlighting for SqlServer 2000 is implemented.
3069 sql-interactive-mode defaults to use osql, rather than isql, because
3070 osql flushes its error stream more frequently. Thus error messages
3071 are displayed when they occur rather than when the session is
3074 If the username and password are not provided to `sql-ms', osql is
3075 called with the `-E' command line argument to use the operating system
3076 credentials to authenticate the user.
3078 *** Postgres support is enhanced.
3079 Keyword highlighting of Postgres 7.3 is implemented. Prompting for
3080 the username and the pgsql `-U' option is added.
3082 *** MySQL support is enhanced.
3083 Keyword higlighting of MySql 4.0 is implemented.
3085 *** Imenu support has been enhanced to locate tables, views, indexes,
3086 packages, procedures, functions, triggers, sequences, rules, and
3089 *** Added SQL->Start SQLi Session menu entry which calls the
3090 appropriate `sql-interactive-mode' wrapper for the current setting of
3094 *** sql.el supports the SQLite interpreter--call 'sql-sqlite'.
3099 *** New ffap commands and keybindings:
3101 C-x C-r (`ffap-read-only'),
3102 C-x C-v (`ffap-alternate-file'), C-x C-d (`ffap-list-directory'),
3103 C-x 4 r (`ffap-read-only-other-window'), C-x 4 d (`ffap-dired-other-window'),
3104 C-x 5 r (`ffap-read-only-other-frame'), C-x 5 d (`ffap-dired-other-frame').
3107 *** FFAP accepts wildcards in a file name by default.
3109 C-x C-f passes the file name to `find-file' with non-nil WILDCARDS
3110 argument, which visits multiple files, and C-x d passes it to `dired'.
3113 ** In skeleton.el, `-' marks the `skeleton-point' without interregion interaction.
3115 `@' has reverted to only setting `skeleton-positions' and no longer
3116 sets `skeleton-point'. Skeletons which used @ to mark
3117 `skeleton-point' independent of `_' should now use `-' instead. The
3118 updated `skeleton-insert' docstring explains these new features along
3119 with other details of skeleton construction.
3122 ** Hideshow mode changes
3124 *** New variable `hs-set-up-overlay' allows customization of the overlay
3125 used to effect hiding for hideshow minor mode. Integration with isearch
3126 handles the overlay property `display' specially, preserving it during
3127 temporary overlay showing in the course of an isearch operation.
3129 *** New variable `hs-allow-nesting' non-nil means that hiding a block does
3130 not discard the hidden state of any "internal" blocks; when the parent
3131 block is later shown, the internal blocks remain hidden. Default is nil.
3134 ** `hide-ifdef-mode' now uses overlays rather than selective-display
3135 to hide its text. This should be mostly transparent but slightly
3136 changes the behavior of motion commands like C-e and C-p.
3139 ** `partial-completion-mode' now handles partial completion on directory names.
3142 ** The type-break package now allows `type-break-file-name' to be nil
3143 and if so, doesn't store any data across sessions. This is handy if
3144 you don't want the `.type-break' file in your home directory or are
3145 annoyed by the need for interaction when you kill Emacs.
3148 ** `ps-print' can now print characters from the mule-unicode charsets.
3150 Printing text with characters from the mule-unicode-* sets works with
3151 `ps-print', provided that you have installed the appropriate BDF
3152 fonts. See the file INSTALL for URLs where you can find these fonts.
3155 ** New command `strokes-global-set-stroke-string'.
3156 This is like `strokes-global-set-stroke', but it allows you to bind
3157 the stroke directly to a string to insert. This is convenient for
3158 using strokes as an input method.
3160 ** Emacs server changes:
3163 *** You can have several Emacs servers on the same machine.
3165 % emacs --eval '(setq server-name "foo")' -f server-start &
3166 % emacs --eval '(setq server-name "bar")' -f server-start &
3167 % emacsclient -s foo file1
3168 % emacsclient -s bar file2
3171 *** The `emacsclient' command understands the options `--eval' and
3172 `--display' which tell Emacs respectively to evaluate the given Lisp
3173 expression and to use the given display when visiting files.
3176 *** User option `server-mode' can be used to start a server process.
3179 ** LDAP support now defaults to ldapsearch from OpenLDAP version 2.
3182 ** You can now disable pc-selection-mode after enabling it.
3184 M-x pc-selection-mode behaves like a proper minor mode, and with no
3185 argument it toggles the mode. Turning off PC-Selection mode restores
3186 the global key bindings that were replaced by turning on the mode.
3189 ** `uniquify-strip-common-suffix' tells uniquify to prefer
3190 `file|dir1' and `file|dir2' to `file|dir1/subdir' and `file|dir2/subdir'.
3193 ** Support for `magic cookie' standout modes has been removed.
3195 Emacs still works on terminals that require magic cookies in order to
3196 use standout mode, but they can no longer display mode-lines in
3200 ** The game `mpuz' is enhanced.
3202 `mpuz' now allows the 2nd factor not to have two identical digits. By
3203 default, all trivial operations involving whole lines are performed
3204 automatically. The game uses faces for better visual feedback.
3206 ** battery.el changes:
3209 *** display-battery-mode replaces display-battery.
3212 *** battery.el now works on recent versions of OS X.
3215 ** calculator.el now has radix grouping mode.
3217 To enable this, set `calculator-output-radix' non-nil. In this mode a
3218 separator character is used every few digits, making it easier to see
3219 byte boundries etc. For more info, see the documentation of the
3220 variable `calculator-radix-grouping-mode'.
3223 ** fast-lock.el and lazy-lock.el are obsolete. Use jit-lock.el instead.
3226 ** iso-acc.el is now obsolete. Use one of the latin input methods instead.
3229 ** cplus-md.el has been deleted.
3231 * Changes in Emacs 22.1 on non-free operating systems
3234 ** The HOME directory defaults to Application Data under the user profile.
3236 If you used a previous version of Emacs without setting the HOME
3237 environment variable and a `.emacs' was saved, then Emacs will continue
3238 using C:/ as the default HOME. But if you are installing Emacs afresh,
3239 the default location will be the "Application Data" (or similar
3240 localized name) subdirectory of your user profile. A typical location
3241 of this directory is "C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data",
3242 where USERNAME is your user name.
3244 This change means that users can now have their own `.emacs' files on
3245 shared computers, and the default HOME directory is less likely to be
3246 read-only on computers that are administered by someone else.
3249 ** Passing resources on the command line now works on MS Windows.
3251 You can use --xrm to pass resource settings to Emacs, overriding any
3252 existing values. For example:
3254 emacs --xrm "Emacs.Background:red" --xrm "Emacs.Geometry:100x20"
3256 will start up Emacs on an initial frame of 100x20 with red background,
3257 irrespective of geometry or background setting on the Windows registry.
3260 ** On MS Windows, the "system caret" now follows the cursor.
3262 This enables Emacs to work better with programs that need to track
3263 the cursor, for example screen magnifiers and text to speech programs.
3266 ** Tooltips now work on MS Windows.
3268 See the Emacs 21.1 NEWS entry for tooltips for details.
3271 ** Images are now supported on MS Windows.
3273 PBM and XBM images are supported out of the box. Other image formats
3274 depend on external libraries. All of these libraries have been ported
3275 to Windows, and can be found in both source and binary form at
3276 http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/. Note that libpng also depends on
3277 zlib, and tiff depends on the version of jpeg that it was compiled
3278 against. For additional information, see nt/INSTALL.
3281 ** Sound is now supported on MS Windows.
3283 WAV format is supported on all versions of Windows, other formats such
3284 as AU, AIFF and MP3 may be supported in the more recent versions of
3285 Windows, or when other software provides hooks into the system level
3286 sound support for those formats.
3289 ** Different shaped mouse pointers are supported on MS Windows.
3291 The mouse pointer changes shape depending on what is under the pointer.
3294 ** Pointing devices with more than 3 buttons are now supported on MS Windows.
3296 The new variable `w32-pass-extra-mouse-buttons-to-system' controls
3297 whether Emacs should handle the extra buttons itself (the default), or
3298 pass them to Windows to be handled with system-wide functions.
3301 ** Emacs takes note of colors defined in Control Panel on MS-Windows.
3303 The Control Panel defines some default colors for applications in much
3304 the same way as wildcard X Resources do on X. Emacs now adds these
3305 colors to the colormap prefixed by System (eg SystemMenu for the
3306 default Menu background, SystemMenuText for the foreground), and uses
3307 some of them to initialize some of the default faces.
3308 `list-colors-display' shows the list of System color names, in case
3309 you wish to use them in other faces.
3312 ** On MS Windows NT/W2K/XP, Emacs uses Unicode for clipboard operations.
3314 Those systems use Unicode internally, so this allows Emacs to share
3315 multilingual text with other applications. On other versions of
3316 MS Windows, Emacs now uses the appropriate locale coding-system, so
3317 the clipboard should work correctly for your local language without
3321 ** Running in a console window in Windows now uses the console size.
3323 Previous versions of Emacs erred on the side of having a usable Emacs
3324 through telnet, even though that was inconvenient if you use Emacs in
3325 a local console window with a scrollback buffer. The default value of
3326 w32-use-full-screen-buffer is now nil, which favours local console
3327 windows. Recent versions of Windows telnet also work well with this
3328 setting. If you are using an older telnet server then Emacs detects
3329 that the console window dimensions that are reported are not sane, and
3330 defaults to 80x25. If you use such a telnet server regularly at a size
3331 other than 80x25, you can still manually set
3332 w32-use-full-screen-buffer to t.
3335 ** On Mac OS, `keyboard-coding-system' changes based on the keyboard script.
3338 ** The variable `mac-keyboard-text-encoding' and the constants
3339 `kTextEncodingMacRoman', `kTextEncodingISOLatin1', and
3340 `kTextEncodingISOLatin2' are obsolete.
3342 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 22.1
3345 ** The variables post-command-idle-hook and post-command-idle-delay have
3346 been removed. Use run-with-idle-timer instead.
3349 ** `suppress-keymap' now works by remapping `self-insert-command' to
3350 the command `undefined'. (In earlier Emacs versions, it used
3351 `substitute-key-definition' to rebind self inserting characters to
3355 ** Mode line display ignores text properties as well as the
3356 :propertize and :eval forms in the value of a variable whose
3357 `risky-local-variable' property is nil.
3360 ** Support for Mocklisp has been removed.
3362 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 22.1
3364 ** General Lisp changes:
3366 *** The function `expt' handles negative exponents differently.
3367 The value for `(expt A B)', if both A and B are integers and B is
3368 negative, is now a float. For example: (expt 2 -2) => 0.25.
3371 *** The function `eql' is now available without requiring the CL package.
3374 *** `makehash' is now obsolete. Use `make-hash-table' instead.
3377 *** `add-to-list' takes an optional third argument, APPEND.
3379 If APPEND is non-nil, the new element gets added at the end of the
3380 list instead of at the beginning. This change actually occurred in
3381 Emacs 21.1, but was not documented then.
3384 *** New function `add-to-ordered-list' is like `add-to-list' but
3385 associates a numeric ordering of each element added to the list.
3388 *** New function `copy-tree' makes a copy of a tree.
3390 It recursively copyies through both CARs and CDRs.
3393 *** New function `delete-dups' deletes `equal' duplicate elements from a list.
3395 It modifies the list destructively, like `delete'. Of several `equal'
3396 occurrences of an element in the list, the one that's kept is the
3400 *** New function `rassq-delete-all'.
3402 (rassq-delete-all VALUE ALIST) deletes, from ALIST, each element whose
3403 CDR is `eq' to the specified value.
3406 *** The function `number-sequence' makes a list of equally-separated numbers.
3408 For instance, (number-sequence 4 9) returns (4 5 6 7 8 9). By
3409 default, the separation is 1, but you can specify a different
3410 separation as the third argument. (number-sequence 1.5 6 2) returns
3414 *** New variables `most-positive-fixnum' and `most-negative-fixnum'.
3416 They hold the largest and smallest possible integer values.
3419 *** Minor change in the function `format'.
3421 Some flags that were accepted but not implemented (such as "*") are no
3425 *** Functions `get' and `plist-get' no longer give errors for bad plists.
3427 They return nil for a malformed property list or if the list is
3431 *** New functions `lax-plist-get' and `lax-plist-put'.
3433 They are like `plist-get' and `plist-put', except that they compare
3434 the property name using `equal' rather than `eq'.
3437 *** New variable `print-continuous-numbering'.
3439 When this is non-nil, successive calls to print functions use a single
3440 numbering scheme for circular structure references. This is only
3441 relevant when `print-circle' is non-nil.
3443 When you bind `print-continuous-numbering' to t, you should
3444 also bind `print-number-table' to nil.
3447 *** New function `macroexpand-all' expands all macros in a form.
3449 It is similar to the Common-Lisp function of the same name.
3450 One difference is that it guarantees to return the original argument
3451 if no expansion is done, which can be tested using `eq'.
3454 *** The function `atan' now accepts an optional second argument.
3456 When called with 2 arguments, as in `(atan Y X)', `atan' returns the
3457 angle in radians between the vector [X, Y] and the X axis. (This is
3458 equivalent to the standard C library function `atan2'.)
3461 *** A function or macro's doc string can now specify the calling pattern.
3463 You put this info in the doc string's last line. It should be
3464 formatted so as to match the regexp "\n\n(fn .*)\\'". If you don't
3465 specify this explicitly, Emacs determines it from the actual argument
3466 names. Usually that default is right, but not always.
3469 *** New macro `with-local-quit' temporarily allows quitting.
3471 A quit inside the body of `with-local-quit' is caught by the
3472 `with-local-quit' form itself, but another quit will happen later once
3473 the code that has inhibitted quitting exits.
3475 This is for use around potentially blocking or long-running code
3476 inside timer functions and `post-command-hook' functions.
3479 *** New macro `define-obsolete-function-alias'.
3481 This combines `defalias' and `make-obsolete'.
3484 *** New function `unsafep' determines whether a Lisp form is safe.
3486 It returns nil if the given Lisp form can't possibly do anything
3487 dangerous; otherwise it returns a reason why the form might be unsafe
3488 (calls unknown function, alters global variable, etc).
3491 *** New macro `eval-at-startup' specifies expressions to
3492 evaluate when Emacs starts up. If this is done after startup,
3493 it evaluates those expressions immediately.
3495 This is useful in packages that can be preloaded.
3497 *** `list-faces-display' takes an optional argument, REGEXP.
3499 If it is non-nil, the function lists only faces matching this regexp.
3501 ** Lisp code indentation features:
3504 *** The `defmacro' form can contain indentation and edebug declarations.
3506 These declarations specify how to indent the macro calls in Lisp mode
3507 and how to debug them with Edebug. You write them like this:
3509 (defmacro NAME LAMBDA-LIST [DOC-STRING] [DECLARATION ...] ...)
3511 DECLARATION is a list `(declare DECLARATION-SPECIFIER ...)'. The
3512 possible declaration specifiers are:
3515 Set NAME's `lisp-indent-function' property to INDENT.
3518 Set NAME's `edebug-form-spec' property to DEBUG. (This is
3519 equivalent to writing a `def-edebug-spec' for the macro,
3520 but this is cleaner.)
3523 *** cl-indent now allows customization of Indentation of backquoted forms.
3525 See the new user option `lisp-backquote-indentation'.
3528 *** cl-indent now handles indentation of simple and extended `loop' forms.
3530 The new user options `lisp-loop-keyword-indentation',
3531 `lisp-loop-forms-indentation', and `lisp-simple-loop-indentation' can
3532 be used to customize the indentation of keywords and forms in loop
3536 ** Variable aliases:
3538 *** New function: defvaralias ALIAS-VAR BASE-VAR [DOCSTRING]
3540 This function defines the symbol ALIAS-VAR as a variable alias for
3541 symbol BASE-VAR. This means that retrieving the value of ALIAS-VAR
3542 returns the value of BASE-VAR, and changing the value of ALIAS-VAR
3543 changes the value of BASE-VAR.
3545 DOCSTRING, if present, is the documentation for ALIAS-VAR; else it has
3546 the same documentation as BASE-VAR.
3548 *** New function: indirect-variable VARIABLE
3550 This function returns the variable at the end of the chain of aliases
3551 of VARIABLE. If VARIABLE is not a symbol, or if VARIABLE is not
3552 defined as an alias, the function returns VARIABLE.
3554 It might be noteworthy that variables aliases work for all kinds of
3555 variables, including buffer-local and frame-local variables.
3558 *** The macro `define-obsolete-variable-alias' combines `defvaralias' and
3559 `make-obsolete-variable'.
3561 ** defcustom changes:
3564 *** The new customization type `float' requires a floating point number.
3569 *** The escape sequence \s is now interpreted as a SPACE character.
3571 Exception: In a character constant, if it is followed by a `-' in a
3572 character constant (e.g. ?\s-A), it is still interpreted as the super
3573 modifier. In strings, \s is always interpreted as a space.
3576 *** A hex escape in a string constant forces the string to be multibyte.
3579 *** An octal escape in a string constant forces the string to be unibyte.
3582 *** `split-string' now includes null substrings in the returned list if
3583 the optional argument SEPARATORS is non-nil and there are matches for
3584 SEPARATORS at the beginning or end of the string. If SEPARATORS is
3585 nil, or if the new optional third argument OMIT-NULLS is non-nil, all
3586 empty matches are omitted from the returned list.
3589 *** New function `string-to-multibyte' converts a unibyte string to a
3590 multibyte string with the same individual character codes.
3593 *** New function `substring-no-properties' returns a substring without
3597 *** The new function `assoc-string' replaces `assoc-ignore-case' and
3598 `assoc-ignore-representation', which are still available, but have
3599 been declared obsolete.
3602 ** Displaying warnings to the user.
3604 See the functions `warn' and `display-warning', or the Lisp Manual.
3605 If you want to be sure the warning will not be overlooked, this
3606 facility is much better than using `message', since it displays
3607 warnings in a separate window.
3610 ** Progress reporters.
3612 These provide a simple and uniform way for commands to present
3613 progress messages for the user.
3615 See the new functions `make-progress-reporter',
3616 `progress-reporter-update', `progress-reporter-force-update',
3617 `progress-reporter-done', and `dotimes-with-progress-reporter'.
3619 ** Buffer positions:
3622 *** Function `compute-motion' now calculates the usable window
3623 width if the WIDTH argument is nil. If the TOPOS argument is nil,
3624 the usable window height and width is used.
3627 *** The `line-move', `scroll-up', and `scroll-down' functions will now
3628 modify the window vscroll to scroll through display rows that are
3629 taller that the height of the window, for example in the presence of
3630 large images. To disable this feature, bind the new variable
3631 `auto-window-vscroll' to nil.
3634 *** The argument to `forward-word', `backward-word' is optional.
3639 *** Argument to `forward-to-indentation' and `backward-to-indentation' is optional.
3644 *** New function `mouse-on-link-p' test if a position is in a clickable link.
3646 This is the function used by the new `mouse-1-click-follows-link'
3650 *** New function `line-number-at-pos' returns the line number of a position.
3652 It an optional buffer position argument that defaults to point.
3655 *** `field-beginning' and `field-end' take new optional argument, LIMIT.
3657 This argument tells them not to search beyond LIMIT. Instead they
3658 give up and return LIMIT.
3661 *** Function `pos-visible-in-window-p' now returns the pixel coordinates
3662 and partial visiblity state of the corresponding row, if the PARTIALLY
3666 *** New functions `posn-at-point' and `posn-at-x-y' return
3667 click-event-style position information for a given visible buffer
3668 position or for a given window pixel coordinate.
3670 ** Text modification:
3673 *** The new function `insert-for-yank' normally works like `insert', but
3674 removes the text properties in the `yank-excluded-properties' list
3675 and handles the `yank-handler' text property.
3678 *** The new function `insert-buffer-substring-as-yank' is like
3679 `insert-for-yank' except that it gets the text from another buffer as
3680 in `insert-buffer-substring'.
3683 *** The new function `insert-buffer-substring-no-properties' is like
3684 `insert-buffer-substring', but removes all text properties from the
3688 *** The new function `filter-buffer-substring' extracts a buffer
3689 substring, passes it through a set of filter functions, and returns
3690 the filtered substring. Use it instead of `buffer-substring' or
3691 `delete-and-extract-region' when copying text into a user-accessible
3692 data structure, such as the kill-ring, X clipboard, or a register.
3694 The list of filter function is specified by the new variable
3695 `buffer-substring-filters'. For example, Longlines mode adds to
3696 `buffer-substring-filters' to remove soft newlines from the copied
3700 *** Function `translate-region' accepts also a char-table as TABLE
3704 *** The new translation table `translation-table-for-input'
3705 is used for customizing self-insertion. The character to
3706 be inserted is translated through it.
3711 The new function `text-clone-create'. Text clones are chunks of text
3712 that are kept identical by transparently propagating changes from one
3716 *** The function `insert-string' is now obsolete.
3721 *** In determining an adaptive fill prefix, Emacs now tries the function in
3722 `adaptive-fill-function' _before_ matching the buffer line against
3723 `adaptive-fill-regexp' rather than _after_ it.
3726 ** Atomic change groups.
3728 To perform some changes in the current buffer "atomically" so that
3729 they either all succeed or are all undone, use `atomic-change-group'
3730 around the code that makes changes. For instance:
3732 (atomic-change-group
3734 (delete-region x y))
3736 If an error (or other nonlocal exit) occurs inside the body of
3737 `atomic-change-group', it unmakes all the changes in that buffer that
3738 were during the execution of the body. The change group has no effect
3739 on any other buffers--any such changes remain.
3741 If you need something more sophisticated, you can directly call the
3742 lower-level functions that `atomic-change-group' uses. Here is how.
3744 To set up a change group for one buffer, call `prepare-change-group'.
3745 Specify the buffer as argument; it defaults to the current buffer.
3746 This function returns a "handle" for the change group. You must save
3747 the handle to activate the change group and then finish it.
3749 Before you change the buffer again, you must activate the change
3750 group. Pass the handle to `activate-change-group' afterward to
3753 After you make the changes, you must finish the change group. You can
3754 either accept the changes or cancel them all. Call
3755 `accept-change-group' to accept the changes in the group as final;
3756 call `cancel-change-group' to undo them all.
3758 You should use `unwind-protect' to make sure the group is always
3759 finished. The call to `activate-change-group' should be inside the
3760 `unwind-protect', in case the user types C-g just after it runs.
3761 (This is one reason why `prepare-change-group' and
3762 `activate-change-group' are separate functions.) Once you finish the
3763 group, don't use the handle again--don't try to finish the same group
3766 To make a multibuffer change group, call `prepare-change-group' once
3767 for each buffer you want to cover, then use `nconc' to combine the
3768 returned values, like this:
3770 (nconc (prepare-change-group buffer-1)
3771 (prepare-change-group buffer-2))
3773 You can then activate the multibuffer change group with a single call
3774 to `activate-change-group', and finish it with a single call to
3775 `accept-change-group' or `cancel-change-group'.
3777 Nested use of several change groups for the same buffer works as you
3778 would expect. Non-nested use of change groups for the same buffer
3779 will lead to undesirable results, so don't let it happen; the first
3780 change group you start for any given buffer should be the last one
3783 ** Buffer-related changes:
3786 *** `list-buffers-noselect' now takes an additional argument, BUFFER-LIST.
3788 If it is non-nil, it specifies which buffers to list.
3791 *** `kill-buffer-hook' is now a permanent local.
3794 *** The new function `buffer-local-value' returns the buffer-local
3795 binding of VARIABLE (a symbol) in buffer BUFFER. If VARIABLE does not
3796 have a buffer-local binding in buffer BUFFER, it returns the default
3797 value of VARIABLE instead.
3799 *** The function `frame-or-buffer-changed-p' now lets you maintain
3800 various status records in parallel.
3802 It take a variable (a symbol) as argument. If the variable is non-nil,
3803 then its value should be a vector installed previously by
3804 `frame-or-buffer-changed-p'. If the frame names, buffer names, buffer
3805 order, or their read-only or modified flags have changed, since the
3806 time the vector's contents were recorded by a previous call to
3807 `frame-or-buffer-changed-p', then the function returns t. Otherwise
3810 On the first call to `frame-or-buffer-changed-p', the variable's
3811 value should be nil. `frame-or-buffer-changed-p' stores a suitable
3812 vector into the variable and returns t.
3814 If the variable is itself nil, then `frame-or-buffer-changed-p' uses,
3815 for compatibility, an internal variable which exists only for this
3819 *** The function `read-buffer' follows the convention for reading from
3820 the minibuffer with a default value: if DEF is non-nil, the minibuffer
3821 prompt provided in PROMPT is edited to show the default value provided
3822 in DEF before the terminal colon and space.
3824 ** Local variables lists:
3827 *** Text properties in local variables.
3829 A file local variables list cannot specify a string with text
3830 properties--any specified text properties are discarded.
3833 *** The variable `safe-local-eval-forms' specifies a list of forms that
3834 are ok to evaluate when they appear in an `eval' local variables
3835 specification. Normally Emacs asks for confirmation before evaluating
3836 such a form, but if the form appears in this list, no confirmation is
3840 *** If a function has a non-nil `safe-local-eval-function' property,
3841 that means it is ok to evaluate some calls to that function when it
3842 appears in an `eval' local variables specification. If the property
3843 is t, then any form calling that function with constant arguments is
3844 ok. If the property is a function or list of functions, they are called
3845 with the form as argument, and if any returns t, the form is ok to call.
3847 If the form is not "ok to call", that means Emacs asks for
3848 confirmation as before.
3850 ** Searching and matching changes:
3853 *** New function `looking-back' checks whether a regular expression matches
3854 the text before point. Specifying the LIMIT argument bounds how far
3855 back the match can start; this is a way to keep it from taking too long.
3858 *** The new variable `search-spaces-regexp' controls how to search
3859 for spaces in a regular expression. If it is non-nil, it should be a
3860 regular expression, and any series of spaces stands for that regular
3861 expression. If it is nil, spaces stand for themselves.
3863 Spaces inside of constructs such as `[..]' and inside loops such as
3864 `*', `+', and `?' are never replaced with `search-spaces-regexp'.
3867 *** New regular expression operators, `\_<' and `\_>'.
3869 These match the beginning and end of a symbol. A symbol is a
3870 non-empty sequence of either word or symbol constituent characters, as
3871 specified by the syntax table.
3874 *** rx.el has new corresponding `symbol-end' and `symbol-start' elements.
3877 *** `skip-chars-forward' and `skip-chars-backward' now handle
3878 character classes such as `[:alpha:]', along with individual
3879 characters and ranges.
3882 *** In `replace-match', the replacement text no longer inherits
3883 properties from surrounding text.
3886 *** The list returned by `(match-data t)' now has the buffer as a final
3887 element, if the last match was on a buffer. `set-match-data'
3888 accepts such a list for restoring the match state.
3891 *** Functions `match-data' and `set-match-data' now have an optional
3892 argument `reseat'. When non-nil, all markers in the match data list
3893 passed to these function will be reseated to point to nowhere.
3896 *** The default value of `sentence-end' is now defined using the new
3897 variable `sentence-end-without-space', which contains such characters
3898 that end a sentence without following spaces.
3900 The function `sentence-end' should be used to obtain the value of the
3901 variable `sentence-end'. If the variable `sentence-end' is nil, then
3902 this function returns the regexp constructed from the variables
3903 `sentence-end-without-period', `sentence-end-double-space' and
3904 `sentence-end-without-space'.
3909 *** `buffer-undo-list' can allows programmable elements.
3911 These elements have the form (apply FUNNAME . ARGS), where FUNNAME is
3912 a symbol other than t or nil. That stands for a high-level change
3913 that should be undone by evaluating (apply FUNNAME ARGS).
3915 These entries can also have the form (apply DELTA BEG END FUNNAME . ARGS)
3916 which indicates that the change which took place was limited to the
3917 range BEG...END and increased the buffer size by DELTA.
3920 *** If the buffer's undo list for the current command gets longer than
3921 `undo-outer-limit', garbage collection empties it. This is to prevent
3922 it from using up the available memory and choking Emacs.
3925 ** New `yank-handler' text property can be used to control how
3926 previously killed text on the kill ring is reinserted.
3928 The value of the `yank-handler' property must be a list with one to four
3929 elements with the following format:
3930 (FUNCTION PARAM NOEXCLUDE UNDO).
3932 The `insert-for-yank' function looks for a yank-handler property on
3933 the first character on its string argument (typically the first
3934 element on the kill-ring). If a `yank-handler' property is found,
3935 the normal behavior of `insert-for-yank' is modified in various ways:
3937 When FUNCTION is present and non-nil, it is called instead of `insert'
3938 to insert the string. FUNCTION takes one argument--the object to insert.
3939 If PARAM is present and non-nil, it replaces STRING as the object
3940 passed to FUNCTION (or `insert'); for example, if FUNCTION is
3941 `yank-rectangle', PARAM should be a list of strings to insert as a
3943 If NOEXCLUDE is present and non-nil, the normal removal of the
3944 `yank-excluded-properties' is not performed; instead FUNCTION is
3945 responsible for removing those properties. This may be necessary
3946 if FUNCTION adjusts point before or after inserting the object.
3947 If UNDO is present and non-nil, it is a function that will be called
3948 by `yank-pop' to undo the insertion of the current object. It is
3949 called with two arguments, the start and end of the current region.
3950 FUNCTION can set `yank-undo-function' to override the UNDO value.
3952 *** The functions `kill-new', `kill-append', and `kill-region' now have an
3953 optional argument to specify the `yank-handler' text property to put on
3956 *** The function `yank-pop' will now use a non-nil value of the variable
3957 `yank-undo-function' (instead of `delete-region') to undo the previous
3958 `yank' or `yank-pop' command (or a call to `insert-for-yank'). The function
3959 `insert-for-yank' automatically sets that variable according to the UNDO
3960 element of the string argument's `yank-handler' text property if present.
3962 *** The function `insert-for-yank' now supports strings where the
3963 `yank-handler' property does not span the first character of the
3964 string. The old behavior is available if you call
3965 `insert-for-yank-1' instead.
3967 ** Syntax table changes:
3970 *** The macro `with-syntax-table' no longer copies the syntax table.
3973 *** The new function `syntax-after' returns the syntax code
3974 of the character after a specified buffer position, taking account
3975 of text properties as well as the character code.
3978 *** `syntax-class' extracts the class of a syntax code (as returned
3982 *** The new function `syntax-ppss' rovides an efficient way to find the
3983 current syntactic context at point.
3985 ** File operation changes:
3988 *** New vars `exec-suffixes' and `load-suffixes' used when
3989 searching for an executable or an Emacs Lisp file.
3992 *** The new primitive `set-file-times' sets a file's access and
3993 modification times. Magic file name handlers can handle this
3997 *** The new function `file-remote-p' tests a file name and returns
3998 non-nil if it specifies a remote file (one that Emacs accesses using
3999 its own special methods and not directly through the file system).
4000 The value in that case is an identifier for the remote file system.
4003 *** `buffer-auto-save-file-format' is the new name for what was
4004 formerly called `auto-save-file-format'. It is now a permanent local.
4007 *** Functions `file-name-sans-extension' and `file-name-extension' now
4008 ignore the leading dots in file names, so that file names such as
4009 `.emacs' are treated as extensionless.
4012 *** `copy-file' now takes an additional option arg MUSTBENEW.
4014 This argument works like the MUSTBENEW argument of write-file.
4017 *** `visited-file-modtime' and `calendar-time-from-absolute' now return
4018 a list of two integers, instead of a cons.
4021 *** `file-chase-links' now takes an optional second argument LIMIT which
4022 specifies the maximum number of links to chase through. If after that
4023 many iterations the file name obtained is still a symbolic link,
4024 `file-chase-links' returns it anyway.
4027 *** The new hook `before-save-hook' is invoked by `basic-save-buffer'
4028 before saving buffers. This allows packages to perform various final
4029 tasks, for example; it can be used by the copyright package to make
4030 sure saved files have the current year in any copyright headers.
4033 *** If `buffer-save-without-query' is non-nil in some buffer,
4034 `save-some-buffers' will always save that buffer without asking (if
4038 *** New function `locate-file' searches for a file in a list of directories.
4039 `locate-file' accepts a name of a file to search (a string), and two
4040 lists: a list of directories to search in and a list of suffixes to
4041 try; typical usage might use `exec-path' and `load-path' for the list
4042 of directories, and `exec-suffixes' and `load-suffixes' for the list
4043 of suffixes. The function also accepts a predicate argument to
4044 further filter candidate files.
4046 One advantage of using this function is that the list of suffixes in
4047 `exec-suffixes' is OS-dependant, so this function will find
4048 executables without polluting Lisp code with OS dependancies.
4051 *** The precedence of file name handlers has been changed.
4053 Instead of choosing the first handler that matches,
4054 `find-file-name-handler' now gives precedence to a file name handler
4055 that matches nearest the end of the file name. More precisely, the
4056 handler whose (match-beginning 0) is the largest is chosen. In case
4057 of ties, the old "first matched" rule applies.
4060 *** A file name handler can declare which operations it handles.
4062 You do this by putting an `operation' property on the handler name
4063 symbol. The property value should be a list of the operations that
4064 the handler really handles. It won't be called for any other
4067 This is useful for autoloaded handlers, to prevent them from being
4068 autoloaded when not really necessary.
4071 *** The function `make-auto-save-file-name' is now handled by file
4072 name handlers. This will be exploited for remote files mainly.
4077 *** An interactive specification can now use the code letter 'U' to get
4078 the up-event that was discarded in case the last key sequence read for a
4079 previous `k' or `K' argument was a down-event; otherwise nil is used.
4082 *** The new interactive-specification `G' reads a file name
4083 much like `F', but if the input is a directory name (even defaulted),
4084 it returns just the directory name.
4087 *** Functions `y-or-n-p', `read-char', `read-key-sequence' and the like, that
4088 display a prompt but don't use the minibuffer, now display the prompt
4089 using the text properties (esp. the face) of the prompt string.
4092 *** (while-no-input BODY...) runs BODY, but only so long as no input
4093 arrives. If the user types or clicks anything, BODY stops as if a
4094 quit had occurred. `while-no-input' returns the value of BODY, if BODY
4095 finishes. It returns nil if BODY was aborted by a quit, and t if
4096 BODY was aborted by arrival of input.
4098 ** Minibuffer changes:
4101 *** The new function `minibufferp' returns non-nil if its optional
4102 buffer argument is a minibuffer. If the argument is omitted, it
4103 defaults to the current buffer.
4106 *** New function `minibuffer-selected-window' returns the window which
4107 was selected when entering the minibuffer.
4110 *** `read-from-minibuffer' now accepts an additional argument KEEP-ALL
4111 saying to put all inputs in the history list, even empty ones.
4114 *** The `read-file-name' function now takes an additional argument which
4115 specifies a predicate which the file name read must satify. The
4116 new variable `read-file-name-predicate' contains the predicate argument
4117 while reading the file name from the minibuffer; the predicate in this
4118 variable is used by read-file-name-internal to filter the completion list.
4121 *** The new variable `read-file-name-function' can be used by Lisp code
4122 to override the built-in `read-file-name' function.
4125 *** The new variable `read-file-name-completion-ignore-case' specifies
4126 whether completion ignores case when reading a file name with the
4127 `read-file-name' function.
4130 *** The new function `read-directory-name' for reading a directory name.
4132 It is like `read-file-name' except that the defaulting works better
4133 for directories, and completion inside it shows only directories.
4135 ** Completion changes:
4138 *** The functions `all-completions' and `try-completion' now accept lists
4139 of strings as well as hash-tables additionally to alists, obarrays
4140 and functions. Furthermore, the function `test-completion' is now
4141 exported to Lisp. The keys in alists and hash tables can be either
4142 strings or symbols, which are automatically converted with to strings.
4145 *** The new macro `dynamic-completion-table' supports using functions
4146 as a dynamic completion table.
4148 (dynamic-completion-table FUN)
4150 FUN is called with one argument, the string for which completion is required,
4151 and it should return an alist containing all the intended possible
4152 completions. This alist can be a full list of possible completions so that FUN
4153 can ignore the value of its argument. If completion is performed in the
4154 minibuffer, FUN will be called in the buffer from which the minibuffer was
4155 entered. `dynamic-completion-table' then computes the completion.
4158 *** The new macro `lazy-completion-table' initializes a variable
4159 as a lazy completion table.
4161 (lazy-completion-table VAR FUN &rest ARGS)
4163 If the completion table VAR is used for the first time (e.g., by passing VAR
4164 as an argument to `try-completion'), the function FUN is called with arguments
4165 ARGS. FUN must return the completion table that will be stored in VAR. If
4166 completion is requested in the minibuffer, FUN will be called in the buffer
4167 from which the minibuffer was entered. The return value of
4168 `lazy-completion-table' must be used to initialize the value of VAR.
4171 ** Enhancements to keymaps.
4173 *** Cleaner way to enter key sequences.
4175 You can enter a constant key sequence in a more natural format, the
4176 same one used for saving keyboard macros, using the macro `kbd'. For
4179 (kbd "C-x C-f") => "\^x\^f"
4181 *** Interactive commands can be remapped through keymaps.
4183 This is an alternative to using `defadvice' or `substitute-key-definition'
4184 to modify the behavior of a key binding using the normal keymap
4185 binding and lookup functionality.
4187 When a key sequence is bound to a command, and that command is
4188 remapped to another command, that command is run instead of the
4192 Suppose that minor mode `my-mode' has defined the commands
4193 `my-kill-line' and `my-kill-word', and it wants C-k (and any other key
4194 bound to `kill-line') to run the command `my-kill-line' instead of
4195 `kill-line', and likewise it wants to run `my-kill-word' instead of
4198 Instead of rebinding C-k and the other keys in the minor mode map,
4199 command remapping allows you to directly map `kill-line' into
4200 `my-kill-line' and `kill-word' into `my-kill-word' using `define-key':
4202 (define-key my-mode-map [remap kill-line] 'my-kill-line)
4203 (define-key my-mode-map [remap kill-word] 'my-kill-word)
4205 When `my-mode' is enabled, its minor mode keymap is enabled too. So
4206 when the user types C-k, that runs the command `my-kill-line'.
4208 Only one level of remapping is supported. In the above example, this
4209 means that if `my-kill-line' is remapped to `other-kill', then C-k still
4210 runs `my-kill-line'.
4212 The following changes have been made to provide command remapping:
4214 - Command remappings are defined using `define-key' with a prefix-key
4215 `remap', i.e. `(define-key MAP [remap CMD] DEF)' remaps command CMD
4216 to definition DEF in keymap MAP. The definition is not limited to
4217 another command; it can be anything accepted for a normal binding.
4219 - The new function `command-remapping' returns the binding for a
4220 remapped command in the current keymaps, or nil if not remapped.
4222 - `key-binding' now remaps interactive commands unless the optional
4223 third argument NO-REMAP is non-nil.
4225 - `where-is-internal' now returns nil for a remapped command (e.g.
4226 `kill-line', when `my-mode' is enabled), and the actual key binding for
4227 the command it is remapped to (e.g. C-k for my-kill-line).
4228 It also has a new optional fifth argument, NO-REMAP, which inhibits
4229 remapping if non-nil (e.g. it returns "C-k" for `kill-line', and
4230 "<kill-line>" for `my-kill-line').
4232 - The new variable `this-original-command' contains the original
4233 command before remapping. It is equal to `this-command' when the
4234 command was not remapped.
4236 *** If text has a `keymap' property, that keymap takes precedence
4237 over minor mode keymaps.
4239 *** The `keymap' property now also works at the ends of overlays and
4240 text properties, according to their stickiness. This also means that it
4241 works with empty overlays. The same hold for the `local-map' property.
4243 *** Dense keymaps now handle inheritance correctly.
4245 Previously a dense keymap would hide all of the simple-char key
4246 bindings of the parent keymap.
4248 *** `define-key-after' now accepts keys longer than 1.
4250 *** New function `current-active-maps' returns a list of currently
4253 *** New function `describe-buffer-bindings' inserts the list of all
4254 defined keys and their definitions.
4256 *** New function `keymap-prompt' returns the prompt string of a keymap.
4258 *** (map-keymap FUNCTION KEYMAP) applies the function to each binding
4261 *** New variable `emulation-mode-map-alists'.
4263 Lisp packages using many minor mode keymaps can now maintain their own
4264 keymap alist separate from `minor-mode-map-alist' by adding their
4265 keymap alist to this list.
4270 *** The new function `copy-abbrev-table' copies an abbrev table.
4272 It returns a new abbrev table that is a copy of a given abbrev table.
4275 *** `define-abbrev' now accepts an optional argument SYSTEM-FLAG.
4277 If non-nil, this marks the abbrev as a "system" abbrev, which means
4278 that it won't be stored in the user's abbrevs file if he saves the
4279 abbrevs. Major modes that predefine some abbrevs should always
4283 ** Enhancements to process support
4285 *** Function `list-processes' now has an optional argument; if non-nil,
4286 it lists only the processes whose query-on-exit flag is set.
4288 *** New fns `set-process-query-on-exit-flag' and `process-query-on-exit-flag'.
4290 These replace the old function `process-kill-without-query'. That
4291 function is still supported, but new code should use the new
4294 *** Function `signal-process' now accepts a process object or process
4295 name in addition to a process id to identify the signaled process.
4297 *** Processes now have an associated property list where programs can
4298 maintain process state and other per-process related information.
4300 Use the new functions `process-get' and `process-put' to access, add,
4301 and modify elements on this property list. Use the new functions
4302 `process-plist' and `set-process-plist' to access and replace the
4303 entire property list of a process.
4305 *** Function `accept-process-output' has a new optional fourth arg
4306 JUST-THIS-ONE. If non-nil, only output from the specified process
4307 is handled, suspending output from other processes. If value is an
4308 integer, also inhibit running timers. This feature is generally not
4309 recommended, but may be necessary for specific applications, such as
4312 *** Adaptive read buffering of subprocess output.
4314 On some systems, when emacs reads the output from a subprocess, the
4315 output data is read in very small blocks, potentially resulting in
4316 very poor performance. This behavior can be remedied to some extent
4317 by setting the new variable `process-adaptive-read-buffering' to a
4318 non-nil value (the default), as it will automatically delay reading
4319 from such processes, to allowing them to produce more output before
4320 emacs tries to read it.
4322 *** The new function `call-process-shell-command'.
4324 This executes a shell command synchronously in a separate process.
4326 *** The new function `process-file' is similar to `call-process', but
4327 obeys file handlers. The file handler is chosen based on
4328 `default-directory'.
4330 *** A process filter function gets the output as multibyte string
4331 if the process specifies t for its filter's multibyteness.
4333 That multibyteness is decided by the value of
4334 `default-enable-multibyte-characters' when the process is created, and
4335 you can change it later with `set-process-filter-multibyte'.
4337 *** The new function `set-process-filter-multibyte' sets the
4338 multibyteness of the strings passed to the process's filter.
4340 *** The new function `process-filter-multibyte-p' returns the
4341 multibyteness of the strings passed to the process's filter.
4343 *** If a process's coding system is `raw-text' or `no-conversion' and its
4344 buffer is multibyte, the output of the process is at first converted
4345 to multibyte by `string-to-multibyte' then inserted in the buffer.
4346 Previously, it was converted to multibyte by `string-as-multibyte',
4347 which was not compatible with the behavior of file reading.
4350 ** Enhanced networking support.
4352 *** The new `make-network-process' function makes network connections.
4353 It allows opening of stream and datagram connections to a server, as well as
4354 create a stream or datagram server inside emacs.
4356 - A server is started using :server t arg.
4357 - Datagram connection is selected using :type 'datagram arg.
4358 - A server can open on a random port using :service t arg.
4359 - Local sockets are supported using :family 'local arg.
4360 - Non-blocking connect is supported using :nowait t arg.
4361 - The process' property list can be initialized using :plist PLIST arg;
4362 a copy of the server process' property list is automatically inherited
4363 by new client processes created to handle incoming connections.
4365 To test for the availability of a given feature, use featurep like this:
4366 (featurep 'make-network-process '(:type datagram))
4368 *** The old `open-network-stream' now uses `make-network-process'.
4370 *** New functions `process-datagram-address', `set-process-datagram-address'.
4372 These functions are used with datagram-based network processes to get
4373 and set the current address of the remote partner.
4375 *** New function `format-network-address'.
4377 This function reformats the Lisp representation of a network address
4378 to a printable string. For example, an IP address A.B.C.D and port
4379 number P is represented as a five element vector [A B C D P], and the
4380 printable string returned for this vector is "A.B.C.D:P". See the doc
4381 string for other formatting options.
4383 *** `process-contact' has an optional KEY argument.
4385 Depending on this argument, you can get the complete list of network
4386 process properties or a specific property. Using :local or :remote as
4387 the KEY, you get the address of the local or remote end-point.
4389 An Inet address is represented as a 5 element vector, where the first
4390 4 elements contain the IP address and the fifth is the port number.
4392 *** New functions `stop-process' and `continue-process'.
4394 These functions stop and restart communication through a network
4395 connection. For a server process, no connections are accepted in the
4396 stopped state. For a client process, no input is received in the
4399 *** New function `network-interface-list'.
4401 This function returns a list of network interface names and their
4402 current network addresses.
4404 *** New function `network-interface-info'.
4406 This function returns the network address, hardware address, current
4407 status, and other information about a specific network interface.
4409 *** Deleting a network process with `delete-process' calls the sentinel.
4411 The status message passed to the sentinel for a deleted network
4412 process is "deleted". The message passed to the sentinel when the
4413 connection is closed by the remote peer has been changed to
4414 "connection broken by remote peer".
4416 ** Using window objects:
4419 *** New function `window-body-height'.
4421 This is like `window-height' but does not count the mode line or the
4425 *** New function `window-body-height'.
4427 This is like `window-height' but does not count the mode line
4431 *** You can now make a window as short as one line.
4433 A window that is just one line tall does not display either a mode
4434 line or a header line, even if the variables `mode-line-format' and
4435 `header-line-format' call for them. A window that is two lines tall
4436 cannot display both a mode line and a header line at once; if the
4437 variables call for both, only the mode line actually appears.
4440 *** The new function `window-inside-edges' returns the edges of the
4441 actual text portion of the window, not including the scroll bar or
4442 divider line, the fringes, the display margins, the header line and
4446 *** The new functions `window-pixel-edges' and `window-inside-pixel-edges'
4447 return window edges in units of pixels, rather than columns and lines.
4450 *** The new macro `with-selected-window' temporarily switches the
4451 selected window without impacting the order of `buffer-list'.
4452 It saves and restores the current buffer, too.
4455 *** `select-window' takes an optional second argument NORECORD.
4457 This is like `switch-to-buffer'.
4460 *** `save-selected-window' now saves and restores the selected window
4461 of every frame. This way, it restores everything that can be changed
4462 by calling `select-window'. It also saves and restores the current
4466 *** `set-window-buffer' has an optional argument KEEP-MARGINS.
4468 If non-nil, that says to preserve the window's current margin, fringe,
4469 and scroll-bar settings.
4472 *** The new function `window-tree' returns a frame's window tree.
4475 ** Customizable fringe bitmaps
4477 *** New function `define-fringe-bitmap' can now be used to create new
4478 fringe bitmaps, as well as change the built-in fringe bitmaps.
4480 To change a built-in bitmap, do (require 'fringe) and use the symbol
4481 identifing the bitmap such as `left-truncation or `continued-line'.
4483 *** New function `destroy-fringe-bitmap' deletes a fringe bitmap
4484 or restores a built-in one to its default value.
4486 *** New function `set-fringe-bitmap-face' specifies the face to be
4487 used for a specific fringe bitmap. The face is automatically merged
4488 with the `fringe' face, so normally, the face should only specify the
4489 foreground color of the bitmap.
4491 *** There are new display properties, `left-fringe' and `right-fringe',
4492 that can be used to show a specific bitmap in the left or right fringe
4493 bitmap of the display line.
4495 Format is `display (left-fringe BITMAP [FACE])', where BITMAP is a
4496 symbol identifying a fringe bitmap, either built-in or defined with
4497 `define-fringe-bitmap', and FACE is an optional face name to be used
4498 for displaying the bitmap instead of the default `fringe' face.
4499 When specified, FACE is automatically merged with the `fringe' face.
4501 *** New function `fringe-bitmaps-at-pos' returns the current fringe
4502 bitmaps in the display line at a given buffer position.
4504 ** Other window fringe features:
4507 *** Controlling the default left and right fringe widths.
4509 The default left and right fringe widths for all windows of a frame
4510 can now be controlled by setting the `left-fringe' and `right-fringe'
4511 frame parameters to an integer value specifying the width in pixels.
4512 Setting the width to 0 effectively removes the corresponding fringe.
4514 The actual default fringe widths for the frame may deviate from the
4515 specified widths, since the combined fringe widths must match an
4516 integral number of columns. The extra width is distributed evenly
4517 between the left and right fringe. For force a specific fringe width,
4518 specify the width as a negative integer (if both widths are negative,
4519 only the left fringe gets the specified width).
4521 Setting the width to nil (the default), restores the default fringe
4522 width which is the minimum number of pixels necessary to display any
4523 of the currently defined fringe bitmaps. The width of the built-in
4524 fringe bitmaps is 8 pixels.
4527 *** Per-window fringe and scrollbar settings
4529 **** Windows can now have their own individual fringe widths and
4532 To control the fringe widths of a window, either set the buffer-local
4533 variables `left-fringe-width', `right-fringe-width', or call
4534 `set-window-fringes'.
4536 To control the fringe position in a window, that is, whether fringes
4537 are positioned between the display margins and the window's text area,
4538 or at the edges of the window, either set the buffer-local variable
4539 `fringes-outside-margins' or call `set-window-fringes'.
4541 The function `window-fringes' can be used to obtain the current
4542 settings. To make `left-fringe-width', `right-fringe-width', and
4543 `fringes-outside-margins' take effect, you must set them before
4544 displaying the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force
4545 an update of the display margins.
4547 **** Windows can now have their own individual scroll-bar settings
4548 controlling the width and position of scroll-bars.
4550 To control the scroll-bar of a window, either set the buffer-local
4551 variables `scroll-bar-mode' and `scroll-bar-width', or call
4552 `set-window-scroll-bars'. The function `window-scroll-bars' can be
4553 used to obtain the current settings. To make `scroll-bar-mode' and
4554 `scroll-bar-width' take effect, you must set them before displaying
4555 the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force an update
4556 of the display margins.
4558 ** Redisplay features:
4561 *** `sit-for' can now be called with args (SECONDS &optional NODISP).
4564 *** New function `force-window-update' can initiate a full redisplay of
4565 one or all windows. Normally, this is not needed as changes in window
4566 contents are detected automatically. However, certain implicit
4567 changes to mode lines, header lines, or display properties may require
4568 forcing an explicit window update.
4571 *** (char-displayable-p CHAR) returns non-nil if Emacs ought to be able
4572 to display CHAR. More precisely, if the selected frame's fontset has
4573 a font to display the character set that CHAR belongs to.
4575 Fontsets can specify a font on a per-character basis; when the fontset
4576 does that, this value cannot be accurate.
4579 *** You can define multiple overlay arrows via the new
4580 variable `overlay-arrow-variable-list'.
4582 It contains a list of varibles which contain overlay arrow position
4583 markers, including the original `overlay-arrow-position' variable.
4585 Each variable on this list can have individual `overlay-arrow-string'
4586 and `overlay-arrow-bitmap' properties that specify an overlay arrow
4587 string (for non-window terminals) or fringe bitmap (for window
4588 systems) to display at the corresponding overlay arrow position.
4589 If either property is not set, the default `overlay-arrow-string' or
4590 'overlay-arrow-fringe-bitmap' will be used.
4593 *** New `line-height' and `line-spacing' properties for newline characters
4595 A newline can now have `line-height' and `line-spacing' text or overlay
4596 properties that control the height of the corresponding display row.
4598 If the `line-height' property value is t, the newline does not
4599 contribute to the height of the display row; instead the height of the
4600 newline glyph is reduced. Also, a `line-spacing' property on this
4601 newline is ignored. This can be used to tile small images or image
4602 slices without adding blank areas between the images.
4604 If the `line-height' property value is a positive integer, the value
4605 specifies the minimum line height in pixels. If necessary, the line
4606 height it increased by increasing the line's ascent.
4608 If the `line-height' property value is a float, the minimum line
4609 height is calculated by multiplying the default frame line height by
4612 If the `line-height' property value is a cons (FACE . RATIO), the
4613 minimum line height is calculated as RATIO * height of named FACE.
4614 RATIO is int or float. If FACE is t, it specifies the current face.
4616 If the `line-height' property value is a cons (nil . RATIO), the line
4617 height is calculated as RATIO * actual height of the line's contents.
4619 If the `line-height' value is a cons (HEIGHT . TOTAL), HEIGHT specifies
4620 the line height as described above, while TOTAL is any of the forms
4621 described above and specifies the total height of the line, causing a
4622 varying number of pixels to be inserted after the line to make it line
4623 exactly that many pixels high.
4625 If the `line-spacing' property value is an positive integer, the value
4626 is used as additional pixels to insert after the display line; this
4627 overrides the default frame `line-spacing' and any buffer local value of
4628 the `line-spacing' variable.
4630 If the `line-spacing' property is a float or cons, the line spacing
4631 is calculated as specified above for the `line-height' property.
4634 *** The buffer local `line-spacing' variable can now have a float value,
4635 which is used as a height relative to the default frame line height.
4638 *** Enhancements to stretch display properties
4640 The display property stretch specification form `(space PROPS)', where
4641 PROPS is a property list now allows pixel based width and height
4642 specifications, as well as enhanced horizontal text alignment.
4644 The value of these properties can now be a (primitive) expression
4645 which is evaluated during redisplay. The following expressions
4648 EXPR ::= NUM | (NUM) | UNIT | ELEM | POS | IMAGE | FORM
4649 NUM ::= INTEGER | FLOAT | SYMBOL
4650 UNIT ::= in | mm | cm | width | height
4651 ELEM ::= left-fringe | right-fringe | left-margin | right-margin
4653 POS ::= left | center | right
4654 FORM ::= (NUM . EXPR) | (OP EXPR ...)
4657 The form `NUM' specifies a fractional width or height of the default
4658 frame font size. The form `(NUM)' specifies an absolute number of
4659 pixels. If a symbol is specified, its buffer-local variable binding
4660 is used. The `in', `mm', and `cm' units specifies the number of
4661 pixels per inch, milli-meter, and centi-meter, resp. The `width' and
4662 `height' units correspond to the width and height of the current face
4663 font. An image specification corresponds to the width or height of
4666 The `left-fringe', `right-fringe', `left-margin', `right-margin',
4667 `scroll-bar', and `text' elements specify to the width of the
4668 corresponding area of the window.
4670 The `left', `center', and `right' positions can be used with :align-to
4671 to specify a position relative to the left edge, center, or right edge
4672 of the text area. One of the above window elements (except `text')
4673 can also be used with :align-to to specify that the position is
4674 relative to the left edge of the given area. Once the base offset for
4675 a relative position has been set (by the first occurrence of one of
4676 these symbols), further occurences of these symbols are interpreted as
4677 the width of the area.
4679 For example, to align to the center of the left-margin, use
4680 :align-to (+ left-margin (0.5 . left-margin))
4682 If no specific base offset is set for alignment, it is always relative
4683 to the left edge of the text area. For example, :align-to 0 in a
4684 header line aligns with the first text column in the text area.
4686 The value of the form `(NUM . EXPR)' is the value of NUM multiplied by
4687 the value of the expression EXPR. For example, (2 . in) specifies a
4688 width of 2 inches, while (0.5 . IMAGE) specifies half the width (or
4689 height) of the specified image.
4691 The form `(+ EXPR ...)' adds up the value of the expressions.
4692 The form `(- EXPR ...)' negates or subtracts the value of the expressions.
4695 *** Normally, the cursor is displayed at the end of any overlay and
4696 text property string that may be present at the current window
4697 position. The cursor can now be placed on any character of such
4698 strings by giving that character a non-nil `cursor' text property.
4701 *** The display space :width and :align-to text properties are now
4702 supported on text terminals.
4705 *** Support for displaying image slices
4707 **** New display property (slice X Y WIDTH HEIGHT) can be used with
4708 an image property to display only a specific slice of the image.
4710 **** Function `insert-image' has new optional fourth arg to
4711 specify image slice (X Y WIDTH HEIGHT).
4713 **** New function `insert-sliced-image' inserts a given image as a
4714 specified number of evenly sized slices (rows x columns).
4717 *** Images can now have an associated image map via the :map property.
4719 An image map is an alist where each element has the format (AREA ID PLIST).
4720 An AREA is specified as either a rectangle, a circle, or a polygon:
4721 A rectangle is a cons (rect . ((X0 . Y0) . (X1 . Y1))) specifying the
4722 pixel coordinates of the upper left and bottom right corners.
4723 A circle is a cons (circle . ((X0 . Y0) . R)) specifying the center
4724 and the radius of the circle; R can be a float or integer.
4725 A polygon is a cons (poly . [X0 Y0 X1 Y1 ...]) where each pair in the
4726 vector describes one corner in the polygon.
4728 When the mouse pointer is above a hot-spot area of an image, the
4729 PLIST of that hot-spot is consulted; if it contains a `help-echo'
4730 property it defines a tool-tip for the hot-spot, and if it contains
4731 a `pointer' property, it defines the shape of the mouse cursor when
4732 it is over the hot-spot. See the variable `void-area-text-pointer'
4733 for possible pointer shapes.
4735 When you click the mouse when the mouse pointer is over a hot-spot,
4736 an event is composed by combining the ID of the hot-spot with the
4737 mouse event, e.g. [area4 mouse-1] if the hot-spot's ID is `area4'.
4740 *** The function `find-image' now searches in etc/images/ and etc/.
4741 The new variable `image-load-path' is a list of locations in which to
4742 search for image files. The default is to search in etc/images, then
4743 in etc/, and finally in the directories specified by `load-path'.
4744 Subdirectories of etc/ and etc/images are not recursively searched; if
4745 you put an image file in a subdirectory, you have to specify it
4746 explicitly; for example, if an image is put in etc/images/foo/bar.xpm:
4748 (defimage foo-image '((:type xpm :file "foo/bar.xpm")))
4751 *** The new variable `max-image-size' defines the maximum size of
4752 images that Emacs will load and display.
4754 ** Mouse pointer features:
4758 *** The mouse pointer shape in void text areas (i.e. after the end of a
4759 line or below the last line in the buffer) of the text window is now
4760 controlled by the new variable `void-text-area-pointer'. The default
4761 is to use the `arrow' (non-text) pointer. Other choices are `text'
4762 (or nil), `hand', `vdrag', `hdrag', `modeline', and `hourglass'.
4765 *** The mouse pointer shape over an image can now be controlled by the
4766 :pointer image property.
4769 *** The mouse pointer shape over ordinary text or images can now be
4770 controlled/overriden via the `pointer' text property.
4772 ** Mouse event enhancements:
4775 *** Mouse events for clicks on window fringes now specify `left-fringe'
4776 or `right-fringe' as the area.
4779 *** All mouse events now include a buffer position regardless of where
4780 you clicked. For mouse clicks in window margins and fringes, this is
4781 a sensible buffer position corresponding to the surrounding text.
4784 *** `posn-point' now returns buffer position for non-text area events.
4787 *** Function `mouse-set-point' now works for events outside text area.
4790 *** New function `posn-area' returns window area clicked on (nil means
4794 *** Mouse events include actual glyph column and row for all event types
4798 *** New function `posn-actual-col-row' returns the actual glyph coordinates
4799 of the mouse event position.
4802 *** Mouse events can now indicate an image object clicked on.
4805 *** Mouse events include relative X and Y pixel coordinates relative to
4806 the top left corner of the object (image or character) clicked on.
4809 *** Mouse events include the pixel width and height of the object
4810 (image or character) clicked on.
4813 *** New functions 'posn-object', 'posn-object-x-y', 'posn-object-width-height'.
4815 These return the image or string object of a mouse click, the X and Y
4816 pixel coordinates relative to the top left corner of that object, and
4817 the total width and height of that object.
4819 ** Text property and overlay changes:
4822 *** Arguments for `remove-overlays' are now optional, so that you can
4823 remove all overlays in the buffer with just (remove-overlays).
4826 *** New variable `char-property-alias-alist'.
4828 This variable allows you to create alternative names for text
4829 properties. It works at the same level as `default-text-properties',
4830 although it applies to overlays as well. This variable was introduced
4831 to implement the `font-lock-face' property.
4834 *** New function `get-char-property-and-overlay' accepts the same
4835 arguments as `get-char-property' and returns a cons whose car is the
4836 return value of `get-char-property' called with those arguments and
4837 whose cdr is the overlay in which the property was found, or nil if
4838 it was found as a text property or not found at all.
4841 *** The new function `remove-list-of-text-properties'.
4843 It is like `remove-text-properties' except that it takes a list of
4844 property names as argument rather than a property list.
4849 *** The new face attribute condition `min-colors' can be used to tailor
4850 the face color to the number of colors supported by a display, and
4851 define the foreground and background colors accordingly so that they
4852 look best on a terminal that supports at least this many colors. This
4853 is now the preferred method for defining default faces in a way that
4854 makes a good use of the capabilities of the display.
4857 *** New function `display-supports-face-attributes-p' can be used to test
4858 whether a given set of face attributes is actually displayable.
4860 A new predicate `supports' has also been added to the `defface' face
4861 specification language, which can be used to do this test for faces
4862 defined with `defface'.
4865 *** The special treatment of faces whose names are of the form `fg:COLOR'
4866 or `bg:COLOR' has been removed. Lisp programs should use the
4867 `defface' facility for defining faces with specific colors, or use
4868 the feature of specifying the face attributes :foreground and :background
4869 directly in the `face' property instead of using a named face.
4872 *** The first face specification element in a defface can specify
4873 `default' instead of frame classification. Then its attributes act as
4874 defaults that apply to all the subsequent cases (and can be overridden
4878 *** The variable `face-font-rescale-alist' specifies how much larger
4879 (or smaller) font we should use. For instance, if the value is
4880 '((SOME-FONTNAME-PATTERN . 1.3)) and a face requests a font of 10
4881 point, we actually use a font of 13 point if the font matches
4882 SOME-FONTNAME-PATTERN.
4885 *** The function `face-differs-from-default-p' now truly checks
4886 whether the given face displays differently from the default face or
4887 not (previously it did only a very cursory check).
4890 *** `face-attribute', `face-foreground', `face-background', `face-stipple'.
4892 These now accept a new optional argument, INHERIT, which controls how
4893 face inheritance is used when determining the value of a face
4897 *** New functions `face-attribute-relative-p' and `merge-face-attribute'
4898 help with handling relative face attributes.
4901 *** The priority of faces in an :inherit attribute face list is reversed.
4903 If a face contains an :inherit attribute with a list of faces, earlier
4904 faces in the list override later faces in the list; in previous
4905 releases of Emacs, the order was the opposite. This change was made
4906 so that :inherit face lists operate identically to face lists in text
4910 *** On terminals, faces with the :inverse-video attribute are displayed
4911 with swapped foreground and background colors even when one of them is
4912 not specified. In previous releases of Emacs, if either foreground
4913 or background color was unspecified, colors were not swapped. This
4914 was inconsistent with the face behavior under X.
4917 *** `set-fontset-font', `fontset-info', `fontset-font' now operate on
4918 the default fontset if the argument NAME is nil..
4920 ** Font-Lock changes:
4923 *** New special text property `font-lock-face'.
4925 This property acts like the `face' property, but it is controlled by
4926 M-x font-lock-mode. It is not, strictly speaking, a builtin text
4927 property. Instead, it is implemented inside font-core.el, using the
4928 new variable `char-property-alias-alist'.
4931 *** font-lock can manage arbitrary text-properties beside `face'.
4933 **** the FACENAME returned in `font-lock-keywords' can be a list of the
4934 form (face FACE PROP1 VAL1 PROP2 VAL2 ...) so you can set other
4935 properties than `face'.
4937 **** `font-lock-extra-managed-props' can be set to make sure those
4938 extra properties are automatically cleaned up by font-lock.
4941 *** jit-lock obeys a new text-property `jit-lock-defer-multiline'.
4943 If a piece of text with that property gets contextually refontified
4944 (see `jit-lock-defer-contextually'), then all of that text will
4945 be refontified. This is useful when the syntax of a textual element
4946 depends on text several lines further down (and when `font-lock-multiline'
4947 is not appropriate to solve that problem). For example in Perl:
4955 Adding/removing the last `e' changes the `bar' from being a piece of
4956 text to being a piece of code, so you'd put a `jit-lock-defer-multiline'
4957 property over the second half of the command to force (deferred)
4958 refontification of `bar' whenever the `e' is added/removed.
4960 ** Major mode mechanism changes:
4963 *** `set-auto-mode' now gives the interpreter magic line (if present)
4964 precedence over the file name. Likewise an `<?xml' or `<!DOCTYPE'
4965 declaration will give the buffer XML or SGML mode, based on the new
4966 var `magic-mode-alist'.
4969 *** Use the new function `run-mode-hooks' to run the major mode's mode hook.
4972 *** All major mode functions should now run the new normal hook
4973 `after-change-major-mode-hook', at their very end, after the mode
4974 hooks. `run-mode-hooks' does this automatically.
4977 *** If a major mode function has a non-nil `no-clone-indirect'
4978 property, `clone-indirect-buffer' signals an error if you use
4982 *** Major modes can define `eldoc-documentation-function'
4983 locally to provide Eldoc functionality by some method appropriate to
4987 *** `define-derived-mode' by default creates a new empty abbrev table.
4988 It does not copy abbrevs from the parent mode's abbrev table.
4991 *** The new function `run-mode-hooks' and the new macro `delay-mode-hooks'
4992 are used by `define-derived-mode' to make sure the mode hook for the
4993 parent mode is run at the end of the child mode.
4995 ** Minor mode changes:
4998 *** `define-minor-mode' now accepts arbitrary additional keyword arguments
4999 and simply passes them to `defcustom', if applicable.
5002 *** `minor-mode-list' now holds a list of minor mode commands.
5005 *** `define-global-minor-mode'.
5007 This is a new name for what was formerly called
5008 `easy-mmode-define-global-mode'. The old name remains as an alias.
5010 ** Command loop changes:
5013 *** The new function `called-interactively-p' does what many people
5014 have mistakenly believed `interactive-p' to do: it returns t if the
5015 calling function was called through `call-interactively'.
5017 Only use this when you cannot solve the problem by adding a new
5018 INTERACTIVE argument to the command.
5021 *** The function `commandp' takes an additional optional argument.
5023 If it is non-nil, then `commandp' checks for a function that could be
5024 called with `call-interactively', and does not return t for keyboard
5028 *** When a command returns, the command loop moves point out from
5029 within invisible text, in the same way it moves out from within text
5030 covered by an image or composition property.
5032 This makes it generally unnecessary to mark invisible text as intangible.
5033 This is particularly good because the intangible property often has
5034 unexpected side-effects since the property applies to everything
5035 (including `goto-char', ...) whereas this new code is only run after
5036 `post-command-hook' and thus does not care about intermediate states.
5039 *** If a command sets `transient-mark-mode' to `only', that
5040 enables Transient Mark mode for the following command only.
5041 During that following command, the value of `transient-mark-mode'
5042 is `identity'. If it is still `identity' at the end of the command,
5043 the next return to the command loop changes to nil.
5046 *** Both the variable and the function `disabled-command-hook' have
5047 been renamed to `disabled-command-function'. The variable
5048 `disabled-command-hook' has been kept as an obsolete alias.
5051 *** `emacsserver' now runs `pre-command-hook' and `post-command-hook'
5052 when it receives a request from emacsclient.
5054 ** Lisp file loading changes:
5057 *** `load-history' can now have elements of the form (t . FUNNAME),
5058 which means FUNNAME was previously defined as an autoload (before the
5059 current file redefined it).
5062 *** `load-history' now records (defun . FUNNAME) when a function is
5063 defined. For a variable, it records just the variable name.
5066 *** The function `symbol-file' can now search specifically for function,
5067 variable or face definitions.
5070 *** `provide' and `featurep' now accept an optional second argument
5071 to test/provide subfeatures. Also `provide' now checks `after-load-alist'
5072 and runs any code associated with the provided feature.
5075 *** The variable `recursive-load-depth-limit' has been deleted.
5076 Emacs now signals an error if the same file is loaded with more
5077 than 3 levels of nesting.
5080 ** Byte compiler changes:
5082 *** The byte compiler now displays the actual line and character
5083 position of errors, where possible. Additionally, the form of its
5084 warning and error messages have been brought into line with GNU standards
5085 for these. As a result, you can use next-error and friends on the
5086 compilation output buffer.
5088 *** The new macro `with-no-warnings' suppresses all compiler warnings
5089 inside its body. In terms of execution, it is equivalent to `progn'.
5091 *** You can avoid warnings for possibly-undefined symbols with a
5092 simple convention that the compiler understands. (This is mostly
5093 useful in code meant to be portable to different Emacs versions.)
5094 Write forms like the following, or code that macroexpands into such
5097 (if (fboundp 'foo) <then> <else>)
5098 (if (boundp 'foo) <then> <else)
5100 In the first case, using `foo' as a function inside the <then> form
5101 won't produce a warning if it's not defined as a function, and in the
5102 second case, using `foo' as a variable won't produce a warning if it's
5103 unbound. The test must be in exactly one of the above forms (after
5104 macro expansion), but such tests can be nested. Note that `when' and
5105 `unless' expand to `if', but `cond' doesn't.
5107 *** `(featurep 'xemacs)' is treated by the compiler as nil. This
5108 helps to avoid noisy compiler warnings in code meant to run under both
5109 Emacs and XEmacs and can sometimes make the result significantly more
5110 efficient. Since byte code from recent versions of XEmacs won't
5111 generally run in Emacs and vice versa, this optimization doesn't lose
5114 *** The local variable `no-byte-compile' in Lisp files is now obeyed.
5117 *** When a Lisp file uses CL functions at run-time, compiling the file
5118 now issues warnings about these calls, unless the file performs
5119 (require 'cl) when loaded.
5121 ** Frame operations:
5124 *** New functions `frame-current-scroll-bars' and `window-current-scroll-bars'.
5126 These functions return the current locations of the vertical and
5127 horizontal scroll bars in a frame or window.
5130 *** The new function `modify-all-frames-parameters' modifies parameters
5131 for all (existing and future) frames.
5134 *** The new frame parameter `tty-color-mode' specifies the mode to use
5135 for color support on character terminal frames. Its value can be a
5136 number of colors to support, or a symbol. See the Emacs Lisp
5137 Reference manual for more detailed documentation.
5140 *** When using non-toolkit scroll bars with the default width,
5141 the `scroll-bar-width' frame parameter value is nil.
5146 *** Already true in Emacs 21.1, but not emphasized clearly enough:
5148 Multibyte buffers can now faithfully record all 256 character codes
5149 from 0 to 255. As a result, most of the past reasons to use unibyte
5150 buffers no longer exist. We only know of three reasons to use them
5153 1. If you prefer to use unibyte text all of the time.
5155 2. For reading files into temporary buffers, when you want to avoid
5156 the time it takes to convert the format.
5158 3. For binary files where format conversion would be pointless and
5162 *** `set-buffer-file-coding-system' now takes an additional argument,
5163 NOMODIFY. If it is non-nil, it means don't mark the buffer modified.
5166 *** The new variable `auto-coding-functions' lets you specify functions
5167 to examine a file being visited and deduce the proper coding system
5168 for it. (If the coding system is detected incorrectly for a specific
5169 file, you can put a `coding:' tags to override it.)
5172 *** The new function `merge-coding-systems' fills in unspecified aspects
5173 of one coding system from another coding system.
5176 *** New coding system property `mime-text-unsuitable' indicates that
5177 the coding system's `mime-charset' is not suitable for MIME text
5181 *** New function `decode-coding-inserted-region' decodes a region as if
5182 it is read from a file without decoding.
5185 *** New CCL functions `lookup-character' and `lookup-integer' access
5186 hash tables defined by the Lisp function `define-translation-hash-table'.
5189 *** New function `quail-find-key' returns a list of keys to type in the
5190 current input method to input a character.
5192 ** Mode line changes:
5195 *** New function `format-mode-line'.
5197 This returns the mode line or header line of the selected (or a
5198 specified) window as a string with or without text properties.
5201 *** The new mode-line construct `(:propertize ELT PROPS...)' can be
5202 used to add text properties to mode-line elements.
5205 *** The new `%i' and `%I' constructs for `mode-line-format' can be used
5206 to display the size of the accessible part of the buffer on the mode
5210 *** Mouse-face on mode-line (and header-line) is now supported.
5212 ** Menu manipulation changes:
5215 *** To manipulate the File menu using easy-menu, you must specify the
5216 proper name "file". In previous Emacs versions, you had to specify
5217 "files", even though the menu item itself was changed to say "File"
5218 several versions ago.
5221 *** The dummy function keys made by easy-menu are now always lower case.
5222 If you specify the menu item name "Ada", for instance, it uses `ada'
5223 as the "key" bound by that key binding.
5225 This is relevant only if Lisp code looks for the bindings that were
5226 made with easy-menu.
5229 *** `easy-menu-define' now allows you to use nil for the symbol name
5230 if you don't need to give the menu a name. If you install the menu
5231 into other keymaps right away (MAPS is non-nil), it usually doesn't
5232 need to have a name.
5234 ** Operating system access:
5237 *** The new primitive `get-internal-run-time' returns the processor
5238 run time used by Emacs since start-up.
5241 *** Functions `user-uid' and `user-real-uid' now return floats if the
5242 user UID doesn't fit in a Lisp integer. Function `user-full-name'
5243 accepts a float as UID parameter.
5246 *** New function `locale-info' accesses locale information.
5249 *** On MS Windows, locale-coding-system is used to interact with the OS.
5250 The Windows specific variable w32-system-coding-system, which was
5251 formerly used for that purpose is now an alias for locale-coding-system.
5254 *** New function `redirect-debugging-output' can be used to redirect
5255 debugging output on the stderr file handle to a file.
5260 *** A number of hooks have been renamed to better follow the conventions:
5262 `find-file-hooks' to `find-file-hook',
5263 `find-file-not-found-hooks' to `find-file-not-found-functions',
5264 `write-file-hooks' to `write-file-functions',
5265 `write-contents-hooks' to `write-contents-functions',
5266 `x-lost-selection-hooks' to `x-lost-selection-functions',
5267 `x-sent-selection-hooks' to `x-sent-selection-functions',
5268 `delete-frame-hook' to `delete-frame-functions'.
5270 In each case the old name remains as an alias for the moment.
5273 *** local-write-file-hooks is marked obsolete
5275 Use the LOCAL arg of `add-hook'.
5278 *** New function `x-send-client-message' sends a client message when
5284 *** New variable `gc-cons-percentage' automatically grows the GC cons threshold
5285 as the heap size increases.
5288 *** New variables `gc-elapsed' and `gcs-done' provide extra information
5289 on garbage collection.
5292 *** The normal hook `post-gc-hook' is run at the end of garbage collection.
5294 The hook is run with GC inhibited, so use it with care.
5296 * New Packages for Lisp Programming in Emacs 22.1
5299 ** The new library button.el implements simple and fast `clickable
5300 buttons' in emacs buffers. Buttons are much lighter-weight than the
5301 `widgets' implemented by widget.el, and can be used by lisp code that
5302 doesn't require the full power of widgets. Emacs uses buttons for
5303 such things as help and apropos buffers.
5306 ** The new library tree-widget.el provides a widget to display a set
5307 of hierarchical data as an outline. For example, the tree-widget is
5308 well suited to display a hierarchy of directories and files.
5311 ** The new library bindat.el provides functions to unpack and pack
5312 binary data structures, such as network packets, to and from Lisp
5316 ** master-mode.el implements a minor mode for scrolling a slave
5317 buffer without leaving your current buffer, the master buffer.
5319 It can be used by sql.el, for example: the SQL buffer is the master
5320 and its SQLi buffer is the slave. This allows you to scroll the SQLi
5321 buffer containing the output from the SQL buffer containing the
5324 This is how to use sql.el and master.el together: the variable
5325 sql-buffer contains the slave buffer. It is a local variable in the
5328 (add-hook 'sql-mode-hook
5329 (function (lambda ()
5331 (master-set-slave sql-buffer))))
5332 (add-hook 'sql-set-sqli-hook
5333 (function (lambda ()
5334 (master-set-slave sql-buffer))))
5337 ** The new library benchmark.el does timing measurements on Lisp code.
5339 This includes measuring garbage collection time.
5342 ** The new library testcover.el does test coverage checking.
5344 This is so you can tell whether you've tested all paths in your Lisp
5345 code. It works with edebug.
5347 The function `testcover-start' instruments all functions in a given
5348 file. Then test your code. The function `testcover-mark-all' adds
5349 overlay "splotches" to the Lisp file's buffer to show where coverage
5350 is lacking. The command `testcover-next-mark' (bind it to a key!)
5351 will move point forward to the next spot that has a splotch.
5353 Normally, a red splotch indicates the form was never completely
5354 evaluated; a brown splotch means it always evaluated to the same
5355 value. The red splotches are skipped for forms that can't possibly
5356 complete their evaluation, such as `error'. The brown splotches are
5357 skipped for forms that are expected to always evaluate to the same
5358 value, such as (setq x 14).
5360 For difficult cases, you can add do-nothing macros to your code to
5361 help out the test coverage tool. The macro `noreturn' suppresses a
5362 red splotch. It is an error if the argument to `noreturn' does
5363 return. The macro `1value' suppresses a brown splotch for its argument.
5364 This macro is a no-op except during test-coverage -- then it signals
5365 an error if the argument actually returns differing values.
5367 * Installation changes in Emacs 21.3
5369 ** Support for GNU/Linux on little-endian MIPS and on IBM S390 has
5373 * Changes in Emacs 21.3
5375 ** The obsolete C mode (c-mode.el) has been removed to avoid problems
5378 ** UTF-16 coding systems are available, encoding the same characters
5381 ** There is a new language environment for UTF-8 (set up automatically
5384 ** Translation tables are available between equivalent characters in
5385 different Emacs charsets -- for instance `e with acute' coming from the
5386 Latin-1 and Latin-2 charsets. User options `unify-8859-on-encoding-mode'
5387 and `unify-8859-on-decoding-mode' respectively turn on translation
5388 between ISO 8859 character sets (`unification') on encoding
5389 (e.g. writing a file) and decoding (e.g. reading a file). Note that
5390 `unify-8859-on-encoding-mode' is useful and safe, but
5391 `unify-8859-on-decoding-mode' can cause text to change when you read
5392 it and write it out again without edits, so it is not generally advisable.
5393 By default `unify-8859-on-encoding-mode' is turned on.
5395 ** In Emacs running on the X window system, the default value of
5396 `selection-coding-system' is now `compound-text-with-extensions'.
5398 If you want the old behavior, set selection-coding-system to
5399 compound-text, which may be significantly more efficient. Using
5400 compound-text-with-extensions seems to be necessary only for decoding
5401 text from applications under XFree86 4.2, whose behavior is actually
5402 contrary to the compound text specification.
5405 * Installation changes in Emacs 21.2
5407 ** Support for BSD/OS 5.0 has been added.
5409 ** Support for AIX 5.1 was added.
5412 * Changes in Emacs 21.2
5414 ** Emacs now supports compound-text extended segments in X selections.
5416 X applications can use `extended segments' to encode characters in
5417 compound text that belong to character sets which are not part of the
5418 list of approved standard encodings for X, e.g. Big5. To paste
5419 selections with such characters into Emacs, use the new coding system
5420 compound-text-with-extensions as the value of selection-coding-system.
5422 ** The default values of `tooltip-delay' and `tooltip-hide-delay'
5425 ** On terminals whose erase-char is ^H (Backspace), Emacs
5426 now uses normal-erase-is-backspace-mode.
5428 ** When the *scratch* buffer is recreated, its mode is set from
5429 initial-major-mode, which normally is lisp-interaction-mode,
5430 instead of using default-major-mode.
5432 ** The new option `Info-scroll-prefer-subnodes' causes Info to behave
5433 like the stand-alone Info reader (from the GNU Texinfo package) as far
5434 as motion between nodes and their subnodes is concerned. If it is t
5435 (the default), Emacs behaves as before when you type SPC in a menu: it
5436 visits the subnode pointed to by the first menu entry. If this option
5437 is nil, SPC scrolls to the end of the current node, and only then goes
5438 to the first menu item, like the stand-alone reader does.
5440 This change was already in Emacs 21.1, but wasn't advertised in the
5444 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 21.2
5446 ** The meanings of scroll-up-aggressively and scroll-down-aggressively
5447 have been interchanged, so that the former now controls scrolling up,
5448 and the latter now controls scrolling down.
5450 ** The variable `compilation-parse-errors-filename-function' can
5451 be used to transform filenames found in compilation output.
5454 * Installation Changes in Emacs 21.1
5456 See the INSTALL file for information on installing extra libraries and
5457 fonts to take advantage of the new graphical features and extra
5458 charsets in this release.
5460 ** Support for GNU/Linux on IA64 machines has been added.
5462 ** Support for LynxOS has been added.
5464 ** There are new configure options associated with the support for
5465 images and toolkit scrollbars. Use the --help option in `configure'
5468 ** You can build a 64-bit Emacs for SPARC/Solaris systems which
5469 support 64-bit executables and also on Irix 6.5. This increases the
5470 maximum buffer size. See etc/MACHINES for instructions. Changes to
5471 build on other 64-bit systems should be straightforward modulo any
5472 necessary changes to unexec.
5474 ** There is a new configure option `--disable-largefile' to omit
5475 Unix-98-style support for large files if that is available.
5477 ** There is a new configure option `--without-xim' that instructs
5478 Emacs to not use X Input Methods (XIM), if these are available.
5480 ** `movemail' defaults to supporting POP. You can turn this off using
5481 the --without-pop configure option, should that be necessary.
5483 ** This version can be built for the Macintosh, but does not implement
5484 all of the new display features described below. The port currently
5485 lacks unexec, asynchronous processes, and networking support. See the
5486 "Emacs and the Mac OS" appendix in the Emacs manual, for the
5487 description of aspects specific to the Mac.
5489 ** Note that the MS-Windows port does not yet implement various of the
5490 new display features described below.
5493 * Changes in Emacs 21.1
5495 ** Emacs has a new redisplay engine.
5497 The new redisplay handles characters of variable width and height.
5498 Italic text can be used without redisplay problems. Fonts containing
5499 oversized characters, i.e. characters larger than the logical height
5500 of a font can be used. Images of various formats can be displayed in
5503 ** Emacs has a new face implementation.
5505 The new faces no longer fundamentally use X font names to specify the
5506 font. Instead, each face has several independent attributes--family,
5507 height, width, weight and slant--that it may or may not specify.
5508 These attributes can be merged from various faces, and then together
5511 Faces are supported on terminals that can display color or fonts.
5512 These terminal capabilities are auto-detected. Details can be found
5513 under Lisp changes, below.
5515 ** Emacs can display faces on TTY frames.
5517 Emacs automatically detects terminals that are able to display colors.
5518 Faces with a weight greater than normal are displayed extra-bright, if
5519 the terminal supports it. Faces with a weight less than normal and
5520 italic faces are displayed dimmed, if the terminal supports it.
5521 Underlined faces are displayed underlined if possible. Other face
5522 attributes such as `overline', `strike-through', and `box' are ignored
5525 The command-line options `-fg COLOR', `-bg COLOR', and `-rv' are now
5526 supported on character terminals.
5528 Emacs automatically remaps all X-style color specifications to one of
5529 the colors supported by the terminal. This means you could have the
5530 same color customizations that work both on a windowed display and on
5531 a TTY or when Emacs is invoked with the -nw option.
5533 ** New default font is Courier 12pt under X.
5537 Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and FreeBSD (Voxware
5538 driver and native BSD driver, a.k.a. Luigi's driver). Currently
5539 supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio (*.au).
5540 You must configure Emacs with the option `--with-sound=yes' to enable
5543 ** Emacs now resizes mini-windows if appropriate.
5545 If a message is longer than one line, or minibuffer contents are
5546 longer than one line, Emacs can resize the minibuffer window unless it
5547 is on a frame of its own. You can control resizing and the maximum
5548 minibuffer window size by setting the following variables:
5550 - User option: max-mini-window-height
5552 Maximum height for resizing mini-windows. If a float, it specifies a
5553 fraction of the mini-window frame's height. If an integer, it
5554 specifies a number of lines.
5558 - User option: resize-mini-windows
5560 How to resize mini-windows. If nil, don't resize. If t, always
5561 resize to fit the size of the text. If `grow-only', let mini-windows
5562 grow only, until they become empty, at which point they are shrunk
5565 Default is `grow-only'.
5569 Emacs now runs with the LessTif toolkit (see
5570 <http://www.lesstif.org>). You will need version 0.92.26, or later.
5572 ** LessTif/Motif file selection dialog.
5574 When Emacs is configured to use LessTif or Motif, reading a file name
5575 from a menu will pop up a file selection dialog if `use-dialog-box' is
5578 ** File selection dialog on MS-Windows is supported.
5580 When a file is visited by clicking File->Open, the MS-Windows version
5581 now pops up a standard file selection dialog where you can select a
5582 file to visit. File->Save As also pops up that dialog.
5584 ** Toolkit scroll bars.
5586 Emacs now uses toolkit scroll bars if available. When configured for
5587 LessTif/Motif, it will use that toolkit's scroll bar. Otherwise, when
5588 configured for Lucid and Athena widgets, it will use the Xaw3d scroll
5589 bar if Xaw3d is available. You can turn off the use of toolkit scroll
5590 bars by specifying `--with-toolkit-scroll-bars=no' when configuring
5593 When you encounter problems with the Xaw3d scroll bar, watch out how
5594 Xaw3d is compiled on your system. If the Makefile generated from
5595 Xaw3d's Imakefile contains a `-DNARROWPROTO' compiler option, and your
5596 Emacs system configuration file `s/your-system.h' does not contain a
5597 define for NARROWPROTO, you might consider adding it. Take
5598 `s/freebsd.h' as an example.
5600 Alternatively, if you don't have access to the Xaw3d source code, take
5601 a look at your system's imake configuration file, for example in the
5602 directory `/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/config' (paths are different on
5603 different systems). You will find files `*.cf' there. If your
5604 system's cf-file contains a line like `#define NeedWidePrototypes NO',
5605 add a `#define NARROWPROTO' to your Emacs system configuration file.
5607 The reason for this is that one Xaw3d function uses `double' or
5608 `float' function parameters depending on the setting of NARROWPROTO.
5609 This is not a problem when Imakefiles are used because each system's
5610 imake configuration file contains the necessary information. Since
5611 Emacs doesn't use imake, this has do be done manually.
5613 ** Tool bar support.
5615 Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. For details
5616 of how to define a tool bar, see the page describing Lisp-level
5617 changes. Tool-bar global minor mode controls whether or not it is
5618 displayed and is on by default. The appearance of the bar is improved
5619 if Emacs has been built with XPM image support. Otherwise monochrome
5622 To make the tool bar more useful, we need contributions of extra icons
5623 for specific modes (with copyright assignments).
5627 Tooltips are small X windows displaying a help string at the current
5628 mouse position. The Lisp package `tooltip' implements them. You can
5629 turn them off via the user option `tooltip-mode'.
5631 Tooltips also provides support for GUD debugging. If activated,
5632 variable values can be displayed in tooltips by pointing at them with
5633 the mouse in source buffers. You can customize various aspects of the
5634 tooltip display in the group `tooltip'.
5636 ** Automatic Hscrolling
5638 Horizontal scrolling now happens automatically if
5639 `automatic-hscrolling' is set (the default). This setting can be
5642 If a window is scrolled horizontally with set-window-hscroll, or
5643 scroll-left/scroll-right (C-x <, C-x >), this serves as a lower bound
5644 for automatic horizontal scrolling. Automatic scrolling will scroll
5645 the text more to the left if necessary, but won't scroll the text more
5646 to the right than the column set with set-window-hscroll etc.
5648 ** When using a windowing terminal, each Emacs window now has a cursor
5649 of its own. By default, when a window is selected, the cursor is
5650 solid; otherwise, it is hollow. The user-option
5651 `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' controls how to display the
5652 cursor in non-selected windows. If nil, no cursor is shown, if
5653 non-nil a hollow box cursor is shown.
5655 ** Fringes to the left and right of windows are used to display
5656 truncation marks, continuation marks, overlay arrows and alike. The
5657 foreground, background, and stipple of these areas can be changed by
5658 customizing face `fringe'.
5660 ** The mode line under X is now drawn with shadows by default.
5661 You can change its appearance by modifying the face `mode-line'.
5662 In particular, setting the `:box' attribute to nil turns off the 3D
5663 appearance of the mode line. (The 3D appearance makes the mode line
5664 occupy more space, and thus might cause the first or the last line of
5665 the window to be partially obscured.)
5667 The variable `mode-line-inverse-video', which was used in older
5668 versions of emacs to make the mode-line stand out, is now deprecated.
5669 However, setting it to nil will cause the `mode-line' face to be
5670 ignored, and mode-lines to be drawn using the default text face.
5672 ** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
5674 Different parts of the mode line have been made mouse-sensitive on all
5675 systems which support the mouse. Moving the mouse to a
5676 mouse-sensitive part in the mode line changes the appearance of the
5677 mouse pointer to an arrow, and help about available mouse actions is
5678 displayed either in the echo area, or in the tooltip window if you
5681 Currently, the following actions have been defined:
5683 - Mouse-1 on the buffer name in the mode line goes to the next buffer.
5685 - Mouse-3 on the buffer-name goes to the previous buffer.
5687 - Mouse-2 on the read-only or modified status in the mode line (`%' or
5688 `*') toggles the status.
5690 - Mouse-3 on the mode name displays a minor-mode menu.
5692 ** Hourglass pointer
5694 Emacs can optionally display an hourglass pointer under X. You can
5695 turn the display on or off by customizing group `cursor'.
5699 M-x blink-cursor-mode toggles a blinking cursor under X and on
5700 terminals having terminal capabilities `vi', `vs', and `ve'. Blinking
5701 and related parameters like frequency and delay can be customized in
5704 ** New font-lock support mode `jit-lock-mode'.
5706 This support mode is roughly equivalent to `lazy-lock' but is
5707 generally faster. It supports stealth and deferred fontification.
5708 See the documentation of the function `jit-lock-mode' for more
5711 Font-lock uses jit-lock-mode as default support mode, so you don't
5712 have to do anything to activate it.
5714 ** The default binding of the Delete key has changed.
5716 The new user-option `normal-erase-is-backspace' can be set to
5717 determine the effect of the Delete and Backspace function keys.
5719 On window systems, the default value of this option is chosen
5720 according to the keyboard used. If the keyboard has both a Backspace
5721 key and a Delete key, and both are mapped to their usual meanings, the
5722 option's default value is set to t, so that Backspace can be used to
5723 delete backward, and Delete can be used to delete forward. On
5724 keyboards which either have only one key (usually labeled DEL), or two
5725 keys DEL and BS which produce the same effect, the option's value is
5726 set to nil, and these keys delete backward.
5728 If not running under a window system, setting this option accomplishes
5729 a similar effect by mapping C-h, which is usually generated by the
5730 Backspace key, to DEL, and by mapping DEL to C-d via
5731 `keyboard-translate'. The former functionality of C-h is available on
5732 the F1 key. You should probably not use this setting on a text-only
5733 terminal if you don't have both Backspace, Delete and F1 keys.
5735 Programmatically, you can call function normal-erase-is-backspace-mode
5736 to toggle the behavior of the Delete and Backspace keys.
5738 ** The default for user-option `next-line-add-newlines' has been
5739 changed to nil, i.e. C-n will no longer add newlines at the end of a
5742 ** The <home> and <end> keys now move to the beginning or end of the
5743 current line, respectively. C-<home> and C-<end> move to the
5744 beginning and end of the buffer.
5746 ** Emacs now checks for recursive loads of Lisp files. If the
5747 recursion depth exceeds `recursive-load-depth-limit', an error is
5750 ** When an error is signaled during the loading of the user's init
5751 file, Emacs now pops up the *Messages* buffer.
5753 ** Emacs now refuses to load compiled Lisp files which weren't
5754 compiled with Emacs. Set `load-dangerous-libraries' to t to change
5757 The reason for this change is an incompatible change in XEmacs's byte
5758 compiler. Files compiled with XEmacs can contain byte codes that let
5761 ** Toggle buttons and radio buttons in menus.
5763 When compiled with LessTif (or Motif) support, Emacs uses toolkit
5764 widgets for radio and toggle buttons in menus. When configured for
5765 Lucid, Emacs draws radio buttons and toggle buttons similar to Motif.
5767 ** The menu bar configuration has changed. The new configuration is
5768 more CUA-compliant. The most significant change is that Options is
5769 now a separate menu-bar item, with Mule and Customize as its submenus.
5771 ** Item Save Options on the Options menu allows saving options set
5774 ** Highlighting of trailing whitespace.
5776 When `show-trailing-whitespace' is non-nil, Emacs displays trailing
5777 whitespace in the face `trailing-whitespace'. Trailing whitespace is
5778 defined as spaces or tabs at the end of a line. To avoid busy
5779 highlighting when entering new text, trailing whitespace is not
5780 displayed if point is at the end of the line containing the
5783 ** C-x 5 1 runs the new command delete-other-frames which deletes
5784 all frames except the selected one.
5786 ** The new user-option `confirm-kill-emacs' can be customized to
5787 let Emacs ask for confirmation before exiting.
5789 ** The header line in an Info buffer is now displayed as an emacs
5790 header-line (which is like a mode-line, but at the top of the window),
5791 so that it remains visible even when the buffer has been scrolled.
5792 This behavior may be disabled by customizing the option
5793 `Info-use-header-line'.
5795 ** Polish, Czech, German, and French translations of Emacs' reference card
5796 have been added. They are named `pl-refcard.tex', `cs-refcard.tex',
5797 `de-refcard.tex' and `fr-refcard.tex'. Postscript files are included.
5799 ** An `Emacs Survival Guide', etc/survival.tex, is available.
5801 ** A reference card for Dired has been added. Its name is
5802 `dired-ref.tex'. A French translation is available in
5805 ** C-down-mouse-3 is bound differently. Now if the menu bar is not
5806 displayed it pops up a menu containing the items which would be on the
5807 menu bar. If the menu bar is displayed, it pops up the major mode
5808 menu or the Edit menu if there is no major mode menu.
5810 ** Variable `load-path' is no longer customizable through Customize.
5812 You can no longer use `M-x customize-variable' to customize `load-path'
5813 because it now contains a version-dependent component. You can still
5814 use `add-to-list' and `setq' to customize this variable in your
5815 `~/.emacs' init file or to modify it from any Lisp program in general.
5817 ** C-u C-x = provides detailed information about the character at
5818 point in a pop-up window.
5820 ** Emacs can now support 'wheeled' mice (such as the MS IntelliMouse)
5821 under XFree86. To enable this, use the `mouse-wheel-mode' command, or
5822 customize the variable `mouse-wheel-mode'.
5824 The variables `mouse-wheel-follow-mouse' and `mouse-wheel-scroll-amount'
5825 determine where and by how much buffers are scrolled.
5827 ** Emacs' auto-save list files are now by default stored in a
5828 sub-directory `.emacs.d/auto-save-list/' of the user's home directory.
5829 (On MS-DOS, this subdirectory's name is `_emacs.d/auto-save.list/'.)
5830 You can customize `auto-save-list-file-prefix' to change this location.
5832 ** The function `getenv' is now callable interactively.
5834 ** The new user-option `even-window-heights' can be set to nil
5835 to prevent `display-buffer' from evening out window heights.
5837 ** The new command M-x delete-trailing-whitespace RET will delete the
5838 trailing whitespace within the current restriction. You can also add
5839 this function to `write-file-hooks' or `local-write-file-hooks'.
5841 ** When visiting a file with M-x find-file-literally, no newlines will
5842 be added to the end of the buffer even if `require-final-newline' is
5845 ** The new user-option `find-file-suppress-same-file-warnings' can be
5846 set to suppress warnings ``X and Y are the same file'' when visiting a
5847 file that is already visited under a different name.
5849 ** The new user-option `electric-help-shrink-window' can be set to
5850 nil to prevent adjusting the help window size to the buffer size.
5852 ** New command M-x describe-character-set reads a character set name
5853 and displays information about that.
5855 ** The new variable `auto-mode-interpreter-regexp' contains a regular
5856 expression matching interpreters, for file mode determination.
5858 This regular expression is matched against the first line of a file to
5859 determine the file's mode in `set-auto-mode' when Emacs can't deduce a
5860 mode from the file's name. If it matches, the file is assumed to be
5861 interpreted by the interpreter matched by the second group of the
5862 regular expression. The mode is then determined as the mode
5863 associated with that interpreter in `interpreter-mode-alist'.
5865 ** New function executable-make-buffer-file-executable-if-script-p is
5866 suitable as an after-save-hook as an alternative to `executable-chmod'.
5868 ** The most preferred coding-system is now used to save a buffer if
5869 buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and it is safe for the buffer
5870 contents. (The most preferred is set by set-language-environment or
5871 by M-x prefer-coding-system.) Thus if you visit an ASCII file and
5872 insert a non-ASCII character from your current language environment,
5873 the file will be saved silently with the appropriate coding.
5874 Previously you would be prompted for a safe coding system.
5876 ** The many obsolete language `setup-...-environment' commands have
5877 been removed -- use `set-language-environment'.
5879 ** The new Custom option `keyboard-coding-system' specifies a coding
5880 system for keyboard input.
5882 ** New variable `inhibit-iso-escape-detection' determines if Emacs'
5883 coding system detection algorithm should pay attention to ISO2022's
5884 escape sequences. If this variable is non-nil, the algorithm ignores
5885 such escape sequences. The default value is nil, and it is
5886 recommended not to change it except for the special case that you
5887 always want to read any escape code verbatim. If you just want to
5888 read a specific file without decoding escape codes, use C-x RET c
5889 (`universal-coding-system-argument'). For instance, C-x RET c latin-1
5890 RET C-x C-f filename RET.
5892 ** Variable `default-korean-keyboard' is initialized properly from the
5893 environment variable `HANGUL_KEYBOARD_TYPE'.
5895 ** New command M-x list-charset-chars reads a character set name and
5896 displays all characters in that character set.
5898 ** M-x set-terminal-coding-system (C-x RET t) now allows CCL-based
5899 coding systems such as cpXXX and cyrillic-koi8.
5901 ** Emacs now attempts to determine the initial language environment
5902 and preferred and locale coding systems systematically from the
5903 LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG environment variables during startup.
5905 ** New language environments `Polish', `Latin-8' and `Latin-9'.
5906 Latin-8 and Latin-9 correspond respectively to the ISO character sets
5907 8859-14 (Celtic) and 8859-15 (updated Latin-1, with the Euro sign).
5908 GNU Intlfonts doesn't support these yet but recent X releases have
5909 8859-15. See etc/INSTALL for information on obtaining extra fonts.
5910 There are new Leim input methods for Latin-8 and Latin-9 prefix (only)
5913 ** New language environments `Dutch' and `Spanish'.
5914 These new environments mainly select appropriate translations
5917 ** In Ethiopic language environment, special key bindings for
5918 function keys are changed as follows. This is to conform to "Emacs
5919 Lisp Coding Convention".
5921 new command old-binding
5922 --- ------- -----------
5923 f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-buffer f5
5924 S-f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-region f5
5925 C-f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-mail-or-marker f5
5927 f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-buffer unchanged
5928 S-f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-region unchanged
5929 C-f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-mail-or-marker unchanged
5931 S-f5 ethio-toggle-punctuation f3
5932 S-f6 ethio-modify-vowel f6
5933 S-f7 ethio-replace-space f7
5934 S-f8 ethio-input-special-character f8
5935 S-f9 ethio-replace-space unchanged
5936 C-f9 ethio-toggle-space f2
5938 ** There are new Leim input methods.
5939 New input methods "turkish-postfix", "turkish-alt-postfix",
5940 "greek-mizuochi", "TeX", and "greek-babel" are now part of the Leim
5943 ** The rule of input method "slovak" is slightly changed. Now the
5944 rules for translating "q" and "Q" to "`" (backquote) are deleted, thus
5945 typing them inserts "q" and "Q" respectively. Rules for translating
5946 "=q", "+q", "=Q", and "+Q" to "`" are also deleted. Now, to input
5947 "`", you must type "=q".
5949 ** When your terminal can't display characters from some of the ISO
5950 8859 character sets but can display Latin-1, you can display
5951 more-or-less mnemonic sequences of ASCII/Latin-1 characters instead of
5952 empty boxes (under a window system) or question marks (not under a
5953 window system). Customize the option `latin1-display' to turn this
5956 ** M-; now calls comment-dwim which tries to do something clever based
5957 on the context. M-x kill-comment is now an alias to comment-kill,
5958 defined in newcomment.el. You can choose different styles of region
5959 commenting with the variable `comment-style'.
5961 ** New user options `display-time-mail-face' and
5962 `display-time-use-mail-icon' control the appearance of mode-line mail
5963 indicator used by the display-time package. On a suitable display the
5964 indicator can be an icon and is mouse-sensitive.
5966 ** On window-systems, additional space can be put between text lines
5967 on the display using several methods
5969 - By setting frame parameter `line-spacing' to PIXELS. PIXELS must be
5970 a positive integer, and specifies that PIXELS number of pixels should
5971 be put below text lines on the affected frame or frames.
5973 - By setting X resource `lineSpacing', class `LineSpacing'. This is
5974 equivalent to specifying the frame parameter.
5976 - By specifying `--line-spacing=N' or `-lsp N' on the command line.
5978 - By setting buffer-local variable `line-spacing'. The meaning is
5979 the same, but applies to the a particular buffer only.
5981 ** The new command `clone-indirect-buffer' can be used to create
5982 an indirect buffer that is a twin copy of the current buffer. The
5983 command `clone-indirect-buffer-other-window', bound to C-x 4 c,
5984 does the same but displays the indirect buffer in another window.
5986 ** New user options `backup-directory-alist' and
5987 `make-backup-file-name-function' control the placement of backups,
5988 typically in a single directory or in an invisible sub-directory.
5990 ** New commands iso-iso2sgml and iso-sgml2iso convert between Latin-1
5991 characters and the corresponding SGML (HTML) entities.
5993 ** New X resources recognized
5995 *** The X resource `synchronous', class `Synchronous', specifies
5996 whether Emacs should run in synchronous mode. Synchronous mode
5997 is useful for debugging X problems.
6001 emacs.synchronous: true
6003 *** The X resource `visualClass, class `VisualClass', specifies the
6004 visual Emacs should use. The resource's value should be a string of
6005 the form `CLASS-DEPTH', where CLASS is the name of the visual class,
6006 and DEPTH is the requested color depth as a decimal number. Valid
6007 visual class names are
6016 Visual class names specified as X resource are case-insensitive, i.e.
6017 `pseudocolor', `Pseudocolor' and `PseudoColor' all have the same
6020 The program `xdpyinfo' can be used to list the visual classes
6021 supported on your display, and which depths they have. If
6022 `visualClass' is not specified, Emacs uses the display's default
6027 emacs.visualClass: TrueColor-8
6029 *** The X resource `privateColormap', class `PrivateColormap',
6030 specifies that Emacs should use a private colormap if it is using the
6031 default visual, and that visual is of class PseudoColor. Recognized
6032 resource values are `true' or `on'.
6036 emacs.privateColormap: true
6038 ** Faces and frame parameters.
6040 There are four new faces `scroll-bar', `border', `cursor' and `mouse'.
6041 Setting the frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
6042 `scroll-bar-background' sets foreground and background color of face
6043 `scroll-bar' and vice versa. Setting frame parameter `border-color'
6044 sets the background color of face `border' and vice versa. Likewise
6045 for frame parameters `cursor-color' and face `cursor', and frame
6046 parameter `mouse-color' and face `mouse'.
6048 Changing frame parameter `font' sets font-related attributes of the
6049 `default' face and vice versa. Setting frame parameters
6050 `foreground-color' or `background-color' sets the colors of the
6051 `default' face and vice versa.
6055 The face `menu' can be used to change colors and font of Emacs' menus.
6057 ** New frame parameter `screen-gamma' for gamma correction.
6059 The new frame parameter `screen-gamma' specifies gamma-correction for
6060 colors. Its value may be nil, the default, in which case no gamma
6061 correction occurs, or a number > 0, usually a float, that specifies
6062 the screen gamma of a frame's display.
6064 PC monitors usually have a screen gamma of 2.2. smaller values result
6065 in darker colors. You might want to try a screen gamma of 1.5 for LCD
6066 color displays. The viewing gamma Emacs uses is 0.4545. (1/2.2).
6068 The X resource name of this parameter is `screenGamma', class
6071 ** Tabs and variable-width text.
6073 Tabs are now displayed with stretch properties; the width of a tab is
6074 defined as a multiple of the normal character width of a frame, and is
6075 independent of the fonts used in the text where the tab appears.
6076 Thus, tabs can be used to line up text in different fonts.
6078 ** Enhancements of the Lucid menu bar
6080 *** The Lucid menu bar now supports the resource "margin".
6082 emacs.pane.menubar.margin: 5
6084 The default margin is 4 which makes the menu bar appear like the
6087 *** Arrows that indicate sub-menus are now drawn with shadows, as in
6090 ** A block cursor can be drawn as wide as the glyph under it under X.
6092 As an example: if a block cursor is over a tab character, it will be
6093 drawn as wide as that tab on the display. To do this, set
6094 `x-stretch-cursor' to a non-nil value.
6096 ** Empty display lines at the end of a buffer may be marked with a
6097 bitmap (this is similar to the tilde displayed by vi and Less).
6099 This behavior is activated by setting the buffer-local variable
6100 `indicate-empty-lines' to a non-nil value. The default value of this
6101 variable is found in `default-indicate-empty-lines'.
6103 ** There is a new "aggressive" scrolling method.
6105 When scrolling up because point is above the window start, if the
6106 value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-up-aggressively' is a
6107 number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
6108 fraction of the window's height from the top of the window.
6110 When scrolling down because point is below the window end, if the
6111 value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-down-aggressively' is a
6112 number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
6113 fraction of the window's height from the bottom of the window.
6115 ** You can now easily create new *Info* buffers using either
6116 M-x clone-buffer, C-u m <entry> RET or C-u g <entry> RET.
6117 M-x clone-buffer can also be used on *Help* and several other special
6120 ** The command `Info-search' now uses a search history.
6122 ** Listing buffers with M-x list-buffers (C-x C-b) now shows
6123 abbreviated file names. Abbreviations can be customized by changing
6124 `directory-abbrev-alist'.
6126 ** A new variable, backup-by-copying-when-privileged-mismatch, gives
6127 the highest file uid for which backup-by-copying-when-mismatch will be
6128 forced on. The assumption is that uids less than or equal to this
6129 value are special uids (root, bin, daemon, etc.--not real system
6130 users) and that files owned by these users should not change ownership,
6131 even if your system policy allows users other than root to edit them.
6133 The default is 200; set the variable to nil to disable the feature.
6135 ** The rectangle commands now avoid inserting undesirable spaces,
6136 notably at the end of lines.
6138 All these functions have been rewritten to avoid inserting unwanted
6139 spaces, and an optional prefix now allows them to behave the old way.
6141 ** The function `replace-rectangle' is an alias for `string-rectangle'.
6143 ** The new command M-x string-insert-rectangle is like `string-rectangle',
6144 but inserts text instead of replacing it.
6146 ** The new command M-x query-replace-regexp-eval acts like
6147 query-replace-regexp, but takes a Lisp expression which is evaluated
6148 after each match to get the replacement text.
6150 ** M-x query-replace recognizes a new command `e' (or `E') that lets
6151 you edit the replacement string.
6153 ** The new command mail-abbrev-complete-alias, bound to `M-TAB'
6154 (if you load the library `mailabbrev'), lets you complete mail aliases
6155 in the text, analogous to lisp-complete-symbol.
6157 ** The variable `echo-keystrokes' may now have a floating point value.
6159 ** If your init file is compiled (.emacs.elc), `user-init-file' is set
6160 to the source name (.emacs.el), if that exists, after loading it.
6162 ** The help string specified for a menu-item whose definition contains
6163 the property `:help HELP' is now displayed under X, on MS-Windows, and
6164 MS-DOS, either in the echo area or with tooltips. Many standard menus
6165 displayed by Emacs now have help strings.
6168 ** New user option `read-mail-command' specifies a command to use to
6169 read mail from the menu etc.
6171 ** The environment variable `EMACSLOCKDIR' is no longer used on MS-Windows.
6172 This environment variable was used when creating lock files. Emacs on
6173 MS-Windows does not use this variable anymore. This change was made
6174 before Emacs 21.1, but wasn't documented until now.
6176 ** Highlighting of mouse-sensitive regions is now supported in the
6177 MS-DOS version of Emacs.
6179 ** The new command `msdos-set-mouse-buttons' forces the MS-DOS version
6180 of Emacs to behave as if the mouse had a specified number of buttons.
6181 This comes handy with mice that don't report their number of buttons
6182 correctly. One example is the wheeled mice, which report 3 buttons,
6183 but clicks on the middle button are not passed to the MS-DOS version
6186 ** Customize changes
6188 *** Customize now supports comments about customized items. Use the
6189 `State' menu to add comments, or give a prefix argument to
6190 M-x customize-set-variable or M-x customize-set-value. Note that
6191 customization comments will cause the customizations to fail in
6192 earlier versions of Emacs.
6194 *** The new option `custom-buffer-done-function' says whether to kill
6195 Custom buffers when you've done with them or just bury them (the
6198 *** If Emacs was invoked with the `-q' or `--no-init-file' options, it
6199 does not allow you to save customizations in your `~/.emacs' init
6200 file. This is because saving customizations from such a session would
6201 wipe out all the other customizationss you might have on your init
6204 ** If Emacs was invoked with the `-q' or `--no-init-file' options, it
6205 does not save disabled and enabled commands for future sessions, to
6206 avoid overwriting existing customizations of this kind that are
6207 already in your init file.
6209 ** New features in evaluation commands
6211 *** The commands to evaluate Lisp expressions, such as C-M-x in Lisp
6212 modes, C-j in Lisp Interaction mode, and M-:, now bind the variables
6213 print-level, print-length, and debug-on-error based on the new
6214 customizable variables eval-expression-print-level,
6215 eval-expression-print-length, and eval-expression-debug-on-error.
6217 The default values for the first two of these variables are 12 and 4
6218 respectively, which means that `eval-expression' now prints at most
6219 the first 12 members of a list and at most 4 nesting levels deep (if
6220 the list is longer or deeper than that, an ellipsis `...' is
6223 <RET> or <mouse-2> on the printed text toggles between an abbreviated
6224 printed representation and an unabbreviated one.
6226 The default value of eval-expression-debug-on-error is t, so any error
6227 during evaluation produces a backtrace.
6229 *** The function `eval-defun' (C-M-x) now loads Edebug and instruments
6230 code when called with a prefix argument.
6234 Note: This release contains changes that might not be compatible with
6235 current user setups (although it's believed that these
6236 incompatibilities will only show in very uncommon circumstances).
6237 However, since the impact is uncertain, these changes may be rolled
6238 back depending on user feedback. Therefore there's no forward
6239 compatibility guarantee wrt the new features introduced in this
6242 *** The hardcoded switch to "java" style in Java mode is gone.
6243 CC Mode used to automatically set the style to "java" when Java mode
6244 is entered. This has now been removed since it caused too much
6247 However, to keep backward compatibility to a certain extent, the
6248 default value for c-default-style now specifies the "java" style for
6249 java-mode, but "gnu" for all other modes (as before). So you won't
6250 notice the change if you haven't touched that variable.
6252 *** New cleanups, space-before-funcall and compact-empty-funcall.
6253 Two new cleanups have been added to c-cleanup-list:
6255 space-before-funcall causes a space to be inserted before the opening
6256 parenthesis of a function call, which gives the style "foo (bar)".
6258 compact-empty-funcall causes any space before a function call opening
6259 parenthesis to be removed if there are no arguments to the function.
6260 It's typically useful together with space-before-funcall to get the
6261 style "foo (bar)" and "foo()".
6263 *** Some keywords now automatically trigger reindentation.
6264 Keywords like "else", "while", "catch" and "finally" have been made
6265 "electric" to make them reindent automatically when they continue an
6266 earlier statement. An example:
6268 for (i = 0; i < 17; i++)
6270 res += a[i]->offset;
6273 Here, the "else" should be indented like the preceding "if", since it
6274 continues that statement. CC Mode will automatically reindent it after
6275 the "else" has been typed in full, since it's not until then it's
6276 possible to decide whether it's a new statement or a continuation of
6279 CC Mode uses Abbrev mode to achieve this, which is therefore turned on
6282 *** M-a and M-e now moves by sentence in multiline strings.
6283 Previously these two keys only moved by sentence in comments, which
6284 meant that sentence movement didn't work in strings containing
6285 documentation or other natural language text.
6287 The reason it's only activated in multiline strings (i.e. strings that
6288 contain a newline, even when escaped by a '\') is to avoid stopping in
6289 the short strings that often reside inside statements. Multiline
6290 strings almost always contain text in a natural language, as opposed
6291 to other strings that typically contain format specifications,
6292 commands, etc. Also, it's not that bothersome that M-a and M-e misses
6293 sentences in single line strings, since they're short anyway.
6295 *** Support for autodoc comments in Pike mode.
6296 Autodoc comments for Pike are used to extract documentation from the
6297 source, like Javadoc in Java. Pike mode now recognize this markup in
6298 comment prefixes and paragraph starts.
6300 *** The comment prefix regexps on c-comment-prefix may be mode specific.
6301 When c-comment-prefix is an association list, it specifies the comment
6302 line prefix on a per-mode basis, like c-default-style does. This
6303 change came about to support the special autodoc comment prefix in
6306 *** Better handling of syntactic errors.
6307 The recovery after unbalanced parens earlier in the buffer has been
6308 improved; CC Mode now reports them by dinging and giving a message
6309 stating the offending line, but still recovers and indent the
6310 following lines in a sane way (most of the time). An "else" with no
6311 matching "if" is handled similarly. If an error is discovered while
6312 indenting a region, the whole region is still indented and the error
6313 is reported afterwards.
6315 *** Lineup functions may now return absolute columns.
6316 A lineup function can give an absolute column to indent the line to by
6317 returning a vector with the desired column as the first element.
6319 *** More robust and warning-free byte compilation.
6320 Although this is strictly not a user visible change (well, depending
6321 on the view of a user), it's still worth mentioning that CC Mode now
6322 can be compiled in the standard ways without causing trouble. Some
6323 code have also been moved between the subpackages to enhance the
6324 modularity somewhat. Thanks to Martin Buchholz for doing the
6327 *** c-style-variables-are-local-p now defaults to t.
6328 This is an incompatible change that has been made to make the behavior
6329 of the style system wrt global variable settings less confusing for
6330 non-advanced users. If you know what this variable does you might
6331 want to set it to nil in your .emacs, otherwise you probably don't
6334 Defaulting c-style-variables-are-local-p to t avoids the confusing
6335 situation that occurs when a user sets some style variables globally
6336 and edits both a Java and a non-Java file in the same Emacs session.
6337 If the style variables aren't buffer local in this case, loading of
6338 the second file will cause the default style (either "gnu" or "java"
6339 by default) to override the global settings made by the user.
6341 *** New initialization procedure for the style system.
6342 When the initial style for a buffer is determined by CC Mode (from the
6343 variable c-default-style), the global values of style variables now
6344 take precedence over the values specified by the chosen style. This
6345 is different than the old behavior: previously, the style-specific
6346 settings would override the global settings. This change makes it
6347 possible to do simple configuration in the intuitive way with
6348 Customize or with setq lines in one's .emacs file.
6350 By default, the global value of every style variable is the new
6351 special symbol set-from-style, which causes the value to be taken from
6352 the style system. This means that in effect, only an explicit setting
6353 of a style variable will cause the "overriding" behavior described
6356 Also note that global settings override style-specific settings *only*
6357 when the initial style of a buffer is chosen by a CC Mode major mode
6358 function. When a style is chosen in other ways --- for example, by a
6359 call like (c-set-style "gnu") in a hook, or via M-x c-set-style ---
6360 then the style-specific values take precedence over any global style
6361 values. In Lisp terms, global values override style-specific values
6362 only when the new second argument to c-set-style is non-nil; see the
6363 function documentation for more info.
6365 The purpose of these changes is to make it easier for users,
6366 especially novice users, to do simple customizations with Customize or
6367 with setq in their .emacs files. On the other hand, the new system is
6368 intended to be compatible with advanced users' customizations as well,
6369 such as those that choose styles in hooks or whatnot. This new system
6370 is believed to be almost entirely compatible with current
6371 configurations, in spite of the changed precedence between style and
6372 global variable settings when a buffer's default style is set.
6374 (Thanks to Eric Eide for clarifying this explanation a bit.)
6376 **** c-offsets-alist is now a customizable variable.
6377 This became possible as a result of the new initialization behavior.
6379 This variable is treated slightly differently from the other style
6380 variables; instead of using the symbol set-from-style, it will be
6381 completed with the syntactic symbols it doesn't already contain when
6382 the style is first initialized. This means it now defaults to the
6383 empty list to make all syntactic elements get their values from the
6386 **** Compatibility variable to restore the old behavior.
6387 In case your configuration doesn't work with this change, you can set
6388 c-old-style-variable-behavior to non-nil to get the old behavior back
6391 *** Improvements to line breaking and text filling.
6392 CC Mode now handles this more intelligently and seamlessly wrt the
6393 surrounding code, especially inside comments. For details see the new
6394 chapter about this in the manual.
6396 **** New variable to recognize comment line prefix decorations.
6397 The variable c-comment-prefix-regexp has been added to properly
6398 recognize the line prefix in both block and line comments. It's
6399 primarily used to initialize the various paragraph recognition and
6400 adaptive filling variables that the text handling functions uses.
6402 **** New variable c-block-comment-prefix.
6403 This is a generalization of the now obsolete variable
6404 c-comment-continuation-stars to handle arbitrary strings.
6406 **** CC Mode now uses adaptive fill mode.
6407 This to make it adapt better to the paragraph style inside comments.
6409 It's also possible to use other adaptive filling packages inside CC
6410 Mode, notably Kyle E. Jones' Filladapt mode (http://wonderworks.com/).
6411 A new convenience function c-setup-filladapt sets up Filladapt for use
6414 Note though that the 2.12 version of Filladapt lacks a feature that
6415 causes it to work suboptimally when c-comment-prefix-regexp can match
6416 the empty string (which it commonly does). A patch for that is
6417 available from the CC Mode web site (http://www.python.org/emacs/
6420 **** The variables `c-hanging-comment-starter-p' and
6421 `c-hanging-comment-ender-p', which controlled how comment starters and
6422 enders were filled, are not used anymore. The new version of the
6423 function `c-fill-paragraph' keeps the comment starters and enders as
6424 they were before the filling.
6426 **** It's now possible to selectively turn off auto filling.
6427 The variable c-ignore-auto-fill is used to ignore auto fill mode in
6428 specific contexts, e.g. in preprocessor directives and in string
6431 **** New context sensitive line break function c-context-line-break.
6432 It works like newline-and-indent in normal code, and adapts the line
6433 prefix according to the comment style when used inside comments. If
6434 you're normally using newline-and-indent, you might want to switch to
6437 *** Fixes to IDL mode.
6438 It now does a better job in recognizing only the constructs relevant
6439 to IDL. E.g. it no longer matches "class" as the beginning of a
6440 struct block, but it does match the CORBA 2.3 "valuetype" keyword.
6441 Thanks to Eric Eide.
6443 *** Improvements to the Whitesmith style.
6444 It now keeps the style consistently on all levels and both when
6445 opening braces hangs and when they don't.
6447 **** New lineup function c-lineup-whitesmith-in-block.
6449 *** New lineup functions c-lineup-template-args and c-indent-multi-line-block.
6450 See their docstrings for details. c-lineup-template-args does a
6451 better job of tracking the brackets used as parens in C++ templates,
6452 and is used by default to line up continued template arguments.
6454 *** c-lineup-comment now preserves alignment with a comment on the
6455 previous line. It used to instead preserve comments that started in
6456 the column specified by comment-column.
6458 *** c-lineup-C-comments handles "free form" text comments.
6459 In comments with a long delimiter line at the start, the indentation
6460 is kept unchanged for lines that start with an empty comment line
6461 prefix. This is intended for the type of large block comments that
6462 contain documentation with its own formatting. In these you normally
6463 don't want CC Mode to change the indentation.
6465 *** The `c' syntactic symbol is now relative to the comment start
6466 instead of the previous line, to make integers usable as lineup
6469 *** All lineup functions have gotten docstrings.
6471 *** More preprocessor directive movement functions.
6472 c-down-conditional does the reverse of c-up-conditional.
6473 c-up-conditional-with-else and c-down-conditional-with-else are
6474 variants of these that also stops at "#else" lines (suggested by Don
6477 *** Minor improvements to many movement functions in tricky situations.
6481 *** New variable `dired-recursive-deletes' determines if the delete
6482 command will delete non-empty directories recursively. The default
6483 is, delete only empty directories.
6485 *** New variable `dired-recursive-copies' determines if the copy
6486 command will copy directories recursively. The default is, do not
6487 copy directories recursively.
6489 *** In command `dired-do-shell-command' (usually bound to `!') a `?'
6490 in the shell command has a special meaning similar to `*', but with
6491 the difference that the command will be run on each file individually.
6493 *** The new command `dired-find-alternate-file' (usually bound to `a')
6494 replaces the Dired buffer with the buffer for an alternate file or
6497 *** The new command `dired-show-file-type' (usually bound to `y') shows
6498 a message in the echo area describing what type of file the point is on.
6499 This command invokes the external program `file' do its work, and so
6500 will only work on systems with that program, and will be only as
6501 accurate or inaccurate as it is.
6503 *** Dired now properly handles undo changes of adding/removing `-R'
6506 *** Dired commands that prompt for a destination file now allow the use
6507 of the `M-n' command in the minibuffer to insert the source filename,
6508 which the user can then edit. This only works if there is a single
6509 source file, not when operating on multiple marked files.
6513 The Gnus NEWS entries are short, but they reflect sweeping changes in
6514 four areas: Article display treatment, MIME treatment,
6515 internationalization and mail-fetching.
6517 *** The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
6518 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
6520 If you used procmail like in
6522 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
6523 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
6524 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
6525 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
6527 this now has changed to
6530 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
6533 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
6534 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
6536 *** Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
6537 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
6538 Separate MIME packages like RMIME, mime-compose etc., will probably no
6539 longer work; remove them and use the native facilities.
6541 The FLIM/SEMI package still works with Emacs 21, but if you want to
6542 use the native facilities, you must remove any mailcap.el[c] that was
6543 installed by FLIM/SEMI version 1.13 or earlier.
6545 *** Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too many
6546 parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables. There
6547 are built-in facilities equivalent to those of gnus-mule.el, which is
6548 now just a compatibility layer.
6550 *** gnus-mule.el is now just a compatibility layer over the built-in
6553 *** gnus-auto-select-first can now be a function to be
6554 called to position point.
6556 *** The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
6557 summary buffers and NOV files.
6559 *** `gnus-article-display-hook' has been removed. Instead, a number
6560 of variables starting with `gnus-treat-' have been added.
6562 *** The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now work in a
6563 subtly different manner.
6565 *** New web-based backends have been added: nnslashdot, nnwarchive
6566 and nnultimate. nnweb has been revamped, again, to keep up with
6567 ever-changing layouts.
6569 *** Gnus can now read IMAP mail via nnimap.
6571 *** There is image support of various kinds and some sound support.
6573 ** Changes in Texinfo mode.
6575 *** A couple of new key bindings have been added for inserting Texinfo
6579 -------------------------
6583 C-c C-c q @quotation
6585 C-c C-o @<block> ... @end <block>
6588 *** The " key now inserts either " or `` or '' depending on context.
6590 ** Changes in Outline mode.
6592 There is now support for Imenu to index headings. A new command
6593 `outline-headers-as-kill' copies the visible headings in the region to
6594 the kill ring, e.g. to produce a table of contents.
6596 ** Changes to Emacs Server
6598 *** The new option `server-kill-new-buffers' specifies what to do
6599 with buffers when done with them. If non-nil, the default, buffers
6600 are killed, unless they were already present before visiting them with
6601 Emacs Server. If nil, `server-temp-file-regexp' specifies which
6602 buffers to kill, as before.
6604 Please note that only buffers are killed that still have a client,
6605 i.e. buffers visited with `emacsclient --no-wait' are never killed in
6608 ** Both emacsclient and Emacs itself now accept command line options
6609 of the form +LINE:COLUMN in addition to +LINE.
6611 ** Changes to Show Paren mode.
6613 *** Overlays used by Show Paren mode now use a priority property.
6614 The new user option show-paren-priority specifies the priority to
6615 use. Default is 1000.
6617 ** New command M-x check-parens can be used to find unbalanced paren
6618 groups and strings in buffers in Lisp mode (or other modes).
6620 ** Changes to hideshow.el
6622 *** Generalized block selection and traversal
6624 A block is now recognized by its start and end regexps (both strings),
6625 and an integer specifying which sub-expression in the start regexp
6626 serves as the place where a `forward-sexp'-like function can operate.
6627 See the documentation of variable `hs-special-modes-alist'.
6629 *** During incremental search, if Hideshow minor mode is active,
6630 hidden blocks are temporarily shown. The variable `hs-headline' can
6631 be used in the mode line format to show the line at the beginning of
6634 *** User option `hs-hide-all-non-comment-function' specifies a
6635 function to be called at each top-level block beginning, instead of
6636 the normal block-hiding function.
6638 *** The command `hs-show-region' has been removed.
6640 *** The key bindings have changed to fit the Emacs conventions,
6641 roughly imitating those of Outline minor mode. Notably, the prefix
6642 for all bindings is now `C-c @'. For details, see the documentation
6643 for `hs-minor-mode'.
6645 *** The variable `hs-show-hidden-short-form' has been removed, and
6646 hideshow.el now always behaves as if this variable were set to t.
6648 ** Changes to Change Log mode and Add-Log functions
6650 *** If you invoke `add-change-log-entry' from a backup file, it makes
6651 an entry appropriate for the file's parent. This is useful for making
6652 log entries by comparing a version with deleted functions.
6654 **** New command M-x change-log-merge merges another log into the
6657 *** New command M-x change-log-redate fixes any old-style date entries
6660 *** Change Log mode now adds a file's version number to change log
6661 entries if user-option `change-log-version-info-enabled' is non-nil.
6662 Unless the file is under version control the search for a file's
6663 version number is performed based on regular expressions from
6664 `change-log-version-number-regexp-list' which can be customized.
6665 Version numbers are only found in the first 10 percent of a file.
6667 *** Change Log mode now defines its own faces for font-lock highlighting.
6669 ** Changes to cmuscheme
6671 *** The user-option `scheme-program-name' has been renamed
6672 `cmuscheme-program-name' due to conflicts with xscheme.el.
6674 ** Changes in Font Lock
6676 *** The new function `font-lock-remove-keywords' can be used to remove
6677 font-lock keywords from the current buffer or from a specific major mode.
6679 *** Multi-line patterns are now supported. Modes using this, should
6680 set font-lock-multiline to t in their font-lock-defaults.
6682 *** `font-lock-syntactic-face-function' allows major-modes to choose
6683 the face used for each string/comment.
6685 *** A new standard face `font-lock-doc-face'.
6686 Meant for Lisp docstrings, Javadoc comments and other "documentation in code".
6688 ** Changes to Shell mode
6690 *** The `shell' command now accepts an optional argument to specify the buffer
6691 to use, which defaults to "*shell*". When used interactively, a
6692 non-default buffer may be specified by giving the `shell' command a
6693 prefix argument (causing it to prompt for the buffer name).
6695 ** Comint (subshell) changes
6697 These changes generally affect all modes derived from comint mode, which
6698 include shell-mode, gdb-mode, scheme-interaction-mode, etc.
6700 *** Comint now by default interprets some carriage-control characters.
6701 Comint now removes CRs from CR LF sequences, and treats single CRs and
6702 BSs in the output in a way similar to a terminal (by deleting to the
6703 beginning of the line, or deleting the previous character,
6704 respectively). This is achieved by adding `comint-carriage-motion' to
6705 the `comint-output-filter-functions' hook by default.
6707 *** By default, comint no longer uses the variable `comint-prompt-regexp'
6708 to distinguish prompts from user-input. Instead, it notices which
6709 parts of the text were output by the process, and which entered by the
6710 user, and attaches `field' properties to allow emacs commands to use
6711 this information. Common movement commands, notably beginning-of-line,
6712 respect field boundaries in a fairly natural manner. To disable this
6713 feature, and use the old behavior, customize the user option
6714 `comint-use-prompt-regexp-instead-of-fields'.
6716 *** Comint now includes new features to send commands to running processes
6717 and redirect the output to a designated buffer or buffers.
6719 *** The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command reads a command and
6720 buffer name from the mini-buffer. The command is sent to the current
6721 buffer's process, and its output is inserted into the specified buffer.
6723 The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command-to-process acts like
6724 M-x comint-redirect-send-command but additionally reads the name of
6725 the buffer whose process should be used from the mini-buffer.
6727 *** Packages based on comint now highlight user input and program prompts,
6728 and support choosing previous input with mouse-2. To control these features,
6729 see the user-options `comint-highlight-input' and `comint-highlight-prompt'.
6731 *** The new command `comint-write-output' (usually bound to `C-c C-s')
6732 saves the output from the most recent command to a file. With a prefix
6733 argument, it appends to the file.
6735 *** The command `comint-kill-output' has been renamed `comint-delete-output'
6736 (usually bound to `C-c C-o'); the old name is aliased to it for
6739 *** The new function `comint-add-to-input-history' adds commands to the input
6742 *** The new variable `comint-input-history-ignore' is a regexp for
6743 identifying history lines that should be ignored, like tcsh time-stamp
6744 strings, starting with a `#'. The default value of this variable is "^#".
6746 ** Changes to Rmail mode
6748 *** The new user-option rmail-user-mail-address-regexp can be
6749 set to fine tune the identification of the correspondent when
6750 receiving new mail. If it matches the address of the sender, the
6751 recipient is taken as correspondent of a mail. If nil, the default,
6752 `user-login-name' and `user-mail-address' are used to exclude yourself
6755 Usually you don't have to set this variable, except if you collect
6756 mails sent by you under different user names. Then it should be a
6757 regexp matching your mail addresses.
6759 *** The new user-option rmail-confirm-expunge controls whether and how
6760 to ask for confirmation before expunging deleted messages from an
6761 Rmail file. You can choose between no confirmation, confirmation
6762 with y-or-n-p, or confirmation with yes-or-no-p. Default is to ask
6763 for confirmation with yes-or-no-p.
6765 *** RET is now bound in the Rmail summary to rmail-summary-goto-msg,
6768 *** There is a new user option `rmail-digest-end-regexps' that
6769 specifies the regular expressions to detect the line that ends a
6772 *** The new user option `rmail-automatic-folder-directives' specifies
6773 in which folder to put messages automatically.
6775 *** The new function `rmail-redecode-body' allows to fix a message
6776 with non-ASCII characters if Emacs happens to decode it incorrectly
6777 due to missing or malformed "charset=" header.
6779 ** The new user-option `mail-envelope-from' can be used to specify
6780 an envelope-from address different from user-mail-address.
6782 ** The variable mail-specify-envelope-from controls whether to
6783 use the -f option when sending mail.
6785 ** The Rmail command `o' (`rmail-output-to-rmail-file') now writes the
6786 current message in the internal `emacs-mule' encoding, rather than in
6787 the encoding taken from the variable `buffer-file-coding-system'.
6788 This allows to save messages whose characters cannot be safely encoded
6789 by the buffer's coding system, and makes sure the message will be
6790 displayed correctly when you later visit the target Rmail file.
6792 If you want your Rmail files be encoded in a specific coding system
6793 other than `emacs-mule', you can customize the variable
6794 `rmail-file-coding-system' to set its value to that coding system.
6796 ** Changes to TeX mode
6798 *** The default mode has been changed from `plain-tex-mode' to
6801 *** latex-mode now has a simple indentation algorithm.
6803 *** M-f and M-p jump around \begin...\end pairs.
6805 *** Added support for outline-minor-mode.
6807 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
6809 *** RefTeX has new support for index generation. Index entries can be
6810 created with `C-c <', with completion available on index keys.
6811 Pressing `C-c /' indexes the word at the cursor with a default
6812 macro. `C-c >' compiles all index entries into an alphabetically
6813 sorted *Index* buffer which looks like the final index. Entries
6814 can be edited from that buffer.
6816 *** Label and citation key selection now allow to select several
6817 items and reference them together (use `m' to mark items, `a' or
6818 `A' to use all marked entries).
6820 *** reftex.el has been split into a number of smaller files to reduce
6821 memory use when only a part of RefTeX is being used.
6823 *** a new command `reftex-view-crossref-from-bibtex' (bound to `C-c &'
6824 in BibTeX-mode) can be called in a BibTeX database buffer in order
6825 to show locations in LaTeX documents where a particular entry has
6828 ** Emacs Lisp mode now allows multiple levels of outline headings.
6829 The level of a heading is determined from the number of leading
6830 semicolons in a heading line. Toplevel forms starting with a `('
6831 in column 1 are always made leaves.
6833 ** The M-x time-stamp command (most commonly used on write-file-hooks)
6834 has the following new features:
6836 *** The patterns for finding the time stamp and for updating a pattern
6837 may match text spanning multiple lines. For example, some people like
6838 to have the filename and date on separate lines. The new variable
6839 time-stamp-inserts-lines controls the matching for multi-line patterns.
6841 *** More than one time stamp can be updated in the same file. This
6842 feature is useful if you need separate time stamps in a program source
6843 file to both include in formatted documentation and insert in the
6844 compiled binary. The same time-stamp will be written at each matching
6845 pattern. The variable time-stamp-count enables this new feature; it
6848 ** Partial Completion mode now completes environment variables in
6853 *** The command `ispell' now spell-checks a region if
6854 transient-mark-mode is on, and the mark is active. Otherwise it
6855 spell-checks the current buffer.
6857 *** Support for synchronous subprocesses - DOS/Windoze - has been
6860 *** An "alignment error" bug was fixed when a manual spelling
6861 correction is made and re-checked.
6863 *** Italian, Portuguese, and Slovak dictionary definitions have been added.
6865 *** Region skipping performance has been vastly improved in some
6868 *** Spell checking HTML buffers has been improved and isn't so strict
6871 *** The buffer-local words are now always placed on a new line at the
6874 *** Spell checking now works in the MS-DOS version of Emacs.
6876 ** Makefile mode changes
6878 *** The mode now uses the abbrev table `makefile-mode-abbrev-table'.
6880 *** Conditionals and include statements are now highlighted when
6881 Fontlock mode is active.
6885 *** Isearch now puts a call to `isearch-resume' in the command history,
6886 so that searches can be resumed.
6888 *** In Isearch mode, C-M-s and C-M-r are now bound like C-s and C-r,
6889 respectively, i.e. you can repeat a regexp isearch with the same keys
6890 that started the search.
6892 *** In Isearch mode, mouse-2 in the echo area now yanks the current
6893 selection into the search string rather than giving an error.
6895 *** There is a new lazy highlighting feature in incremental search.
6897 Lazy highlighting is switched on/off by customizing variable
6898 `isearch-lazy-highlight'. When active, all matches for the current
6899 search string are highlighted. The current match is highlighted as
6900 before using face `isearch' or `region'. All other matches are
6901 highlighted using face `isearch-lazy-highlight-face' which defaults to
6902 `secondary-selection'.
6904 The extra highlighting makes it easier to anticipate where the cursor
6905 will end up each time you press C-s or C-r to repeat a pending search.
6906 Highlighting of these additional matches happens in a deferred fashion
6907 using "idle timers," so the cycles needed do not rob isearch of its
6908 usual snappy response.
6910 If `isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup' is set to t, highlights for
6911 matches are automatically cleared when you end the search. If it is
6912 set to nil, you can remove the highlights manually with `M-x
6913 isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup'.
6917 VC has been overhauled internally. It is now modular, making it
6918 easier to plug-in arbitrary version control backends. (See Lisp
6919 Changes for details on the new structure.) As a result, the mechanism
6920 to enable and disable support for particular version systems has
6921 changed: everything is now controlled by the new variable
6922 `vc-handled-backends'. Its value is a list of symbols that identify
6923 version systems; the default is '(RCS CVS SCCS). When finding a file,
6924 each of the backends in that list is tried in order to see whether the
6925 file is registered in that backend.
6927 When registering a new file, VC first tries each of the listed
6928 backends to see if any of them considers itself "responsible" for the
6929 directory of the file (e.g. because a corresponding subdirectory for
6930 master files exists). If none of the backends is responsible, then
6931 the first backend in the list that could register the file is chosen.
6932 As a consequence, the variable `vc-default-back-end' is now obsolete.
6934 The old variable `vc-master-templates' is also obsolete, although VC
6935 still supports it for backward compatibility. To define templates for
6936 RCS or SCCS, you should rather use the new variables
6937 vc-{rcs,sccs}-master-templates. (There is no such feature under CVS
6938 where it doesn't make sense.)
6940 The variables `vc-ignore-vc-files' and `vc-handle-cvs' are also
6941 obsolete now, you must set `vc-handled-backends' to nil or exclude
6942 `CVS' from the list, respectively, to achieve their effect now.
6946 The variable `vc-checkout-carefully' is obsolete: the corresponding
6947 checks are always done now.
6949 VC Dired buffers are now kept up-to-date during all version control
6952 `vc-diff' output is now displayed in `diff-mode'.
6953 `vc-print-log' uses `log-view-mode'.
6954 `vc-log-mode' (used for *VC-Log*) has been replaced by `log-edit-mode'.
6956 The command C-x v m (vc-merge) now accepts an empty argument as the
6957 first revision number. This means that any recent changes on the
6958 current branch should be picked up from the repository and merged into
6959 the working file (``merge news'').
6961 The commands C-x v s (vc-create-snapshot) and C-x v r
6962 (vc-retrieve-snapshot) now ask for a directory name from which to work
6965 *** Multiple Backends
6967 VC now lets you register files in more than one backend. This is
6968 useful, for example, if you are working with a slow remote CVS
6969 repository. You can then use RCS for local editing, and occasionally
6970 commit your changes back to CVS, or pick up changes from CVS into your
6973 To make this work, the ``more local'' backend (RCS in our example)
6974 should come first in `vc-handled-backends', and the ``more remote''
6975 backend (CVS) should come later. (The default value of
6976 `vc-handled-backends' already has it that way.)
6978 You can then commit changes to another backend (say, RCS), by typing
6979 C-u C-x v v RCS RET (i.e. vc-next-action now accepts a backend name as
6980 a revision number). VC registers the file in the more local backend
6981 if that hasn't already happened, and commits to a branch based on the
6982 current revision number from the more remote backend.
6984 If a file is registered in multiple backends, you can switch to
6985 another one using C-x v b (vc-switch-backend). This does not change
6986 any files, it only changes VC's perspective on the file. Use this to
6987 pick up changes from CVS while working under RCS locally.
6989 After you are done with your local RCS editing, you can commit your
6990 changes back to CVS using C-u C-x v v CVS RET. In this case, the
6991 local RCS archive is removed after the commit, and the log entry
6992 buffer is initialized to contain the entire RCS change log of the file.
6996 There is a new user option, `vc-cvs-stay-local'. If it is `t' (the
6997 default), then VC avoids network queries for files registered in
6998 remote repositories. The state of such files is then only determined
6999 by heuristics and past information. `vc-cvs-stay-local' can also be a
7000 regexp to match against repository hostnames; only files from hosts
7001 that match it are treated locally. If the variable is nil, then VC
7002 queries the repository just as often as it does for local files.
7004 If `vc-cvs-stay-local' is on, then VC also makes local backups of
7005 repository versions. This means that ordinary diffs (C-x v =) and
7006 revert operations (C-x v u) can be done completely locally, without
7007 any repository interactions at all. The name of a local version
7008 backup of FILE is FILE.~REV.~, where REV is the repository version
7009 number. This format is similar to that used by C-x v ~
7010 (vc-version-other-window), except for the trailing dot. As a matter
7011 of fact, the two features can each use the files created by the other,
7012 the only difference being that files with a trailing `.' are deleted
7013 automatically after commit. (This feature doesn't work on MS-DOS,
7014 since DOS disallows more than a single dot in the trunk of a file
7017 If `vc-cvs-stay-local' is on, and there have been changes in the
7018 repository, VC notifies you about it when you actually try to commit.
7019 If you want to check for updates from the repository without trying to
7020 commit, you can either use C-x v m RET to perform an update on the
7021 current file, or you can use C-x v r RET to get an update for an
7022 entire directory tree.
7024 The new user option `vc-cvs-use-edit' indicates whether VC should call
7025 "cvs edit" to make files writeable; it defaults to `t'. (This option
7026 is only meaningful if the CVSREAD variable is set, or if files are
7027 "watched" by other developers.)
7029 The commands C-x v s (vc-create-snapshot) and C-x v r
7030 (vc-retrieve-snapshot) are now also implemented for CVS. If you give
7031 an empty snapshot name to the latter, that performs a `cvs update',
7032 starting at the given directory.
7034 *** Lisp Changes in VC
7036 VC has been restructured internally to make it modular. You can now
7037 add support for arbitrary version control backends by writing a
7038 library that provides a certain set of backend-specific functions, and
7039 then telling VC to use that library. For example, to add support for
7040 a version system named SYS, you write a library named vc-sys.el, which
7041 provides a number of functions vc-sys-... (see commentary at the top
7042 of vc.el for a detailed list of them). To make VC use that library,
7043 you need to put it somewhere into Emacs' load path and add the symbol
7044 `SYS' to the list `vc-handled-backends'.
7046 ** The customizable EDT emulation package now supports the EDT
7047 SUBS command and EDT scroll margins. It also works with more
7048 terminal/keyboard configurations and it now works under XEmacs.
7049 See etc/edt-user.doc for more information.
7051 ** New modes and packages
7053 *** The new global minor mode `minibuffer-electric-default-mode'
7054 automatically hides the `(default ...)' part of minibuffer prompts when
7055 the default is not applicable.
7057 *** Artist is an Emacs lisp package that allows you to draw lines,
7058 rectangles and ellipses by using your mouse and/or keyboard. The
7059 shapes are made up with the ascii characters |, -, / and \.
7063 - Intersecting: When a `|' intersects with a `-', a `+' is
7064 drawn, like this: | \ /
7068 - Rubber-banding: When drawing lines you can interactively see the
7069 result while holding the mouse button down and moving the mouse. If
7070 your machine is not fast enough (a 386 is a bit too slow, but a
7071 pentium is well enough), you can turn this feature off. You will
7072 then see 1's and 2's which mark the 1st and 2nd endpoint of the line
7075 - Arrows: After having drawn a (straight) line or a (straight)
7076 poly-line, you can set arrows on the line-ends by typing < or >.
7078 - Flood-filling: You can fill any area with a certain character by
7081 - Cut copy and paste: You can cut, copy and paste rectangular
7082 regions. Artist also interfaces with the rect package (this can be
7083 turned off if it causes you any trouble) so anything you cut in
7084 artist can be yanked with C-x r y and vice versa.
7086 - Drawing with keys: Everything you can do with the mouse, you can
7087 also do without the mouse.
7089 - Aspect-ratio: You can set the variable artist-aspect-ratio to
7090 reflect the height-width ratio for the font you are using. Squares
7091 and circles are then drawn square/round. Note, that once your
7092 ascii-file is shown with font with a different height-width ratio,
7093 the squares won't be square and the circles won't be round.
7095 - Drawing operations: The following drawing operations are implemented:
7097 lines straight-lines
7099 poly-lines straight poly-lines
7101 text (see-thru) text (overwrite)
7102 spray-can setting size for spraying
7103 vaporize line vaporize lines
7104 erase characters erase rectangles
7106 Straight lines are lines that go horizontally, vertically or
7107 diagonally. Plain lines go in any direction. The operations in
7108 the right column are accessed by holding down the shift key while
7111 It is possible to vaporize (erase) entire lines and connected lines
7112 (rectangles for example) as long as the lines being vaporized are
7113 straight and connected at their endpoints. Vaporizing is inspired
7114 by the drawrect package by Jari Aalto <jari.aalto@poboxes.com>.
7116 - Picture mode compatibility: Artist is picture mode compatible (this
7119 *** The new package Eshell is an operating system command shell
7120 implemented entirely in Emacs Lisp. Use `M-x eshell' to invoke it.
7121 It functions similarly to bash and zsh, and allows running of Lisp
7122 functions and external commands using the same syntax. It supports
7123 history lists, aliases, extended globbing, smart scrolling, etc. It
7124 will work on any platform Emacs has been ported to. And since most of
7125 the basic commands -- ls, rm, mv, cp, ln, du, cat, etc. -- have been
7126 rewritten in Lisp, it offers an operating-system independent shell,
7127 all within the scope of your Emacs process.
7129 *** The new package timeclock.el is a mode is for keeping track of time
7130 intervals. You can use it for whatever purpose you like, but the
7131 typical scenario is to keep track of how much time you spend working
7132 on certain projects.
7134 *** The new package hi-lock.el provides commands to highlight matches
7135 of interactively entered regexps. For example,
7137 M-x highlight-regexp RET clearly RET RET
7139 will highlight all occurrences of `clearly' using a yellow background
7140 face. New occurrences of `clearly' will be highlighted as they are
7141 typed. `M-x unhighlight-regexp RET' will remove the highlighting.
7142 Any existing face can be used for highlighting and a set of
7143 appropriate faces is provided. The regexps can be written into the
7144 current buffer in a form that will be recognized the next time the
7145 corresponding file is read. There are commands to highlight matches
7146 to phrases and to highlight entire lines containing a match.
7148 *** The new package zone.el plays games with Emacs' display when
7151 *** The new package tildify.el allows to add hard spaces or other text
7152 fragments in accordance with the current major mode.
7154 *** The new package xml.el provides a simple but generic XML
7155 parser. It doesn't parse the DTDs however.
7157 *** The comment operations are now provided by the newcomment.el
7158 package which allows different styles of comment-region and should
7159 be more robust while offering the same functionality.
7160 `comment-region' now doesn't always comment a-line-at-a-time, but only
7161 comments the region, breaking the line at point if necessary.
7163 *** The Ebrowse package implements a C++ class browser and tags
7164 facilities tailored for use with C++. It is documented in a
7165 separate Texinfo file.
7167 *** The PCL-CVS package available by either running M-x cvs-examine or
7168 by visiting a CVS administrative directory (with a prefix argument)
7169 provides an alternative interface to VC-dired for CVS. It comes with
7170 `log-view-mode' to view RCS and SCCS logs and `log-edit-mode' used to
7171 enter check-in log messages.
7173 *** The new package called `woman' allows to browse Unix man pages
7174 without invoking external programs.
7176 The command `M-x woman' formats manual pages entirely in Emacs Lisp
7177 and then displays them, like `M-x manual-entry' does. Unlike
7178 `manual-entry', `woman' does not invoke any external programs, so it
7179 is useful on systems such as MS-DOS/MS-Windows where the `man' and
7180 Groff or `troff' commands are not readily available.
7182 The command `M-x woman-find-file' asks for the file name of a man
7183 page, then formats and displays it like `M-x woman' does.
7185 *** The new command M-x re-builder offers a convenient interface for
7186 authoring regular expressions with immediate visual feedback.
7188 The buffer from which the command was called becomes the target for
7189 the regexp editor popping up in a separate window. Matching text in
7190 the target buffer is immediately color marked during the editing.
7191 Each sub-expression of the regexp will show up in a different face so
7192 even complex regexps can be edited and verified on target data in a
7195 On displays not supporting faces the matches instead blink like
7196 matching parens to make them stand out. On such a setup you will
7197 probably also want to use the sub-expression mode when the regexp
7198 contains such to get feedback about their respective limits.
7200 *** glasses-mode is a minor mode that makes
7201 unreadableIdentifiersLikeThis readable. It works as glasses, without
7202 actually modifying content of a buffer.
7204 *** The package ebnf2ps translates an EBNF to a syntactic chart in
7207 Currently accepts ad-hoc EBNF, ISO EBNF and Bison/Yacc.
7209 The ad-hoc default EBNF syntax has the following elements:
7211 ; comment (until end of line)
7215 $A default non-terminal
7216 $"C" default terminal
7217 $?C? default special
7218 A = B. production (A is the header and B the body)
7219 C D sequence (C occurs before D)
7220 C | D alternative (C or D occurs)
7221 A - B exception (A excluding B, B without any non-terminal)
7222 n * A repetition (A repeats n (integer) times)
7223 (C) group (expression C is grouped together)
7224 [C] optional (C may or not occurs)
7225 C+ one or more occurrences of C
7226 {C}+ one or more occurrences of C
7227 {C}* zero or more occurrences of C
7228 {C} zero or more occurrences of C
7229 C / D equivalent to: C {D C}*
7230 {C || D}+ equivalent to: C {D C}*
7231 {C || D}* equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
7232 {C || D} equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
7234 Please, see ebnf2ps documentation for EBNF syntax and how to use it.
7236 *** The package align.el will align columns within a region, using M-x
7237 align. Its mode-specific rules, based on regular expressions,
7238 determine where the columns should be split. In C and C++, for
7239 example, it will align variable names in declaration lists, or the
7240 equal signs of assignments.
7242 *** `paragraph-indent-minor-mode' is a new minor mode supporting
7243 paragraphs in the same style as `paragraph-indent-text-mode'.
7245 *** bs.el is a new package for buffer selection similar to
7246 list-buffers or electric-buffer-list. Use M-x bs-show to display a
7247 buffer menu with this package. See the Custom group `bs'.
7249 *** find-lisp.el is a package emulating the Unix find command in Lisp.
7251 *** calculator.el is a small calculator package that is intended to
7252 replace desktop calculators such as xcalc and calc.exe. Actually, it
7253 is not too small - it has more features than most desktop calculators,
7254 and can be customized easily to get many more functions. It should
7255 not be confused with "calc" which is a much bigger mathematical tool
7256 which answers different needs.
7258 *** The minor modes cwarn-mode and global-cwarn-mode highlights
7259 suspicious C and C++ constructions. Currently, assignments inside
7260 expressions, semicolon following `if', `for' and `while' (except, of
7261 course, after a `do .. while' statement), and C++ functions with
7262 reference parameters are recognized. The modes require font-lock mode
7265 *** smerge-mode.el provides `smerge-mode', a simple minor-mode for files
7266 containing diff3-style conflict markers, such as generated by RCS.
7268 *** 5x5.el is a simple puzzle game.
7270 *** hl-line.el provides `hl-line-mode', a minor mode to highlight the
7271 current line in the current buffer. It also provides
7272 `global-hl-line-mode' to provide the same behavior in all buffers.
7274 *** ansi-color.el translates ANSI terminal escapes into text-properties.
7276 Please note: if `ansi-color-for-comint-mode' and
7277 `global-font-lock-mode' are non-nil, loading ansi-color.el will
7278 disable font-lock and add `ansi-color-apply' to
7279 `comint-preoutput-filter-functions' for all shell-mode buffers. This
7280 displays the output of "ls --color=yes" using the correct foreground
7281 and background colors.
7283 *** delphi.el provides a major mode for editing the Delphi (Object
7286 *** quickurl.el provides a simple method of inserting a URL based on
7289 *** sql.el provides an interface to SQL data bases.
7291 *** fortune.el uses the fortune program to create mail/news signatures.
7293 *** whitespace.el is a package for warning about and cleaning bogus
7294 whitespace in a file.
7296 *** PostScript mode (ps-mode) is a new major mode for editing PostScript
7297 files. It offers: interaction with a PostScript interpreter, including
7298 (very basic) error handling; fontification, easily customizable for
7299 interpreter messages; auto-indentation; insertion of EPSF templates and
7300 often used code snippets; viewing of BoundingBox; commenting out /
7301 uncommenting regions; conversion of 8bit characters to PostScript octal
7302 codes. All functionality is accessible through a menu.
7304 *** delim-col helps to prettify columns in a text region or rectangle.
7306 Here is an example of columns:
7309 dog pineapple car EXTRA
7310 porcupine strawberry airplane
7312 Doing the following settings:
7314 (setq delimit-columns-str-before "[ ")
7315 (setq delimit-columns-str-after " ]")
7316 (setq delimit-columns-str-separator ", ")
7317 (setq delimit-columns-separator "\t")
7320 Selecting the lines above and typing:
7322 M-x delimit-columns-region
7326 [ horse , apple , bus , ]
7327 [ dog , pineapple , car , EXTRA ]
7328 [ porcupine, strawberry, airplane, ]
7330 delim-col has the following options:
7332 delimit-columns-str-before Specify a string to be inserted
7335 delimit-columns-str-separator Specify a string to be inserted
7336 between each column.
7338 delimit-columns-str-after Specify a string to be inserted
7341 delimit-columns-separator Specify a regexp which separates
7344 delim-col has the following commands:
7346 delimit-columns-region Prettify all columns in a text region.
7347 delimit-columns-rectangle Prettify all columns in a text rectangle.
7349 *** Recentf mode maintains a menu for visiting files that were
7350 operated on recently. User option recentf-menu-filter specifies a
7351 menu filter function to change the menu appearance. For example, the
7352 recent file list can be displayed:
7354 - organized by major modes, directories or user defined rules.
7355 - sorted by file paths, file names, ascending or descending.
7356 - showing paths relative to the current default-directory
7358 The `recentf-filter-changer' menu filter function allows to
7359 dynamically change the menu appearance.
7361 *** elide-head.el provides a mechanism for eliding boilerplate header
7364 *** footnote.el provides `footnote-mode', a minor mode supporting use
7365 of footnotes. It is intended for use with Message mode, but isn't
7366 specific to Message mode.
7368 *** diff-mode.el provides `diff-mode', a major mode for
7369 viewing/editing context diffs (patches). It is selected for files
7370 with extension `.diff', `.diffs', `.patch' and `.rej'.
7372 *** EUDC, the Emacs Unified Directory Client, provides a common user
7373 interface to access directory servers using different directory
7374 protocols. It has a separate manual.
7376 *** autoconf.el provides a major mode for editing configure.in files
7377 for Autoconf, selected automatically.
7379 *** windmove.el provides moving between windows.
7381 *** crm.el provides a facility to read multiple strings from the
7382 minibuffer with completion.
7384 *** todo-mode.el provides management of TODO lists and integration
7385 with the diary features.
7387 *** autoarg.el provides a feature reported from Twenex Emacs whereby
7388 numeric keys supply prefix args rather than self inserting.
7390 *** The function `turn-off-auto-fill' unconditionally turns off Auto
7393 *** pcomplete.el is a library that provides programmable completion
7394 facilities for Emacs, similar to what zsh and tcsh offer. The main
7395 difference is that completion functions are written in Lisp, meaning
7396 they can be profiled, debugged, etc.
7398 *** antlr-mode is a new major mode for editing ANTLR grammar files.
7399 It is automatically turned on for files whose names have the extension
7402 ** Changes in sort.el
7404 The function sort-numeric-fields interprets numbers starting with `0'
7405 as octal and numbers starting with `0x' or `0X' as hexadecimal. The
7406 new user-option sort-numeric-base can be used to specify a default
7409 ** Changes to Ange-ftp
7411 *** Ange-ftp allows you to specify of a port number in remote file
7412 names cleanly. It is appended to the host name, separated by a hash
7413 sign, e.g. `/foo@bar.org#666:mumble'. (This syntax comes from EFS.)
7415 *** If the new user-option `ange-ftp-try-passive-mode' is set, passive
7416 ftp mode will be used if the ftp client supports that.
7418 *** Ange-ftp handles the output of the w32-style clients which
7419 output ^M at the end of lines.
7421 ** The recommended way of using Iswitchb is via the new global minor
7422 mode `iswitchb-mode'.
7424 ** Just loading the msb package doesn't switch on Msb mode anymore.
7425 If you have `(require 'msb)' in your .emacs, please replace it with
7428 ** Flyspell mode has various new options. See the `flyspell' Custom
7431 ** The user option `backward-delete-char-untabify-method' controls the
7432 behavior of `backward-delete-char-untabify'. The following values
7435 `untabify' -- turn a tab to many spaces, then delete one space;
7436 `hungry' -- delete all whitespace, both tabs and spaces;
7437 `all' -- delete all whitespace, including tabs, spaces and newlines;
7438 nil -- just delete one character.
7440 Default value is `untabify'.
7442 [This change was made in Emacs 20.3 but not mentioned then.]
7444 ** In Cperl mode `cperl-invalid-face' should now be a normal face
7445 symbol, not double-quoted.
7447 ** Some packages are declared obsolete, to be removed in a future
7448 version. They are: auto-show, c-mode, hilit19, hscroll, ooutline,
7449 profile, rnews, rnewspost, and sc. Their implementations have been
7450 moved to lisp/obsolete.
7452 ** auto-compression mode is no longer enabled just by loading jka-compr.el.
7453 To control it, set `auto-compression-mode' via Custom or use the
7454 `auto-compression-mode' command.
7456 ** `browse-url-gnome-moz' is a new option for
7457 `browse-url-browser-function', invoking Mozilla in GNOME, and
7458 `browse-url-kde' can be chosen for invoking the KDE browser.
7460 ** The user-option `browse-url-new-window-p' has been renamed to
7461 `browse-url-new-window-flag'.
7463 ** The functions `keep-lines', `flush-lines' and `how-many' now
7464 operate on the active region in Transient Mark mode.
7466 ** `gnus-user-agent' is a new possibility for `mail-user-agent'. It
7467 is like `message-user-agent', but with all the Gnus paraphernalia.
7469 ** The Strokes package has been updated. If your Emacs has XPM
7470 support, you can use it for pictographic editing. In Strokes mode,
7471 use C-mouse-2 to compose a complex stoke and insert it into the
7472 buffer. You can encode or decode a strokes buffer with new commands
7473 M-x strokes-encode-buffer and M-x strokes-decode-buffer. There is a
7474 new command M-x strokes-list-strokes.
7476 ** Hexl contains a new command `hexl-insert-hex-string' which inserts
7477 a string of hexadecimal numbers read from the mini-buffer.
7479 ** Hexl mode allows to insert non-ASCII characters.
7481 The non-ASCII characters are encoded using the same encoding as the
7482 file you are visiting in Hexl mode.
7484 ** Shell script mode changes.
7486 Shell script mode (sh-script) can now indent scripts for shells
7487 derived from sh and rc. The indentation style is customizable, and
7488 sh-script can attempt to "learn" the current buffer's style.
7492 *** In DOS, etags looks for file.cgz if it cannot find file.c.
7494 *** New option --ignore-case-regex is an alternative to --regex. It is now
7495 possible to bind a regexp to a language, by prepending the regexp with
7496 {lang}, where lang is one of the languages that `etags --help' prints out.
7497 This feature is useful especially for regex files, where each line contains
7498 a regular expression. The manual contains details.
7500 *** In C and derived languages, etags creates tags for function
7501 declarations when given the --declarations option.
7503 *** In C++, tags are created for "operator". The tags have the form
7504 "operator+", without spaces between the keyword and the operator.
7506 *** You shouldn't generally need any more the -C or -c++ option: etags
7507 automatically switches to C++ parsing when it meets the `class' or
7508 `template' keywords.
7510 *** Etags now is able to delve at arbitrary deeps into nested structures in
7511 C-like languages. Previously, it was limited to one or two brace levels.
7513 *** New language Ada: tags are functions, procedures, packages, tasks, and
7516 *** In Fortran, `procedure' is not tagged.
7518 *** In Java, tags are created for "interface".
7520 *** In Lisp, "(defstruct (foo", "(defun (operator" and similar constructs
7523 *** In makefiles, tags the targets.
7525 *** In Perl, the --globals option tags global variables. my and local
7526 variables are tagged.
7528 *** New language Python: def and class at the beginning of a line are tags.
7530 *** .ss files are Scheme files, .pdb is Postscript with C syntax, .psw is
7533 ** Changes in etags.el
7535 *** The new user-option tags-case-fold-search can be used to make
7536 tags operations case-sensitive or case-insensitive. The default
7537 is to use the same setting as case-fold-search.
7539 *** You can display additional output with M-x tags-apropos by setting
7540 the new variable tags-apropos-additional-actions.
7542 If non-nil, the variable's value should be a list of triples (TITLE
7543 FUNCTION TO-SEARCH). For each triple, M-x tags-apropos processes
7544 TO-SEARCH and lists tags from it. TO-SEARCH should be an alist,
7545 obarray, or symbol. If it is a symbol, the symbol's value is used.
7547 TITLE is a string to use to label the list of tags from TO-SEARCH.
7549 FUNCTION is a function to call when an entry is selected in the Tags
7550 List buffer. It is called with one argument, the selected symbol.
7552 A useful example value for this variable might be something like:
7554 '(("Emacs Lisp" Info-goto-emacs-command-node obarray)
7555 ("Common Lisp" common-lisp-hyperspec common-lisp-hyperspec-obarray)
7556 ("SCWM" scwm-documentation scwm-obarray))
7558 *** The face tags-tag-face can be used to customize the appearance
7559 of tags in the output of M-x tags-apropos.
7561 *** Setting tags-apropos-verbose to a non-nil value displays the
7562 names of tags files in the *Tags List* buffer.
7564 *** You can now search for tags that are part of the filename itself.
7565 If you have tagged the files topfile.c subdir/subfile.c
7566 /tmp/tempfile.c, you can now search for tags "topfile.c", "subfile.c",
7567 "dir/sub", "tempfile", "tempfile.c". If the tag matches the file name,
7568 point will go to the beginning of the file.
7570 *** Compressed files are now transparently supported if
7571 auto-compression-mode is active. You can tag (with Etags) and search
7572 (with find-tag) both compressed and uncompressed files.
7574 *** Tags commands like M-x tags-search no longer change point
7575 in buffers where no match is found. In buffers where a match is
7576 found, the original value of point is pushed on the marker ring.
7578 ** Fortran mode has a new command `fortran-strip-sequence-nos' to
7579 remove text past column 72. The syntax class of `\' in Fortran is now
7580 appropriate for C-style escape sequences in strings.
7582 ** SGML mode's default `sgml-validate-command' is now `nsgmls'.
7584 ** A new command `view-emacs-problems' (C-h P) displays the PROBLEMS file.
7586 ** The Dabbrev package has a new user-option `dabbrev-ignored-regexps'
7587 containing a list of regular expressions. Buffers matching a regular
7588 expression from that list, are not checked.
7590 ** Emacs can now figure out modification times of remote files.
7591 When you do C-x C-f /user@host:/path/file RET and edit the file,
7592 and someone else modifies the file, you will be prompted to revert
7593 the buffer, just like for the local files.
7595 ** The buffer menu (C-x C-b) no longer lists the *Buffer List* buffer.
7597 ** When invoked with a prefix argument, the command `list-abbrevs' now
7598 displays local abbrevs, only.
7600 ** Refill minor mode provides preliminary support for keeping
7601 paragraphs filled as you modify them.
7603 ** The variable `double-click-fuzz' specifies how much the mouse
7604 may be moved between clicks that are recognized as a pair. Its value
7605 is measured in pixels.
7607 ** The new global minor mode `auto-image-file-mode' allows image files
7608 to be visited as images.
7610 ** Two new user-options `grep-command' and `grep-find-command'
7611 were added to compile.el.
7613 ** Withdrawn packages
7615 *** mldrag.el has been removed. mouse.el provides the same
7616 functionality with aliases for the mldrag functions.
7618 *** eval-reg.el has been obsoleted by changes to edebug.el and removed.
7620 *** ph.el has been obsoleted by EUDC and removed.
7623 * Incompatible Lisp changes
7625 There are a few Lisp changes which are not backwards-compatible and
7626 may require changes to existing code. Here is a list for reference.
7627 See the sections below for details.
7629 ** Since `format' preserves text properties, the idiom
7630 `(format "%s" foo)' no longer works to copy and remove properties.
7631 Use `copy-sequence' to copy the string, then use `set-text-properties'
7632 to remove the properties of the copy.
7634 ** Since the `keymap' text property now has significance, some code
7635 which uses both `local-map' and `keymap' properties (for portability)
7636 may, for instance, give rise to duplicate menus when the keymaps from
7637 these properties are active.
7639 ** The change in the treatment of non-ASCII characters in search
7640 ranges may affect some code.
7642 ** A non-nil value for the LOCAL arg of add-hook makes the hook
7643 buffer-local even if `make-local-hook' hasn't been called, which might
7644 make a difference to some code.
7646 ** The new treatment of the minibuffer prompt might affect code which
7647 operates on the minibuffer.
7649 ** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
7650 cause `no-conversion' and `emacs-mule-unix' coding systems to produce
7651 different results when reading files with non-ASCII characters
7652 (previously, both coding systems would produce the same results).
7653 Specifically, `no-conversion' interprets each 8-bit byte as a separate
7654 character. This makes `no-conversion' inappropriate for reading
7655 multibyte text, e.g. buffers written to disk in their internal MULE
7656 encoding (auto-saving does that, for example). If a Lisp program
7657 reads such files with `no-conversion', each byte of the multibyte
7658 sequence, including the MULE leading codes such as \201, is treated as
7659 a separate character, which prevents them from being interpreted in
7660 the buffer as multibyte characters.
7662 Therefore, Lisp programs that read files which contain the internal
7663 MULE encoding should use `emacs-mule-unix'. `no-conversion' is only
7664 appropriate for reading truly binary files.
7666 ** Code that relies on the obsolete `before-change-function' and
7667 `after-change-function' to detect buffer changes will now fail. Use
7668 `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions' instead.
7670 ** Code that uses `concat' with integer args now gets an error, as
7671 long promised. So does any code that uses derivatives of `concat',
7672 such as `mapconcat'.
7674 ** The function base64-decode-string now always returns a unibyte
7677 ** Not a Lisp incompatibility as such but, with the introduction of
7678 extra private charsets, there is now only one slot free for a new
7679 dimension-2 private charset. User code which tries to add more than
7680 one extra will fail unless you rebuild Emacs with some standard
7681 charset(s) removed; that is probably inadvisable because it changes
7682 the emacs-mule encoding. Also, files stored in the emacs-mule
7683 encoding using Emacs 20 with additional private charsets defined will
7684 probably not be read correctly by Emacs 21.
7686 ** The variable `directory-sep-char' is slated for removal.
7687 Not really a change (yet), but a projected one that you should be
7688 aware of: The variable `directory-sep-char' is deprecated, and should
7689 not be used. It was always ignored on GNU/Linux and Unix systems and
7690 on MS-DOS, but the MS-Windows port tried to support it by adapting the
7691 behavior of certain primitives to the value of this variable. It
7692 turned out that such support cannot be reliable, so it was decided to
7693 remove this variable in the near future. Lisp programs are well
7694 advised not to set it to anything but '/', because any different value
7695 will not have any effect when support for this variable is removed.
7698 * Lisp changes made after edition 2.6 of the Emacs Lisp Manual,
7699 (Display-related features are described in a page of their own below.)
7701 ** Function assq-delete-all replaces function assoc-delete-all.
7703 ** The new function animate-string, from lisp/play/animate.el
7704 allows the animated display of strings.
7706 ** The new function `interactive-form' can be used to obtain the
7707 interactive form of a function.
7709 ** The keyword :set-after in defcustom allows to specify dependencies
7710 between custom options. Example:
7712 (defcustom default-input-method nil
7713 "*Default input method for multilingual text (a string).
7714 This is the input method activated automatically by the command
7715 `toggle-input-method' (\\[toggle-input-method])."
7717 :type '(choice (const nil) string)
7718 :set-after '(current-language-environment))
7720 This specifies that default-input-method should be set after
7721 current-language-environment even if default-input-method appears
7722 first in a custom-set-variables statement.
7724 ** The new hook `kbd-macro-termination-hook' is run at the end of
7725 function execute-kbd-macro. Functions on this hook are called with no
7726 args. The hook is run independent of how the macro was terminated
7727 (signal or normal termination).
7729 ** Functions `butlast' and `nbutlast' for removing trailing elements
7730 from a list are now available without requiring the CL package.
7732 ** The new user-option `even-window-heights' can be set to nil
7733 to prevent `display-buffer' from evening out window heights.
7735 ** The user-option `face-font-registry-alternatives' specifies
7736 alternative font registry names to try when looking for a font.
7738 ** Function `md5' calculates the MD5 "message digest"/"checksum".
7740 ** Function `delete-frame' runs `delete-frame-hook' before actually
7741 deleting the frame. The hook is called with one arg, the frame
7744 ** `add-hook' now makes the hook local if called with a non-nil LOCAL arg.
7746 ** The treatment of non-ASCII characters in search ranges has changed.
7747 If a range in a regular expression or the arg of
7748 skip-chars-forward/backward starts with a unibyte character C and ends
7749 with a multibyte character C2, the range is divided into two: one is
7750 C..?\377, the other is C1..C2, where C1 is the first character of C2's
7753 ** The new function `display-message-or-buffer' displays a message in
7754 the echo area or pops up a buffer, depending on the length of the
7757 ** The new macro `with-auto-compression-mode' allows evaluating an
7758 expression with auto-compression-mode enabled.
7760 ** In image specifications, `:heuristic-mask' has been replaced
7761 with the more general `:mask' property.
7763 ** Image specifications accept more `:conversion's.
7765 ** A `?' can be used in a symbol name without escaping it with a
7768 ** Reading from the mini-buffer now reads from standard input if Emacs
7769 is running in batch mode. For example,
7771 (message "%s" (read t))
7773 will read a Lisp expression from standard input and print the result
7776 ** The argument of `down-list', `backward-up-list', `up-list',
7777 `kill-sexp', `backward-kill-sexp' and `mark-sexp' is now optional.
7779 ** If `display-buffer-reuse-frames' is set, function `display-buffer'
7780 will raise frames displaying a buffer, instead of creating a new
7783 ** Two new functions for removing elements from lists/sequences
7786 - Function: remove ELT SEQ
7788 Return a copy of SEQ with all occurrences of ELT removed. SEQ must be
7789 a list, vector, or string. The comparison is done with `equal'.
7791 - Function: remq ELT LIST
7793 Return a copy of LIST with all occurrences of ELT removed. The
7794 comparison is done with `eq'.
7796 ** The function `delete' now also works with vectors and strings.
7798 ** The meaning of the `:weakness WEAK' argument of make-hash-table
7799 has been changed: WEAK can now have new values `key-or-value' and
7800 `key-and-value', in addition to `nil', `key', `value', and `t'.
7802 ** Function `aset' stores any multibyte character in any string
7803 without signaling "Attempt to change char length of a string". It may
7804 convert a unibyte string to multibyte if necessary.
7806 ** The value of the `help-echo' text property is called as a function
7807 or evaluated, if it is not a string already, to obtain a help string.
7809 ** Function `make-obsolete' now has an optional arg to say when the
7810 function was declared obsolete.
7812 ** Function `plist-member' is renamed from `widget-plist-member' (which is
7813 retained as an alias).
7815 ** Easy-menu's :filter now takes the unconverted form of the menu and
7816 the result is automatically converted to Emacs' form.
7818 ** The new function `window-list' has been defined
7820 - Function: window-list &optional FRAME WINDOW MINIBUF
7822 Return a list of windows on FRAME, starting with WINDOW. FRAME nil or
7823 omitted means use the selected frame. WINDOW nil or omitted means use
7824 the selected window. MINIBUF t means include the minibuffer window,
7825 even if it isn't active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means include the
7826 minibuffer window only if it's active. MINIBUF neither nil nor t
7827 means never include the minibuffer window.
7829 ** There's a new function `get-window-with-predicate' defined as follows
7831 - Function: get-window-with-predicate PREDICATE &optional MINIBUF ALL-FRAMES DEFAULT
7833 Return a window satisfying PREDICATE.
7835 This function cycles through all visible windows using `walk-windows',
7836 calling PREDICATE on each one. PREDICATE is called with a window as
7837 argument. The first window for which PREDICATE returns a non-nil
7838 value is returned. If no window satisfies PREDICATE, DEFAULT is
7841 Optional second arg MINIBUF t means count the minibuffer window even
7842 if not active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means count the minibuffer iff
7843 it is active. MINIBUF neither t nor nil means not to count the
7844 minibuffer even if it is active.
7846 Several frames may share a single minibuffer; if the minibuffer
7847 counts, all windows on all frames that share that minibuffer count
7848 too. Therefore, if you are using a separate minibuffer frame
7849 and the minibuffer is active and MINIBUF says it counts,
7850 `walk-windows' includes the windows in the frame from which you
7851 entered the minibuffer, as well as the minibuffer window.
7853 ALL-FRAMES is the optional third argument.
7854 ALL-FRAMES nil or omitted means cycle within the frames as specified above.
7855 ALL-FRAMES = `visible' means include windows on all visible frames.
7856 ALL-FRAMES = 0 means include windows on all visible and iconified frames.
7857 ALL-FRAMES = t means include windows on all frames including invisible frames.
7858 If ALL-FRAMES is a frame, it means include windows on that frame.
7859 Anything else means restrict to the selected frame.
7861 ** The function `single-key-description' now encloses function key and
7862 event names in angle brackets. When called with a second optional
7863 argument non-nil, angle brackets won't be printed.
7865 ** If the variable `message-truncate-lines' is bound to t around a
7866 call to `message', the echo area will not be resized to display that
7867 message; it will be truncated instead, as it was done in 20.x.
7868 Default value is nil.
7870 ** The user option `line-number-display-limit' can now be set to nil,
7873 ** The new user option `line-number-display-limit-width' controls
7874 the maximum width of lines in a buffer for which Emacs displays line
7875 numbers in the mode line. The default is 200.
7877 ** `select-safe-coding-system' now also checks the most preferred
7878 coding-system if buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and
7879 DEFAULT-CODING-SYSTEM is not specified,
7881 ** The function `subr-arity' provides information about the argument
7882 list of a primitive.
7884 ** `where-is-internal' now also accepts a list of keymaps.
7886 ** The text property `keymap' specifies a key map which overrides the
7887 buffer's local map and the map specified by the `local-map' property.
7888 This is probably what most current uses of `local-map' want, rather
7889 than replacing the local map.
7891 ** The obsolete variables `before-change-function' and
7892 `after-change-function' are no longer acted upon and have been
7893 removed. Use `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions'
7896 ** The function `apropos-mode' runs the hook `apropos-mode-hook'.
7898 ** `concat' no longer accepts individual integer arguments,
7899 as promised long ago.
7901 ** The new function `float-time' returns the current time as a float.
7903 ** The new variable auto-coding-regexp-alist specifies coding systems
7904 for reading specific files, analogous to auto-coding-alist, but
7905 patterns are checked against file contents instead of file names.
7908 * Lisp changes in Emacs 21.1 (see following page for display-related features)
7910 ** The new package rx.el provides an alternative sexp notation for
7911 regular expressions.
7913 - Function: rx-to-string SEXP
7915 Translate SEXP into a regular expression in string notation.
7919 Translate SEXP into a regular expression in string notation.
7921 The following are valid subforms of regular expressions in sexp
7925 matches string STRING literally.
7928 matches character CHAR literally.
7931 matches any character except a newline.
7934 matches any character
7937 matches any character in SET. SET may be a character or string.
7938 Ranges of characters can be specified as `A-Z' in strings.
7944 matches any character not in SET
7947 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of a line
7948 in the text being matched
7951 is similar to `line-start' but matches only at the end of a line
7954 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of the
7955 string being matched against.
7958 matches the empty string, but only at the end of the
7959 string being matched against.
7962 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of the
7963 buffer being matched against.
7966 matches the empty string, but only at the end of the
7967 buffer being matched against.
7970 matches the empty string, but only at point.
7973 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or end of a
7977 matches the empty string, but only at the end of a word.
7980 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or end of a
7983 `(not word-boundary)'
7984 matches the empty string, but not at the beginning or end of a
7988 matches 0 through 9.
7991 matches ASCII control characters.
7994 matches 0 through 9, a through f and A through F.
7997 matches space and tab only.
8000 matches graphic characters--everything except ASCII control chars,
8004 matches printing characters--everything except ASCII control chars
8008 matches letters and digits. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
8009 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
8012 matches letters. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
8013 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
8016 matches ASCII (unibyte) characters.
8019 matches non-ASCII (multibyte) characters.
8022 matches anything lower-case.
8025 matches anything upper-case.
8028 matches punctuation. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
8029 it matches anything that has non-word syntax.)
8032 matches anything that has whitespace syntax.
8035 matches anything that has word syntax.
8038 matches a character with syntax SYNTAX. SYNTAX must be one
8039 of the following symbols.
8041 `whitespace' (\\s- in string notation)
8042 `punctuation' (\\s.)
8045 `open-parenthesis' (\\s()
8046 `close-parenthesis' (\\s))
8047 `expression-prefix' (\\s')
8048 `string-quote' (\\s\")
8049 `paired-delimiter' (\\s$)
8051 `character-quote' (\\s/)
8052 `comment-start' (\\s<)
8053 `comment-end' (\\s>)
8055 `(not (syntax SYNTAX))'
8056 matches a character that has not syntax SYNTAX.
8058 `(category CATEGORY)'
8059 matches a character with category CATEGORY. CATEGORY must be
8060 either a character to use for C, or one of the following symbols.
8062 `consonant' (\\c0 in string notation)
8064 `upper-diacritical-mark' (\\c2)
8065 `lower-diacritical-mark' (\\c3)
8069 `vowel-modifying-diacritical-mark' (\\c7)
8071 `semivowel-lower' (\\c9)
8072 `not-at-end-of-line' (\\c<)
8073 `not-at-beginning-of-line' (\\c>)
8074 `alpha-numeric-two-byte' (\\cA)
8075 `chinse-two-byte' (\\cC)
8076 `greek-two-byte' (\\cG)
8077 `japanese-hiragana-two-byte' (\\cH)
8078 `indian-two-byte' (\\cI)
8079 `japanese-katakana-two-byte' (\\cK)
8080 `korean-hangul-two-byte' (\\cN)
8081 `cyrillic-two-byte' (\\cY)
8090 `japanese-katakana' (\\ck)
8094 `japanese-roman' (\\cr)
8101 `(not (category CATEGORY))'
8102 matches a character that has not category CATEGORY.
8104 `(and SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
8105 matches what SEXP1 matches, followed by what SEXP2 matches, etc.
8107 `(submatch SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
8108 like `and', but makes the match accessible with `match-end',
8109 `match-beginning', and `match-string'.
8111 `(group SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
8112 another name for `submatch'.
8114 `(or SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
8115 matches anything that matches SEXP1 or SEXP2, etc. If all
8116 args are strings, use `regexp-opt' to optimize the resulting
8119 `(minimal-match SEXP)'
8120 produce a non-greedy regexp for SEXP. Normally, regexps matching
8121 zero or more occurrences of something are \"greedy\" in that they
8122 match as much as they can, as long as the overall regexp can
8123 still match. A non-greedy regexp matches as little as possible.
8125 `(maximal-match SEXP)'
8126 produce a greedy regexp for SEXP. This is the default.
8128 `(zero-or-more SEXP)'
8129 matches zero or more occurrences of what SEXP matches.
8132 like `zero-or-more'.
8135 like `zero-or-more', but always produces a greedy regexp.
8138 like `zero-or-more', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
8140 `(one-or-more SEXP)'
8141 matches one or more occurrences of A.
8147 like `one-or-more', but always produces a greedy regexp.
8150 like `one-or-more', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
8152 `(zero-or-one SEXP)'
8153 matches zero or one occurrences of A.
8159 like `zero-or-one', but always produces a greedy regexp.
8162 like `zero-or-one', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
8165 matches N occurrences of what SEXP matches.
8168 matches N to M occurrences of what SEXP matches.
8171 evaluate FORM and insert result. If result is a string,
8175 include REGEXP in string notation in the result.
8177 *** The features `md5' and `overlay' are now provided by default.
8179 *** The special form `save-restriction' now works correctly even if the
8180 buffer is widened inside the save-restriction and changes made outside
8181 the original restriction. Previously, doing this would cause the saved
8182 restriction to be restored incorrectly.
8184 *** The functions `find-charset-region' and `find-charset-string' include
8185 `eight-bit-control' and/or `eight-bit-graphic' in the returned list
8186 when they find 8-bit characters. Previously, they included `ascii' in a
8187 multibyte buffer and `unknown' in a unibyte buffer.
8189 *** The functions `set-buffer-multibyte', `string-as-multibyte' and
8190 `string-as-unibyte' change the byte sequence of a buffer or a string
8191 if it contains a character from the `eight-bit-control' character set.
8193 *** The handling of multibyte sequences in a multibyte buffer is
8194 changed. Previously, a byte sequence matching the pattern
8195 [\200-\237][\240-\377]+ was interpreted as a single character
8196 regardless of the length of the trailing bytes [\240-\377]+. Thus, if
8197 the sequence was longer than what the leading byte indicated, the
8198 extra trailing bytes were ignored by Lisp functions. Now such extra
8199 bytes are independent 8-bit characters belonging to the charset
8202 ** Fontsets are now implemented using char-tables.
8204 A fontset can now be specified for each independent character, for
8205 a group of characters or for a character set rather than just for a
8206 character set as previously.
8208 *** The arguments of the function `set-fontset-font' are changed.
8209 They are NAME, CHARACTER, FONTNAME, and optional FRAME. The function
8210 modifies fontset NAME to use FONTNAME for CHARACTER.
8212 CHARACTER may be a cons (FROM . TO), where FROM and TO are non-generic
8213 characters. In that case FONTNAME is used for all characters in the
8214 range FROM and TO (inclusive). CHARACTER may be a charset. In that
8215 case FONTNAME is used for all character in the charset.
8217 FONTNAME may be a cons (FAMILY . REGISTRY), where FAMILY is the family
8218 name of a font and REGISTRY is a registry name of a font.
8220 *** Variable x-charset-registry has been deleted. The default charset
8221 registries of character sets are set in the default fontset
8224 *** The function `create-fontset-from-fontset-spec' ignores the second
8225 argument STYLE-VARIANT. It never creates style-variant fontsets.
8227 ** The method of composing characters is changed. Now character
8228 composition is done by a special text property `composition' in
8229 buffers and strings.
8231 *** Charset composition is deleted. Emacs never creates a `composite
8232 character' which is an independent character with a unique character
8233 code. Thus the following functions handling `composite characters'
8234 have been deleted: composite-char-component,
8235 composite-char-component-count, composite-char-composition-rule,
8236 composite-char-composition-rule and decompose-composite-char delete.
8237 The variables leading-code-composition and min-composite-char have
8240 *** Three more glyph reference points are added. They can be used to
8241 specify a composition rule. See the documentation of the variable
8242 `reference-point-alist' for more detail.
8244 *** The function `compose-region' takes new arguments COMPONENTS and
8245 MODIFICATION-FUNC. With COMPONENTS, you can specify not only a
8246 composition rule but also characters to be composed. Such characters
8247 may differ between buffer and string text.
8249 *** The function `compose-string' takes new arguments START, END,
8250 COMPONENTS, and MODIFICATION-FUNC.
8252 *** The function `compose-string' puts text property `composition'
8253 directly on the argument STRING instead of returning a new string.
8254 Likewise, the function `decompose-string' just removes text property
8255 `composition' from STRING.
8257 *** The new function `find-composition' returns information about
8258 a composition at a specified position in a buffer or a string.
8260 *** The function `decompose-composite-char' is now labeled as
8263 ** The new coding system `mac-roman' is primarily intended for use on
8264 the Macintosh but may be used generally for Macintosh-encoded text.
8266 ** The new character sets `mule-unicode-0100-24ff',
8267 `mule-unicode-2500-33ff', and `mule-unicode-e000-ffff' have been
8268 introduced for Unicode characters in the range U+0100..U+24FF,
8269 U+2500..U+33FF, U+E000..U+FFFF respectively.
8271 Note that the character sets are not yet unified in Emacs, so
8272 characters which belong to charsets such as Latin-2, Greek, Hebrew,
8273 etc. and the same characters in the `mule-unicode-*' charsets are
8274 different characters, as far as Emacs is concerned. For example, text
8275 which includes Unicode characters from the Latin-2 locale cannot be
8276 encoded by Emacs with ISO 8859-2 coding system.
8278 ** The new coding system `mule-utf-8' has been added.
8279 It provides limited support for decoding/encoding UTF-8 text. For
8280 details, please see the documentation string of this coding system.
8282 ** The new character sets `japanese-jisx0213-1' and
8283 `japanese-jisx0213-2' have been introduced for the new Japanese
8284 standard JIS X 0213 Plane 1 and Plane 2.
8286 ** The new character sets `latin-iso8859-14' and `latin-iso8859-15'
8287 have been introduced.
8289 ** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
8290 have been introduced for 8-bit characters in the ranges 0x80..0x9F and
8291 0xA0..0xFF respectively. Note that the multibyte representation of
8292 eight-bit-control is never exposed; this leads to an exception in the
8293 emacs-mule coding system, which encodes everything else to the
8294 buffer/string internal representation. Note that to search for
8295 eight-bit-graphic characters in a multibyte buffer, the search string
8296 must be multibyte, otherwise such characters will be converted to
8297 their multibyte equivalent.
8299 ** If the APPEND argument of `write-region' is an integer, it seeks to
8300 that offset in the file before writing.
8302 ** The function `add-minor-mode' has been added for convenience and
8303 compatibility with XEmacs (and is used internally by define-minor-mode).
8305 ** The function `shell-command' now sets the default directory of the
8306 `*Shell Command Output*' buffer to the default directory of the buffer
8307 from which the command was issued.
8309 ** The functions `query-replace', `query-replace-regexp',
8310 `query-replace-regexp-eval' `map-query-replace-regexp',
8311 `replace-string', `replace-regexp', and `perform-replace' take two
8312 additional optional arguments START and END that specify the region to
8315 ** The new function `count-screen-lines' is a more flexible alternative
8316 to `window-buffer-height'.
8318 - Function: count-screen-lines &optional BEG END COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE WINDOW
8320 Return the number of screen lines in the region between BEG and END.
8321 The number of screen lines may be different from the number of actual
8322 lines, due to line breaking, display table, etc.
8324 Optional arguments BEG and END default to `point-min' and `point-max'
8327 If region ends with a newline, ignore it unless optional third argument
8328 COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE is non-nil.
8330 The optional fourth argument WINDOW specifies the window used for
8331 obtaining parameters such as width, horizontal scrolling, and so
8332 on. The default is to use the selected window's parameters.
8334 Like `vertical-motion', `count-screen-lines' always uses the current
8335 buffer, regardless of which buffer is displayed in WINDOW. This makes
8336 possible to use `count-screen-lines' in any buffer, whether or not it
8337 is currently displayed in some window.
8339 ** The new function `mapc' is like `mapcar' but doesn't collect the
8340 argument function's results.
8342 ** The functions base64-decode-region and base64-decode-string now
8343 signal an error instead of returning nil if decoding fails. Also,
8344 `base64-decode-string' now always returns a unibyte string (in Emacs
8345 20, it returned a multibyte string when the result was a valid multibyte
8348 ** The function sendmail-user-agent-compose now recognizes a `body'
8349 header in the list of headers passed to it.
8351 ** The new function member-ignore-case works like `member', but
8352 ignores differences in case and text representation.
8354 ** The buffer-local variable cursor-type can be used to specify the
8355 cursor to use in windows displaying a buffer. Values are interpreted
8358 t use the cursor specified for the frame (default)
8359 nil don't display a cursor
8360 `bar' display a bar cursor with default width
8361 (bar . WIDTH) display a bar cursor with width WIDTH
8362 others display a box cursor.
8364 ** The variable open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start controls whether
8365 an open parenthesis in column 0 is considered to be the start of a
8366 defun. If set, the default, it is considered a defun start. If not
8367 set, an open parenthesis in column 0 has no special meaning.
8369 ** The new function `string-to-syntax' can be used to translate syntax
8370 specifications in string form as accepted by `modify-syntax-entry' to
8371 the cons-cell form that is used for the values of the `syntax-table'
8372 text property, and in `font-lock-syntactic-keywords'.
8376 (string-to-syntax "()")
8379 ** Emacs' reader supports CL read syntax for integers in bases
8382 *** `#BINTEGER' or `#bINTEGER' reads INTEGER in binary (radix 2).
8383 INTEGER optionally contains a sign.
8390 *** `#OINTEGER' or `#oINTEGER' reads INTEGER in octal (radix 8).
8395 *** `#XINTEGER' or `#xINTEGER' reads INTEGER in hexadecimal (radix 16).
8400 *** `#RADIXrINTEGER' reads INTEGER in radix RADIX, 2 <= RADIX <= 36.
8407 ** The function `documentation-property' now evaluates the value of
8408 the given property to obtain a string if it doesn't refer to etc/DOC
8411 ** If called for a symbol, the function `documentation' now looks for
8412 a `function-documentation' property of that symbol. If it has a non-nil
8413 value, the documentation is taken from that value. If the value is
8414 not a string, it is evaluated to obtain a string.
8416 ** The last argument of `define-key-after' defaults to t for convenience.
8418 ** The new function `replace-regexp-in-string' replaces all matches
8419 for a regexp in a string.
8421 ** `mouse-position' now runs the abnormal hook
8422 `mouse-position-function'.
8424 ** The function string-to-number now returns a float for numbers
8425 that don't fit into a Lisp integer.
8427 ** The variable keyword-symbols-constants-flag has been removed.
8428 Keywords are now always considered constants.
8430 ** The new function `delete-and-extract-region' deletes text and
8433 ** The function `clear-this-command-keys' now also clears the vector
8434 returned by function `recent-keys'.
8436 ** Variables `beginning-of-defun-function' and `end-of-defun-function'
8437 can be used to define handlers for the functions that find defuns.
8438 Major modes can define these locally instead of rebinding C-M-a
8439 etc. if the normal conventions for defuns are not appropriate for the
8442 ** easy-mmode-define-minor-mode now takes an additional BODY argument
8443 and is renamed `define-minor-mode'.
8445 ** If an abbrev has a hook function which is a symbol, and that symbol
8446 has a non-nil `no-self-insert' property, the return value of the hook
8447 function specifies whether an expansion has been done or not. If it
8448 returns nil, abbrev-expand also returns nil, meaning "no expansion has
8451 When abbrev expansion is done by typing a self-inserting character,
8452 and the abbrev has a hook with the `no-self-insert' property, and the
8453 hook function returns non-nil meaning expansion has been done,
8454 then the self-inserting character is not inserted.
8456 ** The function `intern-soft' now accepts a symbol as first argument.
8457 In this case, that exact symbol is looked up in the specified obarray,
8458 and the function's value is nil if it is not found.
8460 ** The new macro `with-syntax-table' can be used to evaluate forms
8461 with the syntax table of the current buffer temporarily set to a
8464 (with-syntax-table TABLE &rest BODY)
8466 Evaluate BODY with syntax table of current buffer set to a copy of
8467 TABLE. The current syntax table is saved, BODY is evaluated, and the
8468 saved table is restored, even in case of an abnormal exit. Value is
8471 ** Regular expressions now support intervals \{n,m\} as well as
8472 Perl's shy-groups \(?:...\) and non-greedy *? +? and ?? operators.
8473 Also back-references like \2 are now considered as an error if the
8474 corresponding subgroup does not exist (or is not closed yet).
8475 Previously it would have been silently turned into `2' (ignoring the `\').
8477 ** The optional argument BUFFER of function file-local-copy has been
8478 removed since it wasn't used by anything.
8480 ** The file name argument of function `file-locked-p' is now required
8481 instead of being optional.
8483 ** The new built-in error `text-read-only' is signaled when trying to
8484 modify read-only text.
8486 ** New functions and variables for locales.
8488 The new variable `locale-coding-system' specifies how to encode and
8489 decode strings passed to low-level message functions like strerror and
8490 time functions like strftime. The new variables
8491 `system-messages-locale' and `system-time-locale' give the system
8492 locales to be used when invoking these two types of functions.
8494 The new function `set-locale-environment' sets the language
8495 environment, preferred coding system, and locale coding system from
8496 the system locale as specified by the LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG
8497 environment variables. Normally, it is invoked during startup and need
8498 not be invoked thereafter. It uses the new variables
8499 `locale-language-names', `locale-charset-language-names', and
8500 `locale-preferred-coding-systems' to make its decisions.
8502 ** syntax tables now understand nested comments.
8503 To declare a comment syntax as allowing nesting, just add an `n'
8504 modifier to either of the characters of the comment end and the comment
8507 ** The function `pixmap-spec-p' has been renamed `bitmap-spec-p'
8508 because `bitmap' is more in line with the usual X terminology.
8510 ** New function `propertize'
8512 The new function `propertize' can be used to conveniently construct
8513 strings with text properties.
8515 - Function: propertize STRING &rest PROPERTIES
8517 Value is a copy of STRING with text properties assigned as specified
8518 by PROPERTIES. PROPERTIES is a sequence of pairs PROPERTY VALUE, with
8519 PROPERTY being the name of a text property and VALUE being the
8520 specified value of that property. Example:
8522 (propertize "foo" 'face 'bold 'read-only t)
8524 ** push and pop macros.
8526 Simple versions of the push and pop macros of Common Lisp
8527 are now defined in Emacs Lisp. These macros allow only symbols
8528 as the place that holds the list to be changed.
8530 (push NEWELT LISTNAME) add NEWELT to the front of LISTNAME's value.
8531 (pop LISTNAME) return first elt of LISTNAME, and remove it
8532 (thus altering the value of LISTNAME).
8534 ** New dolist and dotimes macros.
8536 Simple versions of the dolist and dotimes macros of Common Lisp
8537 are now defined in Emacs Lisp.
8539 (dolist (VAR LIST [RESULT]) BODY...)
8540 Execute body once for each element of LIST,
8541 using the variable VAR to hold the current element.
8542 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
8544 (dotimes (VAR COUNT [RESULT]) BODY...)
8545 Execute BODY with VAR bound to successive integers running from 0,
8546 inclusive, to COUNT, exclusive.
8547 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
8549 ** Regular expressions now support Posix character classes such as
8550 [:alpha:], [:space:] and so on. These must be used within a character
8551 class--for instance, [-[:digit:].+] matches digits or a period
8554 [:digit:] matches 0 through 9
8555 [:cntrl:] matches ASCII control characters
8556 [:xdigit:] matches 0 through 9, a through f and A through F.
8557 [:blank:] matches space and tab only
8558 [:graph:] matches graphic characters--everything except ASCII control chars,
8560 [:print:] matches printing characters--everything except ASCII control chars
8562 [:alnum:] matches letters and digits.
8563 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
8564 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
8565 [:alpha:] matches letters.
8566 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
8567 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
8568 [:ascii:] matches ASCII (unibyte) characters.
8569 [:nonascii:] matches non-ASCII (multibyte) characters.
8570 [:lower:] matches anything lower-case.
8571 [:punct:] matches punctuation.
8572 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
8573 it matches anything that has non-word syntax.)
8574 [:space:] matches anything that has whitespace syntax.
8575 [:upper:] matches anything upper-case.
8576 [:word:] matches anything that has word syntax.
8578 ** Emacs now has built-in hash tables.
8580 The following functions are defined for hash tables:
8582 - Function: make-hash-table ARGS
8584 The argument list ARGS consists of keyword/argument pairs. All arguments
8585 are optional. The following arguments are defined:
8589 TEST must be a symbol specifying how to compare keys. Default is `eql'.
8590 Predefined are `eq', `eql' and `equal'. If TEST is not predefined,
8591 it must have been defined with `define-hash-table-test'.
8595 SIZE must be an integer > 0 giving a hint to the implementation how
8596 many elements will be put in the hash table. Default size is 65.
8598 :rehash-size REHASH-SIZE
8600 REHASH-SIZE specifies by how much to grow a hash table once it becomes
8601 full. If REHASH-SIZE is an integer, add that to the hash table's old
8602 size to get the new size. Otherwise, REHASH-SIZE must be a float >
8603 1.0, and the new size is computed by multiplying REHASH-SIZE with the
8604 old size. Default rehash size is 1.5.
8606 :rehash-threshold THRESHOLD
8608 THRESHOLD must be a float > 0 and <= 1.0 specifying when to resize the
8609 hash table. It is resized when the ratio of (number of entries) /
8610 (size of hash table) is >= THRESHOLD. Default threshold is 0.8.
8614 WEAK must be either nil, one of the symbols `key, `value',
8615 `key-or-value', `key-and-value', or t, meaning the same as
8616 `key-and-value'. Entries are removed from weak tables during garbage
8617 collection if their key and/or value are not referenced elsewhere
8618 outside of the hash table. Default are non-weak hash tables.
8620 - Function: makehash &optional TEST
8622 Similar to make-hash-table, but only TEST can be specified.
8624 - Function: hash-table-p TABLE
8626 Returns non-nil if TABLE is a hash table object.
8628 - Function: copy-hash-table TABLE
8630 Returns a copy of TABLE. Only the table itself is copied, keys and
8633 - Function: hash-table-count TABLE
8635 Returns the number of entries in TABLE.
8637 - Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
8639 Returns the rehash size of TABLE.
8641 - Function: hash-table-rehash-threshold TABLE
8643 Returns the rehash threshold of TABLE.
8645 - Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
8647 Returns the size of TABLE.
8649 - Function: hash-table-test TABLE
8651 Returns the test TABLE uses to compare keys.
8653 - Function: hash-table-weakness TABLE
8655 Returns the weakness specified for TABLE.
8657 - Function: clrhash TABLE
8661 - Function: gethash KEY TABLE &optional DEFAULT
8663 Look up KEY in TABLE and return its associated VALUE or DEFAULT if
8666 - Function: puthash KEY VALUE TABLE
8668 Associate KEY with VALUE in TABLE. If KEY is already associated with
8669 another value, replace the old value with VALUE.
8671 - Function: remhash KEY TABLE
8673 Remove KEY from TABLE if it is there.
8675 - Function: maphash FUNCTION TABLE
8677 Call FUNCTION for all elements in TABLE. FUNCTION must take two
8678 arguments KEY and VALUE.
8680 - Function: sxhash OBJ
8682 Return a hash code for Lisp object OBJ.
8684 - Function: define-hash-table-test NAME TEST-FN HASH-FN
8686 Define a new hash table test named NAME. If NAME is specified as
8687 a test in `make-hash-table', the table created will use TEST-FN for
8688 comparing keys, and HASH-FN to compute hash codes for keys. Test
8689 and hash function are stored as symbol property `hash-table-test'
8690 of NAME with a value of (TEST-FN HASH-FN).
8692 TEST-FN must take two arguments and return non-nil if they are the same.
8694 HASH-FN must take one argument and return an integer that is the hash
8695 code of the argument. The function should use the whole range of
8696 integer values for hash code computation, including negative integers.
8698 Example: The following creates a hash table whose keys are supposed to
8699 be strings that are compared case-insensitively.
8701 (defun case-fold-string= (a b)
8702 (compare-strings a nil nil b nil nil t))
8704 (defun case-fold-string-hash (a)
8705 (sxhash (upcase a)))
8707 (define-hash-table-test 'case-fold 'case-fold-string=
8708 'case-fold-string-hash))
8710 (make-hash-table :test 'case-fold)
8712 ** The Lisp reader handles circular structure.
8714 It now works to use the #N= and #N# constructs to represent
8715 circular structures. For example, #1=(a . #1#) represents
8716 a cons cell which is its own cdr.
8718 ** The Lisp printer handles circular structure.
8720 If you bind print-circle to a non-nil value, the Lisp printer outputs
8721 #N= and #N# constructs to represent circular and shared structure.
8723 ** If the second argument to `move-to-column' is anything but nil or
8724 t, that means replace a tab with spaces if necessary to reach the
8725 specified column, but do not add spaces at the end of the line if it
8726 is too short to reach that column.
8728 ** perform-replace has a new feature: the REPLACEMENTS argument may
8729 now be a cons cell (FUNCTION . DATA). This means to call FUNCTION
8730 after each match to get the replacement text. FUNCTION is called with
8731 two arguments: DATA, and the number of replacements already made.
8733 If the FROM-STRING contains any upper-case letters,
8734 perform-replace also turns off `case-fold-search' temporarily
8735 and inserts the replacement text without altering case in it.
8737 ** The function buffer-size now accepts an optional argument
8738 to specify which buffer to return the size of.
8740 ** The calendar motion commands now run the normal hook
8741 calendar-move-hook after moving point.
8743 ** The new variable small-temporary-file-directory specifies a
8744 directory to use for creating temporary files that are likely to be
8745 small. (Certain Emacs features use this directory.) If
8746 small-temporary-file-directory is nil, they use
8747 temporary-file-directory instead.
8749 ** The variable `inhibit-modification-hooks', if non-nil, inhibits all
8750 the hooks that track changes in the buffer. This affects
8751 `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions', as well as
8752 hooks attached to text properties and overlay properties.
8754 ** assq-delete-all is a new function that deletes all the
8755 elements of an alist which have a car `eq' to a particular value.
8757 ** make-temp-file provides a more reliable way to create a temporary file.
8759 make-temp-file is used like make-temp-name, except that it actually
8760 creates the file before it returns. This prevents a timing error,
8761 ensuring that no other job can use the same name for a temporary file.
8763 ** New exclusive-open feature in `write-region'
8765 The optional seventh arg is now called MUSTBENEW. If non-nil, it insists
8766 on a check for an existing file with the same name. If MUSTBENEW
8767 is `excl', that means to get an error if the file already exists;
8768 never overwrite. If MUSTBENEW is neither nil nor `excl', that means
8769 ask for confirmation before overwriting, but do go ahead and
8770 overwrite the file if the user gives confirmation.
8772 If the MUSTBENEW argument in `write-region' is `excl',
8773 that means to use a special feature in the `open' system call
8774 to get an error if the file exists at that time.
8775 The error reported is `file-already-exists'.
8777 ** Function `format' now handles text properties.
8779 Text properties of the format string are applied to the result string.
8780 If the result string is longer than the format string, text properties
8781 ending at the end of the format string are extended to the end of the
8784 Text properties from string arguments are applied to the result
8785 string where arguments appear in the result string.
8789 (let ((s1 "hello, %s")
8791 (put-text-property 0 (length s1) 'face 'bold s1)
8792 (put-text-property 0 (length s2) 'face 'italic s2)
8795 results in a bold-face string with an italic `world' at the end.
8797 ** Messages can now be displayed with text properties.
8799 Text properties are handled as described above for function `format'.
8800 The following example displays a bold-face message with an italic
8803 (let ((msg "hello, %s!")
8805 (put-text-property 0 (length msg) 'face 'bold msg)
8806 (put-text-property 0 (length arg) 'face 'italic arg)
8811 Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and the free BSDs
8812 (Voxware driver and native BSD driver, aka as Luigi's driver).
8814 Currently supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio
8815 (*.au). You must configure Emacs with the option `--with-sound=yes'
8816 to enable sound support.
8818 Sound files can be played by calling (play-sound SOUND). SOUND is a
8819 list of the form `(sound PROPERTY...)'. The function is only defined
8820 when sound support is present for the system on which Emacs runs. The
8821 functions runs `play-sound-functions' with one argument which is the
8822 sound to play, before playing the sound.
8824 The following sound properties are supported:
8828 FILE is a file name. If FILE isn't an absolute name, it will be
8829 searched relative to `data-directory'.
8833 DATA is a string containing sound data. Either :file or :data
8834 may be present, but not both.
8838 VOLUME must be an integer in the range 0..100 or a float in the range
8839 0..1. This property is optional.
8843 DEVICE is a string specifying the system device on which to play the
8844 sound. The default device is system-dependent.
8846 Other properties are ignored.
8848 An alternative interface is called as
8849 (play-sound-file FILE &optional VOLUME DEVICE).
8851 ** `multimedia' is a new Finder keyword and Custom group.
8853 ** keywordp is a new predicate to test efficiently for an object being
8856 ** Changes to garbage collection
8858 *** The function garbage-collect now additionally returns the number
8859 of live and free strings.
8861 *** There is a new variable `strings-consed' holding the number of
8862 strings that have been consed so far.
8865 * Lisp-level Display features added after release 2.6 of the Emacs
8868 ** The user-option `resize-mini-windows' controls how Emacs resizes
8871 ** The function `pos-visible-in-window-p' now has a third optional
8872 argument, PARTIALLY. If a character is only partially visible, nil is
8873 returned, unless PARTIALLY is non-nil.
8875 ** On window systems, `glyph-table' is no longer used.
8877 ** Help strings in menu items are now used to provide `help-echo' text.
8879 ** The function `image-size' can be used to determine the size of an
8882 - Function: image-size SPEC &optional PIXELS FRAME
8884 Return the size of an image as a pair (WIDTH . HEIGHT).
8886 SPEC is an image specification. PIXELS non-nil means return sizes
8887 measured in pixels, otherwise return sizes measured in canonical
8888 character units (fractions of the width/height of the frame's default
8889 font). FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed.
8890 FRAME nil or omitted means use the selected frame.
8892 ** The function `image-mask-p' can be used to determine if an image
8895 - Function: image-mask-p SPEC &optional FRAME
8897 Return t if image SPEC has a mask bitmap.
8898 FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed. FRAME nil
8899 or omitted means use the selected frame.
8901 ** The function `find-image' can be used to find a usable image
8902 satisfying one of a list of specifications.
8904 ** The STRING argument of `put-image' and `insert-image' is now
8907 ** Image specifications may contain the property `:ascent center' (see
8911 * New Lisp-level Display features in Emacs 21.1
8913 ** The function tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors can be used
8914 to make Emacs avoid displaying text with bold black foreground on TTYs.
8916 Some terminals, notably PC consoles, emulate bold text by displaying
8917 text in brighter colors. On such a console, a bold black foreground
8918 is displayed in a gray color. If this turns out to be hard to read on
8919 your monitor---the problem occurred with the mode line on
8920 laptops---you can instruct Emacs to ignore the text's boldness, and to
8921 just display it black instead.
8923 This situation can't be detected automatically. You will have to put
8926 (tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors t)
8930 ** New face implementation.
8932 Emacs faces have been reimplemented from scratch. They don't use XLFD
8933 font names anymore and face merging now works as expected.
8937 Each face can specify the following display attributes:
8939 1. Font family or fontset alias name.
8941 2. Relative proportionate width, aka character set width or set
8942 width (swidth), e.g. `semi-compressed'.
8944 3. Font height in 1/10pt
8946 4. Font weight, e.g. `bold'.
8948 5. Font slant, e.g. `italic'.
8950 6. Foreground color.
8952 7. Background color.
8954 8. Whether or not characters should be underlined, and in what color.
8956 9. Whether or not characters should be displayed in inverse video.
8958 10. A background stipple, a bitmap.
8960 11. Whether or not characters should be overlined, and in what color.
8962 12. Whether or not characters should be strike-through, and in what
8965 13. Whether or not a box should be drawn around characters, its
8966 color, the width of the box lines, and 3D appearance.
8968 Faces are frame-local by nature because Emacs allows to define the
8969 same named face (face names are symbols) differently for different
8970 frames. Each frame has an alist of face definitions for all named
8971 faces. The value of a named face in such an alist is a Lisp vector
8972 with the symbol `face' in slot 0, and a slot for each of the face
8973 attributes mentioned above.
8975 There is also a global face alist `face-new-frame-defaults'. Face
8976 definitions from this list are used to initialize faces of newly
8979 A face doesn't have to specify all attributes. Those not specified
8980 have a nil value. Faces specifying all attributes are called
8985 The display style of a given character in the text is determined by
8986 combining several faces. This process is called `face merging'. Any
8987 aspect of the display style that isn't specified by overlays or text
8988 properties is taken from the `default' face. Since it is made sure
8989 that the default face is always fully-specified, face merging always
8990 results in a fully-specified face.
8992 *** Face realization.
8994 After all face attributes for a character have been determined by
8995 merging faces of that character, that face is `realized'. The
8996 realization process maps face attributes to what is physically
8997 available on the system where Emacs runs. The result is a `realized
8998 face' in form of an internal structure which is stored in the face
8999 cache of the frame on which it was realized.
9001 Face realization is done in the context of the charset of the
9002 character to display because different fonts and encodings are used
9003 for different charsets. In other words, for characters of different
9004 charsets, different realized faces are needed to display them.
9006 Except for composite characters, faces are always realized for a
9007 specific character set and contain a specific font, even if the face
9008 being realized specifies a fontset. The reason is that the result of
9009 the new font selection stage is better than what can be done with
9010 statically defined font name patterns in fontsets.
9012 In unibyte text, Emacs' charsets aren't applicable; function
9013 `char-charset' reports ASCII for all characters, including those >
9014 0x7f. The X registry and encoding of fonts to use is determined from
9015 the variable `face-default-registry' in this case. The variable is
9016 initialized at Emacs startup time from the font the user specified for
9019 Currently all unibyte text, i.e. all buffers with
9020 `enable-multibyte-characters' nil are displayed with fonts of the same
9021 registry and encoding `face-default-registry'. This is consistent
9022 with the fact that languages can also be set globally, only.
9024 **** Clearing face caches.
9026 The Lisp function `clear-face-cache' can be called to clear face caches
9027 on all frames. If called with a non-nil argument, it will also unload
9032 Font selection tries to find the best available matching font for a
9033 given (charset, face) combination. This is done slightly differently
9034 for faces specifying a fontset, or a font family name.
9036 If the face specifies a fontset name, that fontset determines a
9037 pattern for fonts of the given charset. If the face specifies a font
9038 family, a font pattern is constructed. Charset symbols have a
9039 property `x-charset-registry' for that purpose that maps a charset to
9040 an XLFD registry and encoding in the font pattern constructed.
9042 Available fonts on the system on which Emacs runs are then matched
9043 against the font pattern. The result of font selection is the best
9044 match for the given face attributes in this font list.
9046 Font selection can be influenced by the user.
9048 The user can specify the relative importance he gives the face
9049 attributes width, height, weight, and slant by setting
9050 face-font-selection-order (faces.el) to a list of face attribute
9051 names. The default is (:width :height :weight :slant), and means
9052 that font selection first tries to find a good match for the font
9053 width specified by a face, then---within fonts with that width---tries
9054 to find a best match for the specified font height, etc.
9056 Setting `face-font-family-alternatives' allows the user to specify
9057 alternative font families to try if a family specified by a face
9060 Setting `face-font-registry-alternatives' allows the user to specify
9061 all alternative font registry names to try for a face specifying a
9064 Please note that the interpretations of the above two variables are
9067 Setting face-ignored-fonts allows the user to ignore specific fonts.
9072 Emacs can make use of scalable fonts but doesn't do so by default,
9073 since the use of too many or too big scalable fonts may crash XFree86
9076 To enable scalable font use, set the variable
9077 `scalable-fonts-allowed'. A value of nil, the default, means never use
9078 scalable fonts. A value of t means any scalable font may be used.
9079 Otherwise, the value must be a list of regular expressions. A
9080 scalable font may then be used if it matches a regular expression from
9083 (setq scalable-fonts-allowed '("muleindian-2$"))
9085 allows the use of scalable fonts with registry `muleindian-2'.
9087 *** Functions and variables related to font selection.
9089 - Function: x-family-fonts &optional FAMILY FRAME
9091 Return a list of available fonts of family FAMILY on FRAME. If FAMILY
9092 is omitted or nil, list all families. Otherwise, FAMILY must be a
9093 string, possibly containing wildcards `?' and `*'.
9095 If FRAME is omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Each element of
9096 the result is a vector [FAMILY WIDTH POINT-SIZE WEIGHT SLANT FIXED-P
9097 FULL REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING]. FAMILY is the font family name.
9098 POINT-SIZE is the size of the font in 1/10 pt. WIDTH, WEIGHT, and
9099 SLANT are symbols describing the width, weight and slant of the font.
9100 These symbols are the same as for face attributes. FIXED-P is non-nil
9101 if the font is fixed-pitch. FULL is the full name of the font, and
9102 REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING is a string giving the registry and encoding of
9103 the font. The result list is sorted according to the current setting
9104 of the face font sort order.
9106 - Function: x-font-family-list
9108 Return a list of available font families on FRAME. If FRAME is
9109 omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Value is a list of conses
9110 (FAMILY . FIXED-P) where FAMILY is a font family, and FIXED-P is
9111 non-nil if fonts of that family are fixed-pitch.
9113 - Variable: font-list-limit
9115 Limit for font matching. If an integer > 0, font matching functions
9116 won't load more than that number of fonts when searching for a
9117 matching font. The default is currently 100.
9119 *** Setting face attributes.
9121 For the most part, the new face implementation is interface-compatible
9122 with the old one. Old face attribute related functions are now
9123 implemented in terms of the new functions `set-face-attribute' and
9126 Face attributes are identified by their names which are keyword
9127 symbols. All attributes can be set to `unspecified'.
9129 The following attributes are recognized:
9133 VALUE must be a string specifying the font family, e.g. ``courier'',
9134 or a fontset alias name. If a font family is specified, wild-cards `*'
9135 and `?' are allowed.
9139 VALUE specifies the relative proportionate width of the font to use.
9140 It must be one of the symbols `ultra-condensed', `extra-condensed',
9141 `condensed', `semi-condensed', `normal', `semi-expanded', `expanded',
9142 `extra-expanded', or `ultra-expanded'.
9146 VALUE must be either an integer specifying the height of the font to use
9147 in 1/10 pt, a floating point number specifying the amount by which to
9148 scale any underlying face, or a function, which is called with the old
9149 height (from the underlying face), and should return the new height.
9153 VALUE specifies the weight of the font to use. It must be one of the
9154 symbols `ultra-bold', `extra-bold', `bold', `semi-bold', `normal',
9155 `semi-light', `light', `extra-light', `ultra-light'.
9159 VALUE specifies the slant of the font to use. It must be one of the
9160 symbols `italic', `oblique', `normal', `reverse-italic', or
9163 `:foreground', `:background'
9165 VALUE must be a color name, a string.
9169 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be underlined. If
9170 VALUE is t, underline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is
9171 a string, underline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly
9176 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be overlined. If
9177 VALUE is t, overline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is a
9178 string, overline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't
9183 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be drawn with a line
9184 striking through them. If VALUE is t, use the foreground color of the
9185 face. If VALUE is a string, strike-through with that color. If VALUE
9186 is nil, explicitly don't strike through.
9190 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should have a box drawn
9191 around them. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't draw boxes. If
9192 VALUE is t, draw a box with lines of width 1 in the foreground color
9193 of the face. If VALUE is a string, the string must be a color name,
9194 and the box is drawn in that color with a line width of 1. Otherwise,
9195 VALUE must be a property list of the form `(:line-width WIDTH
9196 :color COLOR :style STYLE)'. If a keyword/value pair is missing from
9197 the property list, a default value will be used for the value, as
9198 specified below. WIDTH specifies the width of the lines to draw; it
9199 defaults to 1. COLOR is the name of the color to draw in, default is
9200 the foreground color of the face for simple boxes, and the background
9201 color of the face for 3D boxes. STYLE specifies whether a 3D box
9202 should be draw. If STYLE is `released-button', draw a box looking
9203 like a released 3D button. If STYLE is `pressed-button' draw a box
9204 that appears like a pressed button. If STYLE is nil, the default if
9205 the property list doesn't contain a style specification, draw a 2D
9210 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be displayed in
9211 inverse video. VALUE must be one of t or nil.
9215 If VALUE is a string, it must be the name of a file of pixmap data.
9216 The directories listed in the `x-bitmap-file-path' variable are
9217 searched. Alternatively, VALUE may be a list of the form (WIDTH
9218 HEIGHT DATA) where WIDTH and HEIGHT are the size in pixels, and DATA
9219 is a string containing the raw bits of the bitmap. VALUE nil means
9220 explicitly don't use a stipple pattern.
9222 For convenience, attributes `:family', `:width', `:height', `:weight',
9223 and `:slant' may also be set in one step from an X font name:
9227 Set font-related face attributes from VALUE. VALUE must be a valid
9228 XLFD font name. If it is a font name pattern, the first matching font
9229 is used--this is for compatibility with the behavior of previous
9232 For compatibility with Emacs 20, keywords `:bold' and `:italic' can
9233 be used to specify that a bold or italic font should be used. VALUE
9234 must be t or nil in that case. A value of `unspecified' is not allowed."
9236 Please see also the documentation of `set-face-attribute' and
9241 VALUE is the name of a face from which to inherit attributes, or a list
9242 of face names. Attributes from inherited faces are merged into the face
9243 like an underlying face would be, with higher priority than underlying faces.
9245 *** Face attributes and X resources
9247 The following X resource names can be used to set face attributes
9250 Face attribute X resource class
9251 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
9252 :family attributeFamily . Face.AttributeFamily
9253 :width attributeWidth Face.AttributeWidth
9254 :height attributeHeight Face.AttributeHeight
9255 :weight attributeWeight Face.AttributeWeight
9256 :slant attributeSlant Face.AttributeSlant
9257 foreground attributeForeground Face.AttributeForeground
9258 :background attributeBackground . Face.AttributeBackground
9259 :overline attributeOverline Face.AttributeOverline
9260 :strike-through attributeStrikeThrough Face.AttributeStrikeThrough
9261 :box attributeBox Face.AttributeBox
9262 :underline attributeUnderline Face.AttributeUnderline
9263 :inverse-video attributeInverse Face.AttributeInverse
9264 :stipple attributeStipple Face.AttributeStipple
9265 or attributeBackgroundPixmap
9266 Face.AttributeBackgroundPixmap
9267 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
9268 :bold attributeBold Face.AttributeBold
9269 :italic attributeItalic . Face.AttributeItalic
9270 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
9272 *** Text property `face'.
9274 The value of the `face' text property can now be a single face
9275 specification or a list of such specifications. Each face
9276 specification can be
9278 1. A symbol or string naming a Lisp face.
9280 2. A property list of the form (KEYWORD VALUE ...) where each
9281 KEYWORD is a face attribute name, and VALUE is an appropriate value
9282 for that attribute. Please see the doc string of `set-face-attribute'
9283 for face attribute names.
9285 3. Conses of the form (FOREGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) or
9286 (BACKGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) where COLOR is a color name. This is
9287 for compatibility with previous Emacs versions.
9289 ** Support functions for colors on text-only terminals.
9291 The function `tty-color-define' can be used to define colors for use
9292 on TTY and MSDOS frames. It maps a color name to a color number on
9293 the terminal. Emacs defines a couple of common color mappings by
9294 default. You can get defined colors with a call to
9295 `defined-colors'. The function `tty-color-clear' can be
9296 used to clear the mapping table.
9298 ** Unified support for colors independent of frame type.
9300 The new functions `defined-colors', `color-defined-p', `color-values',
9301 and `display-color-p' work for any type of frame. On frames whose
9302 type is neither x nor w32, these functions transparently map X-style
9303 color specifications to the closest colors supported by the frame
9304 display. Lisp programs should use these new functions instead of the
9305 old `x-defined-colors', `x-color-defined-p', `x-color-values', and
9306 `x-display-color-p'. (The old function names are still available for
9307 compatibility; they are now aliases of the new names.) Lisp programs
9308 should no more look at the value of the variable window-system to
9309 modify their color-related behavior.
9311 The primitives `color-gray-p' and `color-supported-p' also work for
9314 ** Platform-independent functions to describe display capabilities.
9316 The new functions `display-mouse-p', `display-popup-menus-p',
9317 `display-graphic-p', `display-selections-p', `display-screens',
9318 `display-pixel-width', `display-pixel-height', `display-mm-width',
9319 `display-mm-height', `display-backing-store', `display-save-under',
9320 `display-planes', `display-color-cells', `display-visual-class', and
9321 `display-grayscale-p' describe the basic capabilities of a particular
9322 display. Lisp programs should call these functions instead of testing
9323 the value of the variables `window-system' or `system-type', or calling
9324 platform-specific functions such as `x-display-pixel-width'.
9326 The new function `display-images-p' returns non-nil if a particular
9327 display can display image files.
9329 ** The minibuffer prompt is now actually inserted in the minibuffer.
9331 This makes it possible to scroll through the prompt, if you want to.
9332 To disallow this completely (like previous versions of emacs), customize
9333 the variable `minibuffer-prompt-properties', and turn on the
9334 `Inviolable' option.
9336 The function `minibuffer-prompt-end' returns the current position of the
9337 end of the minibuffer prompt, if the minibuffer is current.
9338 Otherwise, it returns `(point-min)'.
9340 ** New `field' abstraction in buffers.
9342 There is now code to support an abstraction called `fields' in emacs
9343 buffers. A field is a contiguous region of text with the same `field'
9344 property (which can be a text property or an overlay).
9346 Many emacs functions, such as forward-word, forward-sentence,
9347 forward-paragraph, beginning-of-line, etc., stop moving when they come
9348 to the boundary between fields; beginning-of-line and end-of-line will
9349 not let the point move past the field boundary, but other movement
9350 commands continue into the next field if repeated. Stopping at field
9351 boundaries can be suppressed programmatically by binding
9352 `inhibit-field-text-motion' to a non-nil value around calls to these
9355 Now that the minibuffer prompt is inserted into the minibuffer, it is in
9356 a separate field from the user-input part of the buffer, so that common
9357 editing commands treat the user's text separately from the prompt.
9359 The following functions are defined for operating on fields:
9361 - Function: constrain-to-field NEW-POS OLD-POS &optional ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE ONLY-IN-LINE INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY
9363 Return the position closest to NEW-POS that is in the same field as OLD-POS.
9365 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
9366 If NEW-POS is nil, then the current point is used instead, and set to the
9367 constrained position if that is different.
9369 If OLD-POS is at the boundary of two fields, then the allowable
9370 positions for NEW-POS depends on the value of the optional argument
9371 ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE: If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is nil, then NEW-POS is
9372 constrained to the field that has the same `field' char-property
9373 as any new characters inserted at OLD-POS, whereas if ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
9374 is non-nil, NEW-POS is constrained to the union of the two adjacent
9375 fields. Additionally, if two fields are separated by another field with
9376 the special value `boundary', then any point within this special field is
9377 also considered to be `on the boundary'.
9379 If the optional argument ONLY-IN-LINE is non-nil and constraining
9380 NEW-POS would move it to a different line, NEW-POS is returned
9381 unconstrained. This useful for commands that move by line, like
9382 C-n or C-a, which should generally respect field boundaries
9383 only in the case where they can still move to the right line.
9385 If the optional argument INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY is non-nil, and OLD-POS has
9386 a non-nil property of that name, then any field boundaries are ignored.
9388 Field boundaries are not noticed if `inhibit-field-text-motion' is non-nil.
9390 - Function: delete-field &optional POS
9392 Delete the field surrounding POS.
9393 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
9394 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9396 - Function: field-beginning &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
9398 Return the beginning of the field surrounding POS.
9399 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
9400 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9401 If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the beginning of its
9402 field, then the beginning of the *previous* field is returned.
9404 - Function: field-end &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
9406 Return the end of the field surrounding POS.
9407 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
9408 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9409 If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the end of its field,
9410 then the end of the *following* field is returned.
9412 - Function: field-string &optional POS
9414 Return the contents of the field surrounding POS as a string.
9415 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
9416 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9418 - Function: field-string-no-properties &optional POS
9420 Return the contents of the field around POS, without text-properties.
9421 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
9422 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9426 Emacs can now display images. Images are inserted into text by giving
9427 strings or buffer text a `display' text property containing one of
9428 (AREA IMAGE) or IMAGE. The display of the `display' property value
9429 replaces the display of the characters having that property.
9431 If the property value has the form (AREA IMAGE), AREA must be one of
9432 `(margin left-margin)', `(margin right-margin)' or `(margin nil)'. If
9433 AREA is `(margin nil)', IMAGE will be displayed in the text area of a
9434 window, otherwise it will be displayed in the left or right marginal
9437 IMAGE is an image specification.
9439 *** Image specifications
9441 Image specifications are lists of the form `(image PROPS)' where PROPS
9442 is a property list whose keys are keyword symbols. Each
9443 specifications must contain a property `:type TYPE' with TYPE being a
9444 symbol specifying the image type, e.g. `xbm'. Properties not
9445 described below are ignored.
9447 The following is a list of properties all image types share.
9451 ASCENT must be a number in the range 0..100, or the symbol `center'.
9452 If it is a number, it specifies the percentage of the image's height
9453 to use for its ascent.
9455 If not specified, ASCENT defaults to the value 50 which means that the
9456 image will be centered with the base line of the row it appears in.
9458 If ASCENT is `center' the image is vertically centered around a
9459 centerline which is the vertical center of text drawn at the position
9460 of the image, in the manner specified by the text properties and
9461 overlays that apply to the image.
9465 MARGIN must be either a number >= 0 specifying how many pixels to put
9466 as margin around the image, or a pair (X . Y) with X specifying the
9467 horizontal margin and Y specifying the vertical margin. Default is 0.
9471 RELIEF is analogous to the `:relief' attribute of faces. Puts a relief
9476 Apply an image algorithm to the image before displaying it.
9478 ALGO `laplace' or `emboss' means apply a Laplace or ``emboss''
9479 edge-detection algorithm to the image.
9481 ALGO `(edge-detection :matrix MATRIX :color-adjust ADJUST)' means
9482 apply a general edge-detection algorithm. MATRIX must be either a
9483 nine-element list or a nine-element vector of numbers. A pixel at
9484 position x/y in the transformed image is computed from original pixels
9485 around that position. MATRIX specifies, for each pixel in the
9486 neighborhood of x/y, a factor with which that pixel will influence the
9487 transformed pixel; element 0 specifies the factor for the pixel at
9488 x-1/y-1, element 1 the factor for the pixel at x/y-1 etc. as shown
9491 (x-1/y-1 x/y-1 x+1/y-1
9493 x-1/y+1 x/y+1 x+1/y+1)
9495 The resulting pixel is computed from the color intensity of the color
9496 resulting from summing up the RGB values of surrounding pixels,
9497 multiplied by the specified factors, and dividing that sum by the sum
9498 of the factors' absolute values.
9500 Laplace edge-detection currently uses a matrix of
9506 Emboss edge-detection uses a matrix of
9512 ALGO `disabled' means transform the image so that it looks
9517 If MASK is `heuristic' or `(heuristic BG)', build a clipping mask for
9518 the image, so that the background of a frame is visible behind the
9519 image. If BG is not specified, or if BG is t, determine the
9520 background color of the image by looking at the 4 corners of the
9521 image, assuming the most frequently occurring color from the corners is
9522 the background color of the image. Otherwise, BG must be a list `(RED
9523 GREEN BLUE)' specifying the color to assume for the background of the
9526 If MASK is nil, remove a mask from the image, if it has one. Images
9527 in some formats include a mask which can be removed by specifying
9532 Load image from FILE. If FILE is not absolute after expanding it,
9533 search for the image in `data-directory'. Some image types support
9534 building images from data. When this is done, no `:file' property
9535 may be present in the image specification.
9539 Get image data from DATA. (As of this writing, this is not yet
9540 supported for image type `postscript'). Either :file or :data may be
9541 present in an image specification, but not both. All image types
9542 support strings as DATA, some types allow additional types of DATA.
9544 *** Supported image types
9546 **** XBM, image type `xbm'.
9548 XBM images don't require an external library. Additional image
9549 properties supported are:
9553 FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color, or nil
9554 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's foreground color.
9558 BG must be a string specifying the image background color, or nil
9559 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's background color.
9561 XBM images can be constructed from data instead of file. In this
9562 case, the image specification must contain the following properties
9563 instead of a `:file' property.
9567 WIDTH specifies the width of the image in pixels.
9571 HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pixels.
9577 1. a string large enough to hold the bitmap data, i.e. it must
9578 have a size >= (WIDTH + 7) / 8 * HEIGHT
9580 2. a bool-vector of size >= WIDTH * HEIGHT
9582 3. a vector of strings or bool-vectors, one for each line of the
9585 4. a string that's an in-memory XBM file. Neither width nor
9586 height may be specified in this case because these are defined
9589 **** XPM, image type `xpm'
9591 XPM images require the external library `libXpm', package
9592 `xpm-3.4k.tar.gz', version 3.4k or later. Make sure the library is
9593 found when Emacs is configured by supplying appropriate paths via
9594 `--x-includes' and `--x-libraries'.
9596 Additional image properties supported are:
9598 `:color-symbols SYMBOLS'
9600 SYMBOLS must be a list of pairs (NAME . COLOR), with NAME being the
9601 name of color as it appears in an XPM file, and COLOR being an X color
9604 XPM images can be built from memory instead of files. In that case,
9605 add a `:data' property instead of a `:file' property.
9607 The XPM library uses libz in its implementation so that it is able
9608 to display compressed images.
9610 **** PBM, image type `pbm'
9612 PBM images don't require an external library. Color, gray-scale and
9613 mono images are supported. Additional image properties supported for
9618 FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color, or nil
9619 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's foreground color.
9623 BG must be a string specifying the image background color, or nil
9624 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's background color.
9626 **** JPEG, image type `jpeg'
9628 Support for JPEG images requires the external library `libjpeg',
9629 package `jpegsrc.v6a.tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
9632 **** TIFF, image type `tiff'
9634 Support for TIFF images requires the external library `libtiff',
9635 package `tiff-v3.4-tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
9638 **** GIF, image type `gif'
9640 Support for GIF images requires the external library `libungif', package
9641 `libungif-4.1.0', or later.
9643 Additional image properties supported are:
9647 INDEX must be an integer >= 0. Load image number INDEX from a
9648 multi-image GIF file. If INDEX is too large, the image displays
9651 This could be used to implement limited support for animated GIFs.
9652 For example, the following function displays a multi-image GIF file
9653 at point-min in the current buffer, switching between sub-images
9656 (defun show-anim (file max)
9657 "Display multi-image GIF file FILE which contains MAX subimages."
9658 (display-anim (current-buffer) file 0 max t))
9660 (defun display-anim (buffer file idx max first-time)
9663 (let ((img (create-image file nil nil :index idx)))
9666 (goto-char (point-min))
9667 (unless first-time (delete-char 1))
9668 (insert-image img "x"))
9669 (run-with-timer 0.1 nil 'display-anim buffer file (1+ idx) max nil)))
9671 **** PNG, image type `png'
9673 Support for PNG images requires the external library `libpng',
9674 package `libpng-1.0.2.tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
9677 **** Ghostscript, image type `postscript'.
9679 Additional image properties supported are:
9683 WIDTH is width of the image in pt (1/72 inch). WIDTH must be an
9684 integer. This is a required property.
9688 HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pt (1/72 inch). HEIGHT
9689 must be a integer. This is an required property.
9693 BOX must be a list or vector of 4 integers giving the bounding box of
9694 the PS image, analogous to the `BoundingBox' comment found in PS
9695 files. This is an required property.
9697 Part of the Ghostscript interface is implemented in Lisp. See
9702 The variable `image-types' contains a list of those image types
9703 which are supported in the current configuration.
9705 Images are stored in an image cache and removed from the cache when
9706 they haven't been displayed for `image-cache-eviction-delay seconds.
9707 The function `clear-image-cache' can be used to clear the image cache
9708 manually. Images in the cache are compared with `equal', i.e. all
9709 images with `equal' specifications share the same image.
9711 *** Simplified image API, image.el
9713 The new Lisp package image.el contains functions that simplify image
9714 creation and putting images into text. The function `create-image'
9715 can be used to create images. The macro `defimage' can be used to
9716 define an image based on available image types. The functions
9717 `put-image' and `insert-image' can be used to insert an image into a
9722 Windows can now have margins which are used for special text
9725 To give a window margins, either set the buffer-local variables
9726 `left-margin-width' and `right-margin-width', or call
9727 `set-window-margins'. The function `window-margins' can be used to
9728 obtain the current settings. To make `left-margin-width' and
9729 `right-margin-width' take effect, you must set them before displaying
9730 the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force an update
9731 of the display margins.
9733 You can put text in margins by giving it a `display' text property
9734 containing a pair of the form `(LOCATION . VALUE)', where LOCATION is
9735 one of `left-margin' or `right-margin' or nil. VALUE can be either a
9736 string, an image specification or a stretch specification (see later
9741 Emacs displays short help messages in the echo area, when the mouse
9742 moves over a tool-bar item or a piece of text that has a text property
9743 `help-echo'. This feature also applies to strings in the mode line
9744 that have a `help-echo' property.
9746 If the value of the `help-echo' property is a function, that function
9747 is called with three arguments WINDOW, OBJECT and POSITION. WINDOW is
9748 the window in which the help was found.
9750 If OBJECT is a buffer, POS is the position in the buffer where the
9751 `help-echo' text property was found.
9753 If OBJECT is an overlay, that overlay has a `help-echo' property, and
9754 POS is the position in the overlay's buffer under the mouse.
9756 If OBJECT is a string (an overlay string or a string displayed with
9757 the `display' property), POS is the position in that string under the
9760 If the value of the `help-echo' property is neither a function nor a
9761 string, it is evaluated to obtain a help string.
9763 For tool-bar and menu-bar items, their key definition is used to
9764 determine the help to display. If their definition contains a
9765 property `:help FORM', FORM is evaluated to determine the help string.
9766 For tool-bar items without a help form, the caption of the item is
9767 used as help string.
9769 The hook `show-help-function' can be set to a function that displays
9770 the help string differently. For example, enabling a tooltip window
9771 causes the help display to appear there instead of in the echo area.
9773 ** Vertical fractional scrolling.
9775 The display of text in windows can be scrolled smoothly in pixels.
9776 This is useful, for example, for making parts of large images visible.
9778 The function `window-vscroll' returns the current value of vertical
9779 scrolling, a non-negative fraction of the canonical character height.
9780 The function `set-window-vscroll' can be used to set the vertical
9781 scrolling value. Here is an example of how these function might be
9784 (global-set-key [A-down]
9787 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
9788 (+ 0.5 (window-vscroll)))))
9789 (global-set-key [A-up]
9792 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
9793 (- (window-vscroll) 0.5)))))
9795 ** New hook `fontification-functions'.
9797 Functions from `fontification-functions' are called from redisplay
9798 when it encounters a region of text that is not yet fontified. This
9799 variable automatically becomes buffer-local when set. Each function
9800 is called with one argument, POS.
9802 At least one of the hook functions should fontify one or more
9803 characters starting at POS in the current buffer. It should mark them
9804 as fontified by giving them a non-nil value of the `fontified' text
9805 property. It may be reasonable for these functions to check for the
9806 `fontified' property and not put it back on, but they do not have to.
9808 ** Tool bar support.
9810 Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. The frame
9811 parameter `tool-bar-lines' (X resource "toolBar", class "ToolBar")
9812 controls how may lines to reserve for the tool bar. A zero value
9813 suppresses the tool bar. If the value is non-zero and
9814 `auto-resize-tool-bars' is non-nil the tool bar's size will be changed
9815 automatically so that all tool bar items are visible.
9817 *** Tool bar item definitions
9819 Tool bar items are defined using `define-key' with a prefix-key
9820 `tool-bar'. For example `(define-key global-map [tool-bar item1] ITEM)'
9821 where ITEM is a list `(menu-item CAPTION BINDING PROPS...)'.
9823 CAPTION is the caption of the item, If it's not a string, it is
9824 evaluated to get a string. The caption is currently not displayed in
9825 the tool bar, but it is displayed if the item doesn't have a `:help'
9826 property (see below).
9828 BINDING is the tool bar item's binding. Tool bar items with keymaps as
9829 binding are currently ignored.
9831 The following properties are recognized:
9835 FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is enabled
9840 FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is displayed.
9844 FUNCTION is called with one parameter, the same list BINDING in which
9845 FUNCTION is specified as the filter. The value FUNCTION returns is
9846 used instead of BINDING to display this item.
9848 `:button (TYPE SELECTED)'
9850 TYPE must be one of `:radio' or `:toggle'. SELECTED is evaluated
9851 and specifies whether the button is selected (pressed) or not.
9855 IMAGES is either a single image specification or a vector of four
9856 image specifications. If it is a vector, this table lists the
9857 meaning of each of the four elements:
9859 Index Use when item is
9860 ----------------------------------------
9861 0 enabled and selected
9862 1 enabled and deselected
9863 2 disabled and selected
9864 3 disabled and deselected
9866 If IMAGE is a single image specification, a Laplace edge-detection
9867 algorithm is used on that image to draw the image in disabled state.
9869 `:help HELP-STRING'.
9871 Gives a help string to display for the tool bar item. This help
9872 is displayed when the mouse is moved over the item.
9874 The function `toolbar-add-item' is a convenience function for adding
9875 toolbar items generally, and `tool-bar-add-item-from-menu' can be used
9876 to define a toolbar item with a binding copied from an item on the
9879 The default bindings use a menu-item :filter to derive the tool-bar
9880 dynamically from variable `tool-bar-map' which may be set
9881 buffer-locally to override the global map.
9883 *** Tool-bar-related variables.
9885 If `auto-resize-tool-bar' is non-nil, the tool bar will automatically
9886 resize to show all defined tool bar items. It will never grow larger
9887 than 1/4 of the frame's size.
9889 If `auto-raise-tool-bar-buttons' is non-nil, tool bar buttons will be
9890 raised when the mouse moves over them.
9892 You can add extra space between tool bar items by setting
9893 `tool-bar-button-margin' to a positive integer specifying a number of
9894 pixels, or a pair of integers (X . Y) specifying horizontal and
9895 vertical margins . Default is 1.
9897 You can change the shadow thickness of tool bar buttons by setting
9898 `tool-bar-button-relief' to an integer. Default is 3.
9900 *** Tool-bar clicks with modifiers.
9902 You can bind commands to clicks with control, shift, meta etc. on
9905 (define-key global-map [tool-bar shell]
9906 '(menu-item "Shell" shell
9907 :image (image :type xpm :file "shell.xpm")))
9909 is the original tool bar item definition, then
9911 (define-key global-map [tool-bar S-shell] 'some-command)
9913 makes a binding to run `some-command' for a shifted click on the same
9916 ** Mode line changes.
9918 *** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
9920 The mode line can be made mouse-sensitive by displaying strings there
9921 that have a `local-map' text property. There are three ways to display
9922 a string with a `local-map' property in the mode line.
9924 1. The mode line spec contains a variable whose string value has
9925 a `local-map' text property.
9927 2. The mode line spec contains a format specifier (e.g. `%12b'), and
9928 that format specifier has a `local-map' property.
9930 3. The mode line spec contains a list containing `:eval FORM'. FORM
9931 is evaluated. If the result is a string, and that string has a
9932 `local-map' property.
9934 The same mechanism is used to determine the `face' and `help-echo'
9935 properties of strings in the mode line. See `bindings.el' for an
9938 *** If a mode line element has the form `(:eval FORM)', FORM is
9939 evaluated and the result is used as mode line element.
9941 *** You can suppress mode-line display by setting the buffer-local
9942 variable mode-line-format to nil.
9944 *** A headerline can now be displayed at the top of a window.
9946 This mode line's contents are controlled by the new variable
9947 `header-line-format' and `default-header-line-format' which are
9948 completely analogous to `mode-line-format' and
9949 `default-mode-line-format'. A value of nil means don't display a top
9952 The appearance of top mode lines is controlled by the face
9955 The function `coordinates-in-window-p' returns `header-line' for a
9956 position in the header-line.
9958 ** Text property `display'
9960 The `display' text property is used to insert images into text,
9961 replace text with other text, display text in marginal area, and it is
9962 also used to control other aspects of how text displays. The value of
9963 the `display' property should be a display specification, as described
9964 below, or a list or vector containing display specifications.
9966 *** Replacing text, displaying text in marginal areas
9968 To replace the text having the `display' property with some other
9969 text, use a display specification of the form `(LOCATION STRING)'.
9971 If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)', STRING is displayed in the left
9972 marginal area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in
9973 the right marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' STRING
9974 is displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
9975 simpler form STRING as property value.
9977 *** Variable width and height spaces
9979 To display a space of fractional width or height, use a display
9980 specification of the form `(LOCATION STRECH)'. If LOCATION is
9981 `(margin left-margin)', the space is displayed in the left marginal
9982 area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in the right
9983 marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the space is
9984 displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
9985 simpler form STRETCH as property value.
9987 The stretch specification STRETCH itself is a list of the form `(space
9988 PROPS)', where PROPS is a property list which can contain the
9989 properties described below.
9991 The display of the fractional space replaces the display of the
9992 characters having the `display' property.
9996 Specifies that the space width should be WIDTH times the normal
9997 character width. WIDTH can be an integer or floating point number.
9999 - :relative-width FACTOR
10001 Specifies that the width of the stretch should be computed from the
10002 first character in a group of consecutive characters that have the
10003 same `display' property. The computation is done by multiplying the
10004 width of that character by FACTOR.
10008 Specifies that the space should be wide enough to reach HPOS. The
10009 value HPOS is measured in units of the normal character width.
10011 Exactly one of the above properties should be used.
10015 Specifies the height of the space, as HEIGHT, measured in terms of the
10016 normal line height.
10018 - :relative-height FACTOR
10020 The height of the space is computed as the product of the height
10021 of the text having the `display' property and FACTOR.
10025 Specifies that ASCENT percent of the height of the stretch should be
10026 used for the ascent of the stretch, i.e. for the part above the
10027 baseline. The value of ASCENT must be a non-negative number less or
10030 You should not use both `:height' and `:relative-height' together.
10034 A display specification for an image has the form `(LOCATION
10035 . IMAGE)', where IMAGE is an image specification. The image replaces,
10036 in the display, the characters having this display specification in
10037 their `display' text property. If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)',
10038 the image will be displayed in the left marginal area, if it is
10039 `(margin right-margin)' it will be displayed in the right marginal
10040 area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the image will be displayed in
10041 the text. In the latter case you can also use the simpler form IMAGE
10042 as display specification.
10044 *** Other display properties
10046 - (space-width FACTOR)
10048 Specifies that space characters in the text having that property
10049 should be displayed FACTOR times as wide as normal; FACTOR must be an
10054 Display text having this property in a font that is smaller or larger.
10056 If HEIGHT is a list of the form `(+ N)', where N is an integer, that
10057 means to use a font that is N steps larger. If HEIGHT is a list of
10058 the form `(- N)', that means to use a font that is N steps smaller. A
10059 ``step'' is defined by the set of available fonts; each size for which
10060 a font is available counts as a step.
10062 If HEIGHT is a number, that means to use a font that is HEIGHT times
10063 as tall as the frame's default font.
10065 If HEIGHT is a symbol, it is called as a function with the current
10066 height as argument. The function should return the new height to use.
10068 Otherwise, HEIGHT is evaluated to get the new height, with the symbol
10069 `height' bound to the current specified font height.
10073 FACTOR must be a number, specifying a multiple of the current
10074 font's height. If it is positive, that means to display the characters
10075 raised. If it is negative, that means to display them lower down. The
10076 amount of raising or lowering is computed without taking account of the
10077 `height' subproperty.
10079 *** Conditional display properties
10081 All display specifications can be conditionalized. If a specification
10082 has the form `(when CONDITION . SPEC)', the specification SPEC applies
10083 only when CONDITION yields a non-nil value when evaluated. During the
10084 evaluation, `object' is bound to the string or buffer having the
10085 conditional display property; `position' and `buffer-position' are
10086 bound to the position within `object' and the buffer position where
10087 the display property was found, respectively. Both positions can be
10088 different when object is a string.
10090 The normal specification consisting of SPEC only is equivalent to
10093 ** New menu separator types.
10095 Emacs now supports more than one menu separator type. Menu items with
10096 item names consisting of dashes only (including zero dashes) are
10097 treated like before. In addition, the following item names are used
10098 to specify other menu separator types.
10100 - `--no-line' or `--space', or `--:space', or `--:noLine'
10102 No separator lines are drawn, but a small space is inserted where the
10105 - `--single-line' or `--:singleLine'
10107 A single line in the menu's foreground color.
10109 - `--double-line' or `--:doubleLine'
10111 A double line in the menu's foreground color.
10113 - `--single-dashed-line' or `--:singleDashedLine'
10115 A single dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
10117 - `--double-dashed-line' or `--:doubleDashedLine'
10119 A double dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
10121 - `--shadow-etched-in' or `--:shadowEtchedIn'
10123 A single line with 3D sunken appearance. This is the form
10124 displayed for item names consisting of dashes only.
10126 - `--shadow-etched-out' or `--:shadowEtchedOut'
10128 A single line with 3D raised appearance.
10130 - `--shadow-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedInDash'
10132 A single dashed line with 3D sunken appearance.
10134 - `--shadow-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedOutDash'
10136 A single dashed line with 3D raise appearance.
10138 - `--shadow-double-etched-in' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedIn'
10140 Two lines with 3D sunken appearance.
10142 - `--shadow-double-etched-out' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOut'
10144 Two lines with 3D raised appearance.
10146 - `--shadow-double-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedInDash'
10148 Two dashed lines with 3D sunken appearance.
10150 - `--shadow-double-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOutDash'
10152 Two dashed lines with 3D raised appearance.
10154 Under LessTif/Motif, the last four separator types are displayed like
10155 the corresponding single-line separators.
10157 ** New frame parameters for scroll bar colors.
10159 The new frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
10160 `scroll-bar-background' can be used to change scroll bar colors.
10161 Their value must be either a color name, a string, or nil to specify
10162 that scroll bars should use a default color. For toolkit scroll bars,
10163 default colors are toolkit specific. For non-toolkit scroll bars, the
10164 default background is the background color of the frame, and the
10165 default foreground is black.
10167 The X resource name of these parameters are `scrollBarForeground'
10168 (class ScrollBarForeground) and `scrollBarBackground' (class
10169 `ScrollBarBackground').
10171 Setting these parameters overrides toolkit specific X resource
10172 settings for scroll bar colors.
10174 ** You can set `redisplay-dont-pause' to a non-nil value to prevent
10175 display updates from being interrupted when input is pending.
10177 ** Changing a window's width may now change its window start if it
10178 starts on a continuation line. The new window start is computed based
10179 on the window's new width, starting from the start of the continued
10180 line as the start of the screen line with the minimum distance from
10181 the original window start.
10183 ** The variable `hscroll-step' and the functions
10184 `hscroll-point-visible' and `hscroll-window-column' have been removed
10185 now that proper horizontal scrolling is implemented.
10187 ** Windows can now be made fixed-width and/or fixed-height.
10189 A window is fixed-size if its buffer has a buffer-local variable
10190 `window-size-fixed' whose value is not nil. A value of `height' makes
10191 windows fixed-height, a value of `width' makes them fixed-width, any
10192 other non-nil value makes them both fixed-width and fixed-height.
10194 The following code makes all windows displaying the current buffer
10195 fixed-width and fixed-height.
10197 (set (make-local-variable 'window-size-fixed) t)
10199 A call to enlarge-window on a window gives an error if that window is
10200 fixed-width and it is tried to change the window's width, or if the
10201 window is fixed-height, and it is tried to change its height. To
10202 change the size of a fixed-size window, bind `window-size-fixed'
10203 temporarily to nil, for example
10205 (let ((window-size-fixed nil))
10206 (enlarge-window 10))
10208 Likewise, an attempt to split a fixed-height window vertically,
10209 or a fixed-width window horizontally results in a error.
10211 ** The cursor-type frame parameter is now supported on MS-DOS
10212 terminals. When Emacs starts, it by default changes the cursor shape
10213 to a solid box, as it does on Unix. The `cursor-type' frame parameter
10214 overrides this as it does on Unix, except that the bar cursor is
10215 horizontal rather than vertical (since the MS-DOS display doesn't
10216 support a vertical-bar cursor).
10220 * Emacs 20.7 is a bug-fix release with few user-visible changes
10222 ** It is now possible to use CCL-based coding systems for keyboard
10225 ** ange-ftp now handles FTP security extensions, like Kerberos.
10227 ** Rmail has been extended to recognize more forms of digest messages.
10229 ** Now, most coding systems set in keyboard coding system work not
10230 only for character input, but also in incremental search. The
10231 exceptions are such coding systems that handle 2-byte character sets
10232 (e.g euc-kr, euc-jp) and that use ISO's escape sequence
10233 (e.g. iso-2022-jp). They are ignored in incremental search.
10235 ** Support for Macintosh PowerPC-based machines running GNU/Linux has
10239 * Emacs 20.6 is a bug-fix release with one user-visible change
10241 ** Support for ARM-based non-RISCiX machines has been added.
10245 * Emacs 20.5 is a bug-fix release with no user-visible changes.
10247 ** Not new, but not mentioned before:
10248 M-w when Transient Mark mode is enabled disables the mark.
10250 * Changes in Emacs 20.4
10252 ** Init file may be called .emacs.el.
10254 You can now call the Emacs init file `.emacs.el'.
10255 Formerly the name had to be `.emacs'. If you use the name
10256 `.emacs.el', you can byte-compile the file in the usual way.
10258 If both `.emacs' and `.emacs.el' exist, the latter file
10259 is the one that is used.
10261 ** shell-command, and shell-command-on-region, now return
10262 the exit code of the command (unless it is asynchronous).
10263 Also, you can specify a place to put the error output,
10264 separate from the command's regular output.
10265 Interactively, the variable shell-command-default-error-buffer
10266 says where to put error output; set it to a buffer name.
10267 In calls from Lisp, an optional argument ERROR-BUFFER specifies
10270 When you specify a non-nil error buffer (or buffer name), any error
10271 output is inserted before point in that buffer, with \f\n to separate
10272 it from the previous batch of error output. The error buffer is not
10273 cleared, so error output from successive commands accumulates there.
10275 ** Setting the default value of enable-multibyte-characters to nil in
10276 the .emacs file, either explicitly using setq-default, or via Custom,
10277 is now essentially equivalent to using --unibyte: all buffers
10278 created during startup will be made unibyte after loading .emacs.
10280 ** C-x C-f now handles the wildcards * and ? in file names. For
10281 example, typing C-x C-f c*.c RET visits all the files whose names
10282 match c*.c. To visit a file whose name contains * or ?, add the
10283 quoting sequence /: to the beginning of the file name.
10285 ** The M-x commands keep-lines, flush-lines and count-matches
10286 now have the same feature as occur and query-replace:
10287 if the pattern contains any upper case letters, then
10288 they never ignore case.
10290 ** The end-of-line format conversion feature previously mentioned
10291 under `* Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows' actually
10292 applies to all operating systems. Emacs recognizes from the contents
10293 of a file what convention it uses to separate lines--newline, CRLF, or
10294 just CR--and automatically converts the contents to the normal Emacs
10295 convention (using newline to separate lines) for editing. This is a
10296 part of the general feature of coding system conversion.
10298 If you subsequently save the buffer, Emacs converts the text back to
10299 the same format that was used in the file before.
10301 You can turn off end-of-line conversion by setting the variable
10302 `inhibit-eol-conversion' to non-nil, e.g. with Custom in the MULE group.
10304 ** The character set property `prefered-coding-system' has been
10305 renamed to `preferred-coding-system', for the sake of correct spelling.
10306 This is a fairly internal feature, so few programs should be affected.
10308 ** Mode-line display of end-of-line format is changed.
10309 The indication of the end-of-line format of the file visited by a
10310 buffer is now more explicit when that format is not the usual one for
10311 your operating system. For example, the DOS-style end-of-line format
10312 is displayed as "(DOS)" on Unix and GNU/Linux systems. The usual
10313 end-of-line format is still displayed as a single character (colon for
10314 Unix, backslash for DOS and Windows, and forward slash for the Mac).
10316 The values of the variables eol-mnemonic-unix, eol-mnemonic-dos,
10317 eol-mnemonic-mac, and eol-mnemonic-undecided, which are strings,
10318 control what is displayed in the mode line for each end-of-line
10319 format. You can now customize these variables.
10321 ** In the previous version of Emacs, tar-mode didn't work well if a
10322 filename contained non-ASCII characters. Now this is fixed. Such a
10323 filename is decoded by file-name-coding-system if the default value of
10324 enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil.
10326 ** The command temp-buffer-resize-mode toggles a minor mode
10327 in which temporary buffers (such as help buffers) are given
10328 windows just big enough to hold the whole contents.
10330 ** If you use completion.el, you must now run the function
10331 dynamic-completion-mode to enable it. Just loading the file
10332 doesn't have any effect.
10334 ** In Flyspell mode, the default is now to make just one Ispell process,
10335 not one per buffer.
10337 ** If you use iswitchb but do not call (iswitchb-default-keybindings) to
10338 use the default keybindings, you will need to add the following line:
10339 (add-hook 'minibuffer-setup-hook 'iswitchb-minibuffer-setup)
10341 ** Auto-show mode is no longer enabled just by loading auto-show.el.
10342 To control it, set `auto-show-mode' via Custom or use the
10343 `auto-show-mode' command.
10345 ** Handling of X fonts' ascent/descent parameters has been changed to
10346 avoid redisplay problems. As a consequence, compared with previous
10347 versions the line spacing and frame size now differ with some font
10348 choices, typically increasing by a pixel per line. This change
10349 occurred in version 20.3 but was not documented then.
10351 ** If you select the bar cursor style, it uses the frame's
10352 cursor-color, rather than the cursor foreground pixel.
10354 ** In multibyte mode, Rmail decodes incoming MIME messages using the
10355 character set specified in the message. If you want to disable this
10356 feature, set the variable rmail-decode-mime-charset to nil.
10358 ** Not new, but not mentioned previously in NEWS: when you use #! at
10359 the beginning of a file to make it executable and specify an
10360 interpreter program, Emacs looks on the second line for the -*- mode
10361 and variable specification, as well as on the first line.
10363 ** Support for IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters.
10365 The new command M-x codepage-setup creates a special coding system
10366 that can be used to convert text between a specific IBM codepage and
10367 one of the character sets built into Emacs which matches that
10368 codepage. For example, codepage 850 corresponds to Latin-1 character
10369 set, codepage 855 corresponds to Cyrillic-ISO character set, etc.
10371 Windows codepages 1250, 1251 and some others, where Windows deviates
10372 from the corresponding ISO character set, are also supported.
10374 IBM box-drawing characters and other glyphs which don't have
10375 equivalents in the corresponding ISO character set, are converted to
10376 a character defined by dos-unsupported-char-glyph on MS-DOS, and to
10377 `?' on other systems.
10379 IBM codepages are widely used on MS-DOS and MS-Windows, so this
10380 feature is most useful on those platforms, but it can also be used on
10383 Emacs compiled for MS-DOS automatically loads the support for the
10384 current codepage when it starts.
10388 *** When mail is sent using compose-mail (C-x m), and if
10389 `mail-send-nonascii' is set to the new default value `mime',
10390 appropriate MIME headers are added. The headers are added only if
10391 non-ASCII characters are present in the body of the mail, and no other
10392 MIME headers are already present. For example, the following three
10393 headers are added if the coding system used in the *mail* buffer is
10397 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
10398 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
10400 *** The new variable default-sendmail-coding-system specifies the
10401 default way to encode outgoing mail. This has higher priority than
10402 default-buffer-file-coding-system but has lower priority than
10403 sendmail-coding-system and the local value of
10404 buffer-file-coding-system.
10406 You should not set this variable manually. Instead, set
10407 sendmail-coding-system to specify a fixed encoding for all outgoing
10410 *** When you try to send a message that contains non-ASCII characters,
10411 if the coding system specified by those variables doesn't handle them,
10412 Emacs will ask you to select a suitable coding system while showing a
10413 list of possible coding systems.
10417 *** c-default-style can now take an association list that maps major
10418 modes to style names. When this variable is an alist, Java mode no
10419 longer hardcodes a setting to "java" style. See the variable's
10420 docstring for details.
10422 *** It's now possible to put a list as the offset on a syntactic
10423 symbol. The list is evaluated recursively until a non-nil offset is
10424 found. This is useful to combine several lineup functions to act in a
10425 prioritized order on a single line. However, none of the supplied
10426 lineup functions use this feature currently.
10428 *** New syntactic symbol catch-clause, which is used on the "catch" and
10429 "finally" lines in try-catch constructs in C++ and Java.
10431 *** New cleanup brace-catch-brace on c-cleanup-list, which does for
10432 "catch" lines what brace-elseif-brace does for "else if" lines.
10434 *** The braces of Java anonymous inner classes are treated separately
10435 from the braces of other classes in auto-newline mode. Two new
10436 symbols inexpr-class-open and inexpr-class-close may be used on
10437 c-hanging-braces-alist to control the automatic newlines used for
10440 *** Support for the Pike language added, along with new Pike specific
10441 syntactic symbols: inlambda, lambda-intro-cont
10443 *** Support for Java anonymous classes via new syntactic symbol
10444 inexpr-class. New syntactic symbol inexpr-statement for Pike
10445 support and gcc-style statements inside expressions. New lineup
10446 function c-lineup-inexpr-block.
10448 *** New syntactic symbol brace-entry-open which is used in brace lists
10449 (i.e. static initializers) when a list entry starts with an open
10450 brace. These used to be recognized as brace-list-entry's.
10451 c-electric-brace also recognizes brace-entry-open braces
10452 (brace-list-entry's can no longer be electrified).
10454 *** New command c-indent-line-or-region, not bound by default.
10456 *** `#' is only electric when typed in the indentation of a line.
10458 *** Parentheses are now electric (via the new command c-electric-paren)
10459 for auto-reindenting lines when parens are typed.
10461 *** In "gnu" style, inline-open offset is now set to zero.
10463 *** Uniform handling of the inclass syntactic symbol. The indentation
10464 associated with it is now always relative to the class opening brace.
10465 This means that the indentation behavior has changed in some
10466 circumstances, but only if you've put anything besides 0 on the
10467 class-open syntactic symbol (none of the default styles do that).
10471 *** New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
10472 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See the
10473 Gnus manual for the full story.
10475 *** The nndraft backend has returned, but works differently than
10476 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the nndraft
10477 group, which is created automatically.
10479 *** `gnus-alter-header-function' can now be used to alter header
10482 *** `gnus-summary-goto-article' now accept Message-ID's.
10484 *** A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
10485 outside the region: `C-c C-v'.
10487 *** You can now post to component group in nnvirtual groups with
10490 *** `nntp-rlogin-program' -- new variable to ease customization.
10492 *** `C-u C-c C-c' in `gnus-article-edit-mode' will now inhibit
10493 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
10495 *** New element in `gnus-boring-article-headers' -- `long-to'.
10497 *** `M-i' symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
10498 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
10500 *** `L' and `I' in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
10501 `a' to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
10503 *** `gnus-simplify-subject-functions' variable to allow greater
10504 control over simplification.
10506 *** `A T' -- new command for fetching the current thread.
10508 *** `/ T' -- new command for including the current thread in the
10511 *** `M-RET' is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
10513 *** \\1-expressions are now valid in `nnmail-split-methods'.
10515 *** The `custom-face-lookup' function has been removed.
10516 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
10517 rewrite them to use `face-spec-set' instead.
10519 *** Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
10520 `a' forces normal posting method.
10522 *** New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper text
10525 *** For easier debugging of nntp, you can set `nntp-record-commands'
10526 to a non-nil value.
10528 *** nntp now uses ~/.authinfo, a .netrc-like file, for controlling
10529 where and how to send AUTHINFO to NNTP servers.
10531 *** A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
10534 *** A history of where mails have been split is available.
10536 *** A new article date command has been added -- `article-date-iso8601'.
10538 *** Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
10539 `gnus-score-thread-simplify'.
10541 *** A new function for citing in Message has been added --
10542 `message-cite-original-without-signature'.
10544 *** `article-strip-all-blank-lines' -- new article command.
10546 *** A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
10549 *** A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
10550 `gnus-adaptive-word-minimum' variable.
10552 *** The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
10553 updated by the `gnus-start-date-timer' command.
10555 *** Web listserv archives can be read with the nnlistserv backend.
10557 *** Old dejanews archives can now be read by nnweb.
10559 *** `gnus-posting-styles' has been re-activated.
10561 ** Changes to TeX and LaTeX mode
10563 *** The new variable `tex-start-options-string' can be used to give
10564 options for the TeX run. The default value causes TeX to run in
10565 nonstopmode. For an interactive TeX run set it to nil or "".
10567 *** The command `tex-feed-input' sends input to the Tex Shell. In a
10568 TeX buffer it is bound to the keys C-RET, C-c RET, and C-c C-m (some
10569 of these keys may not work on all systems). For instance, if you run
10570 TeX interactively and if the TeX run stops because of an error, you
10571 can continue it without leaving the TeX buffer by typing C-RET.
10573 *** The Tex Shell Buffer is now in `compilation-shell-minor-mode'.
10574 All error-parsing commands of the Compilation major mode are available
10575 but bound to keys that don't collide with the shell. Thus you can use
10576 the Tex Shell for command line executions like a usual shell.
10578 *** The commands `tex-validate-region' and `tex-validate-buffer' check
10579 the matching of braces and $'s. The errors are listed in a *Occur*
10580 buffer and you can use C-c C-c or mouse-2 to go to a particular
10583 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
10585 *** The table of contents buffer can now also display labels and
10586 file boundaries in addition to sections. Use `l', `i', and `c' keys.
10588 *** Labels derived from context (the section heading) are now
10589 lowercase by default. To make the label legal in LaTeX, latin-1
10590 characters will lose their accent. All Mule characters will be
10591 removed from the label.
10593 *** The automatic display of cross reference information can also use
10594 a window instead of the echo area. See variable `reftex-auto-view-crossref'.
10596 *** kpsewhich can be used by RefTeX to find TeX and BibTeX files. See the
10597 customization group `reftex-finding-files'.
10599 *** The option `reftex-bibfile-ignore-list' has been renamed to
10600 `reftex-bibfile-ignore-regexps' and indeed can be fed with regular
10603 *** Multiple Selection buffers are now hidden buffers.
10605 ** New/deleted modes and packages
10607 *** The package snmp-mode.el provides major modes for editing SNMP and
10608 SNMPv2 MIBs. It has entries on `auto-mode-alist'.
10610 *** The package sql.el provides a major mode, M-x sql-mode, for
10611 editing SQL files, and M-x sql-interactive-mode for interacting with
10612 SQL interpreters. It has an entry on `auto-mode-alist'.
10614 *** M-x highlight-changes-mode provides a minor mode displaying buffer
10615 changes with a special face.
10617 *** ispell4.el has been deleted. It got in the way of ispell.el and
10618 this was hard to fix reliably. It has long been obsolete -- use
10619 Ispell 3.1 and ispell.el.
10621 * MS-DOS changes in Emacs 20.4
10623 ** Emacs compiled for MS-DOS now supports MULE features better.
10624 This includes support for display of all ISO 8859-N character sets,
10625 conversion to and from IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters,
10626 and automatic setup of the MULE environment at startup. For details,
10627 check out the section `MS-DOS and MULE' in the manual.
10629 The MS-DOS installation procedure automatically configures and builds
10630 Emacs with input method support if it finds an unpacked Leim
10631 distribution when the config.bat script is run.
10633 ** Formerly, the value of lpr-command did not affect printing on
10634 MS-DOS unless print-region-function was set to nil, but now it
10635 controls whether an external program is invoked or output is written
10636 directly to a printer port. Similarly, in the previous version of
10637 Emacs, the value of ps-lpr-command did not affect PostScript printing
10638 on MS-DOS unless ps-printer-name was set to something other than a
10639 string (eg. t or `pipe'), but now it controls whether an external
10640 program is used. (These changes were made so that configuration of
10641 printing variables would be almost identical across all platforms.)
10643 ** In the previous version of Emacs, PostScript and non-PostScript
10644 output was piped to external programs, but because most print programs
10645 available for MS-DOS and MS-Windows cannot read data from their standard
10646 input, on those systems the data to be output is now written to a
10647 temporary file whose name is passed as the last argument to the external
10650 An exception is made for `print', a standard program on Windows NT,
10651 and `nprint', a standard program on Novell Netware. For both of these
10652 programs, the command line is constructed in the appropriate syntax
10653 automatically, using only the value of printer-name or ps-printer-name
10654 as appropriate--the value of the relevant `-switches' variable is
10655 ignored, as both programs have no useful switches.
10657 ** The value of the variable dos-printer (cf. dos-ps-printer), if it has
10658 a value, overrides the value of printer-name (cf. ps-printer-name), on
10659 MS-DOS and MS-Windows only. This has been true since version 20.3, but
10660 was not documented clearly before.
10662 ** All the Emacs games now work on MS-DOS terminals.
10663 This includes Tetris and Snake.
10665 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.4
10667 ** New functions line-beginning-position and line-end-position
10668 return the position of the beginning or end of the current line.
10669 They both accept an optional argument, which has the same
10670 meaning as the argument to beginning-of-line or end-of-line.
10672 ** find-file and allied functions now have an optional argument
10673 WILDCARD. If this is non-nil, they do wildcard processing,
10674 and visit all files that match the wildcard pattern.
10676 ** Changes in the file-attributes function.
10678 *** The file size returned by file-attributes may be an integer or a float.
10679 It is an integer if the size fits in a Lisp integer, float otherwise.
10681 *** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
10682 the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a cons cell containing two
10685 ** The new function directory-files-and-attributes returns a list of
10686 files in a directory and their attributes. It accepts the same
10687 arguments as directory-files and has similar semantics, except that
10688 file names and attributes are returned.
10690 ** The new function file-attributes-lessp is a helper function for
10691 sorting the list generated by directory-files-and-attributes. It
10692 accepts two arguments, each a list of a file name and its attributes.
10693 It compares the file names of each according to string-lessp and
10694 returns the result.
10696 ** The new function file-expand-wildcards expands a wildcard-pattern
10697 to produce a list of existing files that match the pattern.
10699 ** New functions for base64 conversion:
10701 The function base64-encode-region converts a part of the buffer
10702 into the base64 code used in MIME. base64-decode-region
10703 performs the opposite conversion. Line-breaking is supported
10706 Functions base64-encode-string and base64-decode-string do a similar
10707 job on the text in a string. They return the value as a new string.
10710 The new function process-running-child-p
10711 will tell you if a subprocess has given control of its
10712 terminal to its own child process.
10714 ** interrupt-process and such functions have a new feature:
10715 when the second argument is `lambda', they send a signal
10716 to the running child of the subshell, if any, but if the shell
10717 itself owns its terminal, no signal is sent.
10719 ** There are new widget types `plist' and `alist' which can
10720 be used for customizing variables whose values are plists or alists.
10722 ** easymenu.el now understands `:key-sequence' and `:style button'.
10723 :included is an alias for :visible.
10725 easy-menu-add-item now understands the values returned by
10726 easy-menu-remove-item and easy-menu-item-present-p. This can be used
10727 to move or copy menu entries.
10729 ** Multibyte editing changes
10731 *** The definitions of sref and char-bytes are changed. Now, sref is
10732 an alias of aref and char-bytes always returns 1. This change is to
10733 make some Emacs Lisp code which works on 20.2 and earlier also
10734 work on the latest Emacs. Such code uses a combination of sref and
10735 char-bytes in a loop typically as below:
10736 (setq char (sref str idx)
10737 idx (+ idx (char-bytes idx)))
10738 The byte-compiler now warns that this is obsolete.
10740 If you want to know how many bytes a specific multibyte character
10741 (say, CH) occupies in a multibyte buffer, use this code:
10742 (charset-bytes (char-charset ch))
10744 *** In multibyte mode, when you narrow a buffer to some region, and the
10745 region is preceded or followed by non-ASCII codes, inserting or
10746 deleting at the head or the end of the region may signal this error:
10748 Byte combining across boundary of accessible buffer text inhibited
10750 This is to avoid some bytes being combined together into a character
10751 across the boundary.
10753 *** The functions find-charset-region and find-charset-string include
10754 `unknown' in the returned list in the following cases:
10755 o The current buffer or the target string is unibyte and
10756 contains 8-bit characters.
10757 o The current buffer or the target string is multibyte and
10758 contains invalid characters.
10760 *** The functions decode-coding-region and encode-coding-region remove
10761 text properties of the target region. Ideally, they should correctly
10762 preserve text properties, but for the moment, it's hard. Removing
10763 text properties is better than preserving them in a less-than-correct
10766 *** prefer-coding-system sets EOL conversion of default coding systems.
10767 If the argument to prefer-coding-system specifies a certain type of
10768 end of line conversion, the default coding systems set by
10769 prefer-coding-system will specify that conversion type for end of line.
10771 *** The new function thai-compose-string can be used to properly
10772 compose Thai characters in a string.
10774 ** The primitive `define-prefix-command' now takes an optional third
10775 argument NAME, which should be a string. It supplies the menu name
10776 for the created keymap. Keymaps created in order to be displayed as
10777 menus should always use the third argument.
10779 ** The meanings of optional second arguments for read-char,
10780 read-event, and read-char-exclusive are flipped. Now the second
10781 arguments are INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. These functions use the current
10782 input method (if any) if and only if INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD is non-nil.
10784 ** The new function clear-this-command-keys empties out the contents
10785 of the vector that (this-command-keys) returns. This is useful in
10786 programs that read passwords, to prevent the passwords from echoing
10787 inadvertently as part of the next command in certain cases.
10789 ** The new macro `with-temp-message' displays a temporary message in
10790 the echo area, while executing some Lisp code. Like `progn', it
10791 returns the value of the last form, but it also restores the previous
10792 echo area contents.
10794 (with-temp-message MESSAGE &rest BODY)
10796 ** The function `require' now takes an optional third argument
10797 NOERROR. If it is non-nil, then there is no error if the
10798 requested feature cannot be loaded.
10800 ** In the function modify-face, an argument of (nil) for the
10801 foreground color, background color or stipple pattern
10802 means to clear out that attribute.
10804 ** The `outer-window-id' frame property of an X frame
10805 gives the window number of the outermost X window for the frame.
10807 ** Temporary buffers made with with-output-to-temp-buffer are now
10808 read-only by default, and normally use the major mode Help mode
10809 unless you put them in some other non-Fundamental mode before the
10810 end of with-output-to-temp-buffer.
10812 ** The new functions gap-position and gap-size return information on
10813 the gap of the current buffer.
10815 ** The new functions position-bytes and byte-to-position provide a way
10816 to convert between character positions and byte positions in the
10819 ** vc.el defines two new macros, `edit-vc-file' and `with-vc-file', to
10820 facilitate working with version-controlled files from Lisp programs.
10821 These macros check out a given file automatically if needed, and check
10822 it back in after any modifications have been made.
10824 * Installation Changes in Emacs 20.3
10826 ** The default value of load-path now includes most subdirectories of
10827 the site-specific directories /usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp and
10828 /usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp, in addition to those
10829 directories themselves. Both immediate subdirectories and
10830 subdirectories multiple levels down are added to load-path.
10832 Not all subdirectories are included, though. Subdirectories whose
10833 names do not start with a letter or digit are excluded.
10834 Subdirectories named RCS or CVS are excluded. Also, a subdirectory
10835 which contains a file named `.nosearch' is excluded. You can use
10836 these methods to prevent certain subdirectories from being searched.
10838 Emacs finds these subdirectories and adds them to load-path when it
10839 starts up. While it would be cleaner to find the subdirectories each
10840 time Emacs loads a file, that would be much slower.
10842 This feature is an incompatible change. If you have stored some Emacs
10843 Lisp files in a subdirectory of the site-lisp directory specifically
10844 to prevent them from being used, you will need to rename the
10845 subdirectory to start with a non-alphanumeric character, or create a
10846 `.nosearch' file in it, in order to continue to achieve the desired
10849 ** Emacs no longer includes an old version of the C preprocessor from
10850 GCC. This was formerly used to help compile Emacs with C compilers
10851 that had limits on the significant length of an identifier, but in
10852 fact we stopped supporting such compilers some time ago.
10854 * Changes in Emacs 20.3
10856 ** The new command C-x z (repeat) repeats the previous command
10857 including its argument. If you repeat the z afterward,
10858 it repeats the command additional times; thus, you can
10859 perform many repetitions with one keystroke per repetition.
10861 ** Emacs now supports "selective undo" which undoes only within a
10862 specified region. To do this, set point and mark around the desired
10863 region and type C-u C-x u (or C-u C-_). You can then continue undoing
10864 further, within the same region, by repeating the ordinary undo
10865 command C-x u or C-_. This will keep undoing changes that were made
10866 within the region you originally specified, until either all of them
10867 are undone, or it encounters a change which crosses the edge of that
10870 In Transient Mark mode, undoing when a region is active requests
10873 ** If you specify --unibyte when starting Emacs, then all buffers are
10874 unibyte, except when a Lisp program specifically creates a multibyte
10875 buffer. Setting the environment variable EMACS_UNIBYTE has the same
10876 effect. The --no-unibyte option overrides EMACS_UNIBYTE and directs
10877 Emacs to run normally in multibyte mode.
10879 The option --unibyte does not affect the reading of Emacs Lisp files,
10880 though. If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode, use
10881 -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line. That will force Emacs to
10882 load that file in unibyte mode, regardless of how Emacs was started.
10884 ** toggle-enable-multibyte-characters no longer has a key binding and
10885 no longer appears in the menu bar. We've realized that changing the
10886 enable-multibyte-characters variable in an existing buffer is
10887 something that most users not do.
10889 ** You can specify a coding system to use for the next cut or paste
10890 operations through the window system with the command C-x RET X.
10891 The coding system can make a difference for communication with other
10894 C-x RET x specifies a coding system for all subsequent cutting and
10895 pasting operations.
10897 ** You can specify the printer to use for commands that do printing by
10898 setting the variable `printer-name'. Just what a printer name looks
10899 like depends on your operating system. You can specify a different
10900 printer for the Postscript printing commands by setting
10903 ** Emacs now supports on-the-fly spell checking by the means of a
10904 minor mode. It is called M-x flyspell-mode. You don't have to remember
10905 any other special commands to use it, and you will hardly notice it
10906 except when you make a spelling error. Flyspell works by highlighting
10907 incorrect words as soon as they are completed or as soon as the cursor
10910 Flyspell mode works with whichever dictionary you have selected for
10911 Ispell in Emacs. In TeX mode, it understands TeX syntax so as not
10912 to be confused by TeX commands.
10914 You can correct a misspelled word by editing it into something
10915 correct. You can also correct it, or accept it as correct, by
10916 clicking on the word with Mouse-2; that gives you a pop-up menu
10917 of various alternative replacements and actions.
10919 Flyspell mode also proposes "automatic" corrections. M-TAB replaces
10920 the current misspelled word with a possible correction. If several
10921 corrections are made possible, M-TAB cycles through them in
10922 alphabetical order, or in order of decreasing likelihood if
10923 flyspell-sort-corrections is nil.
10925 Flyspell mode also flags an error when a word is repeated, if
10926 flyspell-mark-duplications-flag is non-nil.
10928 ** Changes in input method usage.
10930 Now you can use arrow keys (right, left, down, up) for selecting among
10931 the alternatives just the same way as you do by C-f, C-b, C-n, and C-p
10934 You can use the ENTER key to accept the current conversion.
10936 If you type TAB to display a list of alternatives, you can select one
10937 of the alternatives with Mouse-2.
10939 The meaning of the variable `input-method-verbose-flag' is changed so
10940 that you can set it to t, nil, `default', or `complex-only'.
10942 If the value is nil, extra guidance is never given.
10944 If the value is t, extra guidance is always given.
10946 If the value is `complex-only', extra guidance is always given only
10947 when you are using complex input methods such as chinese-py.
10949 If the value is `default' (this is the default), extra guidance is
10950 given in the following case:
10951 o When you are using a complex input method.
10952 o When you are using a simple input method but not in the minibuffer.
10954 If you are using Emacs through a very slow line, setting
10955 input-method-verbose-flag to nil or to complex-only is a good choice,
10956 and if you are using an input method you are not familiar with,
10957 setting it to t is helpful.
10959 The old command select-input-method is now called set-input-method.
10961 In the language environment "Korean", you can use the following
10963 Shift-SPC toggle-korean-input-method
10964 C-F9 quail-hangul-switch-symbol-ksc
10965 F9 quail-hangul-switch-hanja
10966 These key bindings are canceled when you switch to another language
10969 ** The minibuffer history of file names now records the specified file
10970 names, not the entire minibuffer input. For example, if the
10971 minibuffer starts out with /usr/foo/, you might type in /etc/passwd to
10974 /usr/foo//etc/passwd
10976 which stands for the file /etc/passwd.
10978 Formerly, this used to put /usr/foo//etc/passwd in the history list.
10979 Now this puts just /etc/passwd in the history list.
10981 ** If you are root, Emacs sets backup-by-copying-when-mismatch to t
10982 at startup, so that saving a file will be sure to preserve
10983 its owner and group.
10985 ** find-func.el can now also find the place of definition of Emacs
10986 Lisp variables in user-loaded libraries.
10988 ** C-x r t (string-rectangle) now deletes the existing rectangle
10989 contents before inserting the specified string on each line.
10991 ** There is a new command delete-whitespace-rectangle
10992 which deletes whitespace starting from a particular column
10993 in all the lines on a rectangle. The column is specified
10994 by the left edge of the rectangle.
10996 ** You can now store a number into a register with C-u NUMBER C-x r n REG,
10997 increment it by INC with C-u INC C-x r + REG (to increment by one, omit
10998 C-u INC), and insert it in the buffer with C-x r g REG. This is useful
10999 for writing keyboard macros.
11001 ** The new command M-x speedbar displays a frame in which directories,
11002 files, and tags can be displayed, manipulated, and jumped to. The
11003 frame defaults to 20 characters in width, and is the same height as
11004 the frame that it was started from. Some major modes define
11005 additional commands for the speedbar, including Rmail, GUD/GDB, and
11008 ** query-replace-regexp is now bound to C-M-%.
11010 ** In Transient Mark mode, when the region is active, M-x
11011 query-replace and the other replace commands now operate on the region
11014 ** M-x write-region, when used interactively, now asks for
11015 confirmation before overwriting an existing file. When you call
11016 the function from a Lisp program, a new optional argument CONFIRM
11017 says whether to ask for confirmation in this case.
11019 ** If you use find-file-literally and the file is already visited
11020 non-literally, the command asks you whether to revisit the file
11021 literally. If you say no, it signals an error.
11023 ** Major modes defined with the "derived mode" feature
11024 now use the proper name for the mode hook: WHATEVER-mode-hook.
11025 Formerly they used the name WHATEVER-mode-hooks, but that is
11026 inconsistent with Emacs conventions.
11028 ** shell-command-on-region (and shell-command) reports success or
11029 failure if the command produces no output.
11031 ** Set focus-follows-mouse to nil if your window system or window
11032 manager does not transfer focus to another window when you just move
11035 ** mouse-menu-buffer-maxlen has been renamed to
11036 mouse-buffer-menu-maxlen to be consistent with the other related
11037 function and variable names.
11039 ** The new variable auto-coding-alist specifies coding systems for
11040 reading specific files. This has higher priority than
11041 file-coding-system-alist.
11043 ** If you set the variable unibyte-display-via-language-environment to
11044 t, then Emacs displays non-ASCII characters are displayed by
11045 converting them to the equivalent multibyte characters according to
11046 the current language environment. As a result, they are displayed
11047 according to the current fontset.
11049 ** C-q's handling of codes in the range 0200 through 0377 is changed.
11051 The codes in the range 0200 through 0237 are inserted as one byte of
11052 that code regardless of the values of nonascii-translation-table and
11053 nonascii-insert-offset.
11055 For the codes in the range 0240 through 0377, if
11056 enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil and nonascii-translation-table
11057 nor nonascii-insert-offset can't convert them to valid multibyte
11058 characters, they are converted to Latin-1 characters.
11060 ** If you try to find a file that is not read-accessible, you now get
11061 an error, rather than an empty buffer and a warning.
11063 ** In the minibuffer history commands M-r and M-s, an upper case
11064 letter in the regular expression forces case-sensitive search.
11066 ** In the *Help* buffer, cross-references to commands and variables
11067 are inferred and hyperlinked. Use C-h m in Help mode for the relevant
11070 ** M-x apropos-command, with a prefix argument, no longer looks for
11071 user option variables--instead it looks for noninteractive functions.
11073 Meanwhile, the command apropos-variable normally searches for
11074 user option variables; with a prefix argument, it looks at
11075 all variables that have documentation.
11077 ** When you type a long line in the minibuffer, and the minibuffer
11078 shows just one line, automatically scrolling works in a special way
11079 that shows you overlap with the previous line of text. The variable
11080 minibuffer-scroll-overlap controls how many characters of overlap
11081 it should show; the default is 20.
11083 Meanwhile, Resize Minibuffer mode is still available; in that mode,
11084 the minibuffer grows taller (up to a point) as needed to show the whole
11087 ** The new command M-x customize-changed-options lets you customize
11088 all the options whose meanings or default values have changed in
11089 recent Emacs versions. You specify a previous Emacs version number as
11090 argument, and the command creates a customization buffer showing all
11091 the customizable options which were changed since that version.
11092 Newly added options are included as well.
11094 If you don't specify a particular version number argument,
11095 then the customization buffer shows all the customizable options
11096 for which Emacs versions of changes are recorded.
11098 This function is also bound to the Changed Options entry in the
11101 ** When you run M-x grep with a prefix argument, it figures out
11102 the tag around point and puts that into the default grep command.
11104 ** The new command M-* (pop-tag-mark) pops back through a history of
11105 buffer positions from which M-. or other tag-finding commands were
11108 ** The new variable comment-padding specifies the number of spaces
11109 that `comment-region' will insert before the actual text of the comment.
11112 ** In Fortran mode the characters `.', `_' and `$' now have symbol
11113 syntax, not word syntax. Fortran mode now supports `imenu' and has
11114 new commands fortran-join-line (M-^) and fortran-narrow-to-subprogram
11115 (C-x n d). M-q can be used to fill a statement or comment block
11118 ** GUD now supports jdb, the Java debugger, and pdb, the Python debugger.
11120 ** If you set the variable add-log-keep-changes-together to a non-nil
11121 value, the command `C-x 4 a' will automatically notice when you make
11122 two entries in one day for one file, and combine them.
11124 ** You can use the command M-x diary-mail-entries to mail yourself a
11125 reminder about upcoming diary entries. See the documentation string
11126 for a sample shell script for calling this function automatically
11131 *** All you need to do to enable use of the Desktop package, is to set
11132 the variable desktop-enable to t with Custom.
11134 *** Minor modes are now restored. Which minor modes are restored
11135 and how modes are restored is controlled by `desktop-minor-mode-table'.
11137 ** There is no need to do anything special, now, to enable Gnus to
11138 read and post multi-lingual articles.
11140 ** Outline mode has now support for showing hidden outlines when
11141 doing an isearch. In order for this to happen search-invisible should
11142 be set to open (the default). If an isearch match is inside a hidden
11143 outline the outline is made visible. If you continue pressing C-s and
11144 the match moves outside the formerly invisible outline, the outline is
11145 made invisible again.
11147 ** Mail reading and sending changes
11149 *** The Rmail e command now switches to displaying the whole header of
11150 the message before it lets you edit the message. This is so that any
11151 changes you make in the header will not be lost if you subsequently
11154 *** The w command in Rmail, which writes the message body into a file,
11155 now works in the summary buffer as well. (The command to delete the
11156 summary buffer is now Q.) The default file name for the w command, if
11157 the message has no subject, is stored in the variable
11158 rmail-default-body-file.
11160 *** Most of the commands and modes that operate on mail and netnews no
11161 longer depend on the value of mail-header-separator. Instead, they
11162 handle whatever separator the buffer happens to use.
11164 *** If you set mail-signature to a value which is not t, nil, or a string,
11165 it should be an expression. When you send a message, this expression
11166 is evaluated to insert the signature.
11168 *** The new Lisp library feedmail.el (version 8) enhances processing of
11169 outbound email messages. It works in coordination with other email
11170 handling packages (e.g., rmail, VM, gnus) and is responsible for
11171 putting final touches on messages and actually submitting them for
11172 transmission. Users of the emacs program "fakemail" might be
11173 especially interested in trying feedmail.
11175 feedmail is not enabled by default. See comments at the top of
11176 feedmail.el for set-up instructions. Among the bigger features
11177 provided by feedmail are:
11179 **** you can park outgoing messages into a disk-based queue and
11180 stimulate sending some or all of them later (handy for laptop users);
11181 there is also a queue for draft messages
11183 **** you can get one last look at the prepped outbound message and
11184 be prompted for confirmation
11186 **** does smart filling of address headers
11188 **** can generate a MESSAGE-ID: line and a DATE: line; the date can be
11189 the time the message was written or the time it is being sent; this
11190 can make FCC copies more closely resemble copies that recipients get
11192 **** you can specify an arbitrary function for actually transmitting
11193 the message; included in feedmail are interfaces for /bin/[r]mail,
11194 /usr/lib/sendmail, and Emacs Lisp smtpmail; it's easy to write a new
11195 function for something else (10-20 lines of Lisp code).
11199 *** The Dired function dired-do-toggle, which toggles marked and unmarked
11200 files, is now bound to "t" instead of "T".
11202 *** dired-at-point has been added to ffap.el. It allows one to easily
11203 run Dired on the directory name at point.
11205 *** Dired has a new command: %g. It searches the contents of
11206 files in the directory and marks each file that contains a match
11207 for a specified regexp.
11211 *** New option vc-ignore-vc-files lets you turn off version control
11214 *** VC Dired has been completely rewritten. It is now much
11215 faster, especially for CVS, and works very similar to ordinary
11218 VC Dired is invoked by typing C-x v d and entering the name of the
11219 directory to display. By default, VC Dired gives you a recursive
11220 listing of all files at or below the given directory which are
11221 currently locked (for CVS, all files not up-to-date are shown).
11223 You can change the listing format by setting vc-dired-recurse to nil,
11224 then it shows only the given directory, and you may also set
11225 vc-dired-terse-display to nil, then it shows all files under version
11226 control plus the names of any subdirectories, so that you can type `i'
11227 on such lines to insert them manually, as in ordinary Dired.
11229 All Dired commands operate normally in VC Dired, except for `v', which
11230 is redefined as the version control prefix. That means you may type
11231 `v l', `v =' etc. to invoke `vc-print-log', `vc-diff' and the like on
11232 the file named in the current Dired buffer line. `v v' invokes
11233 `vc-next-action' on this file, or on all files currently marked.
11235 The new command `v t' (vc-dired-toggle-terse-mode) allows you to
11236 toggle between terse display (only locked files) and full display (all
11237 VC files plus subdirectories). There is also a special command,
11238 `* l', to mark all files currently locked.
11240 Giving a prefix argument to C-x v d now does the same thing as in
11241 ordinary Dired: it allows you to supply additional options for the ls
11242 command in the minibuffer, to fine-tune VC Dired's output.
11244 *** Under CVS, if you merge changes from the repository into a working
11245 file, and CVS detects conflicts, VC now offers to start an ediff
11246 session to resolve them.
11248 Alternatively, you can use the new command `vc-resolve-conflicts' to
11249 resolve conflicts in a file at any time. It works in any buffer that
11250 contains conflict markers as generated by rcsmerge (which is what CVS
11253 *** You can now transfer changes between branches, using the new
11254 command vc-merge (C-x v m). It is implemented for RCS and CVS. When
11255 you invoke it in a buffer under version-control, you can specify
11256 either an entire branch or a pair of versions, and the changes on that
11257 branch or between the two versions are merged into the working file.
11258 If this results in any conflicts, they may be resolved interactively,
11261 ** Changes in Font Lock
11263 *** The face and variable previously known as font-lock-reference-face
11264 are now called font-lock-constant-face to better reflect their typical
11265 use for highlighting constants and labels. (Its face properties are
11266 unchanged.) The variable font-lock-reference-face remains for now for
11267 compatibility reasons, but its value is font-lock-constant-face.
11269 ** Frame name display changes
11271 *** The command set-frame-name lets you set the name of the current
11272 frame. You can use the new command select-frame-by-name to select and
11273 raise a frame; this is mostly useful on character-only terminals, or
11274 when many frames are invisible or iconified.
11276 *** On character-only terminal (not a window system), changing the
11277 frame name is now reflected on the mode line and in the Buffers/Frames
11280 ** Comint (subshell) changes
11282 *** In Comint modes, the commands to kill, stop or interrupt a
11283 subjob now also kill pending input. This is for compatibility
11284 with ordinary shells, where the signal characters do this.
11286 *** There are new commands in Comint mode.
11288 C-c C-x fetches the "next" line from the input history;
11289 that is, the line after the last line you got.
11290 You can use this command to fetch successive lines, one by one.
11292 C-c SPC accumulates lines of input. More precisely, it arranges to
11293 send the current line together with the following line, when you send
11294 the following line.
11296 C-c C-a if repeated twice consecutively now moves to the process mark,
11297 which separates the pending input from the subprocess output and the
11298 previously sent input.
11300 C-c M-r now runs comint-previous-matching-input-from-input;
11301 it searches for a previous command, using the current pending input
11302 as the search string.
11304 *** New option compilation-scroll-output can be set to scroll
11305 automatically in compilation-mode windows.
11309 *** Multiline macros are now handled, both as they affect indentation,
11310 and as recognized syntax. New syntactic symbol cpp-macro-cont is
11311 assigned to second and subsequent lines of a multiline macro
11314 *** A new style "user" which captures all non-hook-ified
11315 (i.e. top-level) .emacs file variable settings and customizations.
11316 Style "cc-mode" is an alias for "user" and is deprecated. "gnu"
11317 style is still the default however.
11319 *** "java" style now conforms to Sun's JDK coding style.
11321 *** There are new commands c-beginning-of-defun, c-end-of-defun which
11322 are alternatives which you could bind to C-M-a and C-M-e if you prefer
11323 them. They do not have key bindings by default.
11325 *** New and improved implementations of M-a (c-beginning-of-statement)
11326 and M-e (c-end-of-statement).
11328 *** C++ namespace blocks are supported, with new syntactic symbols
11329 namespace-open, namespace-close, and innamespace.
11331 *** File local variable settings of c-file-style and c-file-offsets
11332 makes the style variables local to that buffer only.
11334 *** New indentation functions c-lineup-close-paren,
11335 c-indent-one-line-block, c-lineup-dont-change.
11337 *** Improvements (hopefully!) to the way CC Mode is loaded. You
11338 should now be able to do a (require 'cc-mode) to get the entire
11339 package loaded properly for customization in your .emacs file. A new
11340 variable c-initialize-on-load controls this and is t by default.
11342 ** Changes to hippie-expand.
11344 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-skip-space'. If
11345 non-nil, trailing spaces may be included in the abbreviation to search for,
11346 which then gives the same behavior as the original `dabbrev-expand'.
11348 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-as-symbol'. If
11349 non-nil, characters of syntax '_' is considered part of the word when
11350 expanding dynamically.
11352 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-no-restriction'. If
11353 non-nil, narrowed buffers are widened before they are searched.
11355 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-only-buffers'. If
11356 non-empty, buffers searched are restricted to the types specified in
11357 this list. Useful for example when constructing new special-purpose
11358 expansion functions with `make-hippie-expand-function'.
11360 *** Text properties of the expansion are no longer copied.
11362 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
11364 *** Any titleword matching a regexp in the new variable
11365 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore (case sensitive) is ignored during
11366 automatic key generation. This replaces variable
11367 bibtex-autokey-titleword-first-ignore, which only checked for matches
11368 against the first word in the title.
11370 *** Autokey generation now uses all words from the title, not just
11371 capitalized words. To avoid conflicts with existing customizations,
11372 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore is set up such that words starting with
11373 lowerkey characters will still be ignored. Thus, if you want to use
11374 lowercase words from the title, you will have to overwrite the
11375 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore standard setting.
11377 *** Case conversion of names and title words for automatic key
11378 generation is more flexible. Variable bibtex-autokey-preserve-case is
11379 replaced by bibtex-autokey-titleword-case-convert and
11380 bibtex-autokey-name-case-convert.
11382 ** Changes in vcursor.el.
11384 *** Support for character terminals is available: there is a new keymap
11385 and the vcursor will appear as an arrow between buffer text. A
11386 variable `vcursor-interpret-input' allows input from the vcursor to be
11387 entered exactly as if typed. Numerous functions, including
11388 `vcursor-compare-windows', have been rewritten to improve consistency
11389 in the selection of windows and corresponding keymaps.
11391 *** vcursor options can now be altered with M-x customize under the
11392 Editing group once the package is loaded.
11394 *** Loading vcursor now does not define keys by default, as this is
11395 generally a bad side effect. Use M-x customize to set
11396 vcursor-key-bindings to t to restore the old behavior.
11398 *** vcursor-auto-disable can be `copy', which turns off copying from the
11399 vcursor, but doesn't disable it, after any non-vcursor command.
11403 *** You can now spell check comments and strings in the current
11404 buffer with M-x ispell-comments-and-strings. Comments and strings
11405 are identified by syntax tables in effect.
11407 *** Generic region skipping implemented.
11408 A single buffer can be broken into a number of regions where text will
11409 and will not be checked. The definitions of the regions can be user
11410 defined. New applications and improvements made available by this
11413 o URLs are automatically skipped
11414 o EMail message checking is vastly improved.
11416 *** Ispell can highlight the erroneous word even on non-window terminals.
11418 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
11420 RefTeX has been updated in order to make it more usable with very
11421 large projects (like a several volume math book). The parser has been
11422 re-written from scratch. To get maximum speed from RefTeX, check the
11423 section `Optimizations' in the manual.
11425 *** New recursive parser.
11427 The old version of RefTeX created a single large buffer containing the
11428 entire multifile document in order to parse the document. The new
11429 recursive parser scans the individual files.
11431 *** Parsing only part of a document.
11433 Reparsing of changed document parts can now be made faster by enabling
11434 partial scans. To use this feature, read the documentation string of
11435 the variable `reftex-enable-partial-scans' and set the variable to t.
11437 (setq reftex-enable-partial-scans t)
11439 *** Storing parsing information in a file.
11441 This can improve startup times considerably. To turn it on, use
11443 (setq reftex-save-parse-info t)
11445 *** Using multiple selection buffers
11447 If the creation of label selection buffers is too slow (this happens
11448 for large documents), you can reuse these buffers by setting
11450 (setq reftex-use-multiple-selection-buffers t)
11452 *** References to external documents.
11454 The LaTeX package `xr' allows to cross-reference labels in external
11455 documents. RefTeX can provide information about the external
11456 documents as well. To use this feature, set up the \externaldocument
11457 macros required by the `xr' package and rescan the document with
11458 RefTeX. The external labels can then be accessed with the `x' key in
11459 the selection buffer provided by `reftex-reference' (bound to `C-c )').
11460 The `x' key also works in the table of contents buffer.
11462 *** Many more labeled LaTeX environments are recognized by default.
11464 The built-in command list now covers all the standard LaTeX commands,
11465 and all of the major packages included in the LaTeX distribution.
11467 Also, RefTeX now understands the \appendix macro and changes
11468 the enumeration of sections in the *toc* buffer accordingly.
11470 *** Mouse support for selection and *toc* buffers
11472 The mouse can now be used to select items in the selection and *toc*
11473 buffers. See also the new option `reftex-highlight-selection'.
11475 *** New keymaps for selection and table of contents modes.
11477 The selection processes for labels and citation keys, and the table of
11478 contents buffer now have their own keymaps: `reftex-select-label-map',
11479 `reftex-select-bib-map', `reftex-toc-map'. The selection processes
11480 have a number of new keys predefined. In particular, TAB lets you
11481 enter a label with completion. Check the on-the-fly help (press `?'
11482 at the selection prompt) or read the Info documentation to find out
11485 *** Support for the varioref package
11487 The `v' key in the label selection buffer toggles \ref versus \vref.
11491 Three new hooks can be used to redefine the way labels, references,
11492 and citations are created. These hooks are
11493 `reftex-format-label-function', `reftex-format-ref-function',
11494 `reftex-format-cite-function'.
11496 *** Citations outside LaTeX
11498 The command `reftex-citation' may also be used outside LaTeX (e.g. in
11499 a mail buffer). See the Info documentation for details.
11501 *** Short context is no longer fontified.
11503 The short context in the label menu no longer copies the
11504 fontification from the text in the buffer. If you prefer it to be
11507 (setq reftex-refontify-context t)
11509 ** file-cache-minibuffer-complete now accepts a prefix argument.
11510 With a prefix argument, it does not try to do completion of
11511 the file name within its directory; it only checks for other
11512 directories that contain the same file name.
11514 Thus, given the file name Makefile, and assuming that a file
11515 Makefile.in exists in the same directory, ordinary
11516 file-cache-minibuffer-complete will try to complete Makefile to
11517 Makefile.in and will therefore never look for other directories that
11518 have Makefile. A prefix argument tells it not to look for longer
11519 names such as Makefile.in, so that instead it will look for other
11520 directories--just as if the name were already complete in its present
11523 ** New modes and packages
11525 *** There is a new alternative major mode for Perl, Cperl mode.
11526 It has many more features than Perl mode, and some people prefer
11527 it, but some do not.
11529 *** There is a new major mode, M-x vhdl-mode, for editing files of VHDL
11532 *** M-x which-function-mode enables a minor mode that displays the
11533 current function name continuously in the mode line, as you move
11534 around in a buffer.
11536 Which Function mode is effective in major modes which support Imenu.
11538 *** Gametree is a major mode for editing game analysis trees. The author
11539 uses it for keeping notes about his postal Chess games, but it should
11540 be helpful for other two-player games as well, as long as they have an
11541 established system of notation similar to Chess.
11543 *** The new minor mode checkdoc-minor-mode provides Emacs Lisp
11544 documentation string checking for style and spelling. The style
11545 guidelines are found in the Emacs Lisp programming manual.
11547 *** The net-utils package makes some common networking features
11548 available in Emacs. Some of these functions are wrappers around
11549 system utilities (ping, nslookup, etc); others are implementations of
11550 simple protocols (finger, whois) in Emacs Lisp. There are also
11551 functions to make simple connections to TCP/IP ports for debugging and
11554 *** highlight-changes-mode is a minor mode that uses colors to
11555 identify recently changed parts of the buffer text.
11557 *** The new package `midnight' lets you specify things to be done
11558 within Emacs at midnight--by default, kill buffers that you have not
11559 used in a considerable time. To use this feature, customize
11560 the user option `midnight-mode' to t.
11562 *** The file generic-x.el defines a number of simple major modes.
11564 apache-generic-mode: For Apache and NCSA httpd configuration files
11565 samba-generic-mode: Samba configuration files
11566 fvwm-generic-mode: For fvwm initialization files
11567 x-resource-generic-mode: For X resource files
11568 hosts-generic-mode: For hosts files (.rhosts, /etc/hosts, etc)
11569 mailagent-rules-generic-mode: For mailagent .rules files
11570 javascript-generic-mode: For JavaScript files
11571 vrml-generic-mode: For VRML files
11572 java-manifest-generic-mode: For Java MANIFEST files
11573 java-properties-generic-mode: For Java property files
11574 mailrc-generic-mode: For .mailrc files
11576 Platform-specific modes:
11578 prototype-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V prototype files
11579 pkginfo-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V pkginfo files
11580 alias-generic-mode: For C shell alias files
11581 inf-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INF files
11582 ini-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INI files
11583 reg-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Registry files
11584 bat-generic-mode: For MS-Windows BAT scripts
11585 rc-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Resource files
11586 rul-generic-mode: For InstallShield scripts
11588 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 since the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
11590 ** If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode,
11591 use -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line.
11592 That will force Emacs to read that file in unibyte mode.
11593 Otherwise, the file will be loaded and byte-compiled in multibyte mode.
11595 Thus, each lisp file is read in a consistent way regardless of whether
11596 you started Emacs with --unibyte, so that a Lisp program gives
11597 consistent results regardless of how Emacs was started.
11599 ** The new function assoc-default is useful for searching an alist,
11600 and using a default value if the key is not found there. You can
11601 specify a comparison predicate, so this function is useful for
11602 searching comparing a string against an alist of regular expressions.
11604 ** The functions unibyte-char-to-multibyte and
11605 multibyte-char-to-unibyte convert between unibyte and multibyte
11606 character codes, in a way that is appropriate for the current language
11609 ** The functions read-event, read-char and read-char-exclusive now
11610 take two optional arguments. PROMPT, if non-nil, specifies a prompt
11611 string. SUPPRESS-INPUT-METHOD, if non-nil, says to disable the
11612 current input method for reading this one event.
11614 ** Two new variables print-escape-nonascii and print-escape-multibyte
11615 now control whether to output certain characters as
11616 backslash-sequences. print-escape-nonascii applies to single-byte
11617 non-ASCII characters; print-escape-multibyte applies to multibyte
11618 characters. Both of these variables are used only when printing
11619 in readable fashion (prin1 uses them, princ does not).
11621 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 before the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
11623 ** Compiled Emacs Lisp files made with the modified "MBSK" version
11624 of Emacs 20.2 do not work in Emacs 20.3.
11626 ** Buffer positions are now measured in characters, as they were
11627 in Emacs 19 and before. This means that (forward-char 1)
11628 always increases point by 1.
11630 The function chars-in-region now just subtracts its arguments. It is
11631 considered obsolete. The function char-boundary-p has been deleted.
11633 See below for additional changes relating to multibyte characters.
11635 ** defcustom, defface and defgroup now accept the keyword `:version'.
11636 Use this to specify in which version of Emacs a certain variable's
11637 default value changed. For example,
11639 (defcustom foo-max 34 "*Maximum number of foo's allowed."
11644 (defgroup foo-group nil "The foo group."
11647 If an entire new group is added or the variables in it have the
11648 default values changed, then just add a `:version' to that group. It
11649 is recommended that new packages added to the distribution contain a
11650 `:version' in the top level group.
11652 This information is used to control the customize-changed-options command.
11654 ** It is now an error to change the value of a symbol whose name
11655 starts with a colon--if it is interned in the standard obarray.
11657 However, setting such a symbol to its proper value, which is that
11658 symbol itself, is not an error. This is for the sake of programs that
11659 support previous Emacs versions by explicitly setting these variables
11662 If you set the variable keyword-symbols-constant-flag to nil,
11663 this error is suppressed, and you can set these symbols to any
11666 ** There is a new debugger command, R.
11667 It evaluates an expression like e, but saves the result
11668 in the buffer *Debugger-record*.
11670 ** Frame-local variables.
11672 You can now make a variable local to various frames. To do this, call
11673 the function make-variable-frame-local; this enables frames to have
11674 local bindings for that variable.
11676 These frame-local bindings are actually frame parameters: you create a
11677 frame-local binding in a specific frame by calling
11678 modify-frame-parameters and specifying the variable name as the
11681 Buffer-local bindings take precedence over frame-local bindings.
11682 Thus, if the current buffer has a buffer-local binding, that binding is
11683 active; otherwise, if the selected frame has a frame-local binding,
11684 that binding is active; otherwise, the default binding is active.
11686 It would not be hard to implement window-local bindings, but it is not
11687 clear that this would be very useful; windows tend to come and go in a
11688 very transitory fashion, so that trying to produce any specific effect
11689 through a window-local binding would not be very robust.
11691 ** `sregexq' and `sregex' are two new functions for constructing
11692 "symbolic regular expressions." These are Lisp expressions that, when
11693 evaluated, yield conventional string-based regexps. The symbolic form
11694 makes it easier to construct, read, and maintain complex patterns.
11695 See the documentation in sregex.el.
11697 ** parse-partial-sexp's return value has an additional element which
11698 is used to pass information along if you pass it to another call to
11699 parse-partial-sexp, starting its scan where the first call ended.
11700 The contents of this field are not yet finalized.
11702 ** eval-region now accepts a fourth optional argument READ-FUNCTION.
11703 If it is non-nil, that function is used instead of `read'.
11705 ** unload-feature by default removes the feature's functions from
11706 known hooks to avoid trouble, but a package providing FEATURE can
11707 define a hook FEATURE-unload-hook to be run by unload-feature instead.
11709 ** read-from-minibuffer no longer returns the argument DEFAULT-VALUE
11710 when the user enters empty input. It now returns the null string, as
11711 it did in Emacs 19. The default value is made available in the
11712 history via M-n, but it is not applied here as a default.
11714 The other, more specialized minibuffer-reading functions continue to
11715 return the default value (not the null string) when the user enters
11718 ** The new variable read-buffer-function controls which routine to use
11719 for selecting buffers. For example, if you set this variable to
11720 `iswitchb-read-buffer', iswitchb will be used to read buffer names.
11721 Other functions can also be used if they accept the same arguments as
11722 `read-buffer' and return the selected buffer name as a string.
11724 ** The new function read-passwd reads a password from the terminal,
11725 echoing a period for each character typed. It takes three arguments:
11726 a prompt string, a flag which says "read it twice to make sure", and a
11727 default password to use if the user enters nothing.
11729 ** The variable fill-nobreak-predicate gives major modes a way to
11730 specify not to break a line at certain places. Its value is a
11731 function which is called with no arguments, with point located at the
11732 place where a break is being considered. If the function returns
11733 non-nil, then the line won't be broken there.
11735 ** window-end now takes an optional second argument, UPDATE.
11736 If this is non-nil, then the function always returns an accurate
11737 up-to-date value for the buffer position corresponding to the
11738 end of the window, even if this requires computation.
11740 ** other-buffer now takes an optional argument FRAME
11741 which specifies which frame's buffer list to use.
11742 If it is nil, that means use the selected frame's buffer list.
11744 ** The new variable buffer-display-time, always local in every buffer,
11745 holds the value of (current-time) as of the last time that a window
11746 was directed to display this buffer.
11748 ** It is now meaningful to compare two window-configuration objects
11749 with `equal'. Two window-configuration objects are equal if they
11750 describe equivalent arrangements of windows, in the same frame--in
11751 other words, if they would give the same results if passed to
11752 set-window-configuration.
11754 ** compare-window-configurations is a new function that compares two
11755 window configurations loosely. It ignores differences in saved buffer
11756 positions and scrolling, and considers only the structure and sizes of
11757 windows and the choice of buffers to display.
11759 ** The variable minor-mode-overriding-map-alist allows major modes to
11760 override the key bindings of a minor mode. The elements of this alist
11761 look like the elements of minor-mode-map-alist: (VARIABLE . KEYMAP).
11763 If the VARIABLE in an element of minor-mode-overriding-map-alist has a
11764 non-nil value, the paired KEYMAP is active, and totally overrides the
11765 map (if any) specified for the same variable in minor-mode-map-alist.
11767 minor-mode-overriding-map-alist is automatically local in all buffers,
11768 and it is meant to be set by major modes.
11770 ** The function match-string-no-properties is like match-string
11771 except that it discards all text properties from the result.
11773 ** The function load-average now accepts an optional argument
11774 USE-FLOATS. If it is non-nil, the load average values are returned as
11775 floating point numbers, rather than as integers to be divided by 100.
11777 ** The new variable temporary-file-directory specifies the directory
11778 to use for creating temporary files. The default value is determined
11779 in a reasonable way for your operating system; on GNU and Unix systems
11780 it is based on the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables.
11784 *** easymenu.el now uses the new menu item format and supports the
11785 keywords :visible and :filter. The existing keyword :keys is now
11788 The variable `easy-menu-precalculate-equivalent-keybindings' controls
11789 a new feature which calculates keyboard equivalents for the menu when
11790 you define the menu. The default is t. If you rarely use menus, you
11791 can set the variable to nil to disable this precalculation feature;
11792 then the calculation is done only if you use the menu bar.
11794 *** A new format for menu items is supported.
11796 In a keymap, a key binding that has the format
11797 (STRING . REAL-BINDING) or (STRING HELP-STRING . REAL-BINDING)
11798 defines a menu item. Now a menu item definition may also be a list that
11799 starts with the symbol `menu-item'.
11802 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) or
11803 (menu-item ITEM-NAME REAL-BINDING . ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST)
11804 where ITEM-NAME is an expression which evaluates to the menu item
11805 string, and ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST has the form of a property list.
11806 The supported properties include
11808 :enable FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
11810 :visible FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
11811 item should appear in the menu.
11813 FILTER-FN is a function of one argument,
11814 which will be REAL-BINDING.
11815 It should return a binding to use instead.
11817 DESCRIPTION is a string that describes an equivalent keyboard
11818 binding for REAL-BINDING. DESCRIPTION is expanded with
11819 `substitute-command-keys' before it is used.
11820 :key-sequence KEY-SEQUENCE
11821 KEY-SEQUENCE is a key-sequence for an equivalent
11824 This means that the command normally has no
11825 keyboard equivalent.
11826 :help HELP HELP is the extra help string (not currently used).
11827 :button (TYPE . SELECTED)
11828 TYPE is :toggle or :radio.
11829 SELECTED is a form, to be evaluated, and its
11830 value says whether this button is currently selected.
11832 Buttons are at the moment only simulated by prefixes in the menu.
11833 Eventually ordinary X-buttons may be supported.
11835 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) defines unselectable item.
11839 *** The new event type `mouse-wheel' is generated by a wheel on a
11840 mouse (such as the MS Intellimouse). The event contains a delta that
11841 corresponds to the amount and direction that the wheel is rotated,
11842 which is typically used to implement a scroll or zoom. The format is:
11844 (mouse-wheel POSITION DELTA)
11846 where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
11847 same format as a mouse-click event, and DELTA is a signed number
11848 indicating the number of increments by which the wheel was rotated. A
11849 negative DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated backwards, towards
11850 the user, and a positive DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated
11851 forward, away from the user.
11853 As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
11855 *** The new event type `drag-n-drop' is generated when a group of
11856 files is selected in an application outside of Emacs, and then dragged
11857 and dropped onto an Emacs frame. The event contains a list of
11858 filenames that were dragged and dropped, which are then typically
11859 loaded into Emacs. The format is:
11861 (drag-n-drop POSITION FILES)
11863 where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
11864 same format as a mouse-click event, and FILES is the list of filenames
11865 that were dragged and dropped.
11867 As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
11869 ** Changes relating to multibyte characters.
11871 *** The variable enable-multibyte-characters is now read-only;
11872 any attempt to set it directly signals an error. The only way
11873 to change this value in an existing buffer is with set-buffer-multibyte.
11875 *** In a string constant, `\ ' now stands for "nothing at all". You
11876 can use it to terminate a hex escape which is followed by a character
11877 that could otherwise be read as part of the hex escape.
11879 *** String indices are now measured in characters, as they were
11880 in Emacs 19 and before.
11882 The function chars-in-string has been deleted.
11883 The function concat-chars has been renamed to `string'.
11885 *** The function set-buffer-multibyte sets the flag in the current
11886 buffer that says whether the buffer uses multibyte representation or
11887 unibyte representation. If the argument is nil, it selects unibyte
11888 representation. Otherwise it selects multibyte representation.
11890 This function does not change the contents of the buffer, viewed
11891 as a sequence of bytes. However, it does change the contents
11892 viewed as characters; a sequence of two bytes which is treated as
11893 one character when the buffer uses multibyte representation
11894 will count as two characters using unibyte representation.
11896 This function sets enable-multibyte-characters to record which
11897 representation is in use. It also adjusts various data in the buffer
11898 (including its markers, overlays and text properties) so that they are
11899 consistent with the new representation.
11901 *** string-make-multibyte takes a string and converts it to multibyte
11902 representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care
11903 about the representation, because Emacs converts when necessary;
11904 however, it makes a difference when you compare strings.
11906 The conversion of non-ASCII characters works by adding the value of
11907 nonascii-insert-offset to each character, or by translating them
11908 using the table nonascii-translation-table.
11910 *** string-make-unibyte takes a string and converts it to unibyte
11911 representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care about the
11912 representation, but it makes a difference when you compare strings.
11914 The conversion from multibyte to unibyte representation
11915 loses information; the only time Emacs performs it automatically
11916 is when inserting a multibyte string into a unibyte buffer.
11918 *** string-as-multibyte takes a string, and returns another string
11919 which contains the same bytes, but treats them as multibyte.
11921 *** string-as-unibyte takes a string, and returns another string
11922 which contains the same bytes, but treats them as unibyte.
11924 *** The new function compare-strings lets you compare
11925 portions of two strings. Unibyte strings are converted to multibyte,
11926 so that a unibyte string can match a multibyte string.
11927 You can specify whether to ignore case or not.
11929 *** assoc-ignore-case now uses compare-strings so that
11930 it can treat unibyte and multibyte strings as equal.
11932 *** Regular expression operations and buffer string searches now
11933 convert the search pattern to multibyte or unibyte to accord with the
11934 buffer or string being searched.
11936 One consequence is that you cannot always use \200-\377 inside of
11937 [...] to match all non-ASCII characters. This does still work when
11938 searching or matching a unibyte buffer or string, but not when
11939 searching or matching a multibyte string. Unfortunately, there is no
11940 obvious choice of syntax to use within [...] for that job. But, what
11941 you want is just to match all non-ASCII characters, the regular
11942 expression [^\0-\177] works for it.
11944 *** Structure of coding system changed.
11946 All coding systems (including aliases and subsidiaries) are named
11947 by symbols; the symbol's `coding-system' property is a vector
11948 which defines the coding system. Aliases share the same vector
11949 as the principal name, so that altering the contents of this
11950 vector affects the principal name and its aliases. You can define
11951 your own alias name of a coding system by the function
11952 define-coding-system-alias.
11954 The coding system definition includes a property list of its own. Use
11955 the new functions `coding-system-get' and `coding-system-put' to
11956 access such coding system properties as post-read-conversion,
11957 pre-write-conversion, character-translation-table-for-decode,
11958 character-translation-table-for-encode, mime-charset, and
11959 safe-charsets. For instance, (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1
11960 'mime-charset) gives the corresponding MIME-charset parameter
11963 Among the coding system properties listed above, safe-charsets is new.
11964 The value of this property is a list of character sets which this
11965 coding system can correctly encode and decode. For instance:
11966 (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1 'safe-charsets) => (ascii latin-iso8859-1)
11968 Here, "correctly encode" means that the encoded character sets can
11969 also be handled safely by systems other than Emacs as far as they
11970 are capable of that coding system. Though, Emacs itself can encode
11971 the other character sets and read it back correctly.
11973 *** The new function select-safe-coding-system can be used to find a
11974 proper coding system for encoding the specified region or string.
11975 This function requires a user interaction.
11977 *** The new functions find-coding-systems-region and
11978 find-coding-systems-string are helper functions used by
11979 select-safe-coding-system. They return a list of all proper coding
11980 systems to encode a text in some region or string. If you don't want
11981 a user interaction, use one of these functions instead of
11982 select-safe-coding-system.
11984 *** The explicit encoding and decoding functions, such as
11985 decode-coding-region and encode-coding-string, now set
11986 last-coding-system-used to reflect the actual way encoding or decoding
11989 *** The new function detect-coding-with-language-environment can be
11990 used to detect a coding system of text according to priorities of
11991 coding systems used by some specific language environment.
11993 *** The functions detect-coding-region and detect-coding-string always
11994 return a list if the arg HIGHEST is nil. Thus, if only ASCII
11995 characters are found, they now return a list of single element
11996 `undecided' or its subsidiaries.
11998 *** The new functions coding-system-change-eol-conversion and
11999 coding-system-change-text-conversion can be used to get a different
12000 coding system than what specified only in how end-of-line or text is
12003 *** The new function set-selection-coding-system can be used to set a
12004 coding system for communicating with other X clients.
12006 *** The function `map-char-table' now passes as argument only valid
12007 character codes, plus generic characters that stand for entire
12008 character sets or entire subrows of a character set. In other words,
12009 each time `map-char-table' calls its FUNCTION argument, the key value
12010 either will be a valid individual character code, or will stand for a
12011 range of characters.
12013 *** The new function `char-valid-p' can be used for checking whether a
12014 Lisp object is a valid character code or not.
12016 *** The new function `charset-after' returns a charset of a character
12017 in the current buffer at position POS.
12019 *** Input methods are now implemented using the variable
12020 input-method-function. If this is non-nil, its value should be a
12021 function; then, whenever Emacs reads an input event that is a printing
12022 character with no modifier bits, it calls that function, passing the
12023 event as an argument. Often this function will read more input, first
12024 binding input-method-function to nil.
12026 The return value should be a list of the events resulting from input
12027 method processing. These events will be processed sequentially as
12028 input, before resorting to unread-command-events. Events returned by
12029 the input method function are not passed to the input method function,
12030 not even if they are printing characters with no modifier bits.
12032 The input method function is not called when reading the second and
12033 subsequent events of a key sequence.
12035 *** You can customize any language environment by using
12036 set-language-environment-hook and exit-language-environment-hook.
12038 The hook `exit-language-environment-hook' should be used to undo
12039 customizations that you made with set-language-environment-hook. For
12040 instance, if you set up a special key binding for a specific language
12041 environment by set-language-environment-hook, you should set up
12042 exit-language-environment-hook to restore the normal key binding.
12044 * Changes in Emacs 20.1
12046 ** Emacs has a new facility for customization of its many user
12047 options. It is called M-x customize. With this facility you can look
12048 at the many user options in an organized way; they are grouped into a
12051 M-x customize also knows what sorts of values are legitimate for each
12052 user option and ensures that you don't use invalid values.
12054 With M-x customize, you can set options either for the present Emacs
12055 session or permanently. (Permanent settings are stored automatically
12056 in your .emacs file.)
12058 ** Scroll bars are now on the left side of the window.
12059 You can change this with M-x customize-option scroll-bar-mode.
12061 ** The mode line no longer includes the string `Emacs'.
12062 This makes more space in the mode line for other information.
12064 ** When you select a region with the mouse, it is highlighted
12065 immediately afterward. At that time, if you type the DELETE key, it
12068 The BACKSPACE key, and the ASCII character DEL, do not do this; they
12069 delete the character before point, as usual.
12071 ** In an incremental search the whole current match is highlighted
12072 on terminals which support this. (You can disable this feature
12073 by setting search-highlight to nil.)
12075 ** In the minibuffer, in some cases, you can now use M-n to
12076 insert the default value into the minibuffer as text. In effect,
12077 the default value (if the minibuffer routines know it) is tacked
12078 onto the history "in the future". (The more normal use of the
12079 history list is to use M-p to insert minibuffer input used in the
12082 ** In Text mode, now only blank lines separate paragraphs.
12083 This makes it possible to get the full benefit of Adaptive Fill mode
12084 in Text mode, and other modes derived from it (such as Mail mode).
12085 TAB in Text mode now runs the command indent-relative; this
12086 makes a practical difference only when you use indented paragraphs.
12088 As a result, the old Indented Text mode is now identical to Text mode,
12089 and is an alias for it.
12091 If you want spaces at the beginning of a line to start a paragraph,
12092 use the new mode, Paragraph Indent Text mode.
12094 ** Scrolling changes
12096 *** Scroll commands to scroll a whole screen now preserve the screen
12097 position of the cursor, if scroll-preserve-screen-position is non-nil.
12099 In this mode, if you scroll several screens back and forth, finishing
12100 on the same screen where you started, the cursor goes back to the line
12103 *** If you set scroll-conservatively to a small number, then when you
12104 move point a short distance off the screen, Emacs will scroll the
12105 screen just far enough to bring point back on screen, provided that
12106 does not exceed `scroll-conservatively' lines.
12108 *** The new variable scroll-margin says how close point can come to the
12109 top or bottom of a window. It is a number of screen lines; if point
12110 comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of the window, Emacs
12111 recenters the window.
12113 ** International character set support (MULE)
12115 Emacs now supports a wide variety of international character sets,
12116 including European variants of the Latin alphabet, as well as Chinese,
12117 Devanagari (Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopian, Greek, IPA, Japanese,
12118 Korean, Lao, Russian, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. These
12119 features have been merged from the modified version of Emacs known as
12120 MULE (for "MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs")
12122 Users of these scripts have established many more-or-less standard
12123 coding systems for storing files. Emacs uses a single multibyte
12124 character encoding within Emacs buffers; it can translate from a wide
12125 variety of coding systems when reading a file and can translate back
12126 into any of these coding systems when saving a file.
12128 Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used,
12129 generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs
12130 supports various "input methods", typically one for each script or
12131 language, to make it possible to type them.
12133 The Emacs internal multibyte encoding represents a non-ASCII
12134 character as a sequence of bytes in the range 0200 through 0377.
12136 The new prefix key C-x RET is used for commands that pertain
12137 to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods.
12139 You can disable multibyte character support as follows:
12141 (setq-default enable-multibyte-characters nil)
12143 Calling the function standard-display-european turns off multibyte
12144 characters, unless you specify a non-nil value for the second
12145 argument, AUTO. This provides compatibility for people who are
12146 already using standard-display-european to continue using unibyte
12147 characters for their work until they want to change.
12151 An input method is a kind of character conversion which is designed
12152 specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language
12153 has its own input method (though sometimes several languages which use
12154 the same characters can share one input method). Some languages
12155 support several input methods.
12157 The simplest kind of input method works by mapping ASCII letters into
12158 another alphabet. This is how the Greek and Russian input methods
12161 A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of
12162 characters into one letter. Many European input methods use
12163 composition to produce a single non-ASCII letter from a sequence which
12164 consists of a letter followed by diacritics. For example, a' is one
12165 sequence of two characters that might be converted into a single
12168 The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed
12169 by conversion. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way.
12170 First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone
12171 marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are
12172 mapped into one syllable sign--most often a "composite character".
12174 None of these methods works very well for Chinese and Japanese, so
12175 they are handled specially. First you input a whole word using
12176 phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs
12177 converts it into one or more characters using a large dictionary.
12179 Since there is more than one way to represent a phonetically spelled
12180 word using Chinese characters, Emacs can only guess which one to use;
12181 typically these input methods give you a way to say "guess again" if
12182 the first guess is wrong.
12184 *** The command C-x RET m (toggle-enable-multibyte-characters)
12185 turns multibyte character support on or off for the current buffer.
12187 If multibyte character support is turned off in a buffer, then each
12188 byte is a single character, even codes 0200 through 0377--exactly as
12189 they did in Emacs 19.34. This includes the features for support for
12190 the European characters, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2.
12192 However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to
12193 use ISO Latin-1 or ISO Latin-2; the Emacs multibyte character set
12194 includes all the characters in these character sets, and Emacs can
12195 translate automatically to and from either one.
12197 *** Visiting a file in unibyte mode.
12199 Turning off multibyte character support in the buffer after visiting a
12200 file with multibyte code conversion will display the multibyte
12201 sequences already in the buffer, byte by byte. This is probably not
12204 If you want to edit a file of unibyte characters (Latin-1, for
12205 example), you can do it by specifying `no-conversion' as the coding
12206 system when reading the file. This coding system also turns off
12207 multibyte characters in that buffer.
12209 If you turn off multibyte character support entirely, this turns off
12210 character conversion as well.
12212 *** Displaying international characters on X Windows.
12214 A font for X typically displays just one alphabet or script.
12215 Therefore, displaying the entire range of characters Emacs supports
12216 requires using many fonts.
12218 Therefore, Emacs now supports "fontsets". Each fontset is a
12219 collection of fonts, each assigned to a range of character codes.
12221 A fontset has a name, like a font. Individual fonts are defined by
12222 the X server; fontsets are defined within Emacs itself. But once you
12223 have defined a fontset, you can use it in a face or a frame just as
12224 you would use a font.
12226 If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it
12227 specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot
12228 display that character. It will display an empty box instead.
12230 The fontset height and width are determined by the ASCII characters
12231 (that is, by the font in the fontset which is used for ASCII
12234 *** Defining fontsets.
12236 Emacs does not use any fontset by default. Its default font is still
12237 chosen as in previous versions. You can tell Emacs to use a fontset
12238 with the `-fn' option or the `Font' X resource.
12240 Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value
12241 of standard-fontset-spec. This fontset's short name is
12242 `fontset-standard'. Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the
12243 standard fontset are created automatically.
12245 If you specify a default ASCII font with the `Font' resource or `-fn'
12246 argument, a fontset is generated from it. This works by replacing the
12247 FOUNDARY, FAMILY, ADD_STYLE, and AVERAGE_WIDTH fields of the font name
12248 with `*' then using this to specify a fontset. This fontset's short
12249 name is `fontset-startup'.
12251 Emacs checks resources of the form Fontset-N where N is 0, 1, 2...
12252 The resource value should have this form:
12253 FONTSET-NAME, [CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME]...
12254 FONTSET-NAME should have the form of a standard X font name, except:
12255 * most fields should be just the wild card "*".
12256 * the CHARSET_REGISTRY field should be "fontset"
12257 * the CHARSET_ENCODING field can be any nickname of the fontset.
12258 The construct CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME can be repeated any number
12259 of times; each time specifies the font for one character set.
12260 CHARSET-NAME should be the name of a character set, and FONT-NAME
12261 should specify an actual font to use for that character set.
12263 Each of these fontsets has an alias which is made from the
12264 last two font name fields, CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING.
12265 You can refer to the fontset by that alias or by its full name.
12267 For any character sets that you don't mention, Emacs tries to choose a
12268 font by substituting into FONTSET-NAME. For instance, with the
12269 following resource,
12270 Emacs*Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24
12271 the font for ASCII is generated as below:
12272 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1
12273 Here is the substitution rule:
12274 Change CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING to that of the charset
12275 defined in the variable x-charset-registries. For instance, ASCII has
12276 the entry (ascii . "ISO8859-1") in this variable. Then, reduce
12277 sequences of wild cards -*-...-*- with a single wildcard -*-.
12278 (This is to prevent use of auto-scaled fonts.)
12280 The function which processes the fontset resource value to create the
12281 fontset is called create-fontset-from-fontset-spec. You can also call
12282 that function explicitly to create a fontset.
12284 With the X resource Emacs.Font, you can specify a fontset name just
12285 like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset
12286 name in a wildcard resource like Emacs*Font--that tries to specify the
12287 fontset for other purposes including menus, and they cannot handle
12290 *** The command M-x set-language-environment sets certain global Emacs
12291 defaults for a particular choice of language.
12293 Selecting a language environment typically specifies a default input
12294 method and which coding systems to recognize automatically when
12295 visiting files. However, it does not try to reread files you have
12296 already visited; the text in those buffers is not affected. The
12297 language environment may also specify a default choice of coding
12298 system for new files that you create.
12300 It makes no difference which buffer is current when you use
12301 set-language-environment, because these defaults apply globally to the
12302 whole Emacs session.
12304 For example, M-x set-language-environment RET Latin-1 RET
12305 chooses the Latin-1 character set. In the .emacs file, you can do this
12306 with (set-language-environment "Latin-1").
12308 *** The command C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system)
12309 specifies the file coding system for the current buffer. This
12310 specifies what sort of character code translation to do when saving
12311 the file. As an argument, you must specify the name of one of the
12312 coding systems that Emacs supports.
12314 *** The command C-x RET c (universal-coding-system-argument)
12315 lets you specify a coding system when you read or write a file.
12316 This command uses the minibuffer to read a coding system name.
12317 After you exit the minibuffer, the specified coding system
12318 is used for *the immediately following command*.
12320 So if the immediately following command is a command to read or
12321 write a file, it uses the specified coding system for that file.
12323 If the immediately following command does not use the coding system,
12324 then C-x RET c ultimately has no effect.
12326 For example, C-x RET c iso-8859-1 RET C-x C-f temp RET
12327 visits the file `temp' treating it as ISO Latin-1.
12329 *** You can specify the coding system for a file using the -*-
12330 construct. Include `coding: CODINGSYSTEM;' inside the -*-...-*-
12331 to specify use of coding system CODINGSYSTEM. You can also
12332 specify the coding system in a local variable list at the end
12335 *** The command C-x RET t (set-terminal-coding-system) specifies
12336 the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a character
12337 code for terminal output, all characters output to the terminal are
12338 translated into that character code.
12340 This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built in
12341 various countries to support the languages of those countries.
12343 By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all.
12345 *** The command C-x RET k (set-keyboard-coding-system) specifies
12346 the coding system for keyboard input.
12348 Character code translation of keyboard input is useful for terminals
12349 with keys that send non-ASCII graphic characters--for example,
12350 some terminals designed for ISO Latin-1 or subsets of it.
12352 By default, keyboard input is not translated at all.
12354 Character code translation of keyboard input is similar to using an
12355 input method, in that both define sequences of keyboard input that
12356 translate into single characters. However, input methods are designed
12357 to be convenient for interactive use, while the code translations are
12358 designed to work with terminals.
12360 *** The command C-x RET p (set-buffer-process-coding-system)
12361 specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess.
12362 This command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess
12363 has its own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify
12364 translation to and from a particular subprocess by giving the command
12365 in the corresponding buffer.
12367 By default, process input and output are not translated at all.
12369 *** The variable file-name-coding-system specifies the coding system
12370 to use for encoding file names before operating on them.
12371 It is also used for decoding file names obtained from the system.
12373 *** The command C-\ (toggle-input-method) activates or deactivates
12374 an input method. If no input method has been selected before, the
12375 command prompts for you to specify the language and input method you
12378 C-u C-\ (select-input-method) lets you switch to a different input
12379 method. C-h C-\ (or C-h I) describes the current input method.
12381 *** Some input methods remap the keyboard to emulate various keyboard
12382 layouts commonly used for particular scripts. How to do this
12383 remapping properly depends on your actual keyboard layout. To specify
12384 which layout your keyboard has, use M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout.
12386 *** The command C-h C (describe-coding-system) displays
12387 the coding systems currently selected for various purposes, plus
12388 related information.
12390 *** The command C-h h (view-hello-file) displays a file called
12391 HELLO, which has examples of text in many languages, using various
12394 *** The command C-h L (describe-language-support) displays
12395 information about the support for a particular language.
12396 You specify the language as an argument.
12398 *** The mode line now contains a letter or character that identifies
12399 the coding system used in the visited file. It normally follows the
12402 A dash indicates the default state of affairs: no code conversion
12403 (except CRLF => newline if appropriate). `=' means no conversion
12404 whatsoever. The ISO 8859 coding systems are represented by digits
12405 1 through 9. Other coding systems are represented by letters:
12407 A alternativnyj (Russian)
12409 C cn-gb-2312 (Chinese)
12410 C iso-2022-cn (Chinese)
12411 D in-is13194-devanagari (Indian languages)
12412 E euc-japan (Japanese)
12413 I iso-2022-cjk or iso-2022-ss2 (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
12414 J junet (iso-2022-7) or old-jis (iso-2022-jp-1978-irv) (Japanese)
12415 K euc-korea (Korean)
12418 S shift_jis (Japanese)
12421 V viscii or vscii (Vietnamese)
12422 i iso-2022-lock (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
12423 k iso-2022-kr (Korean)
12424 v viqr (Vietnamese)
12427 When you are using a character-only terminal (not a window system),
12428 two additional characters appear in between the dash and the file
12429 coding system. These two characters describe the coding system for
12430 keyboard input, and the coding system for terminal output.
12432 *** The new variable rmail-file-coding-system specifies the code
12433 conversion to use for RMAIL files. The default value is nil.
12435 When you read mail with Rmail, each message is decoded automatically
12436 into Emacs' internal format. This has nothing to do with
12437 rmail-file-coding-system. That variable controls reading and writing
12438 Rmail files themselves.
12440 *** The new variable sendmail-coding-system specifies the code
12441 conversion for outgoing mail. The default value is nil.
12443 Actually, there are three different ways of specifying the coding system
12446 - If you use C-x RET f in the mail buffer, that takes priority.
12447 - Otherwise, if you set sendmail-coding-system non-nil, that specifies it.
12448 - Otherwise, the default coding system for new files is used,
12449 if that is non-nil. That comes from your language environment.
12450 - Otherwise, Latin-1 is used.
12452 *** The command C-h t (help-with-tutorial) accepts a prefix argument
12453 to specify the language for the tutorial file. Currently, English,
12454 Japanese, Korean and Thai are supported. We welcome additional
12457 ** An easy new way to visit a file with no code or format conversion
12458 of any kind: Use M-x find-file-literally. There is also a command
12459 insert-file-literally which inserts a file into the current buffer
12460 without any conversion.
12462 ** C-q's handling of octal character codes is changed.
12463 You can now specify any number of octal digits.
12464 RET terminates the digits and is discarded;
12465 any other non-digit terminates the digits and is then used as input.
12467 ** There are new commands for looking up Info documentation for
12468 functions, variables and file names used in your programs.
12470 Type M-x info-lookup-symbol to look up a symbol in the buffer at point.
12471 Type M-x info-lookup-file to look up a file in the buffer at point.
12473 Precisely which Info files are used to look it up depends on the major
12474 mode. For example, in C mode, the GNU libc manual is used.
12476 ** M-TAB in most programming language modes now runs the command
12477 complete-symbol. This command performs completion on the symbol name
12478 in the buffer before point.
12480 With a numeric argument, it performs completion based on the set of
12481 symbols documented in the Info files for the programming language that
12484 With no argument, it does completion based on the current tags tables,
12485 just like the old binding of M-TAB (complete-tag).
12487 ** File locking works with NFS now.
12489 The lock file for FILENAME is now a symbolic link named .#FILENAME,
12490 in the same directory as FILENAME.
12492 This means that collision detection between two different machines now
12493 works reasonably well; it also means that no file server or directory
12494 can become a bottleneck.
12496 The new method does have drawbacks. It means that collision detection
12497 does not operate when you edit a file in a directory where you cannot
12498 create new files. Collision detection also doesn't operate when the
12499 file server does not support symbolic links. But these conditions are
12500 rare, and the ability to have collision detection while using NFS is
12501 so useful that the change is worth while.
12503 When Emacs or a system crashes, this may leave behind lock files which
12504 are stale. So you may occasionally get warnings about spurious
12505 collisions. When you determine that the collision is spurious, just
12506 tell Emacs to go ahead anyway.
12508 ** If you wish to use Show Paren mode to display matching parentheses,
12509 it is no longer sufficient to load paren.el. Instead you must call
12512 ** If you wish to use Delete Selection mode to replace a highlighted
12513 selection when you insert new text, it is no longer sufficient to load
12514 delsel.el. Instead you must call the function delete-selection-mode.
12516 ** If you wish to use Partial Completion mode to complete partial words
12517 within symbols or filenames, it is no longer sufficient to load
12518 complete.el. Instead you must call the function partial-completion-mode.
12520 ** If you wish to use uniquify to rename buffers for you,
12521 it is no longer sufficient to load uniquify.el. You must also
12522 set uniquify-buffer-name-style to one of the non-nil legitimate values.
12524 ** Changes in View mode.
12526 *** Several new commands are available in View mode.
12527 Do H in view mode for a list of commands.
12529 *** There are two new commands for entering View mode:
12530 view-file-other-frame and view-buffer-other-frame.
12532 *** Exiting View mode does a better job of restoring windows to their
12535 *** New customization variable view-scroll-auto-exit. If non-nil,
12536 scrolling past end of buffer makes view mode exit.
12538 *** New customization variable view-exits-all-viewing-windows. If
12539 non-nil, view-mode will at exit restore all windows viewing buffer,
12540 not just the selected window.
12542 *** New customization variable view-read-only. If non-nil, visiting a
12543 read-only file automatically enters View mode, and toggle-read-only
12544 turns View mode on or off.
12546 *** New customization variable view-remove-frame-by-deleting controls
12547 how to remove a not needed frame at view mode exit. If non-nil,
12548 delete the frame, if nil make an icon of it.
12550 ** C-x v l, the command to print a file's version control log,
12551 now positions point at the entry for the file's current branch version.
12553 ** C-x v =, the command to compare a file with the last checked-in version,
12554 has a new feature. If the file is currently not locked, so that it is
12555 presumably identical to the last checked-in version, the command now asks
12556 which version to compare with.
12558 ** When using hideshow.el, incremental search can temporarily show hidden
12559 blocks if a match is inside the block.
12561 The block is hidden again if the search is continued and the next match
12562 is outside the block. By customizing the variable
12563 isearch-hide-immediately you can choose to hide all the temporarily
12564 shown blocks only when exiting from incremental search.
12566 By customizing the variable hs-isearch-open you can choose what kind
12567 of blocks to temporarily show during isearch: comment blocks, code
12568 blocks, all of them or none.
12570 ** The new command C-x 4 0 (kill-buffer-and-window) kills the
12571 current buffer and deletes the selected window. It asks for
12572 confirmation first.
12574 ** C-x C-w, which saves the buffer into a specified file name,
12575 now changes the major mode according to that file name.
12576 However, the mode will not be changed if
12577 (1) a local variables list or the `-*-' line specifies a major mode, or
12578 (2) the current major mode is a "special" mode,
12579 not suitable for ordinary files, or
12580 (3) the new file name does not particularly specify any mode.
12582 This applies to M-x set-visited-file-name as well.
12584 However, if you set change-major-mode-with-file-name to nil, then
12585 these commands do not change the major mode.
12587 ** M-x occur changes.
12589 *** If the argument to M-x occur contains upper case letters,
12590 it performs a case-sensitive search.
12592 *** In the *Occur* buffer made by M-x occur,
12593 if you type g or M-x revert-buffer, this repeats the search
12594 using the same regular expression and the same buffer as before.
12596 ** In Transient Mark mode, the region in any one buffer is highlighted
12597 in just one window at a time. At first, it is highlighted in the
12598 window where you set the mark. The buffer's highlighting remains in
12599 that window unless you select to another window which shows the same
12600 buffer--then the highlighting moves to that window.
12602 ** The feature to suggest key bindings when you use M-x now operates
12603 after the command finishes. The message suggesting key bindings
12604 appears temporarily in the echo area. The previous echo area contents
12605 come back after a few seconds, in case they contain useful information.
12607 ** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
12608 selected buffers, so that the default for C-x b is now based on the
12609 buffers recently selected in the selected frame.
12611 ** Outline mode changes.
12613 *** Outline mode now uses overlays (this is the former noutline.el).
12615 *** Incremental searches skip over invisible text in Outline mode.
12617 ** When a minibuffer window is active but not the selected window, if
12618 you try to use the minibuffer, you used to get a nested minibuffer.
12619 Now, this not only gives an error, it also cancels the minibuffer that
12620 was already active.
12622 The motive for this change is so that beginning users do not
12623 unknowingly move away from minibuffers, leaving them active, and then
12624 get confused by it.
12626 If you want to be able to have recursive minibuffers, you must
12627 set enable-recursive-minibuffers to non-nil.
12629 ** Changes in dynamic abbrevs.
12631 *** Expanding dynamic abbrevs with M-/ is now smarter about case
12632 conversion. If the expansion has mixed case not counting the first
12633 character, and the abbreviation matches the beginning of the expansion
12634 including case, then the expansion is copied verbatim.
12636 The expansion is also copied verbatim if the abbreviation itself has
12637 mixed case. And using SPC M-/ to copy an additional word always
12638 copies it verbatim except when the previous copied word is all caps.
12640 *** The values of `dabbrev-case-replace' and `dabbrev-case-fold-search'
12641 are no longer Lisp expressions. They have simply three possible
12644 `dabbrev-case-replace' has these three values: nil (don't preserve
12645 case), t (do), or `case-replace' (do like M-x query-replace).
12646 `dabbrev-case-fold-search' has these three values: nil (don't ignore
12647 case), t (do), or `case-fold-search' (do like search).
12649 ** Minibuffer history lists are truncated automatically now to a
12650 certain length. The variable history-length specifies how long they
12651 can be. The default value is 30.
12653 ** Changes in Mail mode.
12655 *** The key C-x m no longer runs the `mail' command directly.
12656 Instead, it runs the command `compose-mail', which invokes the mail
12657 composition mechanism you have selected with the variable
12658 `mail-user-agent'. The default choice of user agent is
12659 `sendmail-user-agent', which gives behavior compatible with the old
12662 C-x 4 m now runs compose-mail-other-window, and C-x 5 m runs
12663 compose-mail-other-frame.
12665 *** While composing a reply to a mail message, from Rmail, you can use
12666 the command C-c C-r to cite just the region from the message you are
12667 replying to. This copies the text which is the selected region in the
12668 buffer that shows the original message.
12670 *** The command C-c C-i inserts a file at the end of the message,
12671 with separator lines around the contents.
12673 *** The command M-x expand-mail-aliases expands all mail aliases
12674 in suitable mail headers. Emacs automatically extracts mail alias
12675 definitions from your mail alias file (e.g., ~/.mailrc). You do not
12676 need to expand mail aliases yourself before sending mail.
12678 *** New features in the mail-complete command.
12680 **** The mail-complete command now inserts the user's full name,
12681 for local users or if that is known. The variable mail-complete-style
12682 controls the style to use, and whether to do this at all.
12683 Its values are like those of mail-from-style.
12685 **** The variable mail-passwd-command lets you specify a shell command
12686 to run to fetch a set of password-entries that add to the ones in
12689 **** The variable mail-passwd-file now specifies a list of files to read
12690 to get the list of user ids. By default, one file is used:
12693 ** You can "quote" a file name to inhibit special significance of
12694 special syntax, by adding `/:' to the beginning. Thus, if you have a
12695 directory named `/foo:', you can prevent it from being treated as a
12696 reference to a remote host named `foo' by writing it as `/:/foo:'.
12698 Emacs uses this new construct automatically when necessary, such as
12699 when you start it with a working directory whose name might otherwise
12700 be taken to be magic.
12702 ** There is a new command M-x grep-find which uses find to select
12703 files to search through, and grep to scan them. The output is
12704 available in a Compile mode buffer, as with M-x grep.
12706 M-x grep now uses the -e option if the grep program supports that.
12707 (-e prevents problems if the search pattern starts with a dash.)
12709 ** In Dired, the & command now flags for deletion the files whose names
12710 suggest they are probably not needed in the long run.
12712 In Dired, * is now a prefix key for mark-related commands.
12714 new key dired.el binding old key
12715 ------- ---------------- -------
12716 * c dired-change-marks c
12718 * * dired-mark-executables * (binding deleted)
12719 * / dired-mark-directories / (binding deleted)
12720 * @ dired-mark-symlinks @ (binding deleted)
12722 * DEL dired-unmark-backward DEL
12723 * ? dired-unmark-all-files C-M-?
12724 * ! dired-unmark-all-marks
12725 * % dired-mark-files-regexp % m
12726 * C-n dired-next-marked-file M-}
12727 * C-p dired-prev-marked-file M-{
12731 *** When Rmail cannot convert your incoming mail into Babyl format, it
12732 saves the new mail in the file RMAILOSE.n, where n is an integer
12733 chosen to make a unique name. This way, Rmail will not keep crashing
12734 each time you run it.
12736 *** In Rmail, the variable rmail-summary-line-count-flag now controls
12737 whether to include the line count in the summary. Non-nil means yes.
12739 *** In Rmail summary buffers, d and C-d (the commands to delete
12740 messages) now take repeat counts as arguments. A negative argument
12741 means to move in the opposite direction.
12743 *** In Rmail, the t command now takes an optional argument which lets
12744 you specify whether to show the message headers in full or pruned.
12746 *** In Rmail, the new command w (rmail-output-body-to-file) writes
12747 just the body of the current message into a file, without the headers.
12748 It takes the file name from the message subject, by default, but you
12749 can edit that file name in the minibuffer before it is actually used
12754 *** nntp.el has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
12756 *** Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
12759 *** Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like
12760 `and', `or', `not', and parent redirection.
12762 *** Article washing status can be displayed in the
12765 *** gnus.el has been split into many smaller files.
12767 *** Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID.
12769 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
12771 *** New variables for specifying what score and adapt files
12772 are to be considered home score and adapt files. See
12773 `gnus-home-score-file' and `gnus-home-adapt-files'.
12775 *** Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics.
12777 *** Article editing has been revamped and is now usable.
12779 *** Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions.
12780 See `gnus-signature-separator' and `gnus-signature-limit'.
12782 *** Summary pick mode has been made to look more nn-like.
12783 Line numbers are displayed and the `.' command can be
12784 used to pick articles.
12786 *** Commands for moving the .newsrc.eld from one server to
12787 another have been added.
12789 `M-x gnus-change-server'
12791 *** A way to specify that "uninteresting" fields be suppressed when
12792 generating lines in buffers.
12794 *** Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with
12797 *** Scoring can be done on words using the new score type `w'.
12799 *** Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis:
12801 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
12803 *** Scores can be decayed.
12805 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
12807 *** Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The
12808 Date is normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first.
12810 *** A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
12813 `M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups'
12815 *** A new command for reading collections of documents
12816 (nndoc with nnvirtual on top) has been added -- `C-M-d'.
12818 *** Process mark sets can be pushed and popped.
12820 *** A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post
12821 even when the NNTP server doesn't allow posting.
12823 *** A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
12824 (DejaNews, Alta Vista, InReference) has been added.
12826 Use the `G w' command in the group buffer to create such
12829 *** Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard
12830 sorting functions, and each topic can be sorted independently.
12832 See the commands under the `T S' submap.
12834 *** Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently.
12836 See the commands under the `G P' submap.
12838 *** Cached articles can be pulled into the groups.
12840 Use the `Y c' command.
12842 *** Score files are now applied in a more reliable order.
12844 *** Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated.
12846 `M-x nnmail-split-history'
12848 *** More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk
12849 from incoming mail before saving the mail.
12851 See `nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook'.
12853 *** The nnml mail backend now understands compressed article files.
12855 *** To enable Gnus to read/post multi-lingual articles, you must execute
12856 the following code, for instance, in your .emacs.
12858 (add-hook 'gnus-startup-hook 'gnus-mule-initialize)
12860 Then, when you start Gnus, it will decode non-ASCII text automatically
12861 and show appropriate characters. (Note: if you are using gnus-mime
12862 from the SEMI package, formerly known as TM, you should NOT add this
12863 hook to gnus-startup-hook; gnus-mime has its own method of handling
12866 Since it is impossible to distinguish all coding systems
12867 automatically, you may need to specify a choice of coding system for a
12868 particular news group. This can be done by:
12870 (gnus-mule-add-group NEWSGROUP 'CODING-SYSTEM)
12872 Here NEWSGROUP should be a string which names a newsgroup or a tree
12873 of newsgroups. If NEWSGROUP is "XXX.YYY", all news groups under
12874 "XXX.YYY" (including "XXX.YYY.ZZZ") will use the specified coding
12875 system. CODING-SYSTEM specifies which coding system to use (for both
12876 for reading and posting).
12878 CODING-SYSTEM can also be a cons cell of the form
12879 (READ-CODING-SYSTEM . POST-CODING-SYSTEM)
12880 Then READ-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you read messages from the
12881 newsgroups, while POST-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you post messages
12884 Emacs knows the right coding systems for certain newsgroups by
12885 default. Here are some of these default settings:
12887 (gnus-mule-add-group "fj" 'iso-2022-7)
12888 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text" 'hz-gb-2312)
12889 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.hk" 'hz-gb-2312)
12890 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text.big5" 'cn-big5)
12891 (gnus-mule-add-group "soc.culture.vietnamese" '(nil . viqr))
12893 When you reply by mail to an article, these settings are ignored;
12894 the mail is encoded according to sendmail-coding-system, as usual.
12896 ** CC mode changes.
12898 *** If you edit primarily one style of C (or C++, Objective-C, Java)
12899 code, you may want to make the CC Mode style variables have global
12900 values so that you can set them directly in your .emacs file. To do
12901 this, set c-style-variables-are-local-p to nil in your .emacs file.
12902 Note that this only takes effect if you do it *before* cc-mode.el is
12905 If you typically edit more than one style of C (or C++, Objective-C,
12906 Java) code in a single Emacs session, you may want to make the CC Mode
12907 style variables have buffer local values. By default, all buffers
12908 share the same style variable settings; to make them buffer local, set
12909 c-style-variables-are-local-p to t in your .emacs file. Note that you
12910 must do this *before* CC Mode is loaded.
12912 *** The new variable c-indentation-style holds the C style name
12913 of the current buffer.
12915 *** The variable c-block-comments-indent-p has been deleted, because
12916 it is no longer necessary. C mode now handles all the supported styles
12917 of block comments, with no need to say which one you will use.
12919 *** There is a new indentation style "python", which specifies the C
12920 style that the Python developers like.
12922 *** There is a new c-cleanup-list option: brace-elseif-brace.
12923 This says to put ...} else if (...) {... on one line,
12924 just as brace-else-brace says to put ...} else {... on one line.
12926 ** VC Changes [new]
12928 *** In vc-retrieve-snapshot (C-x v r), if you don't specify a snapshot
12929 name, it retrieves the *latest* versions of all files in the current
12930 directory and its subdirectories (aside from files already locked).
12932 This feature is useful if your RCS directory is a link to a common
12933 master directory, and you want to pick up changes made by other
12936 You can do the same thing for an individual file by typing C-u C-x C-q
12937 RET in a buffer visiting that file.
12939 *** VC can now handle files under CVS that are being "watched" by
12940 other developers. Such files are made read-only by CVS. To get a
12941 writable copy, type C-x C-q in a buffer visiting such a file. VC then
12942 calls "cvs edit", which notifies the other developers of it.
12944 *** vc-version-diff (C-u C-x v =) now suggests reasonable defaults for
12945 version numbers, based on the current state of the file.
12947 ** Calendar changes.
12949 *** A new function, list-holidays, allows you list holidays or
12950 subclasses of holidays for ranges of years. Related menu items allow
12951 you do this for the year of the selected date, or the
12952 following/previous years.
12954 *** There is now support for the Baha'i calendar system. Use `pb' in
12955 the *Calendar* buffer to display the current Baha'i date. The Baha'i
12956 calendar, or "Badi calendar" is a system of 19 months with 19 days
12957 each, and 4 intercalary days (5 during a Gregorian leap year). The
12958 calendar begins May 23, 1844, with each of the months named after a
12959 supposed attribute of God.
12961 ** ps-print changes
12963 There are some new user variables and subgroups for customizing the page
12966 *** Headers & Footers (subgroup)
12968 Some printer systems print a header page and force the first page to
12969 be printed on the back of the header page when using duplex. If your
12970 printer system has this behavior, set variable
12971 `ps-banner-page-when-duplexing' to t.
12973 If variable `ps-banner-page-when-duplexing' is non-nil, it prints a
12974 blank page as the very first printed page. So, it behaves as if the
12975 very first character of buffer (or region) were a form feed ^L (\014).
12977 The variable `ps-spool-config' specifies who is responsible for
12978 setting duplex mode and page size. Valid values are:
12980 lpr-switches duplex and page size are configured by `ps-lpr-switches'.
12981 Don't forget to set `ps-lpr-switches' to select duplex
12982 printing for your printer.
12984 setpagedevice duplex and page size are configured by ps-print using the
12985 setpagedevice PostScript operator.
12987 nil duplex and page size are configured by ps-print *not* using
12988 the setpagedevice PostScript operator.
12990 The variable `ps-spool-tumble' specifies how the page images on
12991 opposite sides of a sheet are oriented with respect to each other. If
12992 `ps-spool-tumble' is nil, ps-print produces output suitable for
12993 bindings on the left or right. If `ps-spool-tumble' is non-nil,
12994 ps-print produces output suitable for bindings at the top or bottom.
12995 This variable takes effect only if `ps-spool-duplex' is non-nil.
12996 The default value is nil.
12998 The variable `ps-header-frame-alist' specifies a header frame
12999 properties alist. Valid frame properties are:
13001 fore-color Specify the foreground frame color.
13002 Value should be a float number between 0.0 (black
13003 color) and 1.0 (white color), or a string which is a
13004 color name, or a list of 3 float numbers which
13005 correspond to the Red Green Blue color scale, each
13006 float number between 0.0 (dark color) and 1.0 (bright
13007 color). The default is 0 ("black").
13009 back-color Specify the background frame color (similar to fore-color).
13010 The default is 0.9 ("gray90").
13012 shadow-color Specify the shadow color (similar to fore-color).
13013 The default is 0 ("black").
13015 border-color Specify the border color (similar to fore-color).
13016 The default is 0 ("black").
13018 border-width Specify the border width.
13019 The default is 0.4.
13021 Any other property is ignored.
13023 Don't change this alist directly; instead use Custom, or the
13024 `ps-value', `ps-get', `ps-put' and `ps-del' functions (see there for
13027 Ps-print can also print footers. The footer variables are:
13028 `ps-print-footer', `ps-footer-offset', `ps-print-footer-frame',
13029 `ps-footer-font-family', `ps-footer-font-size', `ps-footer-line-pad',
13030 `ps-footer-lines', `ps-left-footer', `ps-right-footer' and
13031 `ps-footer-frame-alist'. These variables are similar to those
13032 controlling headers.
13034 *** Color management (subgroup)
13036 If `ps-print-color-p' is non-nil, the buffer's text will be printed in
13039 *** Face Management (subgroup)
13041 If you need to print without worrying about face background colors,
13042 set the variable `ps-use-face-background' which specifies if face
13043 background should be used. Valid values are:
13045 t always use face background color.
13046 nil never use face background color.
13047 (face...) list of faces whose background color will be used.
13049 *** N-up printing (subgroup)
13051 The variable `ps-n-up-printing' specifies the number of pages per
13054 The variable `ps-n-up-margin' specifies the margin in points (pt)
13055 between the sheet border and the n-up printing.
13057 If variable `ps-n-up-border-p' is non-nil, a border is drawn around
13060 The variable `ps-n-up-filling' specifies how the page matrix is filled
13061 on each sheet of paper. Following are the valid values for
13062 `ps-n-up-filling' with a filling example using a 3x4 page matrix:
13064 `left-top' 1 2 3 4 `left-bottom' 9 10 11 12
13068 `right-top' 4 3 2 1 `right-bottom' 12 11 10 9
13072 `top-left' 1 4 7 10 `bottom-left' 3 6 9 12
13076 `top-right' 10 7 4 1 `bottom-right' 12 9 6 3
13080 Any other value is treated as `left-top'.
13082 *** Zebra stripes (subgroup)
13084 The variable `ps-zebra-color' controls the zebra stripes grayscale or
13087 The variable `ps-zebra-stripe-follow' specifies how zebra stripes
13088 continue on next page. Visually, valid values are (the character `+'
13089 to the right of each column indicates that a line is printed):
13091 `nil' `follow' `full' `full-follow'
13092 Current Page -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
13093 1 XXXXX + 1 XXXXXXXX + 1 XXXXXX + 1 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13094 2 XXXXX + 2 XXXXXXXX + 2 XXXXXX + 2 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13095 3 XXXXX + 3 XXXXXXXX + 3 XXXXXX + 3 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13099 7 XXXXX + 7 XXXXXXXX + 7 XXXXXX + 7 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13100 8 XXXXX + 8 XXXXXXXX + 8 XXXXXX + 8 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13101 9 XXXXX + 9 XXXXXXXX + 9 XXXXXX + 9 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13104 -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
13105 Next Page -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
13106 12 XXXXX + 12 + 10 XXXXXX + 10 +
13107 13 XXXXX + 13 XXXXXXXX + 11 XXXXXX + 11 +
13108 14 XXXXX + 14 XXXXXXXX + 12 XXXXXX + 12 +
13109 15 + 15 XXXXXXXX + 13 + 13 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13110 16 + 16 + 14 + 14 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13111 17 + 17 + 15 + 15 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13112 18 XXXXX + 18 + 16 XXXXXX + 16 +
13113 19 XXXXX + 19 XXXXXXXX + 17 XXXXXX + 17 +
13114 20 XXXXX + 20 XXXXXXXX + 18 XXXXXX + 18 +
13117 -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
13119 Any other value is treated as `nil'.
13122 *** Printer management (subgroup)
13124 The variable `ps-printer-name-option' determines the option used by
13125 some utilities to indicate the printer name; it's used only when
13126 `ps-printer-name' is a non-empty string. If you're using the lpr
13127 utility to print, for example, `ps-printer-name-option' should be set
13130 The variable `ps-manual-feed' indicates if the printer requires manual
13131 paper feeding. If it's nil, automatic feeding takes place. If it's
13132 non-nil, manual feeding takes place.
13134 The variable `ps-end-with-control-d' specifies whether C-d (\x04)
13135 should be inserted at end of the generated PostScript. Non-nil means
13138 *** Page settings (subgroup)
13140 If variable `ps-warn-paper-type' is nil, it's *not* treated as an
13141 error if the PostScript printer doesn't have a paper with the size
13142 indicated by `ps-paper-type'; the default paper size will be used
13143 instead. If `ps-warn-paper-type' is non-nil, an error is signaled if
13144 the PostScript printer doesn't support a paper with the size indicated
13145 by `ps-paper-type'. This is used when `ps-spool-config' is set to
13148 The variable `ps-print-upside-down' determines the orientation for
13149 printing pages: nil means `normal' printing, non-nil means
13150 `upside-down' printing (that is, the page is rotated by 180 degrees).
13152 The variable `ps-selected-pages' specifies which pages to print. If
13153 it's nil, all pages are printed. If it's a list, list elements may be
13154 integers specifying a single page to print, or cons cells (FROM . TO)
13155 specifying to print from page FROM to TO. Invalid list elements, that
13156 is integers smaller than one, or elements whose FROM is greater than
13157 its TO, are ignored.
13159 The variable `ps-even-or-odd-pages' specifies how to print even/odd
13160 pages. Valid values are:
13162 nil print all pages.
13164 `even-page' print only even pages.
13166 `odd-page' print only odd pages.
13168 `even-sheet' print only even sheets.
13169 That is, if `ps-n-up-printing' is 1, it behaves like
13170 `even-page', but for values greater than 1, it'll
13171 print only the even sheet of paper.
13173 `odd-sheet' print only odd sheets.
13174 That is, if `ps-n-up-printing' is 1, it behaves like
13175 `odd-page'; but for values greater than 1, it'll print
13176 only the odd sheet of paper.
13178 Any other value is treated as nil.
13180 If you set `ps-selected-pages' (see there for documentation), pages
13181 are filtered by `ps-selected-pages', and then by
13182 `ps-even-or-odd-pages'. For example, if we have:
13184 (setq ps-selected-pages '(1 4 (6 . 10) (12 . 16) 20))
13186 and we combine this with `ps-even-or-odd-pages' and
13187 `ps-n-up-printing', we get:
13189 `ps-n-up-printing' = 1:
13190 `ps-even-or-odd-pages' PAGES PRINTED
13191 nil 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20
13192 even-page 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20
13193 odd-page 1, 7, 9, 13, 15
13194 even-sheet 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20
13195 odd-sheet 1, 7, 9, 13, 15
13197 `ps-n-up-printing' = 2:
13198 `ps-even-or-odd-pages' PAGES PRINTED
13199 nil 1/4, 6/7, 8/9, 10/12, 13/14, 15/16, 20
13200 even-page 4/6, 8/10, 12/14, 16/20
13201 odd-page 1/7, 9/13, 15
13202 even-sheet 6/7, 10/12, 15/16
13203 odd-sheet 1/4, 8/9, 13/14, 20
13205 *** Miscellany (subgroup)
13207 The variable `ps-error-handler-message' specifies where error handler
13208 messages should be sent.
13210 It is also possible to add a user-defined PostScript prologue code in
13211 front of all generated prologue code by setting the variable
13212 `ps-user-defined-prologue'.
13214 The variable `ps-line-number-font' specifies the font for line numbers.
13216 The variable `ps-line-number-font-size' specifies the font size in
13217 points for line numbers.
13219 The variable `ps-line-number-color' specifies the color for line
13220 numbers. See `ps-zebra-color' for documentation.
13222 The variable `ps-line-number-step' specifies the interval in which
13223 line numbers are printed. For example, if `ps-line-number-step' is set
13224 to 2, the printing will look like:
13236 integer an integer specifying the interval in which line numbers are
13237 printed. If it's smaller than or equal to zero, 1
13240 `zebra' specifies that only the line number of the first line in a
13241 zebra stripe is to be printed.
13243 Any other value is treated as `zebra'.
13245 The variable `ps-line-number-start' specifies the starting point in
13246 the interval given by `ps-line-number-step'. For example, if
13247 `ps-line-number-step' is set to 3, and `ps-line-number-start' is set to
13248 3, the output will look like:
13262 The variable `ps-postscript-code-directory' specifies the directory
13263 where the PostScript prologue file used by ps-print is found.
13265 The variable `ps-line-spacing' determines the line spacing in points,
13266 for ordinary text, when generating PostScript (similar to
13269 The variable `ps-paragraph-spacing' determines the paragraph spacing,
13270 in points, for ordinary text, when generating PostScript (similar to
13273 The variable `ps-paragraph-regexp' specifies the paragraph delimiter.
13275 The variable `ps-begin-cut-regexp' and `ps-end-cut-regexp' specify the
13276 start and end of a region to cut out when printing.
13278 ** hideshow changes.
13280 *** now supports hiding of blocks of single line comments (like // for
13283 *** Support for java-mode added.
13285 *** When doing `hs-hide-all' it is now possible to also hide the comments
13286 in the file if `hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all' is set.
13288 *** The new function `hs-hide-initial-comment' hides the comments at
13289 the beginning of the files. Finally those huge RCS logs don't stay in your
13290 way! This is run by default when entering the `hs-minor-mode'.
13292 *** Now uses overlays instead of `selective-display', so is more
13293 robust and a lot faster.
13295 *** A block beginning can span multiple lines.
13297 *** The new variable `hs-show-hidden-short-form' if t, directs hideshow
13298 to show only the beginning of a block when it is hidden. See the
13299 documentation for more details.
13301 ** Changes in Enriched mode.
13303 *** When you visit a file in enriched-mode, Emacs will make sure it is
13304 filled to the current fill-column. This behavior is now independent
13305 of the size of the window. When you save the file, the fill-column in
13306 use is stored as well, so that the whole buffer need not be refilled
13307 the next time unless the fill-column is different.
13309 *** use-hard-newlines is now a minor mode. When it is enabled, Emacs
13310 distinguishes between hard and soft newlines, and treats hard newlines
13311 as paragraph boundaries. Otherwise all newlines inserted are marked
13312 as soft, and paragraph boundaries are determined solely from the text.
13318 The variables font-lock-face-attributes, font-lock-display-type and
13319 font-lock-background-mode are now obsolete; the recommended way to specify the
13320 faces to use for Font Lock mode is with M-x customize-group on the new custom
13321 group font-lock-highlighting-faces. If you set font-lock-face-attributes in
13322 your ~/.emacs file, Font Lock mode will respect its value. However, you should
13323 consider converting from setting that variable to using M-x customize.
13325 You can still use X resources to specify Font Lock face appearances.
13327 *** Maximum decoration
13329 Fontification now uses the maximum level of decoration supported by
13330 default. Previously, fontification used a mode-specific default level
13331 of decoration, which is typically the minimum level of decoration
13332 supported. You can set font-lock-maximum-decoration to nil
13333 to get the old behavior.
13337 Support is now provided for Java, Objective-C, AWK and SIMULA modes.
13339 Note that Font Lock mode can be turned on without knowing exactly what modes
13340 support Font Lock mode, via the command global-font-lock-mode.
13342 *** Configurable support
13344 Support for C, C++, Objective-C and Java can be more easily configured for
13345 additional types and classes via the new variables c-font-lock-extra-types,
13346 c++-font-lock-extra-types, objc-font-lock-extra-types and, you guessed it,
13347 java-font-lock-extra-types. These value of each of these variables should be a
13348 list of regexps matching the extra type names. For example, the default value
13349 of c-font-lock-extra-types is ("\\sw+_t") which means fontification follows the
13350 convention that C type names end in _t. This results in slower fontification.
13352 Of course, you can change the variables that specify fontification in whatever
13353 way you wish, typically by adding regexps. However, these new variables make
13354 it easier to make specific and common changes for the fontification of types.
13356 *** Adding highlighting patterns to existing support
13358 You can use the new function font-lock-add-keywords to add your own
13359 highlighting patterns, such as for project-local or user-specific constructs,
13362 For example, to highlight `FIXME:' words in C comments, put:
13364 (font-lock-add-keywords 'c-mode '(("\\<FIXME:" 0 font-lock-warning-face t)))
13370 Font Lock now defines two new faces, font-lock-builtin-face and
13371 font-lock-warning-face. These are intended to highlight builtin keywords,
13372 distinct from a language's normal keywords, and objects that should be brought
13373 to user attention, respectively. Various modes now use these new faces.
13375 *** Changes to fast-lock support mode
13377 The fast-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now process
13378 cache files silently. You can use the new variable fast-lock-verbose, in the
13379 same way as font-lock-verbose, to control this feature.
13381 *** Changes to lazy-lock support mode
13383 The lazy-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now fontify
13384 according to the true syntactic context relative to other lines. You can use
13385 the new variable lazy-lock-defer-contextually to control this feature. If
13386 non-nil, changes to the buffer will cause subsequent lines in the buffer to be
13387 refontified after lazy-lock-defer-time seconds of idle time. If nil, then only
13388 the modified lines will be refontified; this is the same as the previous Lazy
13389 Lock mode behavior and the behavior of Font Lock mode.
13391 This feature is useful in modes where strings or comments can span lines.
13392 For example, if a string or comment terminating character is deleted, then if
13393 this feature is enabled subsequent lines in the buffer will be correctly
13394 refontified to reflect their new syntactic context. Previously, only the line
13395 containing the deleted character would be refontified and you would have to use
13396 the command M-o M-o (font-lock-fontify-block) to refontify some lines.
13398 As a consequence of this new feature, two other variables have changed:
13400 Variable `lazy-lock-defer-driven' is renamed `lazy-lock-defer-on-scrolling'.
13401 Variable `lazy-lock-defer-time' can now only be a time, i.e., a number.
13402 Buffer modes for which on-the-fly deferral applies can be specified via the
13403 new variable `lazy-lock-defer-on-the-fly'.
13405 If you set these variables in your ~/.emacs, then you may have to change those
13408 ** Ada mode changes.
13410 *** There is now better support for using find-file.el with Ada mode.
13411 If you switch between spec and body, the cursor stays in the same
13412 procedure (modulo overloading). If a spec has no body file yet, but
13413 you try to switch to its body file, Ada mode now generates procedure
13416 *** There are two new commands:
13417 - `ada-make-local' : invokes gnatmake on the current buffer
13418 - `ada-check-syntax' : check syntax of current buffer.
13420 The user options `ada-compiler-make', `ada-make-options',
13421 `ada-language-version', `ada-compiler-syntax-check', and
13422 `ada-compile-options' are used within these commands.
13424 *** Ada mode can now work with Outline minor mode. The outline level
13425 is calculated from the indenting, not from syntactic constructs.
13426 Outlining does not work if your code is not correctly indented.
13428 *** The new function `ada-gnat-style' converts the buffer to the style of
13429 formatting used in GNAT. It places two blanks after a comment start,
13430 places one blank between a word end and an opening '(', and puts one
13431 space between a comma and the beginning of a word.
13433 ** Scheme mode changes.
13435 *** Scheme mode indentation now uses many of the facilities of Lisp
13436 mode; therefore, the variables to customize it are the variables used
13437 for Lisp mode which have names starting with `lisp-'. The variables
13438 with names starting with `scheme-' which used to do this no longer
13441 If you want to use different indentation for Scheme and Lisp, this is
13442 still possible, but now you must do it by adding a hook to
13443 scheme-mode-hook, which could work by setting the `lisp-' indentation
13444 variables as buffer-local variables.
13446 *** DSSSL mode is a variant of Scheme mode, for editing DSSSL scripts.
13447 Use M-x dsssl-mode.
13449 ** Changes to the emacsclient program
13451 *** If a socket can't be found, and environment variables LOGNAME or
13452 USER are set, emacsclient now looks for a socket based on the UID
13453 associated with the name. That is an emacsclient running as root
13454 can connect to an Emacs server started by a non-root user.
13456 *** The emacsclient program now accepts an option --no-wait which tells
13457 it to return immediately without waiting for you to "finish" the
13460 *** The new option --alternate-editor allows to specify an editor to
13461 use if Emacs is not running. The environment variable
13462 ALTERNATE_EDITOR can be used for the same effect; the command line
13463 option takes precedence.
13465 ** M-x eldoc-mode enables a minor mode in which the echo area
13466 constantly shows the parameter list for function being called at point
13467 (in Emacs Lisp and Lisp Interaction modes only).
13469 ** C-x n d now runs the new command narrow-to-defun,
13470 which narrows the accessible parts of the buffer to just
13473 ** Emacs now handles the `--' argument in the standard way; all
13474 following arguments are treated as ordinary file names.
13476 ** On MSDOS and Windows, the bookmark file is now called _emacs.bmk,
13477 and the saved desktop file is now called _emacs.desktop (truncated if
13480 ** When you kill a buffer that visits a file,
13481 if there are any registers that save positions in the file,
13482 these register values no longer become completely useless.
13483 If you try to go to such a register with C-x j, then you are
13484 asked whether to visit the file again. If you say yes,
13485 it visits the file and then goes to the same position.
13487 ** When you visit a file that changes frequently outside Emacs--for
13488 example, a log of output from a process that continues to run--it may
13489 be useful for Emacs to revert the file without querying you whenever
13490 you visit the file afresh with C-x C-f.
13492 You can request this behavior for certain files by setting the
13493 variable revert-without-query to a list of regular expressions. If a
13494 file's name matches any of these regular expressions, find-file and
13495 revert-buffer revert the buffer without asking for permission--but
13496 only if you have not edited the buffer text yourself.
13498 ** set-default-font has been renamed to set-frame-font
13499 since it applies only to the current frame.
13501 ** In TeX mode, you can use the variable tex-main-file to specify the
13502 file for tex-file to run TeX on. (By default, tex-main-file is nil,
13503 and tex-file runs TeX on the current visited file.)
13505 This is useful when you are editing a document that consists of
13506 multiple files. In each of the included files, you can set up a local
13507 variable list which specifies the top-level file of your document for
13508 tex-main-file. Then tex-file will run TeX on the whole document
13509 instead of just the file you are editing.
13513 RefTeX mode is a new minor mode with special support for \label, \ref
13514 and \cite macros in LaTeX documents. RefTeX distinguishes labels of
13515 different environments (equation, figure, ...) and has full support for
13516 multifile documents. To use it, select a buffer with a LaTeX document and
13517 turn the mode on with M-x reftex-mode. Here are the main user commands:
13520 Creates a label semi-automatically. RefTeX is context sensitive and
13521 knows which kind of label is needed.
13523 C-c ) reftex-reference
13524 Offers in a menu all labels in the document, along with context of the
13525 label definition. The selected label is referenced as \ref{LABEL}.
13527 C-c [ reftex-citation
13528 Prompts for a regular expression and displays a list of matching BibTeX
13529 database entries. The selected entry is cited with a \cite{KEY} macro.
13531 C-c & reftex-view-crossref
13532 Views the cross reference of a \ref or \cite command near point.
13535 Shows a table of contents of the (multifile) document. From there you
13536 can quickly jump to every section.
13538 Under X, RefTeX installs a "Ref" menu in the menu bar, with additional
13539 commands. Press `?' to get help when a prompt mentions this feature.
13540 Full documentation and customization examples are in the file
13541 reftex.el. You can use the finder to view the file documentation:
13542 C-h p --> tex --> reftex.el
13544 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
13546 *** Info documentation is now available.
13548 *** Don't allow parentheses in string constants anymore. This confused
13549 both the BibTeX program and Emacs BibTeX mode.
13551 *** Renamed variable bibtex-mode-user-optional-fields to
13552 bibtex-user-optional-fields.
13554 *** Removed variable bibtex-include-OPTannote
13555 (use bibtex-user-optional-fields instead).
13557 *** New interactive functions to copy and kill fields and complete
13558 entries to the BibTeX kill ring, from where they can be yanked back by
13559 appropriate functions.
13561 *** New interactive functions for repositioning and marking of
13562 entries. They are bound by default to C-M-l and C-M-h.
13564 *** New hook bibtex-clean-entry-hook. It is called after entry has
13567 *** New variable bibtex-field-delimiters, which replaces variables
13568 bibtex-field-{left|right}-delimiter.
13570 *** New variable bibtex-entry-delimiters to determine how entries
13571 shall be delimited.
13573 *** Allow preinitialization of fields. See documentation of
13574 bibtex-user-optional-fields, bibtex-entry-field-alist, and
13575 bibtex-include-OPTkey for details.
13577 *** Book and InBook entries require either an author or an editor
13578 field. This is now supported by bibtex.el. Alternative fields are
13579 prefixed with `ALT'.
13581 *** New variable bibtex-entry-format, which replaces variable
13582 bibtex-clean-entry-zap-empty-opts and allows specification of many
13583 formatting options performed on cleaning an entry (see variable
13586 *** Even more control on how automatic keys are generated. See
13587 documentation of bibtex-generate-autokey for details. Transcriptions
13588 for foreign languages other than German are now handled, too.
13590 *** New boolean user option bibtex-comma-after-last-field to decide if
13591 comma should be inserted at end of last field.
13593 *** New boolean user option bibtex-align-at-equal-sign to determine if
13594 alignment should be made at left side of field contents or at equal
13595 signs. New user options to control entry layout (e.g. indentation).
13597 *** New function bibtex-fill-entry to realign entries.
13599 *** New function bibtex-reformat to reformat region or buffer.
13601 *** New function bibtex-convert-alien to convert a BibTeX database
13602 from alien sources.
13604 *** New function bibtex-complete-key (similar to bibtex-complete-string)
13605 to complete prefix to a key defined in buffer. Mainly useful in
13608 *** New function bibtex-count-entries to count entries in buffer or
13611 *** Added support for imenu.
13613 *** The function `bibtex-validate' now checks current region instead
13614 of buffer if mark is active. Now it shows all errors of buffer in a
13615 `compilation mode' buffer. You can use the normal commands (e.g.
13616 `next-error') for compilation modes to jump to errors.
13618 *** New variable `bibtex-string-file-path' to determine where the files
13619 from `bibtex-string-files' are searched.
13621 ** Iso Accents mode now supports Latin-3 as an alternative.
13623 ** The command next-error now opens blocks hidden by hideshow.
13625 ** The function using-unix-filesystems has been replaced by the
13626 functions add-untranslated-filesystem and remove-untranslated-filesystem.
13627 Each of these functions takes the name of a drive letter or directory
13630 When a filesystem is added as untranslated, all files on it are read
13631 and written in binary mode (no cr/lf translation is performed).
13633 ** browse-url changes
13635 *** New methods for: Grail (browse-url-generic), MMM (browse-url-mmm),
13636 Lynx in a separate xterm (browse-url-lynx-xterm) or in an Emacs window
13637 (browse-url-lynx-emacs), remote W3 (browse-url-w3-gnudoit), generic
13638 non-remote-controlled browsers (browse-url-generic) and associated
13639 customization variables.
13641 *** New commands `browse-url-of-region' and `browse-url'.
13643 *** URLs marked up with <URL:...> (RFC1738) work if broken across
13644 lines. Browsing methods can be associated with URL regexps
13645 (e.g. mailto: URLs) via `browse-url-browser-function'.
13647 ** Changes in Ediff
13649 *** Clicking Mouse-2 on a brief command description in Ediff control panel
13650 pops up the Info file for this command.
13652 *** There is now a variable, ediff-autostore-merges, which controls whether
13653 the result of a merge is saved in a file. By default, this is done only when
13654 merge is done from a session group (eg, when merging files in two different
13657 *** Since Emacs 19.31 (this hasn't been announced before), Ediff can compare
13658 and merge groups of files residing in different directories, or revisions of
13659 files in the same directory.
13661 *** Since Emacs 19.31, Ediff can apply multi-file patches interactively.
13662 The patches must be in the context format or GNU unified format. (The bug
13663 related to the GNU format has now been fixed.)
13665 ** Changes in Viper
13667 *** The startup file is now .viper instead of .vip
13668 *** All variable/function names have been changed to start with viper-
13670 *** C-\ now simulates the meta-key in all Viper states.
13671 *** C-z in Insert state now escapes to Vi for the duration of the next
13672 Viper command. In Vi and Insert states, C-z behaves as before.
13673 *** C-c \ escapes to Vi for one command if Viper is in Insert or Emacs states.
13674 *** _ is no longer the meta-key in Vi state.
13675 *** The variable viper-insert-state-cursor-color can be used to change cursor
13676 color when Viper is in insert state.
13677 *** If search lands the cursor near the top or the bottom of the window,
13678 Viper pulls the window up or down to expose more context. The variable
13679 viper-adjust-window-after-search controls this behavior.
13683 *** In C, C++, Objective C and Java, Etags tags global variables by
13684 default. The resulting tags files are inflated by 30% on average.
13685 Use --no-globals to turn this feature off. Etags can also tag
13686 variables which are members of structure-like constructs, but it does
13687 not by default. Use --members to turn this feature on.
13689 *** C++ member functions are now recognized as tags.
13691 *** Java is tagged like C++. In addition, "extends" and "implements"
13692 constructs are tagged. Files are recognized by the extension .java.
13694 *** Etags can now handle programs written in Postscript. Files are
13695 recognized by the extensions .ps and .pdb (Postscript with C syntax).
13696 In Postscript, tags are lines that start with a slash.
13698 *** Etags now handles Objective C and Objective C++ code. The usual C and
13699 C++ tags are recognized in these languages; in addition, etags
13700 recognizes special Objective C syntax for classes, class categories,
13701 methods and protocols.
13703 *** Etags also handles Cobol. Files are recognized by the extension
13704 .cobol. The tagged lines are those containing a word that begins in
13705 column 8 and ends in a full stop, i.e. anything that could be a
13708 *** Regexps in Etags now support intervals, as in ed or grep. The syntax of
13709 an interval is \{M,N\}, and it means to match the preceding expression
13710 at least M times and as many as N times.
13712 ** The format for specifying a custom format for time-stamp to insert
13713 in files has changed slightly.
13715 With the new enhancements to the functionality of format-time-string,
13716 time-stamp-format will change to be eventually compatible with it.
13717 This conversion is being done in two steps to maintain compatibility
13718 with old time-stamp-format values.
13720 In the new scheme, alternate case is signified by the number-sign
13721 (`#') modifier, rather than changing the case of the format character.
13722 This feature is as yet incompletely implemented for compatibility
13725 In the old time-stamp-format, all numeric fields defaulted to their
13726 natural width. (With format-time-string, each format has a
13727 fixed-width default.) In this version, you can specify the colon
13728 (`:') modifier to a numeric conversion to mean "give me the historical
13729 time-stamp-format width default." Do not use colon if you are
13730 specifying an explicit width, as in "%02d".
13732 Numbers are no longer truncated to the requested width, except in the
13733 case of "%02y", which continues to give a two-digit year. Digit
13734 truncation probably wasn't being used for anything else anyway.
13736 The new formats will work with old versions of Emacs. New formats are
13737 being recommended now to allow time-stamp-format to change in the
13738 future to be compatible with format-time-string. The new forms being
13739 recommended now will continue to work then.
13741 See the documentation string for the variable time-stamp-format for
13744 ** There are some additional major modes:
13746 dcl-mode, for editing VMS DCL files.
13747 m4-mode, for editing files of m4 input.
13748 meta-mode, for editing MetaFont and MetaPost source files.
13750 ** In Shell mode, the command shell-copy-environment-variable lets you
13751 copy the value of a specified environment variable from the subshell
13754 ** New Lisp packages include:
13756 *** battery.el displays battery status for laptops.
13758 *** M-x bruce (named after Lenny Bruce) is a program that might
13759 be used for adding some indecent words to your email.
13761 *** M-x crisp-mode enables an emulation for the CRiSP editor.
13763 *** M-x dirtrack arranges for better tracking of directory changes
13766 *** The new library elint.el provides for linting of Emacs Lisp code.
13767 See the documentation for `elint-initialize', `elint-current-buffer'
13770 *** M-x expand-add-abbrevs defines a special kind of abbrev which is
13771 meant for programming constructs. These abbrevs expand like ordinary
13772 ones, when you type SPC, but only at the end of a line and not within
13773 strings or comments.
13775 These abbrevs can act as templates: you can define places within an
13776 abbrev for insertion of additional text. Once you expand the abbrev,
13777 you can then use C-x a p and C-x a n to move back and forth to these
13778 insertion points. Thus you can conveniently insert additional text
13781 *** filecache.el remembers the location of files so that you
13782 can visit them by short forms of their names.
13784 *** find-func.el lets you find the definition of the user-loaded
13785 Emacs Lisp function at point.
13787 *** M-x handwrite converts text to a "handwritten" picture.
13789 *** M-x iswitchb-buffer is a command for switching to a buffer, much like
13790 switch-buffer, but it reads the argument in a more helpful way.
13792 *** M-x landmark implements a neural network for landmark learning.
13794 *** M-x locate provides a convenient interface to the `locate' program.
13796 *** M4 mode is a new mode for editing files of m4 input.
13798 *** mantemp.el creates C++ manual template instantiations
13799 from the GCC error messages which indicate which instantiations are needed.
13801 *** mouse-copy.el provides a one-click copy and move feature.
13802 You can drag a region with M-mouse-1, and it is automatically
13803 inserted at point. M-Shift-mouse-1 deletes the text from its
13804 original place after inserting the copy.
13806 *** mouse-drag.el lets you do scrolling by dragging Mouse-2
13809 You click the mouse and move; that distance either translates into the
13810 velocity to scroll (with mouse-drag-throw) or the distance to scroll
13811 (with mouse-drag-drag). Horizontal scrolling is enabled when needed.
13813 Enable mouse-drag with:
13814 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-throw)
13816 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-drag)
13818 *** mspools.el is useful for determining which mail folders have
13819 mail waiting to be read in them. It works with procmail.
13821 *** Octave mode is a major mode for editing files of input for Octave.
13822 It comes with a facility for communicating with an Octave subprocess.
13826 The ogonek package provides functions for changing the coding of
13827 Polish diacritic characters in buffers. Codings known from various
13828 platforms are supported such as ISO8859-2, Mazovia, IBM Latin2, and
13829 TeX. For example, you can change the coding from Mazovia to
13830 ISO8859-2. Another example is a change of coding from ISO8859-2 to
13831 prefix notation (in which `/a' stands for the aogonek character, for
13832 instance) and vice versa.
13834 To use this package load it using
13835 M-x load-library [enter] ogonek
13836 Then, you may get an explanation by calling one of
13837 M-x ogonek-jak -- in Polish
13838 M-x ogonek-how -- in English
13839 The info specifies the commands and variables provided as well as the
13840 ways of customization in `.emacs'.
13842 *** Interface to ph.
13844 Emacs provides a client interface to CCSO Nameservers (ph/qi)
13846 The CCSO nameserver is used in many universities to provide directory
13847 services about people. ph.el provides a convenient Emacs interface to
13850 *** uce.el is useful for replying to unsolicited commercial email.
13852 *** vcursor.el implements a "virtual cursor" feature.
13853 You can move the virtual cursor with special commands
13854 while the real cursor does not move.
13856 *** webjump.el is a "hot list" package which you can set up
13857 for visiting your favorite web sites.
13859 *** M-x winner-mode is a minor mode which saves window configurations,
13860 so you can move back to other configurations that you have recently used.
13864 Movemail no longer needs to be installed setuid root in order for POP
13865 mail retrieval to function properly. This is because it no longer
13866 supports the RPOP (reserved-port POP) protocol; instead, it uses the
13867 user's POP password to authenticate to the mail server.
13869 This change was made earlier, but not reported in NEWS before.
13871 * Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows.
13873 ** Changes in handling MS-DOS/MS-Windows text files.
13875 Emacs handles three different conventions for representing
13876 end-of-line: CRLF for MSDOS, LF for Unix and GNU, and CR (used on the
13877 Macintosh). Emacs determines which convention is used in a specific
13878 file based on the contents of that file (except for certain special
13879 file names), and when it saves the file, it uses the same convention.
13881 To save the file and change the end-of-line convention, you can use
13882 C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system) to specify a different
13883 coding system for the buffer. Then, when you save the file, the newly
13884 specified coding system will take effect. For example, to save with
13885 LF, specify undecided-unix (or some other ...-unix coding system); to
13886 save with CRLF, specify undecided-dos.
13888 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 20.1
13890 ** Byte-compiled files made with Emacs 20 will, in general, work in
13891 Emacs 19 as well, as long as the source code runs in Emacs 19. And
13892 vice versa: byte-compiled files made with Emacs 19 should also run in
13893 Emacs 20, as long as the program itself works in Emacs 20.
13895 ** Windows-specific functions and variables have been renamed
13896 to start with w32- instead of win32-.
13898 In hacker language, calling something a "win" is a form of praise. We
13899 don't want to praise a non-free Microsoft system, so we don't call it
13902 ** Basic Lisp changes
13904 *** A symbol whose name starts with a colon now automatically
13905 evaluates to itself. Therefore such a symbol can be used as a constant.
13907 *** The defined purpose of `defconst' has been changed. It should now
13908 be used only for values that should not be changed whether by a program
13911 The actual behavior of defconst has not been changed.
13913 *** There are new macros `when' and `unless'
13915 (when CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION (progn BODY...))
13916 (unless CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION nil BODY...)
13918 *** Emacs now defines functions caar, cadr, cdar and cddr with their
13919 usual Lisp meanings. For example, caar returns the car of the car of
13922 *** equal, when comparing strings, now ignores their text properties.
13924 *** The new function `functionp' tests whether an object is a function.
13926 *** arrayp now returns t for char-tables and bool-vectors.
13928 *** Certain primitives which use characters (as integers) now get an
13929 error if the integer is not a valid character code. These primitives
13930 include insert-char, char-to-string, and the %c construct in the
13933 *** The `require' function now insists on adding a suffix, either .el
13934 or .elc, to the file name. Thus, (require 'foo) will not use a file
13935 whose name is just foo. It insists on foo.el or foo.elc.
13937 *** The `autoload' function, when the file name does not contain
13938 either a directory name or the suffix .el or .elc, insists on
13939 adding one of these suffixes.
13941 *** string-to-number now takes an optional second argument BASE
13942 which specifies the base to use when converting an integer.
13943 If BASE is omitted, base 10 is used.
13945 We have not implemented other radices for floating point numbers,
13946 because that would be much more work and does not seem useful.
13948 *** substring now handles vectors as well as strings.
13950 *** The Common Lisp function eql is no longer defined normally.
13951 You must load the `cl' library to define it.
13953 *** The new macro `with-current-buffer' lets you evaluate an expression
13954 conveniently with a different current buffer. It looks like this:
13956 (with-current-buffer BUFFER BODY-FORMS...)
13958 BUFFER is the expression that says which buffer to use.
13959 BODY-FORMS say what to do in that buffer.
13961 *** The new primitive `save-current-buffer' saves and restores the
13962 choice of current buffer, like `save-excursion', but without saving or
13963 restoring the value of point or the mark. `with-current-buffer'
13964 works using `save-current-buffer'.
13966 *** The new macro `with-temp-file' lets you do some work in a new buffer and
13967 write the output to a specified file. Like `progn', it returns the value
13970 *** The new macro `with-temp-buffer' lets you do some work in a new buffer,
13971 which is discarded after use. Like `progn', it returns the value of the
13972 last form. If you wish to return the buffer contents, use (buffer-string)
13975 *** The new function split-string takes a string, splits it at certain
13976 characters, and returns a list of the substrings in between the
13979 For example, (split-string "foo bar lose" " +") returns ("foo" "bar" "lose").
13981 *** The new macro with-output-to-string executes some Lisp expressions
13982 with standard-output set up so that all output feeds into a string.
13983 Then it returns that string.
13985 For example, if the current buffer name is `foo',
13987 (with-output-to-string
13988 (princ "The buffer is ")
13989 (princ (buffer-name)))
13991 returns "The buffer is foo".
13993 ** Non-ASCII characters are now supported, if enable-multibyte-characters
13996 These characters have character codes above 256. When inserted in the
13997 buffer or stored in a string, they are represented as multibyte
13998 characters that occupy several buffer positions each.
14000 *** When enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, a single character in
14001 a buffer or string can be two or more bytes (as many as four).
14003 Buffers and strings are still made up of unibyte elements;
14004 character positions and string indices are always measured in bytes.
14005 Therefore, moving forward one character can increase the buffer
14006 position by 2, 3 or 4. The function forward-char moves by whole
14007 characters, and therefore is no longer equivalent to
14008 (lambda (n) (goto-char (+ (point) n))).
14010 ASCII characters (codes 0 through 127) are still single bytes, always.
14011 Sequences of byte values 128 through 255 are used to represent
14012 non-ASCII characters. These sequences are called "multibyte
14015 The first byte of a multibyte character is always in the range 128
14016 through 159 (octal 0200 through 0237). These values are called
14017 "leading codes". The second and subsequent bytes are always in the
14018 range 160 through 255 (octal 0240 through 0377). The first byte, the
14019 leading code, determines how many bytes long the sequence is.
14021 *** The function forward-char moves over characters, and therefore
14022 (forward-char 1) may increase point by more than 1 if it moves over a
14023 multibyte character. Likewise, delete-char always deletes a
14024 character, which may be more than one buffer position.
14026 This means that some Lisp programs, which assume that a character is
14027 always one buffer position, need to be changed.
14029 However, all ASCII characters are always one buffer position.
14031 *** The regexp [\200-\377] no longer matches all non-ASCII characters,
14032 because when enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, these characters
14033 have codes that are not in the range octal 200 to octal 377. However,
14034 the regexp [^\000-\177] does match all non-ASCII characters,
14037 *** The function char-boundary-p returns non-nil if position POS is
14038 between two characters in the buffer (not in the middle of a
14041 When the value is non-nil, it says what kind of character follows POS:
14043 0 if POS is at an ASCII character or at the end of range,
14044 1 if POS is before a 2-byte length multi-byte form,
14045 2 if POS is at a head of 3-byte length multi-byte form,
14046 3 if POS is at a head of 4-byte length multi-byte form,
14047 4 if POS is at a head of multi-byte form of a composite character.
14049 *** The function char-bytes returns how many bytes the character CHAR uses.
14051 *** Strings can contain multibyte characters. The function
14052 `length' returns the string length counting bytes, which may be
14053 more than the number of characters.
14055 You can include a multibyte character in a string constant by writing
14056 it literally. You can also represent it with a hex escape,
14057 \xNNNNNNN..., using as many digits as necessary. Any character which
14058 is not a valid hex digit terminates this construct. If you want to
14059 follow it with a character that is a hex digit, write backslash and
14060 newline in between; that will terminate the hex escape.
14062 *** The function concat-chars takes arguments which are characters
14063 and returns a string containing those characters.
14065 *** The function sref access a multibyte character in a string.
14066 (sref STRING INDX) returns the character in STRING at INDEX. INDEX
14067 counts from zero. If INDEX is at a position in the middle of a
14068 character, sref signals an error.
14070 *** The function chars-in-string returns the number of characters
14071 in a string. This is less than the length of the string, if the
14072 string contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
14074 *** The function chars-in-region returns the number of characters
14075 in a region from BEG to END. This is less than (- END BEG) if the
14076 region contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
14078 *** The function string-to-list converts a string to a list of
14079 the characters in it. string-to-vector converts a string
14080 to a vector of the characters in it.
14082 *** The function store-substring alters part of the contents
14083 of a string. You call it as follows:
14085 (store-substring STRING IDX OBJ)
14087 This says to alter STRING, by storing OBJ starting at index IDX in
14088 STRING. OBJ may be either a character or a (smaller) string.
14089 This function really does alter the contents of STRING.
14090 Since it is impossible to change the length of an existing string,
14091 it is an error if OBJ doesn't fit within STRING's actual length.
14093 *** char-width returns the width (in columns) of the character CHAR,
14094 if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
14096 *** string-width returns the width (in columns) of the text in STRING,
14097 if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
14099 *** truncate-string-to-width shortens a string, if necessary,
14100 to fit within a certain number of columns. (Of course, it does
14101 not alter the string that you give it; it returns a new string
14102 which contains all or just part of the existing string.)
14104 (truncate-string-to-width STR END-COLUMN &optional START-COLUMN PADDING)
14106 This returns the part of STR up to column END-COLUMN.
14108 The optional argument START-COLUMN specifies the starting column.
14109 If this is non-nil, then the first START-COLUMN columns of the string
14110 are not included in the resulting value.
14112 The optional argument PADDING, if non-nil, is a padding character to be added
14113 at the beginning and end the resulting string, to extend it to exactly
14114 WIDTH columns. If PADDING is nil, that means do not pad; then, if STRING
14115 is narrower than WIDTH, the value is equal to STRING.
14117 If PADDING and START-COLUMN are both non-nil, and if there is no clean
14118 place in STRING that corresponds to START-COLUMN (because one
14119 character extends across that column), then the padding character
14120 PADDING is added one or more times at the beginning of the result
14121 string, so that its columns line up as if it really did start at
14122 column START-COLUMN.
14124 *** When the functions in the list after-change-functions are called,
14125 the third argument is the number of bytes in the pre-change text, not
14126 necessarily the number of characters. It is, in effect, the
14127 difference in buffer position between the beginning and the end of the
14128 changed text, before the change.
14130 *** The characters Emacs uses are classified in various character
14131 sets, each of which has a name which is a symbol. In general there is
14132 one character set for each script, not for each language.
14134 **** The function charsetp tests whether an object is a character set name.
14136 **** The variable charset-list holds a list of character set names.
14138 **** char-charset, given a character code, returns the name of the character
14139 set that the character belongs to. (The value is a symbol.)
14141 **** split-char, given a character code, returns a list containing the
14142 name of the character set, followed by one or two byte-values
14143 which identify the character within that character set.
14145 **** make-char, given a character set name and one or two subsequent
14146 byte-values, constructs a character code. This is roughly the
14147 opposite of split-char.
14149 **** find-charset-region returns a list of the character sets
14150 of all the characters between BEG and END.
14152 **** find-charset-string returns a list of the character sets
14153 of all the characters in a string.
14155 *** Here are the Lisp facilities for working with coding systems
14156 and specifying coding systems.
14158 **** The function coding-system-list returns a list of all coding
14159 system names (symbols). With optional argument t, it returns a list
14160 of all distinct base coding systems, not including variants.
14161 (Variant coding systems are those like latin-1-dos, latin-1-unix
14162 and latin-1-mac which specify the end-of-line conversion as well
14163 as what to do about code conversion.)
14165 **** coding-system-p tests a symbol to see if it is a coding system
14166 name. It returns t if so, nil if not.
14168 **** file-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
14169 for certain file names. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
14170 except that the PATTERN is matched against the file name.
14172 Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
14173 which file names the element applies to. PATTERN should be a regexp
14174 to match against a file name.
14176 VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
14177 a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
14178 decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
14179 to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
14180 systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
14181 specifies the coding system for encoding.
14183 If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
14184 or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
14186 **** The variable network-coding-system-alist specifies
14187 the coding system to use for network sockets.
14189 Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
14190 which network sockets the element applies to. PATTERN should be
14191 either a port number or a regular expression matching some network
14194 VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
14195 a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
14196 decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
14197 to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
14198 systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
14199 specifies the coding system for encoding.
14201 If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
14202 or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
14204 **** process-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
14205 for certain subprocess. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
14206 except that the PATTERN is matched against the program name used to
14207 start the subprocess.
14209 **** The variable default-process-coding-system specifies the coding
14210 systems to use for subprocess (and net connection) input and output,
14211 when nothing else specifies what to do. The value is a cons cell
14212 (OUTPUT-CODING . INPUT-CODING). OUTPUT-CODING applies to output
14213 to the subprocess, and INPUT-CODING applies to input from it.
14215 **** The variable coding-system-for-write, if non-nil, specifies the
14216 coding system to use for writing a file, or for output to a synchronous
14219 It also applies to any asynchronous subprocess or network connection,
14220 but in a different way: the value of coding-system-for-write when you
14221 start the subprocess or connection affects that subprocess or
14222 connection permanently or until overridden.
14224 The variable coding-system-for-write takes precedence over
14225 file-coding-system-alist, process-coding-system-alist and
14226 network-coding-system-alist, and all other methods of specifying a
14227 coding system for output. But most of the time this variable is nil.
14228 It exists so that Lisp programs can bind it to a specific coding
14229 system for one operation at a time.
14231 **** coding-system-for-read applies similarly to input from
14232 files, subprocesses or network connections.
14234 **** The function process-coding-system tells you what
14235 coding systems(s) an existing subprocess is using.
14236 The value is a cons cell,
14237 (DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM . ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM)
14238 where DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for decoding output from
14239 the subprocess, and ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for encoding
14240 input to the subprocess.
14242 **** The function set-process-coding-system can be used to
14243 change the coding systems in use for an existing subprocess.
14245 ** Emacs has a new facility to help users manage the many
14246 customization options. To make a Lisp program work with this facility,
14247 you need to use the new macros defgroup and defcustom.
14249 You use defcustom instead of defvar, for defining a user option
14250 variable. The difference is that you specify two additional pieces of
14251 information (usually): the "type" which says what values are
14252 legitimate, and the "group" which specifies the hierarchy for
14255 Thus, instead of writing
14257 (defvar foo-blurgoze nil
14258 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely.")
14260 you would now write this:
14262 (defcustom foo-blurgoze nil
14263 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely."
14267 The type `boolean' means that this variable has only
14268 two meaningful states: nil and non-nil. Other type values
14269 describe other possibilities; see the manual for Custom
14270 for a description of them.
14272 The "group" argument is used to specify a group which the option
14273 should belong to. You define a new group like this:
14275 (defgroup ispell nil
14276 "Spell checking using Ispell."
14279 The "group" argument in defgroup specifies the parent group. The root
14280 group is called `emacs'; it should not contain any variables itself,
14281 but only other groups. The immediate subgroups of `emacs' correspond
14282 to the keywords used by C-h p. Under these subgroups come
14283 second-level subgroups that belong to individual packages.
14285 Each Emacs package should have its own set of groups. A simple
14286 package should have just one group; a more complex package should
14287 have a hierarchy of its own groups. The sole or root group of a
14288 package should be a subgroup of one or more of the "keyword"
14289 first-level subgroups.
14291 ** New `widget' library for inserting UI components in buffers.
14293 This library, used by the new custom library, is documented in a
14294 separate manual that accompanies Emacs.
14298 The easy-mmode package provides macros and functions that make
14299 developing minor modes easier. Roughly, the programmer has to code
14300 only the functionality of the minor mode. All the rest--toggles,
14301 predicate, and documentation--can be done in one call to the macro
14302 `easy-mmode-define-minor-mode' (see the documentation). See also
14303 `easy-mmode-define-keymap'.
14305 ** Text property changes
14307 *** The `intangible' property now works on overlays as well as on a
14310 *** The new functions next-char-property-change and
14311 previous-char-property-change scan through the buffer looking for a
14312 place where either a text property or an overlay might change. The
14313 functions take two arguments, POSITION and LIMIT. POSITION is the
14314 starting position for the scan. LIMIT says where to stop the scan.
14316 If no property change is found before LIMIT, the value is LIMIT. If
14317 LIMIT is nil, scan goes to the beginning or end of the accessible part
14318 of the buffer. If no property change is found, the value is the
14319 position of the beginning or end of the buffer.
14321 *** In the `local-map' text property or overlay property, the property
14322 value can now be a symbol whose function definition is a keymap. This
14323 is an alternative to using the keymap itself.
14325 ** Changes in invisibility features
14327 *** Isearch can now temporarily show parts of the buffer which are
14328 hidden by an overlay with a invisible property, when the search match
14329 is inside that portion of the buffer. To enable this the overlay
14330 should have a isearch-open-invisible property which is a function that
14331 would be called having the overlay as an argument, the function should
14332 make the overlay visible.
14334 During incremental search the overlays are shown by modifying the
14335 invisible and intangible properties, if beside this more actions are
14336 needed the overlay should have a isearch-open-invisible-temporary
14337 which is a function. The function is called with 2 arguments: one is
14338 the overlay and the second is nil when it should show the overlay and
14339 t when it should hide it.
14341 *** add-to-invisibility-spec, remove-from-invisibility-spec
14343 Modes that use overlays to hide portions of a buffer should set the
14344 invisible property of the overlay to the mode's name (or another symbol)
14345 and modify the `buffer-invisibility-spec' to include that symbol.
14346 Use `add-to-invisibility-spec' and `remove-from-invisibility-spec' to
14347 manipulate the `buffer-invisibility-spec'.
14348 Here is an example of how to do this:
14350 ;; If we want to display an ellipsis:
14351 (add-to-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
14352 ;; If you don't want ellipsis:
14353 (add-to-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
14356 (overlay-put (make-overlay beginning end) 'invisible 'my-symbol)
14359 ;; When done with the overlays:
14360 (remove-from-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
14361 ;; Or respectively:
14362 (remove-from-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
14364 ** Changes in syntax parsing.
14366 *** The syntax-directed buffer-scan functions (such as
14367 `parse-partial-sexp', `forward-word' and similar functions) can now
14368 obey syntax information specified by text properties, if the variable
14369 `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil.
14371 If the value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is nil, the behavior
14372 is as before: the syntax-table of the current buffer is always
14373 used to determine the syntax of the character at the position.
14375 When `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil, the syntax of a
14376 character in the buffer is calculated thus:
14378 a) if the `syntax-table' text-property of that character
14379 is a cons, this cons becomes the syntax-type;
14381 Valid values of `syntax-table' text-property are: nil, a valid
14382 syntax-table, and a valid syntax-table element, i.e.,
14383 a cons cell of the form (SYNTAX-CODE . MATCHING-CHAR).
14385 b) if the character's `syntax-table' text-property
14386 is a syntax table, this syntax table is used
14387 (instead of the syntax-table of the current buffer) to
14388 determine the syntax type of the character.
14390 c) otherwise the syntax-type is determined by the syntax-table
14391 of the current buffer.
14393 *** The meaning of \s in regular expressions is also affected by the
14394 value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties'. The details are the same as
14395 for the syntax-directed buffer-scan functions.
14397 *** There are two new syntax-codes, `!' and `|' (numeric values 14
14398 and 15). A character with a code `!' starts a comment which is ended
14399 only by another character with the same code (unless quoted). A
14400 character with a code `|' starts a string which is ended only by
14401 another character with the same code (unless quoted).
14403 These codes are mainly meant for use as values of the `syntax-table'
14406 *** The function `parse-partial-sexp' has new semantics for the sixth
14407 arg COMMENTSTOP. If it is `syntax-table', parse stops after the start
14408 of a comment or a string, or after end of a comment or a string.
14410 *** The state-list which the return value from `parse-partial-sexp'
14411 (and can also be used as an argument) now has an optional ninth
14412 element: the character address of the start of last comment or string;
14413 nil if none. The fourth and eighth elements have special values if the
14414 string/comment is started by a "!" or "|" syntax-code.
14416 *** Since new features of `parse-partial-sexp' allow a complete
14417 syntactic parsing, `font-lock' no longer supports
14418 `font-lock-comment-start-regexp'.
14420 ** Changes in face features
14422 *** The face functions are now unconditionally defined in Emacs, even
14423 if it does not support displaying on a device that supports faces.
14425 *** The function face-documentation returns the documentation string
14426 of a face (or nil if it doesn't have one).
14428 *** The function face-bold-p returns t if a face should be bold.
14429 set-face-bold-p sets that flag.
14431 *** The function face-italic-p returns t if a face should be italic.
14432 set-face-italic-p sets that flag.
14434 *** You can now specify foreground and background colors for text
14435 by adding elements of the form (foreground-color . COLOR-NAME)
14436 and (background-color . COLOR-NAME) to the list of faces in
14437 the `face' property (either the character's text property or an
14440 This means that you no longer need to create named faces to use
14441 arbitrary colors in a Lisp package.
14443 ** Changes in file-handling functions
14445 *** File-access primitive functions no longer discard an extra redundant
14446 directory name from the beginning of the file name. In other words,
14447 they no longer do anything special with // or /~. That conversion
14448 is now done only in substitute-in-file-name.
14450 This makes it possible for a Lisp program to open a file whose name
14453 *** If copy-file is unable to set the date of the output file,
14454 it now signals an error with the condition file-date-error.
14456 *** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
14457 the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a list of integers.
14459 *** insert-file-contents can now read from a special file,
14460 as long as the arguments VISIT and REPLACE are nil.
14462 *** The RAWFILE arg to find-file-noselect, if non-nil, now suppresses
14463 character code conversion as well as other things.
14465 Meanwhile, this feature does work with remote file names
14466 (formerly it did not).
14468 *** Lisp packages which create temporary files should use the TMPDIR
14469 environment variable to decide which directory to put them in.
14471 *** interpreter-mode-alist elements now specify regexps
14472 instead of constant strings.
14474 *** expand-file-name no longer treats `//' or `/~' specially. It used
14475 to delete all the text of a file name up through the first slash of
14476 any `//' or `/~' sequence. Now it passes them straight through.
14478 substitute-in-file-name continues to treat those sequences specially,
14479 in the same way as before.
14481 *** The variable `format-alist' is more general now.
14482 The FROM-FN and TO-FN in a format definition can now be strings
14483 which specify shell commands to use as filters to perform conversion.
14485 *** The new function access-file tries to open a file, and signals an
14486 error if that fails. If the open succeeds, access-file does nothing
14487 else, and returns nil.
14489 *** The function insert-directory now signals an error if the specified
14490 directory cannot be listed.
14492 ** Changes in minibuffer input
14494 *** The functions read-buffer, read-variable, read-command, read-string
14495 read-file-name, read-from-minibuffer and completing-read now take an
14496 additional argument which specifies the default value. If this
14497 argument is non-nil, it should be a string; that string is used in two
14500 It is returned if the user enters empty input.
14501 It is available through the history command M-n.
14503 *** The functions read-string, read-from-minibuffer,
14504 read-no-blanks-input and completing-read now take an additional
14505 argument INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. If this is non-nil, then the
14506 minibuffer inherits the current input method and the setting of
14507 enable-multibyte-characters from the previously current buffer.
14509 In an interactive spec, you can use M instead of s to read an
14510 argument in this way.
14512 *** All minibuffer input functions discard text properties
14513 from the text you enter in the minibuffer, unless the variable
14514 minibuffer-allow-text-properties is non-nil.
14516 ** Echo area features
14518 *** Clearing the echo area now runs the normal hook
14519 echo-area-clear-hook. Note that the echo area can be used while the
14520 minibuffer is active; in that case, the minibuffer is still active
14521 after the echo area is cleared.
14523 *** The function current-message returns the message currently displayed
14524 in the echo area, or nil if there is none.
14526 ** Keyboard input features
14528 *** tty-erase-char is a new variable that reports which character was
14529 set up as the terminal's erase character when time Emacs was started.
14531 *** num-nonmacro-input-events is the total number of input events
14532 received so far from the terminal. It does not count those generated
14533 by keyboard macros.
14535 ** Frame-related changes
14537 *** make-frame runs the normal hook before-make-frame-hook just before
14538 creating a frame, and just after creating a frame it runs the abnormal
14539 hook after-make-frame-functions with the new frame as arg.
14541 *** The new hook window-configuration-change-hook is now run every time
14542 the window configuration has changed. The frame whose configuration
14543 has changed is the selected frame when the hook is run.
14545 *** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
14546 selected buffers, in its buffer-list frame parameter, so that the
14547 value of other-buffer is now based on the buffers recently displayed
14548 in the selected frame.
14550 *** The value of the frame parameter vertical-scroll-bars
14551 is now `left', `right' or nil. A non-nil value specifies
14552 which side of the window to put the scroll bars on.
14554 ** X Windows features
14556 *** You can examine X resources for other applications by binding
14557 x-resource-class around a call to x-get-resource. The usual value of
14558 x-resource-class is "Emacs", which is the correct value for Emacs.
14560 *** In menus, checkboxes and radio buttons now actually work.
14561 The menu displays the current status of the box or button.
14563 *** The function x-list-fonts now takes an optional fourth argument
14564 MAXIMUM which sets a limit on how many matching fonts to return.
14565 A smaller value of MAXIMUM makes the function faster.
14567 If the only question is whether *any* font matches the pattern,
14568 it is good to supply 1 for this argument.
14570 ** Subprocess features
14572 *** A reminder: it is no longer necessary for subprocess filter
14573 functions and sentinels to do save-match-data, because Emacs does this
14576 *** The new function shell-command-to-string executes a shell command
14577 and returns the output from the command as a string.
14579 *** The new function process-contact returns t for a child process,
14580 and (HOSTNAME SERVICE) for a net connection.
14582 ** An error in running pre-command-hook or post-command-hook
14583 does clear the variable to nil. The documentation was wrong before.
14585 ** In define-key-after, if AFTER is t, the new binding now always goes
14586 at the end of the keymap. If the keymap is a menu, this means it
14587 goes after the other menu items.
14589 ** If you have a program that makes several changes in the same area
14590 of the buffer, you can use the macro combine-after-change-calls
14591 around that Lisp code to make it faster when after-change hooks
14594 The macro arranges to call the after-change functions just once for a
14595 series of several changes--if that seems safe.
14597 Don't alter the variables after-change-functions and
14598 after-change-function within the body of a combine-after-change-calls
14601 ** If you define an abbrev (with define-abbrev) whose EXPANSION
14602 is not a string, then the abbrev does not expand in the usual sense,
14603 but its hook is still run.
14605 ** Normally, the Lisp debugger is not used (even if you have enabled it)
14606 for errors that are handled by condition-case.
14608 If you set debug-on-signal to a non-nil value, then the debugger is called
14609 regardless of whether there is a handler for the condition. This is
14610 useful for debugging problems that happen inside of a condition-case.
14612 This mode of operation seems to be unreliable in other ways. Errors that
14613 are normal and ought to be handled, perhaps in timers or process
14614 filters, will instead invoke the debugger. So don't say you weren't
14617 ** The new variable ring-bell-function lets you specify your own
14618 way for Emacs to "ring the bell".
14620 ** If run-at-time's TIME argument is t, the action is repeated at
14621 integral multiples of REPEAT from the epoch; this is useful for
14622 functions like display-time.
14624 ** You can use the function locate-library to find the precise file
14625 name of a Lisp library. This isn't new, but wasn't documented before.
14627 ** Commands for entering view mode have new optional arguments that
14628 can be used from Lisp. Low-level entrance to and exit from view mode
14629 is done by functions view-mode-enter and view-mode-exit.
14631 ** batch-byte-compile-file now makes Emacs return a nonzero status code
14632 if there is an error in compilation.
14634 ** pop-to-buffer, switch-to-buffer-other-window and
14635 switch-to-buffer-other-frame now accept an additional optional
14636 argument NORECORD, much like switch-to-buffer. If it is non-nil,
14637 they don't put the buffer at the front of the buffer list.
14639 ** If your .emacs file leaves the *scratch* buffer non-empty,
14640 Emacs does not display the startup message, so as to avoid changing
14641 the *scratch* buffer.
14643 ** The new function regexp-opt returns an efficient regexp to match a string.
14644 The arguments are STRINGS and (optionally) PAREN. This function can be used
14645 where regexp matching or searching is intensively used and speed is important,
14646 e.g., in Font Lock mode.
14648 ** The variable buffer-display-count is local to each buffer,
14649 and is incremented each time the buffer is displayed in a window.
14650 It starts at 0 when the buffer is created.
14652 ** The new function compose-mail starts composing a mail message
14653 using the user's chosen mail composition agent (specified with the
14654 variable mail-user-agent). It has variants compose-mail-other-window
14655 and compose-mail-other-frame.
14657 ** The `user-full-name' function now takes an optional parameter which
14658 can either be a number (the UID) or a string (the login name). The
14659 full name of the specified user will be returned.
14661 ** Lisp packages that load files of customizations, or any other sort
14662 of user profile, should obey the variable init-file-user in deciding
14663 where to find it. They should load the profile of the user name found
14664 in that variable. If init-file-user is nil, meaning that the -q
14665 option was used, then Lisp packages should not load the customization
14668 ** format-time-string now allows you to specify the field width
14669 and type of padding. This works as in printf: you write the field
14670 width as digits in the middle of a %-construct. If you start
14671 the field width with 0, it means to pad with zeros.
14673 For example, %S normally specifies the number of seconds since the
14674 minute; %03S means to pad this with zeros to 3 positions, %_3S to pad
14675 with spaces to 3 positions. Plain %3S pads with zeros, because that
14676 is how %S normally pads to two positions.
14678 ** thing-at-point now supports a new kind of "thing": url.
14680 ** imenu.el changes.
14682 You can now specify a function to be run when selecting an
14683 item from menu created by imenu.
14685 An example of using this feature: if we define imenu items for the
14686 #include directives in a C file, we can open the included file when we
14687 select one of those items.
14689 * For older news, see the file ONEWS
14691 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
14692 Copyright information:
14694 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,
14695 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
14697 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
14698 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
14699 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
14700 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
14702 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
14703 of this document, or of portions of it,
14704 under the above conditions, provided also that they
14705 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
14709 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"
14712 arch-tag: 1aca9dfa-2ac4-4d14-bebf-0007cee12793