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1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes. 2000-08-14
2 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 See the end for copying conditions.
4
5 Please send Emacs bug reports to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.
6 For older news, see the file ONEWS
7
8 \f
9 * Installation Changes in Emacs 21.1
10
11 ** Support for GNU/Linux on IA64 machines has been added.
12
13 ** Support for LynxOS has been added.
14
15 ** `movemail' defaults to supporting POP. You can turn this off using
16 the --without-pop configure option, should that be necessary.
17
18 ** There are new configure options associated with the support for
19 images and toolkit scrollbars. Use the --help option in `configure'
20 to list them.
21
22 ** There is a new configure option `--without-xim' that instructs
23 Emacs to not use X Input Methods (XIM), if these are available.
24
25 ** There is a new configure option `--disable-largefile' to omit
26 Unix-98-style support for large files if that is available.
27
28 ** You can build a 64-bit Emacs for SPARC/Solaris systems which
29 support 64-bit executables. See etc/MACHINES for instructions.
30
31 \f
32 * Changes in Emacs 21.1
33
34 * When an error is signaled during the loading of the user's init
35 file, Emacs now pops up the *Messages* buffer.
36
37 ** Polish and German translations of Emacs' reference card have been
38 added. They are named `pl-refcard.tex' and `de-refcard.tex'.
39 Postscript files are included.
40
41 ** A reference card for Dired has been added. Its name is
42 `dired-ref.tex'.
43
44 ** The new variable `auto-mode-interpreter-regexp' contains a regular
45 expression matching interpreters, for file mode determination.
46
47 This regular expression is matched against the first line of a file to
48 determine the file's mode in `set-auto-mode' when Emacs can't deduce a
49 mode from the file's name. If it matches, the file is assumed to be
50 interpreted by the interpreter matched by the second group of the
51 regular expression. The mode is then determined as the mode
52 associated with that interpreter in `interpreter-mode-alist'.
53
54 +++
55 ** C-down-mouse-3 is bound differently. Now if the menu bar is not
56 displayed it pops up a menu containing the items which would be on the
57 menu bar. If the menu bar is displayed, it pops up the major mode
58 menu or the Edit menu if there is no major mode menu.
59
60 ** Variable `load-path' is no longer customizable because it contains
61 a version-dependent component.
62
63 ** The <delete> function key is now bound to `delete-char' by default.
64 Note that this takes effect only on window systems. On TTYs, Emacs
65 will receive ASCII 127 when the DEL key is pressed. This
66 character is still bound as before.
67
68 ** Item Save Options on the Options menu allows saving options set
69 using that menu.
70
71 ** New function executable-make-buffer-file-executable-if-script-p is
72 suitable as an after-save-hook as an alternative to `executable-chmod'.
73
74 +++
75 ** The most preferred coding-system is now used to save a buffer if
76 buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and it is safe for the buffer
77 contents. (The most preferred is set by set-language-environment or
78 by M-x prefer-coding-system.) Thus if you visit an ASCII file and
79 insert a non-ASCII character from your current language environment,
80 the file will be saved silently with the appropriate coding.
81 Previously you would be prompted for a safe coding system.
82
83 +++
84 ** New variable `inhibit-iso-escape-detection' determines if Emacs'
85 coding system detection algorithm should pay attention to ISO2022's
86 escape sequences. If this variable is non-nil, the algorithm ignores
87 such escape sequences. The default value is nil, and it is
88 recommended not to change it except for the special case that you
89 always want to read any escape code verbatim. If you just want to
90 read a specific file without decoding escape codes, use C-x RET c
91 (`universal-coding-system-argument'). For instance, C-x RET c latin-1
92 RET C-x C-f filename RET.
93
94 ** Variable `default-korean-keyboard' is initialized properly from the
95 environment variable `HANGUL_KEYBOARD_TYPE'.
96
97 +++
98 ** C-u C-x = provides detailed information about the character at
99 point in a pop-up window.
100
101 +++
102 ** New command M-x list-charset-chars reads a character set name and
103 displays all characters in that character set.
104
105 ** M-x set-terminal-coding-system (C-x RET t) now allows CCL-based
106 coding systems such as cpXXX and cyrillic-koi8.
107
108 +++
109 ** M-; now calls comment-dwim which tries to do something clever based
110 on the context. M-x kill-comment is now an alias to comment-kill,
111 defined on newcomment.el.
112
113 +++
114 ** The function `getenv' is now callable interactively.
115
116 ** The many obsolete language `setup-...-environment' commands have
117 been removed -- use `set-language-environment'.
118
119 +++
120 ** New user options `display-time-mail-face' and
121 `display-time-use-mail-icon' control the appearance of mode-line mail
122 indicator used by the display-time package. On a suitable display the
123 indicator can be an icon and is mouse-sensitive.
124
125 +++
126 ** Emacs' auto-save list files are now by default stored in a
127 sub-directory `.emacs.d/auto-save-list/' of the user's home directory.
128 (On MS-DOS, this subdirectory's name is `_emacs.d/auto-save.list/'.)
129 You can customize `auto-save-list-prefix' to change this location.
130
131 +++
132 ** On window-systems, additional space can be put between text lines
133 on the display using several methods
134
135 +++
136 - By setting frame parameter `line-spacing' to PIXELS. PIXELS must be
137 a positive integer, and specifies that PIXELS number of pixels should
138 be put below text lines on the affected frame or frames.
139
140 +++
141 - By setting X resource `lineSpacing', class `LineSpacing'. This is
142 equivalent ot specifying the frame parameter.
143
144 - By specifying `--line-spacing=N' or `-lsp N' on the command line.
145
146 - By setting buffer-local variable `line-spacing'. The meaning is
147 the same, but applies to the a particular buffer only.
148
149 +++
150 ** The new command `clone-indirect-buffer' can be used to create
151 an indirect buffer that is a twin copy of the current buffer. The
152 command `clone-indirect-buffer-other-window', bound to C-x 4 c,
153 does the same but displays the indirect buffer in another window.
154
155 +++
156 ** New user options `backup-directory-alist' and
157 `make-backup-file-name-function' control the placement of backups,
158 typically in a single directory or in an invisible sub-directory.
159
160 ** New commands iso-iso2sgml and iso-sgml2iso convert between Latin-1
161 characters and the corresponding SGML (HTML) entities.
162
163 +++
164 ** Emacs now refuses to load compiled Lisp files which weren't
165 compiled with Emacs. Set `load-dangerous-libraries' to t to change
166 this behavior.
167
168 The reason for this change is an incompatible change in XEmacs' byte
169 compiler. Files compiled with XEmacs can contain byte codes that let
170 Emacs dump core.
171
172 +++
173 ** New X resources recognized
174
175 *** The X resource `synchronous', class `Synchronous', specifies
176 whether Emacs should run in synchronous mode. Synchronous mode
177 is useful for debugging X problems.
178
179 Example:
180
181 emacs.synchronous: true
182
183 *** The X resource `visualClass, class `VisualClass', specifies the
184 visual Emacs should use. The resource's value should be a string of
185 the form `CLASS-DEPTH', where CLASS is the name of the visual class,
186 and DEPTH is the requested color depth as a decimal number. Valid
187 visual class names are
188
189 TrueColor
190 PseudoColor
191 DirectColor
192 StaticColor
193 GrayScale
194 StaticGray
195
196 Visual class names specified as X resource are case-insensitive, i.e.
197 `pseudocolor', `Pseudocolor' and `PseudoColor' all have the same
198 meaning.
199
200 The program `xdpyinfo' can be used to list the visual classes
201 supported on your display, and which depths they have. If
202 `visualClass' is not specified, Emacs uses the display's default
203 visual.
204
205 Example:
206
207 emacs.visualClass: TrueColor-8
208
209 *** The X resource `privateColormap', class `PrivateColormap',
210 specifies that Emacs should use a private colormap if it is using the
211 default visual, and that visual is of class PseudoColor. Recognized
212 resource values are `true' or `on'.
213
214 Example:
215
216 emacs.privateColormap: true
217
218 ** The menu bar configuration has changed. The new configuration is
219 more CUA-compliant. The most significant change is that Options is
220 now a separate menu-bar item, with Mule and Customize as its submenus.
221
222 ** User-option `show-cursor-in-non-selected-windows' controls how to
223 display the cursor in non-selected windows. If nil, no cursor is
224 shown, if non-nil a hollow box cursor is shown. This option can
225 be customized.
226
227 +++
228 ** The variable `echo-keystrokes' may now have a floating point value.
229
230 +++
231 ** C-x 5 1 runs the new command delete-other-frames which deletes
232 all frames except the selected one.
233
234 ** If your init file is compiled (.emacs.elc), `user-init-file' is set
235 to the source name (.emacs.el), if that exists, after loading it.
236
237 ** The help string specified for a menu-item whose definition contains
238 the property `:help HELP' is now displayed under X, on MS-Windows, and
239 MS-DOS, either in the echo area or with tooltips. Many standard menus
240 displayed by Emacs now have help strings.
241
242 ** Highlighting of mouse-sensitive regions is now supported in the
243 MS-DOS version of Emacs.
244
245 ** New user option `read-mail-command' specifies a command to use to
246 read mail from the menu etc.
247
248 ** Hexl contains a new command `hexl-insert-hex-string' which inserts
249 a string of hexadecimal numbers read from the mini-buffer.
250
251 ** Changes in Texinfo mode.
252
253 ** A couple of new key bindings have been added for inserting Texinfo
254 macros
255
256 Key binding Macro
257 -------------------------
258 C-c C-c C-s @strong
259 C-c C-c C-e @emph
260 C-c C-c u @url
261 C-c C-c q @quotation
262 C-c C-c m @email
263
264 ** Changes in Outline mode.
265
266 There is now support for Imenu to index headings. A new command
267 `outline-headers-as-kill' copies the visible headings in the region to
268 the kill ring, e.g. to produce a table of contents.
269
270 ** Changes to Emacs Server
271
272 *** There new option `server-kill-new-buffers' specifies what to do
273 with buffers when done with them. If non-nil, the default, buffers
274 are killed, unless they were already present before visiting them with
275 Emacs Server. If nil, `server-temp-file-regexp' specifies which
276 buffers to kill, as before.
277
278 Please note that only buffers are killed that still have a client,
279 i.e. buffers visited which `emacsclient --no-wait' are never killed in
280 this way.
281
282 ** Changes to Show Paren mode.
283
284 *** Overlays used by Show Paren mode now use a priority property.
285 The new user option show-paren-priority specifies the priority to
286 use. Default is 1000.
287
288 ** New command M-x check-parens can be used to find unbalanced paren
289 groups and strings in buffers in Lisp mode (or other modes).
290
291 +++
292 ** You can now easily create new *Info* buffers using either
293 M-x clone-buffer, C-u m <entry> RET or C-u g <entry> RET.
294 M-x clone-buffer can also be used on *Help* and several other special
295 buffers.
296
297 +++
298 ** Emacs can now support 'wheeled' mice (such as the MS IntelliMouse)
299 under XFree86. To enable this, simply put (mwheel-install) in your
300 .emacs file.
301
302 The variables `mwheel-follow-mouse' and `mwheel-scroll-amount'
303 determine where and by how much buffers are scrolled.
304
305 ** Listing buffers with M-x list-buffers (C-x C-b) now shows
306 abbreviated file names. Abbreviations can be customized by changing
307 `directory-abbrev-alist'.
308
309 ** Faces and frame parameters.
310
311 There are four new faces `scroll-bar', `border', `cursor' and `mouse'.
312 Setting the frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
313 `scroll-bar-background' sets foreground and background color of face
314 `scroll-bar' and vice versa. Setting frame parameter `border-color'
315 sets the background color of face `border' and vice versa. Likewise
316 for frame parameters `cursor-color' and face `cursor', and frame
317 parameter `mouse-color' and face `mouse'.
318
319 Changing frame parameter `font' sets font-related attributes of the
320 `default' face and vice versa. Setting frame parameters
321 `foreground-color' or `background-color' sets the colors of the
322 `default' face and vice versa.
323
324 ** New face `menu'.
325
326 The face `menu' can be used to change colors and font of Emacs' menus.
327 Setting the font of LessTif/Motif menus is currently not supported;
328 attempts to set the font are ignored in this case.
329
330 +++
331 ** New frame parameter `screen-gamma' for gamma correction.
332
333 The new frame parameter `screen-gamma' specifies gamma-correction for
334 colors. Its value may be nil, the default, in which case no gamma
335 correction occurs, or a number > 0, usually a float, that specifies
336 the screen gamma of a frame's display.
337
338 PC monitors usually have a screen gamma of 2.2. smaller values result
339 in darker colors. You might want to try a screen gamma of 1.5 for LCD
340 color displays. The viewing gamma Emacs uses is 0.4545. (1/2.2).
341
342 The X resource name of this parameter is `screenGamma', class
343 `ScreenGamma'.
344
345 ** Emacs has a new redisplay engine.
346
347 The new redisplay handles characters of variable width and height.
348 Italic text can be used without redisplay problems. Fonts containing
349 oversized characters, i.e. characters larger than the logical height
350 of a font can be used. Images of various formats can be displayed in
351 the text.
352
353 ** Emacs has a new face implementation.
354
355 The new faces no longer fundamentally use X font names to specify the
356 font. Instead, each face has several independent attributes--family,
357 height, width, weight and slant--that it may or may not specify.
358 These attributes can be merged from various faces, and then together
359 specify a font.
360
361 Faces are supported on terminals that can display color or fonts.
362 These terminal capabilities are auto-detected. Details can be found
363 under Lisp changes, below.
364
365 ** New default font is Courier 12pt.
366
367 +++
368 ** When using a windowing terminal, each Emacs window now has a cursor
369 of its own. When the window is selected, the cursor is solid;
370 otherwise, it is hollow.
371
372 ** Bitmap areas to the left and right of windows are used to display
373 truncation marks, continuation marks, overlay arrows and alike. The
374 foreground, background, and stipple of these areas can be changed by
375 customizing face `fringe'.
376
377 ** The mode line under X is now drawn with shadows by default. You
378 can change its appearance by modifying the face `modeline'.
379
380 ** LessTif support.
381
382 Emacs now runs with the LessTif toolkit (see <http://www.lesstif.org>).
383 You will need a version 0.88.1 or later.
384
385 ** Toolkit scroll bars.
386
387 Emacs now uses toolkit scrollbars if available. When configured for
388 LessTif/Motif, it will use that toolkit's scrollbar. Otherwise, when
389 configured for Lucid and Athena widgets, it will use the Xaw3d scroll
390 bar if Xaw3d is available. You can turn off the use of toolkit scroll
391 bars by specifying `--with-toolkit-scroll-bars=no' when configuring
392 Emacs.
393
394 When you encounter problems with the Xaw3d scroll bar, watch out how
395 Xaw3d is compiled on your system. If the Makefile generated from
396 Xaw3d's Imakefile contains a `-DNARROWPROTO' compiler option, and your
397 Emacs system configuration file `s/your-system.h' does not contain a
398 define for NARROWPROTO, you might consider adding it. Take
399 `s/freebsd.h' as an example.
400
401 Alternatively, if you don't have access to the Xaw3d source code, take
402 a look at your system's imake configuration file, for example in the
403 directory `/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/config' (paths are different on
404 different systems). You will find files `*.cf' there. If your
405 system's cf-file contains a line like `#define NeedWidePrototypes NO',
406 add a `#define NARROWPROTO' to your Emacs system configuration file.
407
408 The reason for this is that one Xaw3d function uses `double' or
409 `float' function parameters depending on the setting of NARROWPROTO.
410 This is not a problem when Imakefiles are used because each system's
411 image configuration file contains the necessary information. Since
412 Emacs doesn't use imake, this has do be done manually.
413
414 ** Toggle buttons and radio buttons in menus.
415
416 When compiled with LessTif (or Motif) support, Emacs uses toolkit
417 widgets for radio and toggle buttons in menus. When configured for
418 Lucid, Emacs draws radio buttons and toggle buttons similar to Motif.
419
420 +++
421 ** Highlighting of trailing whitespace.
422
423 When `show-trailing-whitespace' is non-nil, Emacs displays trailing
424 whitespace in the face `trailing-whitespace'. Trailing whitespace is
425 defined as spaces or tabs at the end of a line. To avoid busy
426 highlighting when entering new text, trailing whitespace is not
427 displayed if point is at the end of the line containing the
428 whitespace.
429
430 ** Busy-cursor.
431
432 Emacs can optionally display a busy-cursor under X. You can turn the
433 display on or off by customizing group `cursor'.
434
435 +++
436 ** Blinking cursor
437
438 M-x blink-cursor-mode toggles a blinking cursor under X and on
439 terminals having terminal capabilities `vi', `vs', and `ve'. Blinking
440 and related parameters like frequency and delay can be customized in
441 the group `cursor'.
442
443 ** New font-lock support mode `jit-lock-mode'.
444
445 This support mode is roughly equivalent to `lazy-lock' but is
446 generally faster. It supports stealth and deferred fontification.
447 See the documentation of the function `jit-lock-mode' for more
448 details.
449
450 Font-lock uses jit-lock-mode as default support mode, so you don't
451 have to do anything to activate it.
452
453 ** Tabs and variable-width text.
454
455 Tabs are now displayed with stretch properties; the width of a tab is
456 defined as a multiple of the normal character width of a frame, and is
457 independent of the fonts used in the text where the tab appears.
458 Thus, tabs can be used to line up text in different fonts.
459
460 ** Enhancements of the Lucid menu bar
461
462 +++
463 *** The Lucid menu bar now supports the resource "margin".
464
465 emacs.pane.menubar.margin: 5
466
467 The default margin is 4 which makes the menu bar appear like the
468 LessTif/Motif one.
469
470 *** Arrows that indicate sub-menus are now drawn with shadows, as in
471 LessTif and Motif.
472
473 ** Hscrolling in C code.
474
475 Horizontal scrolling now happens automatically if
476 `automatic-hscrolling' is set (the default). This setting can be
477 customized.
478
479 ** Tool bar support.
480
481 Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. For details
482 how to define a tool bar, see the page describing Lisp-level changes.
483
484 +++
485 ** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
486
487 Different parts of the mode line under X have been made
488 mouse-sensitive. Moving the mouse to a mouse-sensitive part in the mode
489 line changes the appearance of the mouse pointer to an arrow, and help
490 about available mouse actions is displayed either in the echo area, or
491 in the tooltip window if you have enabled one.
492
493 Currently, the following actions have been defined:
494
495 - Mouse-1 on the buffer name in the mode line switches between two
496 buffers.
497
498 - Mouse-2 on the buffer-name switches to the next buffer, and
499 M-mouse-2 switches to the previous buffer in the buffer list.
500
501 - Mouse-3 on the buffer-name displays a buffer menu.
502
503 - Mouse-2 on the read-only or modified status in the mode line (`%' or
504 `*') toggles the status.
505
506 - Mouse-3 on the mode name display a minor-mode menu.
507
508 ** LessTif/Motif file selection dialog.
509
510 When Emacs is configured to use LessTif or Motif, reading a file name
511 from a menu will pop up a file selection dialog if `use-dialog-box' is
512 non-nil.
513
514 ** Emacs can display faces on TTY frames.
515
516 Emacs automatically detects terminals that are able to display colors.
517 Faces with a weight greater than normal are displayed extra-bright, if
518 the terminal supports it. Faces with a weight less than normal and
519 italic faces are displayed dimmed, if the terminal supports it.
520 Underlined faces are displayed underlined if possible. Other face
521 attributes such as `overline', `strike-through', and `box' are ignored
522 on terminals.
523
524 ** Sound support
525
526 Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and FreeBSD (Voxware
527 driver and native BSD driver, a.k.a. Luigi's driver). Currently
528 supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio (*.au).
529
530 +++
531 ** A new variable, backup-by-copying-when-privileged-mismatch, gives
532 the highest file uid for which backup-by-copying-when-mismatch will be
533 forced on. The assumption is that uids less than or equal to this
534 value are special uids (root, bin, daemon, etc.--not real system
535 users) and that files owned by these users should not change ownership,
536 even if your system policy allows users other than root to edit them.
537
538 The default is 200; set the variable to nil to disable the feature.
539
540 ** A block cursor can be drawn as wide as the glyph under it under X.
541
542 As an example: if a block cursor is over a tab character, it will be
543 drawn as wide as that tab on the display. To do this, set
544 `x-stretch-cursor' to a non-nil value.
545
546 ** Empty display lines at the end of a buffer may be marked with a
547 bitmap (this is similar to the tilde displayed by vi).
548
549 This behavior is activated by setting the buffer-local variable
550 `indicate-empty-lines' to a non-nil value. The default value of this
551 variable is found in `default-indicate-empty-lines'.
552
553 ** There is a new "aggressive" scrolling method.
554
555 When scrolling up because point is above the window start, if the
556 value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-up-aggessively' is a
557 number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
558 fraction of the window's height from the bottom of the window.
559
560 When scrolling down because point is below the window end, if the
561 value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-down-aggessively' is a
562 number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
563 fraction of the window's height from the top of the window.
564
565 ** The rectangle commands now avoid inserting undesirable spaces,
566 notably at the end of lines.
567
568 All these functions have been rewritten to avoid inserting unwanted
569 spaces, and an optional prefix now allows them to behave the old way.
570
571 +++
572 There is a new command M-x replace-rectangle.
573
574 ** The new command M-x query-replace-regexp-eval acts like
575 query-replace-regexp, but takes a Lisp expression which is evaluated
576 after each match to get the replacement text.
577
578 ** M-x query-replace recognizes a new command `e' (or `E') that lets
579 you edit the replacement string.
580
581 ** The new command mail-abbrev-complete-alias, bound to `M-TAB', lets
582 you complete mail aliases in the text, analogous to
583 lisp-complete-symbol.
584
585 ** Emacs now resizes mini-windows if appropriate.
586
587 If a message is longer than one line, or minibuffer contents are
588 longer than one line, Emacs now resizes the minibuffer window unless
589 it is on a frame of its own. You can control the maximum minibuffer
590 window size by setting the following variable:
591
592 - User option: max-mini-window-height
593
594 Maximum height for resizing mini-windows. If a float, it specifies a
595 fraction of the mini-window frame's height. If an integer, it
596 specifies a number of lines. If nil, don't resize.
597
598 Default is 0.25.
599
600 ** The command `Info-search' now uses a search history.
601
602 ** Changes to hideshow.el
603
604 Hideshow is now at version 5.x. It uses a new algorithms for block
605 selection and traversal and includes more isearch support.
606
607 *** Generalized block selection and traversal
608
609 A block is now recognized by three things: its start and end regexps
610 (both strings), and a match-data selector (an integer) specifying
611 which sub-expression in the start regexp serves as the place where a
612 `forward-sexp'-like function can operate. Hideshow always adjusts
613 point to this sub-expression before calling `hs-forward-sexp-func'
614 (which for most modes evaluates to `forward-sexp').
615
616 If the match-data selector is not specified, it defaults to zero,
617 i.e., the entire start regexp is valid, w/ no prefix. This is
618 backwards compatible with previous versions of hideshow. Please see
619 the docstring for variable `hs-special-modes-alist' for details.
620
621 *** Isearch support for updating mode line
622
623 During incremental search, if Hideshow minor mode is active, hidden
624 blocks are temporarily shown. The variable `hs-headline' records the
625 line at the beginning of the opened block (preceding the hidden
626 portion of the buffer), and the mode line is refreshed. When a block
627 is re-hidden, the variable is set to nil.
628
629 To show `hs-headline' in the mode line, you may wish to include
630 something like this in your .emacs.
631
632 (add-hook 'hs-minor-mode-hook
633 (lambda ()
634 (add-to-list 'mode-line-format 'hs-headline)))
635
636 ** Changes to Change Log mode and Add-Log functions
637
638 +++
639 If you invoke `add-change-log-entry' from a backup file, it makes an
640 entry appropriate for the file's parent. This is useful for making
641 log entries by comparing a version with deleted functions.
642
643 +++
644 New command M-x change-log-merge merges another log into the current
645 buffer.
646
647 +++
648 New command M-x change-log-redate fixes any old-style date entries in
649 a log file.
650
651 Change Log mode now adds a file's version number to change log entries
652 if user-option `change-log-version-info-enabled' is non-nil.
653
654 Unless the file is under version control the search for a file's
655 version number is performed based on regular expressions from
656 `change-log-version-number-regexp-list' which can be cutomized.
657 Version numbers are only found in the first 10 percent of a file.
658
659 ** Changes in Font Lock
660
661 *** The new function `font-lock-remove-keywords' can be used to remove
662 font-lock keywords from the current buffer or from a specific major
663 mode.
664
665 ** Comint (subshell) changes
666
667 By default, comint no longer uses the variable `comint-prompt-regexp' to
668 distiguish prompts from user-input. Instead, it notices which parts of
669 the text were output by the process, and which entered by the user, and
670 attaches `field' properties to allow emacs commands to use this information.
671 Common movement commands, notably beginning-of-line, respect field
672 boundaries in a fairly natural manner.
673 To disable this feature, and use the old behavior, set the variable
674 `comint-use-prompt-regexp-instead-of-fields' to a non-nil value.
675
676 Comint now includes new features to send commands to running processes
677 and redirect the output to a designated buffer or buffers.
678
679 The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command reads a command and
680 buffer name from the mini-buffer. The command is sent to the current
681 buffer's process, and its output is inserted into the specified buffer.
682
683 The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command-to-process acts like
684 M-x comint-redirect-send-command but additionally reads the name of
685 the buffer whose process should be used from the mini-buffer.
686
687 Packages based on comint.el like shell-mode, and scheme-interaction-mode
688 now highlight user input and program prompts, and support choosing
689 previous input with mouse-2. To control these feature, see the
690 user-options `comint-highlight-input' and `comint-highlight-prompt'.
691
692 ** Changes to Rmail mode
693
694 *** The new user-option rmail-rmail-user-mail-address-regexp can be
695 set to fine tune the identification of of the correspondent when
696 receiving new mail. If it matches the address of the sender, the
697 recipient is taken as correspondent of a mail. If nil, the default,
698 `user-login-name' and `user-mail-address' are used to exclude yourself
699 as correspondent.
700
701 Usually you don't have to set this variable, except if you collect
702 mails sent by you under different user names. Then it should be a
703 regexp matching your mail addresses.
704
705 *** The new user-option rmail-confirm-expunge controls whether and how
706 to ask for confirmation before expunging deleted messages from an
707 Rmail file. You can choose between no confirmation, confirmation
708 with y-or-n-p, or confirmation with yes-or-no-p. Default is to ask
709 for confirmation with yes-or-no-p.
710
711 *** RET is now bound in the Rmail summary to rmail-summary-goto-msg,
712 like `j'.
713
714 *** There is a new user option `rmail-digest-end-regexps' that
715 specifies the regular expressions to detect the line that ends a
716 digest message.
717
718 *** The new user option `rmail-automatic-folder-directives' specifies
719 in which folder to put messages automatically.
720
721 ** Changes to TeX mode
722
723 The default mode has been changed from `plain-tex-mode' to
724 `latex-mode'.
725
726 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
727
728 *** RefTeX has new support for index generation. Index entries can be
729 created with `C-c <', with completion available on index keys.
730 Pressing `C-c /' indexes the word at the cursor with a default
731 macro. `C-c >' compiles all index entries into an alphabetically
732 sorted *Index* buffer which looks like the final index. Entries
733 can be edited from that buffer.
734
735 *** Label and citation key selection now allow to select several
736 items and reference them together (use `m' to mark items, `a' or
737 `A' to use all marked entries).
738
739 *** reftex.el has been split into a number of smaller files to reduce
740 memory use when only a part of RefTeX is being used.
741
742 *** a new command `reftex-view-crossref-from-bibtex' (bound to `C-c &'
743 in BibTeX-mode) can be called in a BibTeX database buffer in order
744 to show locations in LaTeX documents where a particular entry has
745 been cited.
746
747 ** Emacs Lisp mode now allows multiple levels of outline headings.
748 The level of a heading is determined from the number of leading
749 semicolons in a heading line. Toplevel forms starting with a `('
750 in column 1 are always made leaves.
751
752 ** The M-x time-stamp command (most commonly used on write-file-hooks)
753 has the following new features:
754
755 *** The patterns for finding the time stamp and for updating a pattern
756 may match text spanning multiple lines. For example, some people like
757 to have the filename and date on separate lines. The new variable
758 time-stamp-inserts-lines controls the matching for multi-line patterns.
759
760 *** More than one time stamp can be updated in the same file. This
761 feature is useful if you need separate time stamps in a program source
762 file to both include in formatted documentation and insert in the
763 compiled binary. The same time-stamp will be written at each matching
764 pattern. The variable time-stamp-count enables this new feature; it
765 defaults to 1.
766
767 ** Partial Completion mode now completes environment variables in
768 file names.
769
770 +++
771 ** Tooltips.
772
773 Tooltips are small X windows displaying a help string at the current
774 mouse position. To use them, use the Lisp package `tooltip' which you
775 can access via the user option `tooltip-mode'.
776
777 Tooltips also provides support for GUD debugging. If activated,
778 variable values can be displayed in tooltips by pointing at them with
779 the mouse in source buffers. You can customize various aspects of the
780 tooltip display in the group `tooltip'.
781
782 +++
783 ** Customize changes
784
785 *** Customize now supports comments about customized items. Use the
786 `State' menu to add comments. Note that customization comments will
787 cause the customizations to fail in earlier versions of Emacs.
788
789 *** The new option `custom-buffer-done-function' says whether to kill
790 Custom buffers when you've done with them or just bury them (the
791 default).
792
793 *** The keyword :set-after in defcustom allows to specify dependencies
794 between custom options. Example:
795
796 (defcustom default-input-method nil
797 "*Default input method for multilingual text (a string).
798 This is the input method activated automatically by the command
799 `toggle-input-method' (\\[toggle-input-method])."
800 :group 'mule
801 :type '(choice (const nil) string)
802 :set-after '(current-language-environment))
803
804 This specifies that default-input-method should be set after
805 current-language-environment even if default-input-method appears
806 first in a custom-set-variables statement.
807
808 ** New features in evaluation commands
809
810 *** The commands to evaluate Lisp expressions, such as C-M-x in Lisp
811 modes, C-j in Lisp Interaction mode, and M-:, now bind the variables
812 print-level, print-length, and debug-on-error based on the
813 customizable variables eval-expression-print-level,
814 eval-expression-print-length, and eval-expression-debug-on-error.
815
816 *** The function `eval-defun' (M-C-x) now loads Edebug and instruments
817 code when called with a prefix argument.
818
819 ** Ispell changes
820
821 *** The command `ispell' now spell-checks a region if
822 transient-mark-mode is on, and the mark is active. Otherwise it
823 spell-checks the current buffer.
824
825 *** Support for synchronous subprocesses - DOS/Windoze - has been
826 added.
827
828 *** An "alignment error" bug was fixed when a manual spelling
829 correction is made and re-checked.
830
831 *** An Italian and a Portuguese dictionary definition has been added.
832
833 *** Region skipping performance has been vastly improved in some
834 cases.
835
836 *** Spell checking HTML buffers has been improved and isn't so strict
837 on syntax errors.
838
839 *** The buffer-local words are now always placed on a new line at the
840 end of the buffer.
841
842 ** Dired changes
843
844 *** New variable `dired-recursive-deletes' determines if the delete
845 command will delete non-empty directories recursively. The default
846 is, delete only empty directories.
847
848 *** New variable `dired-recursive-copies' determines if the copy
849 command will copy directories recursively. The default is, do not
850 copy directories recursively.
851
852 *** In command `dired-do-shell-command' (usually bound to `!') a `?'
853 in the shell command has a special meaning similar to `*', but with
854 the difference that the command will be run on each file individually.
855
856 *** The new command `dired-find-alternate-file' (usually bound to `a')
857 replaces the Dired buffer with the buffer for an alternate file or
858 directory.
859
860 *** The new command `dired-show-file-type' (usually bound to `w') shows
861 a message in the echo area describing what type of file the point is on.
862 This command invokes the external program `file' do its work, and so
863 will only work on systems with that program, and will be only as
864 accurate or inaccurate as it is.
865
866 *** Dired now properly handles undo changes of adding/removing `-R'
867 from ls switches.
868
869 ** The variable mail-specify-envelope-from controls whether to
870 use the -f option when sending mail.
871
872 ** CC mode changes.
873
874 Note: This release contains changes that might not be compatible with
875 current user setups (although it's believed that these
876 incompatibilities will only show in very uncommon circumstances).
877 However, since the impact is uncertain, these changes may be rolled
878 back depending on user feedback. Therefore there's no forward
879 compatibility guarantee wrt the new features introduced in this
880 release.
881
882 *** c-style-variables-are-local-p now defaults to t.
883 This is an incompatible change that has been made to make the behavior
884 of the style system wrt global variable settings less confusing for
885 non-advanced users. If you know what this variable does you might
886 want to set it to nil in your .emacs, otherwise you probably don't
887 have to bother.
888
889 Defaulting c-style-variables-are-local-p to t avoids the confusing
890 situation that occurs when a user sets some style variables globally
891 and edits both a Java and a non-Java file in the same Emacs session.
892 If the style variables aren't buffer local in this case, loading of
893 the second file will cause the default style (either "gnu" or "java"
894 by default) to override the global settings made by the user.
895
896 *** New initialization procedure for the style system.
897 When the initial style for a buffer is determined by CC Mode (from the
898 variable c-default-style), the global values of style variables now
899 take precedence over the values specified by the chosen style. This
900 is different than the old behavior: previously, the style-specific
901 settings would override the global settings. This change makes it
902 possible to do simple configuration in the intuitive way with
903 Customize or with setq lines in one's .emacs file.
904
905 By default, the global value of every style variable is the new
906 special symbol set-from-style, which causes the value to be taken from
907 the style system. This means that in effect, only an explicit setting
908 of a style variable will cause the "overriding" behavior described
909 above.
910
911 Also note that global settings override style-specific settings *only*
912 when the initial style of a buffer is chosen by a CC Mode major mode
913 function. When a style is chosen in other ways --- for example, by a
914 call like (c-set-style "gnu") in a hook, or via M-x c-set-style ---
915 then the style-specific values take precedence over any global style
916 values. In Lisp terms, global values override style-specific values
917 only when the new second argument to c-set-style is non-nil; see the
918 function documentation for more info.
919
920 The purpose of these changes is to make it easier for users,
921 especially novice users, to do simple customizations with Customize or
922 with setq in their .emacs files. On the other hand, the new system is
923 intended to be compatible with advanced users' customizations as well,
924 such as those that choose styles in hooks or whatnot. This new system
925 is believed to be almost entirely compatible with current
926 configurations, in spite of the changed precedence between style and
927 global variable settings when a buffer's default style is set.
928
929 (Thanks to Eric Eide for clarifying this explanation a bit.)
930
931 **** c-offsets-alist is now a customizable variable.
932 This became possible as a result of the new initialization behavior.
933
934 This variable is treated slightly differently from the other style
935 variables; instead of using the symbol set-from-style, it will be
936 completed with the syntactic symbols it doesn't already contain when
937 the style is first initialized. This means it now defaults to the
938 empty list to make all syntactic elements get their values from the
939 style system.
940
941 **** Compatibility variable to restore the old behavior.
942 In case your configuration doesn't work with this change, you can set
943 c-old-style-variable-behavior to non-nil to get the old behavior back
944 as far as possible.
945
946 *** Improvements to line breaking and text filling.
947 CC Mode now handles this more intelligently and seamlessly wrt the
948 surrounding code, especially inside comments. For details see the new
949 chapter about this in the manual.
950
951 **** New variable to recognize comment line prefix decorations.
952 The variable c-comment-prefix-regexp has been added to properly
953 recognize the line prefix in both block and line comments. It's
954 primarily used to initialize the various paragraph recognition and
955 adaptive filling variables that the text handling functions uses.
956
957 **** New variable c-block-comment-prefix.
958 This is a generalization of the now obsolete variable
959 c-comment-continuation-stars to handle arbitrary strings.
960
961 **** CC Mode now uses adaptive fill mode.
962 This to make it adapt better to the paragraph style inside comments.
963
964 It's also possible to use other adaptive filling packages inside CC
965 Mode, notably Kyle E. Jones' Filladapt mode (http://wonderworks.com/).
966 A new convenience function c-setup-filladapt sets up Filladapt for use
967 inside CC Mode.
968
969 Note though that the 2.12 version of Filladapt lacks a feature that
970 causes it to work suboptimally when c-comment-prefix-regexp can match
971 the empty string (which it commonly does). A patch for that is
972 available from the CC Mode web site (http://www.python.org/emacs/
973 cc-mode/).
974
975 **** It's now possible to selectively turn off auto filling.
976 The variable c-ignore-auto-fill is used to ignore auto fill mode in
977 specific contexts, e.g. in preprocessor directives and in string
978 literals.
979
980 **** New context sensitive line break function c-context-line-break.
981 It works like newline-and-indent in normal code, and adapts the line
982 prefix according to the comment style when used inside comments. If
983 you're normally using newline-and-indent, you might want to switch to
984 this function.
985
986 *** Fixes to IDL mode.
987 It now does a better job in recognizing only the constructs relevant
988 to IDL. E.g. it no longer matches "class" as the beginning of a
989 struct block, but it does match the CORBA 2.3 "valuetype" keyword.
990 Thanks to Eric Eide.
991
992 *** Improvements to the Whitesmith style.
993 It now keeps the style consistently on all levels and both when
994 opening braces hangs and when they don't.
995
996 **** New lineup function c-lineup-whitesmith-in-block.
997
998 *** New lineup functions c-lineup-template-args and c-indent-multi-line-block.
999 See their docstrings for details. c-lineup-template-args does a
1000 better job of tracking the brackets used as parens in C++ templates,
1001 and is used by default to line up continued template arguments.
1002
1003 *** c-lineup-comment now preserves alignment with a comment on the
1004 previous line. It used to instead preserve comments that started in
1005 the column specified by comment-column.
1006
1007 *** c-lineup-C-comments handles "free form" text comments.
1008 In comments with a long delimiter line at the start, the indentation
1009 is kept unchanged for lines that start with an empty comment line
1010 prefix. This is intended for the type of large block comments that
1011 contain documentation with its own formatting. In these you normally
1012 don't want CC Mode to change the indentation.
1013
1014 *** The `c' syntactic symbol is now relative to the comment start
1015 instead of the previous line, to make integers usable as lineup
1016 arguments.
1017
1018 *** All lineup functions have gotten docstrings.
1019
1020 *** More preprocessor directive movement functions.
1021 c-down-conditional does the reverse of c-up-conditional.
1022 c-up-conditional-with-else and c-down-conditional-with-else are
1023 variants of these that also stops at "#else" lines (suggested by Don
1024 Provan).
1025
1026 *** Minor improvements to many movement functions in tricky situations.
1027
1028 ** Makefile mode changes
1029
1030 *** The mode now uses the abbrev table `makefile-mode-abbrev-table'.
1031
1032 *** Conditionals and include statements are now highlighted when
1033 Fontlock mode is active.
1034
1035 ** Isearch changes
1036
1037 *** Isearch now puts a call to `isearch-resume' in the command history,
1038 so that searches can be resumed.
1039
1040 *** In Isearch mode, M-C-s and M-C-r are now bound like C-s and C-r,
1041 respectively, i.e. you can repeat a regexp isearch with the same keys
1042 that started the search.
1043
1044 *** In Isearch mode, mouse-2 in the echo area now yanks the current
1045 selection into the search string rather than giving an error.
1046
1047 *** There is a new lazy highlighting feature in incremental search.
1048
1049 Lazy highlighting is switched on/off by customizing variable
1050 `isearch-lazy-highlight'. When active, all matches for the current
1051 search string are highlighted. The current match is highlighted as
1052 before using face `isearch' or `region'. All other matches are
1053 highlighted using face `isearch-lazy-highlight-face' which defaults to
1054 `secondary-selection'.
1055
1056 The extra highlighting makes it easier to anticipate where the cursor
1057 will end up each time you press C-s or C-r to repeat a pending search.
1058 Highlighting of these additional matches happens in a deferred fashion
1059 using "idle timers," so the cycles needed do not rob isearch of its
1060 usual snappy response.
1061
1062 If `isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup' is set to t, highlights for
1063 matches are automatically cleared when you end the search. If it is
1064 set to nil, you can remove the highlights manually with `M-x
1065 isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup'.
1066
1067 ** Changes in sort.el
1068
1069 The function sort-numeric-fields interprets numbers starting with `0'
1070 as octal and numbers starting with `0x' or `0X' as hexadecimal. The
1071 new user-option sort-numberic-base can be used to specify a default
1072 numeric base.
1073
1074 ** Changes to Ange-ftp
1075
1076 +++
1077 *** Ange-ftp allows you to specify of a port number in remote file
1078 names cleanly. It is appended to the host name, separated by a hash
1079 sign, e.g. `/foo@bar.org#666:mumble'. (This syntax comes from EFS.)
1080
1081 *** If the new user-option `ange-ftp-try-passive-mode' is set, passive
1082 ftp mode will be used if the ftp client supports that.
1083
1084 *** Ange-ftp handles the output of the w32-style clients which
1085 output ^M at the end of lines.
1086
1087 ** Shell script mode changes.
1088
1089 Shell script mode (sh-script) can now indent scripts for shells
1090 derived from sh and rc. The indentation style is customizeable, and
1091 sh-script can attempt to "learn" the current buffer's style.
1092
1093 ** Etags changes.
1094
1095 *** In DOS, etags looks for file.cgz if it cannot find file.c.
1096
1097 *** New option --ignore-case-regex is an alternative to --regex. It is now
1098 possible to bind a regexp to a language, by prepending the regexp with
1099 {lang}, where lang is one of the languages that `etags --help' prints out.
1100 This feature is useful especially for regex files, where each line contains
1101 a regular expression. The manual contains details.
1102
1103 *** In C and derived languages, etags creates tags for function
1104 declarations when given the --declarations option.
1105
1106 *** In C++, tags are created for "operator". The tags have the form
1107 "operator+", without spaces between the keyword and the operator.
1108
1109 *** New language Ada: tags are functions, procedures, packages, tasks, and
1110 types.
1111
1112 *** In Fortran, `procedure' is not tagged.
1113
1114 *** In Java, tags are created for "interface".
1115
1116 *** In Lisp, "(defstruct (foo", "(defun (operator" and similar constructs
1117 are now tagged.
1118
1119 *** In Perl, the --globals option tags global variables. my and local
1120 variables are tagged.
1121
1122 *** New language Python: def and class at the beginning of a line are tags.
1123
1124 *** .ss files are Scheme files, .pdb is Postscript with C syntax, .psw is
1125 for PSWrap.
1126
1127 ** Changes in etags.el
1128
1129 *** The new user-option tags-case-fold-search can be used to make
1130 tags operations case-sensitive or case-insensitive. The default
1131 is to use the same setting as case-fold-search.
1132
1133 *** You can display additional output with M-x tags-apropos by setting
1134 the new variable tags-apropos-additional-actions.
1135
1136 If non-nil, the variable's value should be a list of triples (TITLE
1137 FUNCTION TO-SEARCH). For each triple, M-x tags-apropos processes
1138 TO-SEARCH and lists tags from it. TO-SEARCH should be an alist,
1139 obarray, or symbol. If it is a symbol, the symbol's value is used.
1140
1141 TITLE is a string to use to label the list of tags from TO-SEARCH.
1142
1143 FUNCTION is a function to call when an entry is selected in the Tags
1144 List buffer. It is called with one argument, the selected symbol.
1145
1146 A useful example value for this variable might be something like:
1147
1148 '(("Emacs Lisp" Info-goto-emacs-command-node obarray)
1149 ("Common Lisp" common-lisp-hyperspec common-lisp-hyperspec-obarray)
1150 ("SCWM" scwm-documentation scwm-obarray))
1151
1152 *** The face tags-tag-face can be used to customize the appearance
1153 of tags in the output of M-x tags-apropos.
1154
1155 *** Setting tags-apropos-verbose to a non-nil value displays the
1156 names of tags files in the *Tags List* buffer.
1157
1158 +++
1159 ** Emacs now attempts to determine the initial language environment
1160 and preferred and locale coding systems systematically from the
1161 LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG environment variables during startup.
1162
1163 ** New language environments `Polish', `Latin-8' and `Latin-9'.
1164 Latin-8 and Latin-9 correspond respectively to the ISO character sets
1165 8859-14 (Celtic) and 8859-15 (updated Latin-1, with the Euro sign).
1166 There is currently no specific input method support for them.
1167
1168 +++
1169 ** Fortran mode has a new command `fortran-strip-sequence-nos' to
1170 remove text past column 72. The syntax class of `\' in Fortran is now
1171 appropriate for C-style escape sequences in strings.
1172
1173 ** SGML mode's default `sgml-validate-command' is now `nsgmls'.
1174
1175 +++
1176 ** A new command `view-emacs-problems' (C-h P) displays the PROBLEMS file.
1177
1178 ** The Dabbrev package has a new user-option `dabbrev-ignore-regexps'
1179 containing a list of regular expressions. Buffers matching a regular
1180 expression from that list, are not checked.
1181
1182 ** Emacs can now figure out modification times of remote files.
1183 When you do C-x C-f /user@host:/path/file RET and edit the file,
1184 and someone else modifies the file, you will be prompted to revert
1185 the buffer, just like for the local files.
1186
1187 ** The buffer menu (C-x C-b) no longer lists the *Buffer List* buffer.
1188
1189 ** New modes and packages
1190
1191 +++
1192 *** The new package timeclock.el is a mode is for keeping track of time
1193 intervals. You can use it for whatever purpose you like, but the
1194 typical scenario is to keep track of how much time you spend working
1195 on certain projects.
1196
1197 *** The new package hi-lock.el, text matching interactively entered
1198 regexp's can be highlighted. For example,
1199
1200 M-x highlight-regexp RET clearly RET RET
1201
1202 will highlight all occurrences of `clearly' using a yellow background
1203 face. New occurrences of `clearly' will be highlighted as they are
1204 typed. `M-x unhighlight-regexp RET' will remove the highlighting.
1205 Any existing face can be used for highlighting and a set of
1206 appropriate faces is provided. The regexps can be written into the
1207 current buffer in a form that will be recognized the next time the
1208 corresponding file is read.
1209
1210 +++
1211 *** The new package zone.el plays games with Emacs' display when
1212 Emacs is idle.
1213
1214 *** The new package xml.el provides a simple but generic XML
1215 parser. It doesn't parse the DTDs however.
1216
1217 *** The comment operations are now provided by the newcomment.el
1218 package which allows different styles of comment-region and should
1219 be more robust while offering the same functionality.
1220
1221 +++
1222 *** The Ebrowse package implements a C++ class browser and tags
1223 facilities tailored for use with C++. It is documented in a
1224 separate Texinfo file.
1225
1226 +++
1227 *** The PCL-CVS package available by either running M-x cvs-examine or
1228 by visiting a CVS administrative directory (with a prefix argument)
1229 provides an alternative interface to VC-dired for CVS. It comes with
1230 `log-view-mode' to view RCS and SCCS logs and `log-edit-mode' used to
1231 enter checkin log messages.
1232
1233 +++
1234 *** The new package called `woman' allows to browse Unix man pages
1235 without invoking external programs.
1236
1237 The command `M-x woman' formats manual pages entirely in Emacs Lisp
1238 and then displays them, like `M-x manual-entry' does. Unlike
1239 `manual-entry', `woman' does not invoke any external programs, so it
1240 is useful on systems such as MS-DOS/MS-Windows where the `man' and
1241 Groff or `troff' commands are not readily available.
1242
1243 The command `M-x woman-find-file' asks for the file name of a man
1244 page, then formats and displays it like `M-x woman' does.
1245
1246 *** The new command M-x re-builder offers a convenient interface for
1247 authoring regular expressions with immediate visual feedback.
1248
1249 The buffer from which the command was called becomes the target for
1250 the regexp editor popping up in a separate window. Matching text in
1251 the target buffer is immediately color marked during the editing.
1252 Each sub-expression of the regexp will show up in a different face so
1253 even complex regexps can be edited and verified on target data in a
1254 single step.
1255
1256 On displays not supporting faces the matches instead blink like
1257 matching parens to make them stand out. On such a setup you will
1258 probably also want to use the sub-expression mode when the regexp
1259 contains such to get feedback about their respective limits.
1260
1261 +++
1262 *** glasses-mode is a minor mode that makes
1263 unreadableIdentifiersLikeThis readable. It works as glasses, without
1264 actually modifying content of a buffer.
1265
1266 *** The package ebnf2ps translates an EBNF to a syntactic chart in
1267 PostScript.
1268
1269 Currently accepts ad-hoc EBNF, ISO EBNF and Bison/Yacc.
1270
1271 The ad-hoc default EBNF syntax has the following elements:
1272
1273 ; comment (until end of line)
1274 A non-terminal
1275 "C" terminal
1276 ?C? special
1277 $A default non-terminal
1278 $"C" default terminal
1279 $?C? default special
1280 A = B. production (A is the header and B the body)
1281 C D sequence (C occurs before D)
1282 C | D alternative (C or D occurs)
1283 A - B exception (A excluding B, B without any non-terminal)
1284 n * A repetition (A repeats n (integer) times)
1285 (C) group (expression C is grouped together)
1286 [C] optional (C may or not occurs)
1287 C+ one or more occurrences of C
1288 {C}+ one or more occurrences of C
1289 {C}* zero or more occurrences of C
1290 {C} zero or more occurrences of C
1291 C / D equivalent to: C {D C}*
1292 {C || D}+ equivalent to: C {D C}*
1293 {C || D}* equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
1294 {C || D} equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
1295
1296 Please, see ebnf2ps documentation for EBNF syntax and how to use it.
1297
1298 *** The package align.el will align columns within a region, using M-x
1299 align. Its mode-specific rules, based on regular expressions,
1300 determine where the columns should be split. In C and C++, for
1301 example, it will align variable names in declaration lists, or the
1302 equal signs of assignments.
1303
1304 +++
1305 *** `paragraph-indent-minor-mode' is a new minor mode supporting
1306 paragraphs in the same style as `paragraph-indent-text-mode'.
1307
1308 +++
1309 *** bs.el is a new package for buffer selection similar to
1310 list-buffers or electric-buffer-list. Use M-x bs-show to display a
1311 buffer menu with this package. You can use M-x bs-customize to
1312 customize the package.
1313
1314 *** find-lisp.el is a package emulating the Unix find command in Lisp.
1315
1316 *** calculator.el is a small calculator package that is intended to
1317 replace desktop calculators such as xcalc and calc.exe. Actually, it
1318 is not too small - it has more features than most desktop calculators,
1319 and can be customized easily to get many more functions. It should
1320 not be confused with "calc" which is a much bigger mathematical tool
1321 which answers different needs.
1322
1323 +++
1324 *** The minor modes cwarn-mode and global-cwarn-mode highlights
1325 suspicious C and C++ constructions. Currently, assignments inside
1326 expressions, semicolon following `if', `for' and `while' (except, of
1327 course, after a `do .. while' statement), and C++ functions with
1328 reference parameters are recognized. The modes require font-lock mode
1329 to be enabled.
1330
1331 +++
1332 *** smerge-mode.el provides `smerge-mode', a simple minor-mode for files
1333 containing diff3-style conflict markers, such as generated by RCS.
1334
1335 +++
1336 *** 5x5.el is a simple puzzle game.
1337
1338 +++
1339 *** hl-line.el provides a minor mode to highlight the current line.
1340
1341 *** ansi-color.el translates ANSI terminal escapes into text-properties.
1342
1343 *** delphi.el provides a major mode for editing the Delphi (Object
1344 Pascal) language.
1345
1346 *** quickurl.el provides a simple method of inserting a URL based on
1347 the text at point.
1348
1349 *** sql.el provides an interface to SQL data bases.
1350
1351 +++
1352 *** fortune.el uses the fortune program to create mail/news signatures.
1353
1354 *** whitespace.el ???
1355
1356 *** PostScript mode (ps-mode) is a new major mode for editing PostScript
1357 files. It offers: interaction with a PostScript interpreter, including
1358 (very basic) error handling; fontification, easily customizable for
1359 interpreter messages; auto-indentation; insertion of EPSF templates and
1360 often used code snippets; viewing of BoundingBox; commenting out /
1361 uncommenting regions; conversion of 8bit characters to PostScript octal
1362 codes. All functionality is accessible through a menu.
1363
1364 *** delim-col helps to prettify columns in a text region or rectangle.
1365
1366 Here is an example of columns:
1367
1368 horse apple bus
1369 dog pineapple car EXTRA
1370 porcupine strawberry airplane
1371
1372 Doing the following settings:
1373
1374 (setq delimit-columns-str-before "[ ")
1375 (setq delimit-columns-str-after " ]")
1376 (setq delimit-columns-str-separator ", ")
1377 (setq delimit-columns-separator "\t")
1378
1379
1380 Selecting the lines above and typing:
1381
1382 M-x delimit-columns-region
1383
1384 It results:
1385
1386 [ horse , apple , bus , ]
1387 [ dog , pineapple , car , EXTRA ]
1388 [ porcupine, strawberry, airplane, ]
1389
1390 delim-col has the following options:
1391
1392 delimit-columns-str-before Specify a string to be inserted
1393 before all columns.
1394
1395 delimit-columns-str-separator Specify a string to be inserted
1396 between each column.
1397
1398 delimit-columns-str-after Specify a string to be inserted
1399 after all columns.
1400
1401 delimit-columns-separator Specify a regexp which separates
1402 each column.
1403
1404 delim-col has the following commands:
1405
1406 delimit-columns-region Prettify all columns in a text region.
1407 delimit-columns-rectangle Prettify all columns in a text rectangle.
1408
1409 +++
1410 *** The package recentf.el maintains a menu for visiting files that
1411 were operated on recently.
1412
1413 M-x recentf-mode RET toggles recentf mode.
1414
1415 M-x customize-variable RET recentf-mode RET can be used to enable
1416 recentf at Emacs startup.
1417
1418 M-x customize-variable RET recentf-menu-filter RET to specify a menu
1419 filter function to change the menu appearance. For example, the recent
1420 file list can be displayed:
1421
1422 - organized by major modes, directories or user defined rules.
1423 - sorted by file pathes, file names, ascending or descending.
1424 - showing pathes relative to the current default-directory
1425
1426 The `recentf-filter-changer' menu filter function allows to
1427 dynamically change the menu appearance.
1428
1429 *** elide-head.el provides a mechanism for eliding boilerplate header
1430 text.
1431
1432 +++
1433 *** footnote.el provides `footnote-mode', a minor mode supporting use
1434 of footnotes. It is intended for use with Message mode, but isn't
1435 specific to Message mode.
1436
1437 +++
1438 *** diff-mode.el provides `diff-mode', a major mode for
1439 viewing/editing context diffs (patches). It is selected for files
1440 with extension `.diff', `.diffs', `.patch' and `.rej'.
1441
1442 +++
1443 *** EUDC, the Emacs Unified Directory Client, provides a common user
1444 interface to access directory servers using different directory
1445 protocols. It has a separate manual.
1446
1447 *** autoconf.el provides a major mode for editing configure.in files
1448 for Autoconf, selected automatically.
1449
1450 +++
1451 *** windmove.el provides moving between windows.
1452
1453 *** crm.el provides a facility to read multiple strings from the
1454 minibuffer with completion.
1455
1456 *** todo-mode.el provides management of TODO lists and integration
1457 with the diary features.
1458
1459 *** autoarg.el provides a feature reported from Twenex Emacs whereby
1460 numeric keys supply prefix args rather than self inserting.
1461
1462 *** The function `turn-off-auto-fill' unconditionally turns off Auto
1463 Fill mode.
1464
1465 ** Withdrawn packages
1466
1467 *** mldrag.el has been removed. mouse.el provides the same
1468 functionality with aliases for the mldrag functions.
1469
1470 *** eval-reg.el has been obsoleted by changes to edebug.el and removed.
1471
1472 *** ph.el has been obsoleted by EUDC and removed.
1473
1474 \f
1475 * Lisp changes made after edition 2.6 of the Emacs Lisp Manual,
1476 (Display-related features are described in a page of their own below.)
1477
1478 +++
1479 ** Reading from the mini-buffer now reads from standard input if Emacs
1480 is running in batch mode. For example,
1481
1482 (message "%s" (read t))
1483
1484 will read a Lisp expression from standard input and print the result
1485 to standard output.
1486
1487 +++
1488 ** The argument of `down-list', `backward-up-list', `up-list',
1489 `kill-sexp', `backward-kill-sexp' and `mark-sexp' is now optional.
1490
1491 ** If `display-buffer-reuse-frames' is set, function `display-buffer'
1492 will raise frames displaying a buffer, instead of creating a new
1493 frame or window.
1494
1495 ** Two new functions for removing elements from lists/sequences
1496 were added
1497
1498 - Function: remove ELT SEQ
1499
1500 Return a copy of SEQ with all occurences of ELT removed. SEQ must be
1501 a list, vector, or string. The comparison is done with `equal'.
1502
1503 - Function: remq ELT LIST
1504
1505 Return a copy of LIST with all occurences of ELT removed. The
1506 comparison is done with `eq'.
1507
1508 ** The function `delete' now also works with vectors and strings.
1509
1510 ** The meaning of the `:weakness WEAK' argument of make-hash-table
1511 has been changed.
1512
1513 +++
1514 ** Function `aset' stores any multibyte character in any string
1515 without signaling "Attempt to change char length of a string". It may
1516 convert a unibyte string to multibyte if necessary.
1517
1518 ** The value of the `help-echo' text property is called as a function
1519 or evaluated, if it is not a string already, to obtain a help string.
1520
1521 ** Function `make-obsolete' now has an optional arg to say when the
1522 function was declared obsolete.
1523
1524 ** Function `plist-member' is renamed from `widget-plist-member' (which is
1525 retained as an alias).
1526
1527 ** Easy-menu's :filter now works as in XEmacs.
1528 It takes the unconverted (i.e. XEmacs) form of the menu and the result
1529 is automatically converted to Emacs' form.
1530
1531 ** The new function `window-list' has been defined
1532
1533 - Function: window-list &optional WINDOW MINIBUF ALL-FRAMES
1534
1535 Return a list of windows in canonical order. The parameters WINDOW,
1536 MINIBUF and ALL-FRAMES are defined like for `next-window'.
1537
1538 ** There's a new function `some-window' defined as follows
1539
1540 - Function: some-window PREDICATE &optional MINIBUF ALL-FRAMES DEFAULT
1541
1542 Return a window satisfying PREDICATE.
1543
1544 This function cycles through all visible windows using `walk-windows',
1545 calling PREDICATE on each one. PREDICATE is called with a window as
1546 argument. The first window for which PREDICATE returns a non-nil
1547 value is returned. If no window satisfies PREDICATE, DEFAULT is
1548 returned.
1549
1550 Optional second arg MINIBUF t means count the minibuffer window even
1551 if not active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means count the minibuffer iff
1552 it is active. MINIBUF neither t nor nil means not to count the
1553 minibuffer even if it is active.
1554
1555 Several frames may share a single minibuffer; if the minibuffer
1556 counts, all windows on all frames that share that minibuffer count
1557 too. Therefore, if you are using a separate minibuffer frame
1558 and the minibuffer is active and MINIBUF says it counts,
1559 `walk-windows' includes the windows in the frame from which you
1560 entered the minibuffer, as well as the minibuffer window.
1561
1562 ALL-FRAMES is the optional third argument.
1563 ALL-FRAMES nil or omitted means cycle within the frames as specified above.
1564 ALL-FRAMES = `visible' means include windows on all visible frames.
1565 ALL-FRAMES = 0 means include windows on all visible and iconified frames.
1566 ALL-FRAMES = t means include windows on all frames including invisible frames.
1567 If ALL-FRAMES is a frame, it means include windows on that frame.
1568 Anything else means restrict to the selected frame.
1569
1570 ** The function `single-key-description' now encloses function key and
1571 event names in angle brackets. When called with a second optional
1572 argument non-nil, angle brackets won't be printed.
1573
1574 ** If the variable `message-truncate-lines' is bound to t around a
1575 call to `message', the echo area will not be resized to display that
1576 message; it will be truncated instead, as it was done in 20.x.
1577 Default value is nil.
1578
1579 ** The user option `line-number-display-limit' can now be set to nil,
1580 meaning no limit.
1581
1582 ** `select-safe-coding-system' now also checks the most preferred
1583 coding-system if buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and
1584 DEFAULT-CODING-SYSTEM is not specified,
1585
1586 ** The function `subr-arity' provides information on the argument list
1587 of a primitive.
1588
1589 ** The text property `keymap' specifies a key map which overrides the
1590 buffer's local map and the map specified by the `local-map' property.
1591 This is probably what most current uses of `local-map' want, rather
1592 than replacing the local map.
1593
1594 ** The obsolete variables before-change-function and
1595 after-change-function are no longer acted upon and have been removed.
1596
1597 ** The function `apropos-mode' runs the hook `apropos-mode-hook'.
1598
1599 ** `concat' no longer accepts individual integer arguments, as
1600 promised long ago.
1601
1602 ** The new function `float-time' returns the current time as a float.
1603 \f
1604 * Lisp changes in Emacs 21.1 (see following page for display-related features)
1605
1606 Note that +++ before an item means the Lisp manual has been updated.
1607 --- means that I have decided it does not need to be in the Lisp manual.
1608 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
1609 so I will know I still need to look at it -- rms.
1610
1611 *** The special form `save-restriction' now works correctly even if the
1612 buffer is widened inside the save-restriction and changes made outside
1613 the original restriction. Previously, doing this would cause the saved
1614 restriction to be restored incorrectly.
1615
1616 *** The functions `find-charset-region' and `find-charset-string' include
1617 `eight-bit-control' and/or `eight-bit-graphic' in the returned list
1618 when it finds 8-bit characters. Previously, it included `ascii' in a
1619 multibyte buffer and `unknown' in a unibyte buffer.
1620
1621 *** The functions `set-buffer-modified', `string-as-multibyte' and
1622 `string-as-unibyte' change the byte sequence of a buffer if it
1623 contains a character from the `eight-bit-control' character set.
1624
1625 *** The handling of multibyte sequences in a multibyte buffer is
1626 changed. Previously, a byte sequence matching the pattern
1627 [\200-\237][\240-\377]+ was interpreted as a single character
1628 regardless of the length of the trailing bytes [\240-\377]+. Thus, if
1629 the sequence was longer than what the leading byte indicated, the
1630 extra trailing bytes were ignored by Lisp functions. Now such extra
1631 bytes are independent 8-bit characters belonging to the charset
1632 eight-bit-graphic.
1633
1634 ** Fontsets are now implemented using char-tables.
1635
1636 A fontset can now be specified for for each independent character, for
1637 a group of characters or for a character set rather than just for a
1638 character set as previously.
1639
1640 *** The arguments of the function `set-fontset-font' are changed.
1641 They are NAME, CHARACTER, FONTNAME, and optional FRAME. The function
1642 modifies fontset NAME to use FONTNAME for CHARACTER.
1643
1644 CHARACTER may be a cons (FROM . TO), where FROM and TO are non-generic
1645 characters. In that case FONTNAME is used for all characters in the
1646 range FROM and TO (inclusive). CHARACTER may be a charset. In that
1647 case FONTNAME is used for all character in the charset.
1648
1649 FONTNAME may be a cons (FAMILY . REGISTRY), where FAMILY is the family
1650 name of a font and REGSITRY is a registry name of a font.
1651
1652 *** Variable x-charset-registry has been deleted. The default charset
1653 registries of character sets are set in the default fontset
1654 "fontset-default".
1655
1656 *** The function `create-fontset-from-fontset-spec' ignores the second
1657 argument STYLE-VARIANT. It never creates style-variant fontsets.
1658
1659 ** The method of composing characters is changed. Now character
1660 composition is done by a special text property `composition' in
1661 buffers and strings.
1662
1663 *** Charset composition is deleted. Emacs never creates a `composite
1664 character' which is an independent character with a unique character
1665 code. Thus the following functions handling `composite characters'
1666 have been deleted: composite-char-component,
1667 composite-char-component-count, composite-char-composition-rule,
1668 composite-char-composition-rule and decompose-composite-char delete.
1669 The variables leading-code-composition and min-composite-char have
1670 also been deleted.
1671
1672 *** Three more glyph reference points are added. They can be used to
1673 specify a composition rule. See the documentation of the variable
1674 `reference-point-alist' for more detail.
1675
1676 *** The function `compose-region' takes new arguments COMPONENTS and
1677 MODIFICATION-FUNC. With COMPONENTS, you can specify not only a
1678 composition rule but also characters to be composed. Such characters
1679 may differ between buffer and string text.
1680
1681 *** The function `compose-string' takes new arguments START, END,
1682 COMPONENTS, and MODIFICATION-FUNC.
1683
1684 *** The function `compose-string' puts text property `composition'
1685 directly on the argument STRING instead of returning a new string.
1686 Likewise, the function `decompose-string' just removes text property
1687 `composition' from STRING.
1688
1689 *** The new function `find-composition' returns information about
1690 a composition at a specified position in a buffer or a string.
1691
1692 *** The function `decompose-composite-char' is now labeled as
1693 obsolete.
1694
1695 ** The new character set `mule-unicode-0100-24ff' is introduced for
1696 Unicode characters of the range U+0100..U+24FF. Currently, this
1697 character set is not used.
1698
1699 ** The new character sets `japanese-jisx0213-1' and
1700 `japanese-jisx0213-2' are introduced for the new Japanese standard JIS
1701 X 0213 Plane 1 and Plane 2.
1702
1703 +++
1704 ** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
1705 are introduced for 8-bit characters in the ranges 0x80..0x9F and
1706 0xA0..0xFF respectively.
1707
1708 +++
1709 ** If the APPEND argument of `write-region' is an integer, it seeks to
1710 that offset in the file before writing.
1711
1712 ** The function `add-minor-mode' has been added for convenience and
1713 compatibility with XEmacs (and is used internally by define-minor-mode).
1714
1715 ** The function `shell-command' now sets the default directory of the
1716 `*Shell Command Output*' buffer to the default directory of the buffer
1717 from which the command was issued.
1718
1719 ** The functions `query-replace', `query-replace-regexp',
1720 `query-replace-regexp-eval' `map-query-replace-regexp',
1721 `replace-string', `replace-regexp', and `perform-replace' take two
1722 additional optional arguments START and END that specify the region to
1723 operate on.
1724
1725 ** The new function `count-screen-lines' is a more flexible alternative
1726 to `window-buffer-height'.
1727
1728 - Function: count-screen-lines &optional BEG END COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE WINDOW
1729
1730 Return the number of screen lines in the region between BEG and END.
1731 The number of screen lines may be different from the number of actual
1732 lines, due to line breaking, display table, etc.
1733
1734 Optional arguments BEG and END default to `point-min' and `point-max'
1735 respectively.
1736
1737 If region ends with a newline, ignore it unless optinal third argument
1738 COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE is non-nil.
1739
1740 The optional fourth argument WINDOW specifies the window used for
1741 obtaining parameters such as width, horizontal scrolling, and so
1742 on. The default is to use the selected window's parameters.
1743
1744 Like `vertical-motion', `count-screen-lines' always uses the current
1745 buffer, regardless of which buffer is displayed in WINDOW. This makes
1746 possible to use `count-screen-lines' in any buffer, whether or not it
1747 is currently displayed in some window.
1748
1749 ** The new function `mapc' is like `mapcar' but doesn't collect the
1750 argument function's results.
1751
1752 ** The functions base64-decode-region and base64-decode-string now
1753 signal an error instead of returning nil if decoding fails.
1754
1755 ** The function sendmail-user-agent-compose now recognizes a `body'
1756 header is the list of headers passed to it.
1757
1758 ** The new function member-ignore-case works like `member', but
1759 ignores differences in case and text representation.
1760
1761 ** The buffer-local variable cursor-type can be used to specify the
1762 cursor to use in windows displaying a buffer. Values are interpreted
1763 as follows:
1764
1765 t use the cursor specified for the frame (default)
1766 nil don't display a cursor
1767 `bar' display a bar cursor with default width
1768 (bar . WIDTH) display a bar cursor with width WIDTH
1769 others display a box cursor.
1770
1771 ** The variable open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start controls whether
1772 an open parenthesis in column 0 is considered to be the start of a
1773 defun. If set, the default, it is considered a defun start. If not
1774 set, an open parenthesis in column 0 has no special meaning.
1775
1776 ** The new function `string-to-syntax' can be used to translate syntax
1777 specifications in string form as accepted by `modify-syntax-entry' to
1778 the cons-cell form that is used for the values of the `syntax-table'
1779 text property, and in `font-lock-syntactic-keywords'.
1780
1781 Example:
1782
1783 (string-to-syntax "()")
1784 => (4 . 41)
1785
1786 ** Emacs' reader supports CL read syntax for integers in bases
1787 other than 10.
1788
1789 *** `#BINTEGER' or `#bINTEGER' reads INTEGER in binary (radix 2).
1790 INTEGER optionally contains a sign.
1791
1792 #b1111
1793 => 15
1794 #b-1111
1795 => -15
1796
1797 *** `#OINTEGER' or `#oINTEGER' reads INTEGER in octal (radix 8).
1798
1799 #o666
1800 => 438
1801
1802 *** `#XINTEGER' or `#xINTEGER' reads INTEGER in hexadecimal (radix 16).
1803
1804 #xbeef
1805 => 48815
1806
1807 *** `#RADIXrINTEGER' reads INTEGER in radix RADIX, 2 <= RADIX <= 36.
1808
1809 #2R-111
1810 => -7
1811 #25rah
1812 => 267
1813
1814 ** The function `documentation-property' now evaluates the value of
1815 the given property to obtain a string if it doesn't refer to etc/DOC
1816 and isn't a string.
1817
1818 ** If called for a symbol, the function `documentation' now looks for
1819 a `function-documentation' property of that symbol. If it has a non-nil
1820 value, the documentation is taken from that value. If the value is
1821 not a string, it is evaluated to obtain a string.
1822
1823 +++
1824 ** The last argument of `define-key-after' defaults to t for convenience.
1825
1826 ** The new function `replace-regexp-in-string' replaces all matches
1827 for a regexp in a string.
1828
1829 ** `mouse-position' now runs the abnormal hook
1830 `mouse-position-function'.
1831
1832 ** The function string-to-number now returns a float for numbers
1833 that don't fit into a Lisp integer.
1834
1835 ** The variable keyword-symbols-constants-flag has been removed.
1836 Keywords are now always considered constants.
1837
1838 +++
1839 ** The new function `delete-and-extract-region' deletes text and
1840 returns it.
1841
1842 ** The function `clear-this-command-keys' now also clears the vector
1843 returned by function `recent-keys'.
1844
1845 +++
1846 ** Variables `beginning-of-defun-function' and `end-of-defun-function'
1847 can be used to define handlers for the functions that find defuns.
1848 Major modes can define these locally instead of rebinding M-C-a
1849 etc. if the normal conventions for defuns are not appropriate for the
1850 mode.
1851
1852 +++
1853 ** easy-mmode-define-minor-mode now takes an additional BODY argument
1854 and is renamed `define-minor-mode'.
1855
1856 +++
1857 ** If an abbrev has a hook function which is a symbol, and that symbol
1858 has a non-nil `no-self-insert' property, the return value of the hook
1859 function specifies whether an expansion has been done or not. If it
1860 returns nil, abbrev-expand also returns nil, meaning "no expansion has
1861 been performed."
1862
1863 When abbrev expansion is done by typing a self-inserting character,
1864 and the abbrev has a hook with the `no-self-insert' property, and the
1865 hook function returns non-nil meaning expansion has been done,
1866 then the self-inserting character is not inserted.
1867
1868 +++
1869 ** The function `intern-soft' now accepts a symbol as first argument.
1870 In this case, that exact symbol is looked up in the specified obarray,
1871 and the function's value is nil if it is not found.
1872
1873 +++
1874 ** The new macro `with-syntax-table' can be used to evaluate forms
1875 with the syntax table of the current buffer temporarily set to a
1876 specified table.
1877
1878 (with-syntax-table TABLE &rest BODY)
1879
1880 Evaluate BODY with syntax table of current buffer set to a copy of
1881 TABLE. The current syntax table is saved, BODY is evaluated, and the
1882 saved table is restored, even in case of an abnormal exit. Value is
1883 what BODY returns.
1884
1885 +++
1886 ** Regular expressions now support intervals \{n,m\} as well as
1887 Perl's shy-groups \(?:...\) and non-greedy *? +? and ?? operators.
1888
1889 +++
1890 ** The optional argument BUFFER of function file-local-copy has been
1891 removed since it wasn't used by anything.
1892
1893 +++
1894 ** The file name argument of function `file-locked-p' is now required
1895 instead of being optional.
1896
1897 +++
1898 ** The new built-in error `text-read-only' is signaled when trying to
1899 modify read-only text.
1900
1901 +++
1902 ** New functions and variables for locales.
1903
1904 The new variable `locale-coding-system' specifies how to encode and
1905 decode strings passed to low-level message functions like strerror and
1906 time functions like strftime. The new variables
1907 `system-messages-locale' and `system-time-locale' give the system
1908 locales to be used when invoking these two types of functions.
1909
1910 The new function `set-locale-environment' sets the language
1911 environment, preferred coding system, and locale coding system from
1912 the system locale as specified by the LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG
1913 environment variables. Normally, it is invoked during startup and need
1914 not be invoked thereafter. It uses the new variables
1915 `locale-language-names', `locale-charset-language-names', and
1916 `locale-preferred-coding-systems' to make its decisions.
1917
1918 +++
1919 ** syntax tables now understand nested comments.
1920 To declare a comment syntax as allowing nesting, just add an `n'
1921 modifier to either of the characters of the comment end and the comment
1922 start sequences.
1923
1924 +++
1925 ** The function `pixmap-spec-p' has been renamed `bitmap-spec-p'
1926 because `bitmap' is more in line with the usual X terminology.
1927
1928 +++
1929 ** New function `propertize'
1930
1931 The new function `propertize' can be used to conveniently construct
1932 strings with text properties.
1933
1934 - Function: propertize STRING &rest PROPERTIES
1935
1936 Value is a copy of STRING with text properties assigned as specified
1937 by PROPERTIES. PROPERTIES is a sequence of pairs PROPERTY VALUE, with
1938 PROPERTY being the name of a text property and VALUE being the
1939 specified value of that property. Example:
1940
1941 (propertize "foo" 'face 'bold 'read-only t)
1942
1943 +++
1944 ** push and pop macros.
1945
1946 Simple versions of the push and pop macros of Common Lisp
1947 are now defined in Emacs Lisp. These macros allow only symbols
1948 as the place that holds the list to be changed.
1949
1950 (push NEWELT LISTNAME) add NEWELT to the front of LISTNAME's value.
1951 (pop LISTNAME) return first elt of LISTNAME, and remove it
1952 (thus altering the value of LISTNAME).
1953
1954 ** New dolist and dotimes macros.
1955
1956 Simple versions of the dolist and dotimes macros of Common Lisp
1957 are now defined in Emacs Lisp.
1958
1959 (dolist (VAR LIST [RESULT]) BODY...)
1960 Execute body once for each element of LIST,
1961 using the variable VAR to hold the current element.
1962 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
1963
1964 (dotimes (VAR COUNT [RESULT]) BODY...)
1965 Execute BODY with VAR bound to successive integers running from 0,
1966 inclusive, to COUNT, exclusive.
1967 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
1968
1969 +++
1970 ** Regular expressions now support Posix character classes such
1971 as [:alpha:], [:space:] and so on.
1972
1973 [:digit:] matches 0 through 9
1974 [:cntrl:] matches ASCII control characters
1975 [:xdigit:] matches 0 through 9, a through f and A through F.
1976 [:blank:] matches space and tab only
1977 [:graph:] matches graphic characters--everything except ASCII control chars,
1978 space, and DEL.
1979 [:print:] matches printing characters--everything except ASCII control chars
1980 and DEL.
1981 [:alnum:] matches letters and digits.
1982 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
1983 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
1984 [:alpha:] matches letters.
1985 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
1986 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
1987 [:ascii:] matches ASCII (unibyte) characters.
1988 [:nonascii:] matches non-ASCII (multibyte) characters.
1989 [:lower:] matches anything lower-case.
1990 [:punct:] matches punctuation.
1991 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
1992 it matches anything that has non-word syntax.)
1993 [:space:] matches anything that has whitespace syntax.
1994 [:upper:] matches anything upper-case.
1995 [:word:] matches anything that has word syntax.
1996
1997 +++
1998 ** Emacs now has built-in hash tables.
1999
2000 The following functions are defined for hash tables:
2001
2002 - Function: make-hash-table ARGS
2003
2004 The argument list ARGS consists of keyword/argument pairs. All arguments
2005 are optional. The following arguments are defined:
2006
2007 :test TEST
2008
2009 TEST must be a symbol specifying how to compare keys. Default is `eql'.
2010 Predefined are `eq', `eql' and `equal'. If TEST is not predefined,
2011 it must have been defined with `define-hash-table-test'.
2012
2013 :size SIZE
2014
2015 SIZE must be an integer > 0 giving a hint to the implementation how
2016 many elements will be put in the hash table. Default size is 65.
2017
2018 :rehash-size REHASH-SIZE
2019
2020 REHASH-SIZE specifies by how much to grow a hash table once it becomes
2021 full. If REHASH-SIZE is an integer, add that to the hash table's old
2022 size to get the new size. Otherwise, REHASH-SIZE must be a float >
2023 1.0, and the new size is computed by multiplying REHASH-SIZE with the
2024 old size. Default rehash size is 1.5.
2025
2026 :rehash-threshold THRESHOLD
2027
2028 THRESHOLD must be a float > 0 and <= 1.0 specifying when to resize the
2029 hash table. It is resized when the ratio of (number of entries) /
2030 (size of hash table) is >= THRESHOLD. Default threshold is 0.8.
2031
2032 :weakness WEAK
2033
2034 WEAK must be either nil, one of the symbols `key, `value',
2035 `key-or-value', `key-and-value', or t, meaning the same as
2036 `key-and-value'. Entries are removed from weak tables during garbage
2037 collection if their key and/or value are not referenced elsewhere
2038 outside of the hash table. Default are non-weak hash tables.
2039
2040 - Function: makehash &optional TEST
2041
2042 Similar to make-hash-table, but only TEST can be specified.
2043
2044 - Function: hash-table-p TABLE
2045
2046 Returns non-nil if TABLE is a hash table object.
2047
2048 - Function: copy-hash-table TABLE
2049
2050 Returns a copy of TABLE. Only the table itself is copied, keys and
2051 values are shared.
2052
2053 - Function: hash-table-count TABLE
2054
2055 Returns the number of entries in TABLE.
2056
2057 - Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
2058
2059 Returns the rehash size of TABLE.
2060
2061 - Function: hash-table-rehash-threshold TABLE
2062
2063 Returns the rehash threshold of TABLE.
2064
2065 - Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
2066
2067 Returns the size of TABLE.
2068
2069 - Function: hash-table-test TABLE
2070
2071 Returns the test TABLE uses to compare keys.
2072
2073 - Function: hash-table-weakness TABLE
2074
2075 Returns the weakness specified for TABLE.
2076
2077 - Function: clrhash TABLE
2078
2079 Clear TABLE.
2080
2081 - Function: gethash KEY TABLE &optional DEFAULT
2082
2083 Look up KEY in TABLE and return its associated VALUE or DEFAULT if
2084 not found.
2085
2086 - Function: puthash KEY VALUE TABLE
2087
2088 Associate KEY with VALUE in TABLE. If KEY is already associated with
2089 another value, replace the old value with VALUE.
2090
2091 - Function: remhash KEY TABLE
2092
2093 Remove KEY from TABLE if it is there.
2094
2095 - Function: maphash FUNCTION TABLE
2096
2097 Call FUNCTION for all elements in TABLE. FUNCTION must take two
2098 arguments KEY and VALUE.
2099
2100 - Function: sxhash OBJ
2101
2102 Return a hash code for Lisp object OBJ.
2103
2104 - Function: define-hash-table-test NAME TEST-FN HASH-FN
2105
2106 Define a new hash table test named NAME. If NAME is specified as
2107 a test in `make-hash-table', the table created will use TEST-FN for
2108 comparing keys, and HASH-FN to compute hash codes for keys. Test
2109 and hash function are stored as symbol property `hash-table-test'
2110 of NAME with a value of (TEST-FN HASH-FN).
2111
2112 TEST-FN must take two arguments and return non-nil if they are the same.
2113
2114 HASH-FN must take one argument and return an integer that is the hash
2115 code of the argument. The function should use the whole range of
2116 integer values for hash code computation, including negative integers.
2117
2118 Example: The following creates a hash table whose keys are supposed to
2119 be strings that are compared case-insensitively.
2120
2121 (defun case-fold-string= (a b)
2122 (compare-strings a nil nil b nil nil t))
2123
2124 (defun case-fold-string-hash (a)
2125 (sxhash (upcase a)))
2126
2127 (define-hash-table-test 'case-fold 'case-fold-string=
2128 'case-fold-string-hash))
2129
2130 (make-hash-table :test 'case-fold)
2131
2132 +++
2133 ** The Lisp reader handles circular structure.
2134
2135 It now works to use the #N= and #N# constructs to represent
2136 circular structures. For example, #1=(a . #1#) represents
2137 a cons cell which is its own cdr.
2138
2139 +++
2140 ** The Lisp printer handles circular structure.
2141
2142 If you bind print-circle to a non-nil value, the Lisp printer outputs
2143 #N= and #N# constructs to represent circular and shared structure.
2144
2145 +++
2146 ** If the second argument to `move-to-column' is anything but nil or
2147 t, that means replace a tab with spaces if necessary to reach the
2148 specified column, but do not add spaces at the end of the line if it
2149 is too short to reach that column.
2150
2151 +++
2152 ** perform-replace has a new feature: the REPLACEMENTS argument may
2153 now be a cons cell (FUNCTION . DATA). This means to call FUNCTION
2154 after each match to get the replacement text. FUNCTION is called with
2155 two arguments: DATA, and the number of replacements already made.
2156
2157 If the FROM-STRING contains any upper-case letters,
2158 perform-replace also turns off `case-fold-search' temporarily
2159 and inserts the replacement text without altering case in it.
2160
2161 +++
2162 ** The function buffer-size now accepts an optional argument
2163 to specify which buffer to return the size of.
2164
2165 +++
2166 ** The calendar motion commands now run the normal hook
2167 calendar-move-hook after moving point.
2168
2169 +++
2170 ** The new variable small-temporary-file-directory specifies a
2171 directory to use for creating temporary files that are likely to be
2172 small. (Certain Emacs features use this directory.) If
2173 small-temporary-file-directory is nil, they use
2174 temporary-file-directory instead.
2175
2176 +++
2177 ** The variable `inhibit-modification-hooks', if non-nil, inhibits all
2178 the hooks that track changes in the buffer. This affects
2179 `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions', as well as
2180 hooks attached to text properties and overlay properties.
2181
2182 +++
2183 ** assoc-delete-all is a new function that deletes all the
2184 elements of an alist which have a particular value as the car.
2185
2186 +++
2187 ** make-temp-file provides a more reliable way to create a temporary file.
2188
2189 make-temp-file is used like make-temp-name, except that it actually
2190 creates the file before it returns. This prevents a timing error,
2191 ensuring that no other job can use the same name for a temporary file.
2192
2193 +++
2194 ** New exclusive-open feature in `write-region'
2195
2196 The optional seventh arg is now called MUSTBENEW. If non-nil, it insists
2197 on a check for an existing file with the same name. If MUSTBENEW
2198 is `excl', that means to get an error if the file already exists;
2199 never overwrite. If MUSTBENEW is neither nil nor `excl', that means
2200 ask for confirmation before overwriting, but do go ahead and
2201 overwrite the file if the user gives confirmation.
2202
2203 If the MUSTBENEW argument in `write-region' is `excl',
2204 that means to use a special feature in the `open' system call
2205 to get an error if the file exists at that time.
2206 The error reported is `file-already-exists'.
2207
2208 +++
2209 ** Function `format' now handles text properties.
2210
2211 Text properties of the format string are applied to the result string.
2212 If the result string is longer than the format string, text properties
2213 ending at the end of the format string are extended to the end of the
2214 result string.
2215
2216 Text properties from string arguments are applied to the result
2217 string where arguments appear in the result string.
2218
2219 Example:
2220
2221 (let ((s1 "hello, %s")
2222 (s2 "world"))
2223 (put-text-property 0 (length s1) 'face 'bold s1)
2224 (put-text-property 0 (length s2) 'face 'italic s2)
2225 (format s1 s2))
2226
2227 results in a bold-face string with an italic `world' at the end.
2228
2229 +++
2230 ** Messages can now be displayed with text properties.
2231
2232 Text properties are handled as described above for function `format'.
2233 The following example displays a bold-face message with an italic
2234 argument in it.
2235
2236 (let ((msg "hello, %s!")
2237 (arg "world"))
2238 (put-text-property 0 (length msg) 'face 'bold msg)
2239 (put-text-property 0 (length arg) 'face 'italic arg)
2240 (message msg arg))
2241
2242 +++
2243 ** Sound support
2244
2245 Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and the free BSDs
2246 (Voxware driver and native BSD driver, aka as Luigi's driver).
2247
2248 Currently supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio
2249 (*.au). You must configure Emacs with the option `--with-sound=yes'
2250 to enable sound support.
2251
2252 Sound files can be played by calling (play-sound SOUND). SOUND is a
2253 list of the form `(sound PROPERTY...)'. The function is only defined
2254 when sound support is present for the system on which Emacs runs. The
2255 functions runs `play-sound-functions' with one argument which is the
2256 sound to play, before playing the sound.
2257
2258 The following sound properties are supported:
2259
2260 - `:file FILE'
2261
2262 FILE is a file name. If FILE isn't an absolute name, it will be
2263 searched relative to `data-directory'.
2264
2265 - `:data DATA'
2266
2267 DATA is a string containing sound data. Either :file or :data
2268 may be present, but not both.
2269
2270 - `:volume VOLUME'
2271
2272 VOLUME must be an integer in the range 0..100 or a float in the range
2273 0..1. This property is optional.
2274
2275 Other properties are ignored.
2276
2277 ** `multimedia' is a new Finder keyword and Custom group.
2278
2279 ** keywordp is a new predicate to test efficiently for an object being
2280 a keyword symbol.
2281
2282 ** Changes to garbage collection
2283
2284 *** The function garbage-collect now additionally returns the number
2285 of live and free strings.
2286
2287 *** There is a new variable `strings-consed' holding the number of
2288 strings that have been consed so far.
2289
2290 \f
2291 * Lisp-level Display features added after release 2.6 of the Emacs
2292 Lisp Manual
2293
2294 +++
2295 ** Help strings in menu items are now used to provide `help-echo' text.
2296
2297 ** The function `image-size' can be used to determine the size of an
2298 image.
2299
2300 - Function: image-size SPEC &optional PIXELS FRAME
2301
2302 Return the size of an image as a pair (WIDTH . HEIGHT).
2303
2304 SPEC is an image specification. PIXELS non-nil means return sizes
2305 measured in pixels, otherwise return sizes measured in canonical
2306 character units (fractions of the width/height of the frame's default
2307 font). FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed.
2308 FRAME nil or omitted means use the selected frame.
2309
2310 ** The function `find-image' can be used to find a usable image
2311 satisfying one of a list of specifications.
2312
2313 +++
2314 ** The STRING argument of `put-image' and `insert-image' is now
2315 optional.
2316
2317 ** Image specifications may contain the property `:ascent center'.
2318
2319 When this property is specified, the image is vertically centered
2320 around a centerline which would be the vertical center of text drawn
2321 at the position of the image, in the manner specified by the text
2322 properties and overlays that apply to the image.
2323
2324 \f
2325 * New Lisp-level Display features in Emacs 21.1
2326
2327 Note that +++ before an item means the Lisp manual has been updated.
2328 --- means that I have decided it does not need to be in the Lisp manual.
2329 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
2330 so I will know I still need to look at it -- rms.
2331
2332 ** The function tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors can be used
2333 to make Emacs avoid displaying text with bold black foreground on TTYs.
2334
2335 Some terminals, notably PC consoles, emulate bold text by displaying
2336 text in brighter colors. On such a console, a bold black foreground
2337 is displayed in a gray color. If this turns out to be hard to read on
2338 your monitor---the problem occurred with the mode line on
2339 laptops---you can instruct Emacs to ignore the text's boldness, and to
2340 just display it black instead.
2341
2342 This situation can't be detected automatically. You will have to put
2343 a line like
2344
2345 (tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors t)
2346
2347 in your `.emacs'.
2348
2349 ** New face implementation.
2350
2351 Emacs faces have been reimplemented from scratch. They don't use XLFD
2352 font names anymore and face merging now works as expected.
2353
2354 +++
2355 *** New faces.
2356
2357 Each face can specify the following display attributes:
2358
2359 1. Font family or fontset alias name.
2360
2361 2. Relative proportionate width, aka character set width or set
2362 width (swidth), e.g. `semi-compressed'.
2363
2364 3. Font height in 1/10pt
2365
2366 4. Font weight, e.g. `bold'.
2367
2368 5. Font slant, e.g. `italic'.
2369
2370 6. Foreground color.
2371
2372 7. Background color.
2373
2374 8. Whether or not characters should be underlined, and in what color.
2375
2376 9. Whether or not characters should be displayed in inverse video.
2377
2378 10. A background stipple, a bitmap.
2379
2380 11. Whether or not characters should be overlined, and in what color.
2381
2382 12. Whether or not characters should be strike-through, and in what
2383 color.
2384
2385 13. Whether or not a box should be drawn around characters, its
2386 color, the width of the box lines, and 3D appearance.
2387
2388 Faces are frame-local by nature because Emacs allows to define the
2389 same named face (face names are symbols) differently for different
2390 frames. Each frame has an alist of face definitions for all named
2391 faces. The value of a named face in such an alist is a Lisp vector
2392 with the symbol `face' in slot 0, and a slot for each each of the face
2393 attributes mentioned above.
2394
2395 There is also a global face alist `face-new-frame-defaults'. Face
2396 definitions from this list are used to initialize faces of newly
2397 created frames.
2398
2399 A face doesn't have to specify all attributes. Those not specified
2400 have a nil value. Faces specifying all attributes are called
2401 `fully-specified'.
2402
2403 +++
2404 *** Face merging.
2405
2406 The display style of a given character in the text is determined by
2407 combining several faces. This process is called `face merging'. Any
2408 aspect of the display style that isn't specified by overlays or text
2409 properties is taken from the `default' face. Since it is made sure
2410 that the default face is always fully-specified, face merging always
2411 results in a fully-specified face.
2412
2413 +++
2414 *** Face realization.
2415
2416 After all face attributes for a character have been determined by
2417 merging faces of that character, that face is `realized'. The
2418 realization process maps face attributes to what is physically
2419 available on the system where Emacs runs. The result is a `realized
2420 face' in form of an internal structure which is stored in the face
2421 cache of the frame on which it was realized.
2422
2423 Face realization is done in the context of the charset of the
2424 character to display because different fonts and encodings are used
2425 for different charsets. In other words, for characters of different
2426 charsets, different realized faces are needed to display them.
2427
2428 Except for composite characters, faces are always realized for a
2429 specific character set and contain a specific font, even if the face
2430 being realized specifies a fontset. The reason is that the result of
2431 the new font selection stage is better than what can be done with
2432 statically defined font name patterns in fontsets.
2433
2434 In unibyte text, Emacs' charsets aren't applicable; function
2435 `char-charset' reports ASCII for all characters, including those >
2436 0x7f. The X registry and encoding of fonts to use is determined from
2437 the variable `face-default-registry' in this case. The variable is
2438 initialized at Emacs startup time from the font the user specified for
2439 Emacs.
2440
2441 Currently all unibyte text, i.e. all buffers with
2442 `enable-multibyte-characters' nil are displayed with fonts of the same
2443 registry and encoding `face-default-registry'. This is consistent
2444 with the fact that languages can also be set globally, only.
2445
2446 ++++
2447 **** Clearing face caches.
2448
2449 The Lisp function `clear-face-cache' can be called to clear face caches
2450 on all frames. If called with a non-nil argument, it will also unload
2451 unused fonts.
2452
2453 +++
2454 *** Font selection.
2455
2456 Font selection tries to find the best available matching font for a
2457 given (charset, face) combination. This is done slightly differently
2458 for faces specifying a fontset, or a font family name.
2459
2460 If the face specifies a fontset name, that fontset determines a
2461 pattern for fonts of the given charset. If the face specifies a font
2462 family, a font pattern is constructed. Charset symbols have a
2463 property `x-charset-registry' for that purpose that maps a charset to
2464 an XLFD registry and encoding in the font pattern constructed.
2465
2466 Available fonts on the system on which Emacs runs are then matched
2467 against the font pattern. The result of font selection is the best
2468 match for the given face attributes in this font list.
2469
2470 Font selection can be influenced by the user.
2471
2472 The user can specify the relative importance he gives the face
2473 attributes width, height, weight, and slant by setting
2474 face-font-selection-order (faces.el) to a list of face attribute
2475 names. The default is (:width :height :weight :slant), and means
2476 that font selection first tries to find a good match for the font
2477 width specified by a face, then---within fonts with that width---tries
2478 to find a best match for the specified font height, etc.
2479
2480 Setting `face-alternative-font-family-alist' allows the user to
2481 specify alternative font families to try if a family specified by a
2482 face doesn't exist.
2483
2484 +++
2485 **** Scalable fonts
2486
2487 Emacs can make use of scalable fonts but doesn't do so by default,
2488 since the use of too many or too big scalable fonts may crash XFree86
2489 servers.
2490
2491 To enable scalable font use, set the variable
2492 `scalable-fonts-allowed'. A value of nil, the default, means never use
2493 scalable fonts. A value of t means any scalable font may be used.
2494 Otherwise, the value must be a list of regular expressions. A
2495 scalable font may then be used if it matches a regular expression from
2496 that list. Example:
2497
2498 (setq scalable-fonts-allowed '("muleindian-2$"))
2499
2500 allows the use of scalable fonts with registry `muleindian-2'.
2501
2502 +++
2503 *** Functions and variables related to font selection.
2504
2505 - Function: x-family-fonts &optional FAMILY FRAME
2506
2507 Return a list of available fonts of family FAMILY on FRAME. If FAMILY
2508 is omitted or nil, list all families. Otherwise, FAMILY must be a
2509 string, possibly containing wildcards `?' and `*'.
2510
2511 If FRAME is omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Each element of
2512 the result is a vector [FAMILY WIDTH POINT-SIZE WEIGHT SLANT FIXED-P
2513 FULL REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING]. FAMILY is the font family name.
2514 POINT-SIZE is the size of the font in 1/10 pt. WIDTH, WEIGHT, and
2515 SLANT are symbols describing the width, weight and slant of the font.
2516 These symbols are the same as for face attributes. FIXED-P is non-nil
2517 if the font is fixed-pitch. FULL is the full name of the font, and
2518 REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING is a string giving the registry and encoding of
2519 the font. The result list is sorted according to the current setting
2520 of the face font sort order.
2521
2522 - Function: x-font-family-list
2523
2524 Return a list of available font families on FRAME. If FRAME is
2525 omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Value is a list of conses
2526 (FAMILY . FIXED-P) where FAMILY is a font family, and FIXED-P is
2527 non-nil if fonts of that family are fixed-pitch.
2528
2529 - Variable: font-list-limit
2530
2531 Limit for font matching. If an integer > 0, font matching functions
2532 won't load more than that number of fonts when searching for a
2533 matching font. The default is currently 100.
2534
2535 +++
2536 *** Setting face attributes.
2537
2538 For the most part, the new face implementation is interface-compatible
2539 with the old one. Old face attribute related functions are now
2540 implemented in terms of the new functions `set-face-attribute' and
2541 `face-attribute'.
2542
2543 Face attributes are identified by their names which are keyword
2544 symbols. All attributes can be set to `unspecified'.
2545
2546 The following attributes are recognized:
2547
2548 `:family'
2549
2550 VALUE must be a string specifying the font family, e.g. ``courier'',
2551 or a fontset alias name. If a font family is specified, wild-cards `*'
2552 and `?' are allowed.
2553
2554 `:width'
2555
2556 VALUE specifies the relative proportionate width of the font to use.
2557 It must be one of the symbols `ultra-condensed', `extra-condensed',
2558 `condensed', `semi-condensed', `normal', `semi-expanded', `expanded',
2559 `extra-expanded', or `ultra-expanded'.
2560
2561 `:height'
2562
2563 VALUE must be an integer specifying the height of the font to use in
2564 1/10 pt.
2565
2566 `:weight'
2567
2568 VALUE specifies the weight of the font to use. It must be one of the
2569 symbols `ultra-bold', `extra-bold', `bold', `semi-bold', `normal',
2570 `semi-light', `light', `extra-light', `ultra-light'.
2571
2572 `:slant'
2573
2574 VALUE specifies the slant of the font to use. It must be one of the
2575 symbols `italic', `oblique', `normal', `reverse-italic', or
2576 `reverse-oblique'.
2577
2578 `:foreground', `:background'
2579
2580 VALUE must be a color name, a string.
2581
2582 `:underline'
2583
2584 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be underlined. If
2585 VALUE is t, underline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is
2586 a string, underline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly
2587 don't underline.
2588
2589 `:overline'
2590
2591 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be overlined. If
2592 VALUE is t, overline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is a
2593 string, overline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't
2594 overline.
2595
2596 `:strike-through'
2597
2598 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be drawn with a line
2599 striking through them. If VALUE is t, use the foreground color of the
2600 face. If VALUE is a string, strike-through with that color. If VALUE
2601 is nil, explicitly don't strike through.
2602
2603 `:box'
2604
2605 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should have a box drawn
2606 around them. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't draw boxes. If
2607 VALUE is t, draw a box with lines of width 1 in the foreground color
2608 of the face. If VALUE is a string, the string must be a color name,
2609 and the box is drawn in that color with a line width of 1. Otherwise,
2610 VALUE must be a property list of the form `(:line-width WIDTH
2611 :color COLOR :style STYLE)'. If a keyword/value pair is missing from
2612 the property list, a default value will be used for the value, as
2613 specified below. WIDTH specifies the width of the lines to draw; it
2614 defaults to 1. COLOR is the name of the color to draw in, default is
2615 the foreground color of the face for simple boxes, and the background
2616 color of the face for 3D boxes. STYLE specifies whether a 3D box
2617 should be draw. If STYLE is `released-button', draw a box looking
2618 like a released 3D button. If STYLE is `pressed-button' draw a box
2619 that appears like a pressed button. If STYLE is nil, the default if
2620 the property list doesn't contain a style specification, draw a 2D
2621 box.
2622
2623 `:inverse-video'
2624
2625 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be displayed in
2626 inverse video. VALUE must be one of t or nil.
2627
2628 `:stipple'
2629
2630 If VALUE is a string, it must be the name of a file of pixmap data.
2631 The directories listed in the `x-bitmap-file-path' variable are
2632 searched. Alternatively, VALUE may be a list of the form (WIDTH
2633 HEIGHT DATA) where WIDTH and HEIGHT are the size in pixels, and DATA
2634 is a string containing the raw bits of the bitmap. VALUE nil means
2635 explicitly don't use a stipple pattern.
2636
2637 For convenience, attributes `:family', `:width', `:height', `:weight',
2638 and `:slant' may also be set in one step from an X font name:
2639
2640 `:font'
2641
2642 Set font-related face attributes from VALUE. VALUE must be a valid
2643 XLFD font name. If it is a font name pattern, the first matching font
2644 is used--this is for compatibility with the behavior of previous
2645 versions of Emacs.
2646
2647 For compatibility with Emacs 20, keywords `:bold' and `:italic' can
2648 be used to specify that a bold or italic font should be used. VALUE
2649 must be t or nil in that case. A value of `unspecified' is not allowed."
2650
2651 Please see also the documentation of `set-face-attribute' and
2652 `defface'.
2653
2654 *** Face attributes and X resources
2655
2656 The following X resource names can be used to set face attributes
2657 from X resources:
2658
2659 Face attribute X resource class
2660 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
2661 :family attributeFamily . Face.AttributeFamily
2662 :width attributeWidth Face.AttributeWidth
2663 :height attributeHeight Face.AttributeHeight
2664 :weight attributeWeight Face.AttributeWeight
2665 :slant attributeSlant Face.AttributeSlant
2666 foreground attributeForeground Face.AttributeForeground
2667 :background attributeBackground . Face.AttributeBackground
2668 :overline attributeOverline Face.AttributeOverline
2669 :strike-through attributeStrikeThrough Face.AttributeStrikeThrough
2670 :box attributeBox Face.AttributeBox
2671 :underline attributeUnderline Face.AttributeUnderline
2672 :inverse-video attributeInverse Face.AttributeInverse
2673 :stipple attributeStipple Face.AttributeStipple
2674 or attributeBackgroundPixmap
2675 Face.AttributeBackgroundPixmap
2676 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
2677 :bold attributeBold Face.AttributeBold
2678 :italic attributeItalic . Face.AttributeItalic
2679 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
2680
2681 +++
2682 *** Text property `face'.
2683
2684 The value of the `face' text property can now be a single face
2685 specification or a list of such specifications. Each face
2686 specification can be
2687
2688 1. A symbol or string naming a Lisp face.
2689
2690 2. A property list of the form (KEYWORD VALUE ...) where each
2691 KEYWORD is a face attribute name, and VALUE is an appropriate value
2692 for that attribute. Please see the doc string of `set-face-attribute'
2693 for face attribute names.
2694
2695 3. Conses of the form (FOREGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) or
2696 (BACKGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) where COLOR is a color name. This is
2697 for compatibility with previous Emacs versions.
2698
2699 +++
2700 ** Support functions for colors on text-only terminals.
2701
2702 The function `tty-color-define' can be used to define colors for use
2703 on TTY and MSDOS frames. It maps a color name to a color number on
2704 the terminal. Emacs defines a couple of common color mappings by
2705 default. You can get defined colors with a call to
2706 `defined-colors'. The function `tty-color-clear' can be
2707 used to clear the mapping table.
2708
2709 ** Unified support for colors independent of frame type.
2710
2711 The new functions `defined-colors', `color-defined-p', `color-values',
2712 and `display-color-p' work for any type of frame. On frames whose
2713 type is neither x nor w32, these functions transparently map X-style
2714 color specifications to the closest colors supported by the frame
2715 display. Lisp programs should use these new functions instead of the
2716 old `x-defined-colors', `x-color-defined-p', `x-color-values', and
2717 `x-display-color-p'. (The old function names are still available for
2718 compatibility; they are now aliases of the new names.) Lisp programs
2719 should no more look at the value of the variable window-system to
2720 modify their color-related behavior.
2721
2722 The primitives `color-gray-p' and `color-supported-p' also work for
2723 any frame type.
2724
2725 ** Platform-independent functions to describe display capabilities.
2726
2727 The new functions `display-mouse-p', `display-popup-menus-p',
2728 `display-graphic-p', `display-selections-p', `display-screens',
2729 `display-pixel-width', `display-pixel-height', `display-mm-width',
2730 `display-mm-height', `display-backing-store', `display-save-under',
2731 `display-planes', `display-color-cells', `display-visual-class', and
2732 `display-grayscale-p' describe the basic capabilities of a particular
2733 display. Lisp programs should call these functions instead of testing
2734 the value of the variables `window-system' or `system-type', or calling
2735 platform-specific functions such as `x-display-pixel-width'.
2736
2737 +++
2738 ** The minibuffer prompt is now actually inserted in the minibuffer.
2739
2740 This makes it possible to scroll through the prompt, if you want to.
2741
2742 The function minubuffer-prompt-end returns the current position of the
2743 end of the minibuffer prompt, if the minibuffer is current.
2744 Otherwise, it returns zero.
2745
2746 ** New `field' abstraction in buffers.
2747
2748 There is now code to support an abstraction called `fields' in emacs
2749 buffers. A field is a contiguous region of text with the same `field'
2750 property (which can be a text property or an overlay).
2751
2752 Many emacs functions, such as forward-word, forward-sentence,
2753 forward-paragraph, beginning-of-line, etc., stop moving when they come
2754 to the boundary between fields; beginning-of-line and end-of-line will
2755 not let the point move past the field boundary, but other movement
2756 commands continue into the next field if repeated. Stopping at field
2757 boundaries can be suppressed programmatically by binding
2758 `inhibit-field-text-motion' to a non-nil value around calls to these
2759 functions.
2760
2761 Now that the minibuffer prompt is inserted into the minibuffer, it is in
2762 a separate field from the user-input part of the buffer, so that common
2763 editing commands treat the user's text separately from the prompt.
2764
2765 The following functions are defined for operating on fields:
2766
2767 - Function: constrain-to-field NEW-POS OLD-POS &optional ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE ONLY-IN-LINE INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY
2768
2769 Return the position closest to NEW-POS that is in the same field as OLD-POS.
2770
2771 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
2772 If NEW-POS is nil, then the current point is used instead, and set to the
2773 constrained position if that is is different.
2774
2775 If OLD-POS is at the boundary of two fields, then the allowable
2776 positions for NEW-POS depends on the value of the optional argument
2777 ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE: If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is nil, then NEW-POS is
2778 constrained to the field that has the same `field' char-property
2779 as any new characters inserted at OLD-POS, whereas if ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
2780 is non-nil, NEW-POS is constrained to the union of the two adjacent
2781 fields. Additionally, if two fields are separated by another field with
2782 the special value `boundary', then any point within this special field is
2783 also considered to be `on the boundary'.
2784
2785 If the optional argument ONLY-IN-LINE is non-nil and constraining
2786 NEW-POS would move it to a different line, NEW-POS is returned
2787 unconstrained. This useful for commands that move by line, like
2788 C-n or C-a, which should generally respect field boundaries
2789 only in the case where they can still move to the right line.
2790
2791 If the optional argument INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY is non-nil, and OLD-POS has
2792 a non-nil property of that name, then any field boundaries are ignored.
2793
2794 Field boundaries are not noticed if `inhibit-field-text-motion' is non-nil.
2795
2796 - Function: delete-field &optional POS
2797
2798 Delete the field surrounding POS.
2799 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
2800 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
2801
2802 - Function: field-beginning &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
2803
2804 Return the beginning of the field surrounding POS.
2805 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
2806 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
2807 If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the beginning of its
2808 field, then the beginning of the *previous* field is returned.
2809
2810 - Function: field-end &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
2811
2812 Return the end of the field surrounding POS.
2813 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
2814 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
2815 If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the end of its field,
2816 then the end of the *following* field is returned.
2817
2818 - Function: field-string &optional POS
2819
2820 Return the contents of the field surrounding POS as a string.
2821 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
2822 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
2823
2824 - Function: field-string-no-properties &optional POS
2825
2826 Return the contents of the field around POS, without text-properties.
2827 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
2828 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
2829
2830 +++
2831 ** Image support.
2832
2833 Emacs can now display images. Images are inserted into text by giving
2834 strings or buffer text a `display' text property containing one of
2835 (AREA IMAGE) or IMAGE. The display of the `display' property value
2836 replaces the display of the characters having that property.
2837
2838 If the property value has the form (AREA IMAGE), AREA must be one of
2839 `(margin left-margin)', `(margin right-margin)' or `(margin nil)'. If
2840 AREA is `(margin nil)', IMAGE will be displayed in the text area of a
2841 window, otherwise it will be displayed in the left or right marginal
2842 area.
2843
2844 IMAGE is an image specification.
2845
2846 *** Image specifications
2847
2848 Image specifications are lists of the form `(image PROPS)' where PROPS
2849 is a property list whose keys are keyword symbols. Each
2850 specifications must contain a property `:type TYPE' with TYPE being a
2851 symbol specifying the image type, e.g. `xbm'. Properties not
2852 described below are ignored.
2853
2854 The following is a list of properties all image types share.
2855
2856 `:ascent ASCENT'
2857
2858 ASCENT must be a number in the range 0..100, or the symbol `center'.
2859 If it is a number, it specifies the percentage of the image's height
2860 to use for its ascent.
2861
2862 If not specified, ASCENT defaults to the value 50 which means that the
2863 image will be centered with the base line of the row it appears in.
2864
2865 If ASCENT is `center' the image is vertically centered around a
2866 centerline which is the vertical center of text drawn at the position
2867 of the image, in the manner specified by the text properties and
2868 overlays that apply to the image.
2869
2870 `:margin MARGIN'
2871
2872 MARGIN must be a number >= 0 specifying how many pixels to put as
2873 margin around the image. Default is 0.
2874
2875 `:relief RELIEF'
2876
2877 RELIEF is analogous to the `:relief' attribute of faces. Puts a relief
2878 around an image.
2879
2880 `:algorithm ALGO'
2881
2882 Apply an image algorithm to the image before displaying it. ALGO must
2883 be a symbol specifying the algorithm. Currently only `laplace' is
2884 supported which applies a Laplace edge detection algorithm to an image
2885 which is intended to display images "disabled."
2886
2887 `:heuristic-mask BG'
2888
2889 If BG is not nil, build a clipping mask for the image, so that the
2890 background of a frame is visible behind the image. If BG is t,
2891 determine the background color of the image by looking at the 4
2892 corners of the image, assuming the most frequently occuring color from
2893 the corners is the background color of the image. Otherwise, BG must
2894 be a list `(RED GREEN BLUE)' specifying the color to assume for the
2895 background of the image.
2896
2897 `:file FILE'
2898
2899 Load image from FILE. If FILE is not absolute after expanding it,
2900 search for the image in `data-directory'. Some image types support
2901 building images from data. When this is done, no `:file' property
2902 may be present in the image specification.
2903
2904 `:data DATA'
2905
2906 Get image data from DATA. (As of this writing, this is not yet
2907 supported for image type `postscript'). Either :file or :data may be
2908 present in an image specification, but not both. All image types
2909 support strings as DATA, some types allow additional types of DATA.
2910
2911 *** Supported image types
2912
2913 **** XBM, image type `xbm'.
2914
2915 XBM images don't require an external library. Additional image
2916 properties supported are
2917
2918 `:foreground FG'
2919
2920 FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color. Default
2921 is the frame's foreground.
2922
2923 `:background FG'
2924
2925 BG must be a string specifying the image foreground color. Default is
2926 the frame's background color.
2927
2928 XBM images can be constructed from data instead of file. In this
2929 case, the image specification must contain the following properties
2930 instead of a `:file' property.
2931
2932 `:width WIDTH'
2933
2934 WIDTH specifies the width of the image in pixels.
2935
2936 `:height HEIGHT'
2937
2938 HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pixels.
2939
2940 `:data DATA'
2941
2942 DATA must be either
2943
2944 1. a string large enough to hold the bitmap data, i.e. it must
2945 have a size >= (WIDTH + 7) / 8 * HEIGHT
2946
2947 2. a bool-vector of size >= WIDTH * HEIGHT
2948
2949 3. a vector of strings or bool-vectors, one for each line of the
2950 bitmap.
2951
2952 4. a string that's an in-memory XBM file. Neither width nor
2953 height may be specified in this case because these are defined
2954 in the file.
2955
2956 **** XPM, image type `xpm'
2957
2958 XPM images require the external library `libXpm', package
2959 `xpm-3.4k.tar.gz', version 3.4k or later. Make sure the library is
2960 found when Emacs is configured by supplying appropriate paths via
2961 `--x-includes' and `--x-libraries'.
2962
2963 Additional image properties supported are:
2964
2965 `:color-symbols SYMBOLS'
2966
2967 SYMBOLS must be a list of pairs (NAME . COLOR), with NAME being the
2968 name of color as it appears in an XPM file, and COLOR being an X color
2969 name.
2970
2971 XPM images can be built from memory instead of files. In that case,
2972 add a `:data' property instead of a `:file' property.
2973
2974 The XPM library uses libz in its implementation so that it is able
2975 to display compressed images.
2976
2977 **** PBM, image type `pbm'
2978
2979 PBM images don't require an external library. Color, gray-scale and
2980 mono images are supported. There are no additional image properties
2981 defined.
2982
2983 **** JPEG, image type `jpeg'
2984
2985 Support for JPEG images requires the external library `libjpeg',
2986 package `jpegsrc.v6a.tar.gz', or later. Additional image properties
2987 are:
2988
2989 **** TIFF, image type `tiff'
2990
2991 Support for TIFF images requires the external library `libtiff',
2992 package `tiff-v3.4-tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
2993 properties defined.
2994
2995 **** GIF, image type `gif'
2996
2997 Support for GIF images requires the external library `libungif', package
2998 `libungif-4.1.0', or later.
2999
3000 Additional image properties supported are:
3001
3002 `:index INDEX'
3003
3004 INDEX must be an integer >= 0. Load image number INDEX from a
3005 multi-image GIF file. An error is signalled if INDEX is too large.
3006
3007 This could be used to implement limited support for animated GIFs.
3008 For example, the following function displays a multi-image GIF file
3009 at point-min in the current buffer, switching between sub-images
3010 every 0.1 seconds.
3011
3012 (defun show-anim (file max)
3013 "Display multi-image GIF file FILE which contains MAX subimages."
3014 (display-anim (current-buffer) file 0 max t))
3015
3016 (defun display-anim (buffer file idx max first-time)
3017 (when (= idx max)
3018 (setq idx 0))
3019 (let ((img (create-image file nil nil :index idx)))
3020 (save-excursion
3021 (set-buffer buffer)
3022 (goto-char (point-min))
3023 (unless first-time (delete-char 1))
3024 (insert-image img "x"))
3025 (run-with-timer 0.1 nil 'display-anim buffer file (1+ idx) max nil)))
3026
3027 **** PNG, image type `png'
3028
3029 Support for PNG images requires the external library `libpng',
3030 package `libpng-1.0.2.tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
3031 properties defined.
3032
3033 **** Ghostscript, image type `postscript'.
3034
3035 Additional image properties supported are:
3036
3037 `:pt-width WIDTH'
3038
3039 WIDTH is width of the image in pt (1/72 inch). WIDTH must be an
3040 integer. This is a required property.
3041
3042 `:pt-height HEIGHT'
3043
3044 HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pt (1/72 inch). HEIGHT
3045 must be a integer. This is an required property.
3046
3047 `:bounding-box BOX'
3048
3049 BOX must be a list or vector of 4 integers giving the bounding box of
3050 the PS image, analogous to the `BoundingBox' comment found in PS
3051 files. This is an required property.
3052
3053 Part of the Ghostscript interface is implemented in Lisp. See
3054 lisp/gs.el.
3055
3056 *** Lisp interface.
3057
3058 The variable `image-types' contains a list of those image types
3059 which are supported in the current configuration.
3060
3061 Images are stored in an image cache and removed from the cache when
3062 they haven't been displayed for `image-cache-eviction-delay seconds.
3063 The function `clear-image-cache' can be used to clear the image cache
3064 manually. Images in the cache are compared with `equal', i.e. all
3065 images with `equal' specifications share the same image.
3066
3067 *** Simplified image API, image.el
3068
3069 The new Lisp package image.el contains functions that simplify image
3070 creation and putting images into text. The function `create-image'
3071 can be used to create images. The macro `defimage' can be used to
3072 define an image based on available image types. The functions
3073 `put-image' and `insert-image' can be used to insert an image into a
3074 buffer.
3075
3076 +++
3077 ** Display margins.
3078
3079 Windows can now have margins which are used for special text
3080 and images.
3081
3082 To give a window margins, either set the buffer-local variables
3083 `left-margin-width' and `right-margin-width', or call
3084 `set-window-margins'. The function `window-margins' can be used to
3085 obtain the current settings. To make `left-margin-width' and
3086 `right-margin-width' take effect, you must set them before displaying
3087 the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force an update
3088 of the display margins.
3089
3090 You can put text in margins by giving it a `display' text property
3091 containing a pair of the form `(LOCATION . VALUE)', where LOCATION is
3092 one of `left-margin' or `right-margin' or nil. VALUE can be either a
3093 string, an image specification or a stretch specification (see later
3094 in this file).
3095
3096 +++
3097 ** Help display
3098
3099 Emacs displays short help messages in the echo area, when the mouse
3100 moves over a tool-bar item or a piece of text that has a text property
3101 `help-echo'. This feature also applies to strings in the mode line
3102 that have a `help-echo' property.
3103
3104 If the value of the `help-echo' property is a function, that function
3105 is called with three arguments WINDOW, OBJECT and POSITION. WINDOW is
3106 the window in which the help was found.
3107
3108 If OBJECT is a buffer, POS is the position in the buffer where the
3109 `help-echo' text property was found.
3110
3111 If OBJECT is an overlay, that overlay has a `help-echo' property, and
3112 POS is the position in the overlay's buffer under the mouse.
3113
3114 If OBJECT is a string (an overlay string or a string displayed with
3115 the `display' property), POS is the position in that string under the
3116 mouse.
3117
3118 If the value of the `help-echo' property is neither a function nor a
3119 string, it is evaluated to obtain a help string.
3120
3121 For tool-bar and menu-bar items, their key definition is used to
3122 determine the help to display. If their definition contains a
3123 property `:help FORM', FORM is evaluated to determine the help string.
3124 For tool-bar items without a help form, the caption of the item is
3125 used as help string.
3126
3127 The hook `show-help-function' can be set to a function that displays
3128 the help string differently. For example, enabling a tooltip window
3129 causes the help display to appear there instead of in the echo area.
3130
3131 +++
3132 ** Vertical fractional scrolling.
3133
3134 The display of text in windows can be scrolled smoothly in pixels.
3135 This is useful, for example, for making parts of large images visible.
3136
3137 The function `window-vscroll' returns the current value of vertical
3138 scrolling, a non-negative fraction of the canonical character height.
3139 The function `set-window-vscroll' can be used to set the vertical
3140 scrolling value. Here is an example of how these function might be
3141 used.
3142
3143 (global-set-key [A-down]
3144 #'(lambda ()
3145 (interactive)
3146 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
3147 (+ 0.5 (window-vscroll)))))
3148 (global-set-key [A-up]
3149 #'(lambda ()
3150 (interactive)
3151 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
3152 (- (window-vscroll) 0.5)))))
3153
3154 +++
3155 ** New hook `fontification-functions'.
3156
3157 Functions from `fontification-functions' are called from redisplay
3158 when it encounters a region of text that is not yet fontified. This
3159 variable automatically becomes buffer-local when set. Each function
3160 is called with one argument, POS.
3161
3162 At least one of the hook functions should fontify one or more
3163 characters starting at POS in the current buffer. It should mark them
3164 as fontified by giving them a non-nil value of the `fontified' text
3165 property. It may be reasonable for these functions to check for the
3166 `fontified' property and not put it back on, but they do not have to.
3167
3168 +++
3169 ** Tool bar support.
3170
3171 Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. The frame
3172 parameter `tool-bar-lines' (X resource "toolBar", class "ToolBar")
3173 controls how may lines to reserve for the tool bar. A zero value
3174 suppresses the tool bar. If the value is non-zero and
3175 `auto-resize-tool-bars' is non-nil the tool bar's size will be changed
3176 automatically so that all tool bar items are visible.
3177
3178 *** Tool bar item definitions
3179
3180 Tool bar items are defined using `define-key' with a prefix-key
3181 `tool-bar'. For example `(define-key global-map [tool-bar item1] ITEM)'
3182 where ITEM is a list `(menu-item CAPTION BINDING PROPS...)'.
3183
3184 CAPTION is the caption of the item, If it's not a string, it is
3185 evaluated to get a string. The caption is currently not displayed in
3186 the tool bar, but it is displayed if the item doesn't have a `:help'
3187 property (see below).
3188
3189 BINDING is the tool bar item's binding. Tool bar items with keymaps as
3190 binding are currently ignored.
3191
3192 The following properties are recognized:
3193
3194 `:enable FORM'.
3195
3196 FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is enabled
3197 or disabled.
3198
3199 `:visible FORM'
3200
3201 FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is displayed.
3202
3203 `:filter FUNCTION'
3204
3205 FUNCTION is called with one parameter, the same list BINDING in which
3206 FUNCTION is specified as the filter. The value FUNCTION returns is
3207 used instead of BINDING to display this item.
3208
3209 `:button (TYPE SELECTED)'
3210
3211 TYPE must be one of `:radio' or `:toggle'. SELECTED is evaluated
3212 and specifies whether the button is selected (pressed) or not.
3213
3214 `:image IMAGES'
3215
3216 IMAGES is either a single image specification or a vector of four
3217 image specifications. If it is a vector, this table lists the
3218 meaning of each of the four elements:
3219
3220 Index Use when item is
3221 ----------------------------------------
3222 0 enabled and selected
3223 1 enabled and deselected
3224 2 disabled and selected
3225 3 disabled and deselected
3226
3227 If IMAGE is a single image specification, a Laplace edge-detection
3228 algorithm is used on that image to draw the image in disabled state.
3229
3230 `:help HELP-STRING'.
3231
3232 Gives a help string to display for the tool bar item. This help
3233 is displayed when the mouse is moved over the item.
3234
3235 *** Tool-bar-related variables.
3236
3237 If `auto-resize-tool-bar' is non-nil, the tool bar will automatically
3238 resize to show all defined tool bar items. It will never grow larger
3239 than 1/4 of the frame's size.
3240
3241 If `auto-raise-tool-bar-buttons' is non-nil, tool bar buttons will be
3242 raised when the mouse moves over them.
3243
3244 You can add extra space between tool bar items by setting
3245 `tool-bar-button-margin' to a positive integer specifying a number of
3246 pixels. Default is 1.
3247
3248 You can change the shadow thickness of tool bar buttons by setting
3249 `tool-bar-button-relief' to an integer. Default is 3.
3250
3251 *** Tool-bar clicks with modifiers.
3252
3253 You can bind commands to clicks with control, shift, meta etc. on
3254 a tool bar item. If
3255
3256 (define-key global-map [tool-bar shell]
3257 '(menu-item "Shell" shell
3258 :image (image :type xpm :file "shell.xpm")))
3259
3260 is the original tool bar item definition, then
3261
3262 (define-key global-map [tool-bar S-shell] 'some-command)
3263
3264 makes a binding to run `some-command' for a shifted click on the same
3265 item.
3266
3267 ** Mode line changes.
3268
3269 +++
3270 *** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
3271
3272 The mode line can be made mouse-sensitive by displaying strings there
3273 that have a `local-map' text property. There are three ways to display
3274 a string with a `local-map' property in the mode line.
3275
3276 1. The mode line spec contains a variable whose string value has
3277 a `local-map' text property.
3278
3279 2. The mode line spec contains a format specifier (e.g. `%12b'), and
3280 that format specifier has a `local-map' property.
3281
3282 3. The mode line spec contains a list containing `:eval FORM'. FORM
3283 is evaluated. If the result is a string, and that string has a
3284 `local-map' property.
3285
3286 The same mechanism is used to determine the `face' and `help-echo'
3287 properties of strings in the mode line. See `bindings.el' for an
3288 example.
3289
3290 *** If a mode line element has the form `(:eval FORM)', FORM is
3291 evaluated and the result is used as mode line element.
3292
3293 +++
3294 *** You can suppress mode-line display by setting the buffer-local
3295 variable mode-line-format to nil.
3296
3297 +++
3298 *** A headerline can now be displayed at the top of a window.
3299
3300 This mode line's contents are controlled by the new variable
3301 `header-line-format' and `default-header-line-format' which are
3302 completely analogous to `mode-line-format' and
3303 `default-mode-line-format'. A value of nil means don't display a top
3304 line.
3305
3306 The appearance of top mode lines is controlled by the face
3307 `header-line'.
3308
3309 The function `coordinates-in-window-p' returns `header-line' for a
3310 position in the header-line.
3311
3312 +++
3313 ** Text property `display'
3314
3315 The `display' text property is used to insert images into text, and
3316 also control other aspects of how text displays. The value of the
3317 `display' property should be a display specification, as described
3318 below, or a list or vector containing display specifications.
3319
3320 *** Variable width and height spaces
3321
3322 To display a space of fractional width or height, use a display
3323 specification of the form `(LOCATION STRECH)'. If LOCATION is
3324 `(margin left-margin)', the space is displayed in the left marginal
3325 area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in the right
3326 marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the space is
3327 displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
3328 simpler form STRETCH as property value.
3329
3330 The stretch specification STRETCH itself is a list of the form `(space
3331 PROPS)', where PROPS is a property list which can contain the
3332 properties described below.
3333
3334 The display of the fractional space replaces the display of the
3335 characters having the `display' property.
3336
3337 - :width WIDTH
3338
3339 Specifies that the space width should be WIDTH times the normal
3340 character width. WIDTH can be an integer or floating point number.
3341
3342 - :relative-width FACTOR
3343
3344 Specifies that the width of the stretch should be computed from the
3345 first character in a group of consecutive characters that have the
3346 same `display' property. The computation is done by multiplying the
3347 width of that character by FACTOR.
3348
3349 - :align-to HPOS
3350
3351 Specifies that the space should be wide enough to reach HPOS. The
3352 value HPOS is measured in units of the normal character width.
3353
3354 Exactly one of the above properties should be used.
3355
3356 - :height HEIGHT
3357
3358 Specifies the height of the space, as HEIGHT, measured in terms of the
3359 normal line height.
3360
3361 - :relative-height FACTOR
3362
3363 The height of the space is computed as the product of the height
3364 of the text having the `display' property and FACTOR.
3365
3366 - :ascent ASCENT
3367
3368 Specifies that ASCENT percent of the height of the stretch should be
3369 used for the ascent of the stretch, i.e. for the part above the
3370 baseline. The value of ASCENT must be a non-negative number less or
3371 equal to 100.
3372
3373 You should not use both `:height' and `:relative-height' together.
3374
3375 *** Images
3376
3377 A display specification for an image has the form `(LOCATION
3378 . IMAGE)', where IMAGE is an image specification. The image replaces,
3379 in the display, the characters having this display specification in
3380 their `display' text property. If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)',
3381 the image will be displayed in the left marginal area, if it is
3382 `(margin right-margin)' it will be displayed in the right marginal
3383 area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the image will be displayed in
3384 the text. In the latter case you can also use the simpler form IMAGE
3385 as display specification.
3386
3387 *** Other display properties
3388
3389 - :space-width FACTOR
3390
3391 Specifies that space characters in the text having that property
3392 should be displayed FACTOR times as wide as normal; FACTOR must be an
3393 integer or float.
3394
3395 - :height HEIGHT
3396
3397 Display text having this property in a font that is smaller or larger.
3398
3399 If HEIGHT is a list of the form `(+ N)', where N is an integer, that
3400 means to use a font that is N steps larger. If HEIGHT is a list of
3401 the form `(- N)', that means to use a font that is N steps smaller. A
3402 ``step'' is defined by the set of available fonts; each size for which
3403 a font is available counts as a step.
3404
3405 If HEIGHT is a number, that means to use a font that is HEIGHT times
3406 as tall as the frame's default font.
3407
3408 If HEIGHT is a symbol, it is called as a function with the current
3409 height as argument. The function should return the new height to use.
3410
3411 Otherwise, HEIGHT is evaluated to get the new height, with the symbol
3412 `height' bound to the current specified font height.
3413
3414 - :raise FACTOR
3415
3416 FACTOR must be a number, specifying a multiple of the current
3417 font's height. If it is positive, that means to display the characters
3418 raised. If it is negative, that means to display them lower down. The
3419 amount of raising or lowering is computed without taking account of the
3420 `:height' subproperty.
3421
3422 *** Conditional display properties
3423
3424 All display specifications can be conditionalized. If a specification
3425 has the form `(:when CONDITION . SPEC)', the specification SPEC
3426 applies only when CONDITION yields a non-nil value when evaluated.
3427 During evaluattion, point is temporarily set to the end position of
3428 the text having the `display' property.
3429
3430 The normal specification consisting of SPEC only is equivalent to
3431 `(:when t SPEC)'.
3432
3433 +++
3434 ** New menu separator types.
3435
3436 Emacs now supports more than one menu separator type. Menu items with
3437 item names consisting of dashes only (including zero dashes) are
3438 treated like before. In addition, the following item names are used
3439 to specify other menu separator types.
3440
3441 - `--no-line' or `--space', or `--:space', or `--:noLine'
3442
3443 No separator lines are drawn, but a small space is inserted where the
3444 separator occurs.
3445
3446 - `--single-line' or `--:singleLine'
3447
3448 A single line in the menu's foreground color.
3449
3450 - `--double-line' or `--:doubleLine'
3451
3452 A double line in the menu's foreground color.
3453
3454 - `--single-dashed-line' or `--:singleDashedLine'
3455
3456 A single dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
3457
3458 - `--double-dashed-line' or `--:doubleDashedLine'
3459
3460 A double dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
3461
3462 - `--shadow-etched-in' or `--:shadowEtchedIn'
3463
3464 A single line with 3D sunken appearance. This is the the form
3465 displayed for item names consisting of dashes only.
3466
3467 - `--shadow-etched-out' or `--:shadowEtchedOut'
3468
3469 A single line with 3D raised appearance.
3470
3471 - `--shadow-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedInDash'
3472
3473 A single dashed line with 3D sunken appearance.
3474
3475 - `--shadow-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedOutDash'
3476
3477 A single dashed line with 3D raise appearance.
3478
3479 - `--shadow-double-etched-in' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedIn'
3480
3481 Two lines with 3D sunken appearance.
3482
3483 - `--shadow-double-etched-out' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOut'
3484
3485 Two lines with 3D raised appearance.
3486
3487 - `--shadow-double-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedInDash'
3488
3489 Two dashed lines with 3D sunken appearance.
3490
3491 - `--shadow-double-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOutDash'
3492
3493 Two dashed lines with 3D raised appearance.
3494
3495 Under LessTif/Motif, the last four separator types are displayed like
3496 the corresponding single-line separators.
3497
3498 +++
3499 ** New frame parameters for scroll bar colors.
3500
3501 The new frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
3502 `scroll-bar-background' can be used to change scroll bar colors.
3503 Their value must be either a color name, a string, or nil to specify
3504 that scroll bars should use a default color. For toolkit scroll bars,
3505 default colors are toolkit specific. For non-toolkit scroll bars, the
3506 default background is the background color of the frame, and the
3507 default foreground is black.
3508
3509 The X resource name of these parameters are `scrollBarForeground'
3510 (class ScrollBarForeground) and `scrollBarBackground' (class
3511 `ScrollBarBackground').
3512
3513 Setting these parameters overrides toolkit specific X resource
3514 settings for scroll bar colors.
3515
3516 +++
3517 ** You can set `redisplay-dont-pause' to a non-nil value to prevent
3518 display updates from being interrupted when input is pending.
3519
3520 ---
3521 ** Changing a window's width may now change its window start if it
3522 starts on a continuation line. The new window start is computed based
3523 on the window's new width, starting from the start of the continued
3524 line as the start of the screen line with the minimum distance from
3525 the original window start.
3526
3527 ---
3528 ** The variable `hscroll-step' and the functions
3529 `hscroll-point-visible' and `hscroll-window-column' have been removed
3530 now that proper horizontal scrolling is implemented.
3531
3532 +++
3533 ** Windows can now be made fixed-width and/or fixed-height.
3534
3535 A window is fixed-size if its buffer has a buffer-local variable
3536 `window-size-fixed' whose value is not nil. A value of `height' makes
3537 windows fixed-height, a value of `width' makes them fixed-width, any
3538 other non-nil value makes them both fixed-width and fixed-height.
3539
3540 The following code makes all windows displaying the current buffer
3541 fixed-width and fixed-height.
3542
3543 (set (make-local-variable 'window-size-fixed) t)
3544
3545 A call to enlarge-window on a window gives an error if that window is
3546 fixed-width and it is tried to change the window's width, or if the
3547 window is fixed-height, and it is tried to change its height. To
3548 change the size of a fixed-size window, bind `window-size-fixed'
3549 temporarily to nil, for example
3550
3551 (let ((window-size-fixed nil))
3552 (enlarge-window 10))
3553
3554 Likewise, an attempt to split a fixed-height window vertically,
3555 or a fixed-width window horizontally results in a error.
3556
3557 ** The cursor-type frame parameter is now supported on MS-DOS
3558 terminals. When Emacs starts, it by default changes the cursor shape
3559 to a solid box, as it does on Unix. The `cursor-type' frame parameter
3560 overrides this as it does on Unix, except that the bar cursor is
3561 horizontal rather than vertical (since the MS-DOS display doesn't
3562 support a vertical-bar cursor).
3563
3564
3565 ^L
3566 * Emacs 20.7 is a bug-fix release with few user-visible changes
3567
3568 ** It is now possible to use CCL-based coding systems for keyboard
3569 input.
3570
3571 ** ange-ftp now handles FTP security extensions, like Kerberos.
3572
3573 ** Rmail has been extended to recognize more forms of digest messages.
3574
3575 ** Now, most coding systems set in keyboard coding system work not
3576 only for character input, but also in incremental search. The
3577 exceptions are such coding systems that handle 2-byte character sets
3578 (e.g euc-kr, euc-jp) and that use ISO's escape sequence
3579 (e.g. iso-2022-jp). They are ignored in incremental search.
3580
3581 ** Support for Macintosh PowerPC-based machines running GNU/Linux has
3582 been added.
3583
3584 ^L
3585 * Emacs 20.6 is a bug-fix release with one user-visible change
3586
3587 ** Support for ARM-based non-RISCiX machines has been added.
3588
3589 ^L
3590 * Emacs 20.5 is a bug-fix release with no user-visible changes.
3591
3592 ** Not new, but not mentioned before:
3593 M-w when Transient Mark mode is enabled disables the mark.
3594 \f
3595 * Changes in Emacs 20.4
3596
3597 ** Init file may be called .emacs.el.
3598
3599 You can now call the Emacs init file `.emacs.el'.
3600 Formerly the name had to be `.emacs'. If you use the name
3601 `.emacs.el', you can byte-compile the file in the usual way.
3602
3603 If both `.emacs' and `.emacs.el' exist, the latter file
3604 is the one that is used.
3605
3606 ** shell-command, and shell-command-on-region, now return
3607 the exit code of the command (unless it is asynchronous).
3608 Also, you can specify a place to put the error output,
3609 separate from the command's regular output.
3610 Interactively, the variable shell-command-default-error-buffer
3611 says where to put error output; set it to a buffer name.
3612 In calls from Lisp, an optional argument ERROR-BUFFER specifies
3613 the buffer name.
3614
3615 When you specify a non-nil error buffer (or buffer name), any error
3616 output is inserted before point in that buffer, with \f\n to separate
3617 it from the previous batch of error output. The error buffer is not
3618 cleared, so error output from successive commands accumulates there.
3619
3620 ** Setting the default value of enable-multibyte-characters to nil in
3621 the .emacs file, either explicitly using setq-default, or via Custom,
3622 is now essentially equivalent to using --unibyte: all buffers
3623 created during startup will be made unibyte after loading .emacs.
3624
3625 ** C-x C-f now handles the wildcards * and ? in file names. For
3626 example, typing C-x C-f c*.c RET visits all the files whose names
3627 match c*.c. To visit a file whose name contains * or ?, add the
3628 quoting sequence /: to the beginning of the file name.
3629
3630 ** The M-x commands keep-lines, flush-lines and count-matches
3631 now have the same feature as occur and query-replace:
3632 if the pattern contains any upper case letters, then
3633 they never ignore case.
3634
3635 ** The end-of-line format conversion feature previously mentioned
3636 under `* Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows' actually
3637 applies to all operating systems. Emacs recognizes from the contents
3638 of a file what convention it uses to separate lines--newline, CRLF, or
3639 just CR--and automatically converts the contents to the normal Emacs
3640 convention (using newline to separate lines) for editing. This is a
3641 part of the general feature of coding system conversion.
3642
3643 If you subsequently save the buffer, Emacs converts the text back to
3644 the same format that was used in the file before.
3645
3646 You can turn off end-of-line conversion by setting the variable
3647 `inhibit-eol-conversion' to non-nil, e.g. with Custom in the MULE group.
3648
3649 ** The character set property `prefered-coding-system' has been
3650 renamed to `preferred-coding-system', for the sake of correct spelling.
3651 This is a fairly internal feature, so few programs should be affected.
3652
3653 ** Mode-line display of end-of-line format is changed.
3654 The indication of the end-of-line format of the file visited by a
3655 buffer is now more explicit when that format is not the usual one for
3656 your operating system. For example, the DOS-style end-of-line format
3657 is displayed as "(DOS)" on Unix and GNU/Linux systems. The usual
3658 end-of-line format is still displayed as a single character (colon for
3659 Unix, backslash for DOS and Windows, and forward slash for the Mac).
3660
3661 The values of the variables eol-mnemonic-unix, eol-mnemonic-dos,
3662 eol-mnemonic-mac, and eol-mnemonic-undecided, which are strings,
3663 control what is displayed in the mode line for each end-of-line
3664 format. You can now customize these variables.
3665
3666 ** In the previous version of Emacs, tar-mode didn't work well if a
3667 filename contained non-ASCII characters. Now this is fixed. Such a
3668 filename is decoded by file-name-coding-system if the default value of
3669 enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil.
3670
3671 ** The command temp-buffer-resize-mode toggles a minor mode
3672 in which temporary buffers (such as help buffers) are given
3673 windows just big enough to hold the whole contents.
3674
3675 ** If you use completion.el, you must now run the function
3676 dynamic-completion-mode to enable it. Just loading the file
3677 doesn't have any effect.
3678
3679 ** In Flyspell mode, the default is now to make just one Ispell process,
3680 not one per buffer.
3681
3682 ** If you use iswitchb but do not call (iswitchb-default-keybindings) to
3683 use the default keybindings, you will need to add the following line:
3684 (add-hook 'minibuffer-setup-hook 'iswitchb-minibuffer-setup)
3685
3686 ** Auto-show mode is no longer enabled just by loading auto-show.el.
3687 To control it, set `auto-show-mode' via Custom or use the
3688 `auto-show-mode' command.
3689
3690 ** Handling of X fonts' ascent/descent parameters has been changed to
3691 avoid redisplay problems. As a consequence, compared with previous
3692 versions the line spacing and frame size now differ with some font
3693 choices, typically increasing by a pixel per line. This change
3694 occurred in version 20.3 but was not documented then.
3695
3696 ** If you select the bar cursor style, it uses the frame's
3697 cursor-color, rather than the cursor foreground pixel.
3698
3699 ** In multibyte mode, Rmail decodes incoming MIME messages using the
3700 character set specified in the message. If you want to disable this
3701 feature, set the variable rmail-decode-mime-charset to nil.
3702
3703 ** Not new, but not mentioned previously in NEWS: when you use #! at
3704 the beginning of a file to make it executable and specify an
3705 interpreter program, Emacs looks on the second line for the -*- mode
3706 and variable specification, as well as on the first line.
3707
3708 ** Support for IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters.
3709
3710 The new command M-x codepage-setup creates a special coding system
3711 that can be used to convert text between a specific IBM codepage and
3712 one of the character sets built into Emacs which matches that
3713 codepage. For example, codepage 850 corresponds to Latin-1 character
3714 set, codepage 855 corresponds to Cyrillic-ISO character set, etc.
3715
3716 Windows codepages 1250, 1251 and some others, where Windows deviates
3717 from the corresponding ISO character set, are also supported.
3718
3719 IBM box-drawing characters and other glyphs which don't have
3720 equivalents in the corresponding ISO character set, are converted to
3721 a character defined by dos-unsupported-char-glyph on MS-DOS, and to
3722 `?' on other systems.
3723
3724 IBM codepages are widely used on MS-DOS and MS-Windows, so this
3725 feature is most useful on those platforms, but it can also be used on
3726 Unix.
3727
3728 Emacs compiled for MS-DOS automatically loads the support for the
3729 current codepage when it starts.
3730
3731 ** Mail changes
3732
3733 *** When mail is sent using compose-mail (C-x m), and if
3734 `mail-send-nonascii' is set to the new default value `mime',
3735 appropriate MIME headers are added. The headers are added only if
3736 non-ASCII characters are present in the body of the mail, and no other
3737 MIME headers are already present. For example, the following three
3738 headers are added if the coding system used in the *mail* buffer is
3739 latin-1:
3740
3741 MIME-version: 1.0
3742 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
3743 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
3744
3745 *** The new variable default-sendmail-coding-system specifies the
3746 default way to encode outgoing mail. This has higher priority than
3747 default-buffer-file-coding-system but has lower priority than
3748 sendmail-coding-system and the local value of
3749 buffer-file-coding-system.
3750
3751 You should not set this variable manually. Instead, set
3752 sendmail-coding-system to specify a fixed encoding for all outgoing
3753 mail.
3754
3755 *** When you try to send a message that contains non-ASCII characters,
3756 if the coding system specified by those variables doesn't handle them,
3757 Emacs will ask you to select a suitable coding system while showing a
3758 list of possible coding systems.
3759
3760 ** CC Mode changes
3761
3762 *** c-default-style can now take an association list that maps major
3763 modes to style names. When this variable is an alist, Java mode no
3764 longer hardcodes a setting to "java" style. See the variable's
3765 docstring for details.
3766
3767 *** It's now possible to put a list as the offset on a syntactic
3768 symbol. The list is evaluated recursively until a non-nil offset is
3769 found. This is useful to combine several lineup functions to act in a
3770 prioritized order on a single line. However, none of the supplied
3771 lineup functions use this feature currently.
3772
3773 *** New syntactic symbol catch-clause, which is used on the "catch" and
3774 "finally" lines in try-catch constructs in C++ and Java.
3775
3776 *** New cleanup brace-catch-brace on c-cleanup-list, which does for
3777 "catch" lines what brace-elseif-brace does for "else if" lines.
3778
3779 *** The braces of Java anonymous inner classes are treated separately
3780 from the braces of other classes in auto-newline mode. Two new
3781 symbols inexpr-class-open and inexpr-class-close may be used on
3782 c-hanging-braces-alist to control the automatic newlines used for
3783 anonymous classes.
3784
3785 *** Support for the Pike language added, along with new Pike specific
3786 syntactic symbols: inlambda, lambda-intro-cont
3787
3788 *** Support for Java anonymous classes via new syntactic symbol
3789 inexpr-class. New syntactic symbol inexpr-statement for Pike
3790 support and gcc-style statements inside expressions. New lineup
3791 function c-lineup-inexpr-block.
3792
3793 *** New syntactic symbol brace-entry-open which is used in brace lists
3794 (i.e. static initializers) when a list entry starts with an open
3795 brace. These used to be recognized as brace-list-entry's.
3796 c-electric-brace also recognizes brace-entry-open braces
3797 (brace-list-entry's can no longer be electrified).
3798
3799 *** New command c-indent-line-or-region, not bound by default.
3800
3801 *** `#' is only electric when typed in the indentation of a line.
3802
3803 *** Parentheses are now electric (via the new command c-electric-paren)
3804 for auto-reindenting lines when parens are typed.
3805
3806 *** In "gnu" style, inline-open offset is now set to zero.
3807
3808 *** Uniform handling of the inclass syntactic symbol. The indentation
3809 associated with it is now always relative to the class opening brace.
3810 This means that the indentation behavior has changed in some
3811 circumstances, but only if you've put anything besides 0 on the
3812 class-open syntactic symbol (none of the default styles do that).
3813
3814 ** Gnus changes.
3815
3816 *** New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
3817 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See the
3818 Gnus manual for the full story.
3819
3820 *** The nndraft backend has returned, but works differently than
3821 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the nndraft
3822 group, which is created automatically.
3823
3824 *** `gnus-alter-header-function' can now be used to alter header
3825 values.
3826
3827 *** `gnus-summary-goto-article' now accept Message-ID's.
3828
3829 *** A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
3830 outside the region: `C-c C-v'.
3831
3832 *** You can now post to component group in nnvirtual groups with
3833 `C-u C-c C-c'.
3834
3835 *** `nntp-rlogin-program' -- new variable to ease customization.
3836
3837 *** `C-u C-c C-c' in `gnus-article-edit-mode' will now inhibit
3838 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
3839
3840 *** New element in `gnus-boring-article-headers' -- `long-to'.
3841
3842 *** `M-i' symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
3843 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
3844
3845 *** `L' and `I' in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
3846 `a' to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
3847
3848 *** `gnus-simplify-subject-functions' variable to allow greater
3849 control over simplification.
3850
3851 *** `A T' -- new command for fetching the current thread.
3852
3853 *** `/ T' -- new command for including the current thread in the
3854 limit.
3855
3856 *** `M-RET' is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
3857
3858 *** \\1-expressions are now valid in `nnmail-split-methods'.
3859
3860 *** The `custom-face-lookup' function has been removed.
3861 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
3862 rewrite them to use `face-spec-set' instead.
3863
3864 *** Cancelling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
3865 `a' forces normal posting method.
3866
3867 *** New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper text
3868 -- `W d'.
3869
3870 *** For easier debugging of nntp, you can set `nntp-record-commands'
3871 to a non-nil value.
3872
3873 *** nntp now uses ~/.authinfo, a .netrc-like file, for controlling
3874 where and how to send AUTHINFO to NNTP servers.
3875
3876 *** A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
3877 has been added.
3878
3879 *** A history of where mails have been split is available.
3880
3881 *** A new article date command has been added -- `article-date-iso8601'.
3882
3883 *** Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
3884 `gnus-score-thread-simplify'.
3885
3886 *** A new function for citing in Message has been added --
3887 `message-cite-original-without-signature'.
3888
3889 *** `article-strip-all-blank-lines' -- new article command.
3890
3891 *** A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
3892 been added.
3893
3894 *** A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
3895 `gnus-adaptive-word-minimum' variable.
3896
3897 *** The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
3898 updated by the `gnus-start-date-timer' command.
3899
3900 *** Web listserv archives can be read with the nnlistserv backend.
3901
3902 *** Old dejanews archives can now be read by nnweb.
3903
3904 *** `gnus-posting-styles' has been re-activated.
3905
3906 ** Changes to TeX and LaTeX mode
3907
3908 *** The new variable `tex-start-options-string' can be used to give
3909 options for the TeX run. The default value causes TeX to run in
3910 nonstopmode. For an interactive TeX run set it to nil or "".
3911
3912 *** The command `tex-feed-input' sends input to the Tex Shell. In a
3913 TeX buffer it is bound to the keys C-RET, C-c RET, and C-c C-m (some
3914 of these keys may not work on all systems). For instance, if you run
3915 TeX interactively and if the TeX run stops because of an error, you
3916 can continue it without leaving the TeX buffer by typing C-RET.
3917
3918 *** The Tex Shell Buffer is now in `compilation-shell-minor-mode'.
3919 All error-parsing commands of the Compilation major mode are available
3920 but bound to keys that don't collide with the shell. Thus you can use
3921 the Tex Shell for command line executions like a usual shell.
3922
3923 *** The commands `tex-validate-region' and `tex-validate-buffer' check
3924 the matching of braces and $'s. The errors are listed in a *Occur*
3925 buffer and you can use C-c C-c or mouse-2 to go to a particular
3926 mismatch.
3927
3928 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
3929
3930 *** The table of contents buffer can now also display labels and
3931 file boundaries in addition to sections. Use `l', `i', and `c' keys.
3932
3933 *** Labels derived from context (the section heading) are now
3934 lowercase by default. To make the label legal in LaTeX, latin-1
3935 characters will lose their accent. All Mule characters will be
3936 removed from the label.
3937
3938 *** The automatic display of cross reference information can also use
3939 a window instead of the echo area. See variable `reftex-auto-view-crossref'.
3940
3941 *** kpsewhich can be used by RefTeX to find TeX and BibTeX files. See the
3942 customization group `reftex-finding-files'.
3943
3944 *** The option `reftex-bibfile-ignore-list' has been renamed to
3945 `reftex-bibfile-ignore-regexps' and indeed can be fed with regular
3946 expressions.
3947
3948 *** Multiple Selection buffers are now hidden buffers.
3949
3950 ** New/deleted modes and packages
3951
3952 *** The package snmp-mode.el provides major modes for editing SNMP and
3953 SNMPv2 MIBs. It has entries on `auto-mode-alist'.
3954
3955 *** The package sql.el provides a major mode, M-x sql-mode, for
3956 editing SQL files, and M-x sql-interactive-mode for interacting with
3957 SQL interpreters. It has an entry on `auto-mode-alist'.
3958
3959 *** M-x highlight-changes-mode provides a minor mode displaying buffer
3960 changes with a special face.
3961
3962 *** ispell4.el has been deleted. It got in the way of ispell.el and
3963 this was hard to fix reliably. It has long been obsolete -- use
3964 Ispell 3.1 and ispell.el.
3965 \f
3966 * MS-DOS changes in Emacs 20.4
3967
3968 ** Emacs compiled for MS-DOS now supports MULE features better.
3969 This includes support for display of all ISO 8859-N character sets,
3970 conversion to and from IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters,
3971 and automatic setup of the MULE environment at startup. For details,
3972 check out the section `MS-DOS and MULE' in the manual.
3973
3974 The MS-DOS installation procedure automatically configures and builds
3975 Emacs with input method support if it finds an unpacked Leim
3976 distribution when the config.bat script is run.
3977
3978 ** Formerly, the value of lpr-command did not affect printing on
3979 MS-DOS unless print-region-function was set to nil, but now it
3980 controls whether an external program is invoked or output is written
3981 directly to a printer port. Similarly, in the previous version of
3982 Emacs, the value of ps-lpr-command did not affect PostScript printing
3983 on MS-DOS unless ps-printer-name was set to something other than a
3984 string (eg. t or `pipe'), but now it controls whether an external
3985 program is used. (These changes were made so that configuration of
3986 printing variables would be almost identical across all platforms.)
3987
3988 ** In the previous version of Emacs, PostScript and non-PostScript
3989 output was piped to external programs, but because most print programs
3990 available for MS-DOS and MS-Windows cannot read data from their standard
3991 input, on those systems the data to be output is now written to a
3992 temporary file whose name is passed as the last argument to the external
3993 program.
3994
3995 An exception is made for `print', a standard program on Windows NT,
3996 and `nprint', a standard program on Novell Netware. For both of these
3997 programs, the command line is constructed in the appropriate syntax
3998 automatically, using only the value of printer-name or ps-printer-name
3999 as appropriate--the value of the relevant `-switches' variable is
4000 ignored, as both programs have no useful switches.
4001
4002 ** The value of the variable dos-printer (cf. dos-ps-printer), if it has
4003 a value, overrides the value of printer-name (cf. ps-printer-name), on
4004 MS-DOS and MS-Windows only. This has been true since version 20.3, but
4005 was not documented clearly before.
4006
4007 ** All the Emacs games now work on MS-DOS terminals.
4008 This includes Tetris and Snake.
4009 \f
4010 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.4
4011
4012 ** New functions line-beginning-position and line-end-position
4013 return the position of the beginning or end of the current line.
4014 They both accept an optional argument, which has the same
4015 meaning as the argument to beginning-of-line or end-of-line.
4016
4017 ** find-file and allied functions now have an optional argument
4018 WILDCARD. If this is non-nil, they do wildcard processing,
4019 and visit all files that match the wildcard pattern.
4020
4021 ** Changes in the file-attributes function.
4022
4023 *** The file size returned by file-attributes may be an integer or a float.
4024 It is an integer if the size fits in a Lisp integer, float otherwise.
4025
4026 *** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
4027 the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a cons cell containing two
4028 integers.
4029
4030 ** The new function directory-files-and-attributes returns a list of
4031 files in a directory and their attributes. It accepts the same
4032 arguments as directory-files and has similar semantics, except that
4033 file names and attributes are returned.
4034
4035 ** The new function file-attributes-lessp is a helper function for
4036 sorting the list generated by directory-files-and-attributes. It
4037 accepts two arguments, each a list of a file name and its atttributes.
4038 It compares the file names of each according to string-lessp and
4039 returns the result.
4040
4041 ** The new function file-expand-wildcards expands a wildcard-pattern
4042 to produce a list of existing files that match the pattern.
4043
4044 ** New functions for base64 conversion:
4045
4046 The function base64-encode-region converts a part of the buffer
4047 into the base64 code used in MIME. base64-decode-region
4048 performs the opposite conversion. Line-breaking is supported
4049 optionally.
4050
4051 Functions base64-encode-string and base64-decode-string do a similar
4052 job on the text in a string. They return the value as a new string.
4053
4054 **
4055 The new function process-running-child-p
4056 will tell you if a subprocess has given control of its
4057 terminal to its own child process.
4058
4059 ** interrupt-process and such functions have a new feature:
4060 when the second argument is `lambda', they send a signal
4061 to the running child of the subshell, if any, but if the shell
4062 itself owns its terminal, no signal is sent.
4063
4064 ** There are new widget types `plist' and `alist' which can
4065 be used for customizing variables whose values are plists or alists.
4066
4067 ** easymenu.el Now understands `:key-sequence' and `:style button'.
4068 :included is an alias for :visible.
4069
4070 easy-menu-add-item now understands the values returned by
4071 easy-menu-remove-item and easy-menu-item-present-p. This can be used
4072 to move or copy menu entries.
4073
4074 ** Multibyte editing changes
4075
4076 *** The definitions of sref and char-bytes are changed. Now, sref is
4077 an alias of aref and char-bytes always returns 1. This change is to
4078 make some Emacs Lisp code which works on 20.2 and earlier also
4079 work on the latest Emacs. Such code uses a combination of sref and
4080 char-bytes in a loop typically as below:
4081 (setq char (sref str idx)
4082 idx (+ idx (char-bytes idx)))
4083 The byte-compiler now warns that this is obsolete.
4084
4085 If you want to know how many bytes a specific multibyte character
4086 (say, CH) occupies in a multibyte buffer, use this code:
4087 (charset-bytes (char-charset ch))
4088
4089 *** In multibyte mode, when you narrow a buffer to some region, and the
4090 region is preceded or followed by non-ASCII codes, inserting or
4091 deleting at the head or the end of the region may signal this error:
4092
4093 Byte combining across boundary of accessible buffer text inhibitted
4094
4095 This is to avoid some bytes being combined together into a character
4096 across the boundary.
4097
4098 *** The functions find-charset-region and find-charset-string include
4099 `unknown' in the returned list in the following cases:
4100 o The current buffer or the target string is unibyte and
4101 contains 8-bit characters.
4102 o The current buffer or the target string is multibyte and
4103 contains invalid characters.
4104
4105 *** The functions decode-coding-region and encode-coding-region remove
4106 text properties of the target region. Ideally, they should correctly
4107 preserve text properties, but for the moment, it's hard. Removing
4108 text properties is better than preserving them in a less-than-correct
4109 way.
4110
4111 *** prefer-coding-system sets EOL conversion of default coding systems.
4112 If the argument to prefer-coding-system specifies a certain type of
4113 end of line conversion, the default coding systems set by
4114 prefer-coding-system will specify that conversion type for end of line.
4115
4116 *** The new function thai-compose-string can be used to properly
4117 compose Thai characters in a string.
4118
4119 ** The primitive `define-prefix-command' now takes an optional third
4120 argument NAME, which should be a string. It supplies the menu name
4121 for the created keymap. Keymaps created in order to be displayed as
4122 menus should always use the third argument.
4123
4124 ** The meanings of optional second arguments for read-char,
4125 read-event, and read-char-exclusive are flipped. Now the second
4126 arguments are INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. These functions use the current
4127 input method (if any) if and only if INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD is non-nil.
4128
4129 ** The new function clear-this-command-keys empties out the contents
4130 of the vector that (this-command-keys) returns. This is useful in
4131 programs that read passwords, to prevent the passwords from echoing
4132 inadvertently as part of the next command in certain cases.
4133
4134 ** The new macro `with-temp-message' displays a temporary message in
4135 the echo area, while executing some Lisp code. Like `progn', it
4136 returns the value of the last form, but it also restores the previous
4137 echo area contents.
4138
4139 (with-temp-message MESSAGE &rest BODY)
4140
4141 ** The function `require' now takes an optional third argument
4142 NOERROR. If it is non-nil, then there is no error if the
4143 requested feature cannot be loaded.
4144
4145 ** In the function modify-face, an argument of (nil) for the
4146 foreground color, background color or stipple pattern
4147 means to clear out that attribute.
4148
4149 ** The `outer-window-id' frame property of an X frame
4150 gives the window number of the outermost X window for the frame.
4151
4152 ** Temporary buffers made with with-output-to-temp-buffer are now
4153 read-only by default, and normally use the major mode Help mode
4154 unless you put them in some other non-Fundamental mode before the
4155 end of with-output-to-temp-buffer.
4156
4157 ** The new functions gap-position and gap-size return information on
4158 the gap of the current buffer.
4159
4160 ** The new functions position-bytes and byte-to-position provide a way
4161 to convert between character positions and byte positions in the
4162 current buffer.
4163
4164 ** vc.el defines two new macros, `edit-vc-file' and `with-vc-file', to
4165 facilitate working with version-controlled files from Lisp programs.
4166 These macros check out a given file automatically if needed, and check
4167 it back in after any modifications have been made.
4168 \f
4169 * Installation Changes in Emacs 20.3
4170
4171 ** The default value of load-path now includes most subdirectories of
4172 the site-specific directories /usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp and
4173 /usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp, in addition to those
4174 directories themselves. Both immediate subdirectories and
4175 subdirectories multiple levels down are added to load-path.
4176
4177 Not all subdirectories are included, though. Subdirectories whose
4178 names do not start with a letter or digit are excluded.
4179 Subdirectories named RCS or CVS are excluded. Also, a subdirectory
4180 which contains a file named `.nosearch' is excluded. You can use
4181 these methods to prevent certain subdirectories from being searched.
4182
4183 Emacs finds these subdirectories and adds them to load-path when it
4184 starts up. While it would be cleaner to find the subdirectories each
4185 time Emacs loads a file, that would be much slower.
4186
4187 This feature is an incompatible change. If you have stored some Emacs
4188 Lisp files in a subdirectory of the site-lisp directory specifically
4189 to prevent them from being used, you will need to rename the
4190 subdirectory to start with a non-alphanumeric character, or create a
4191 `.nosearch' file in it, in order to continue to achieve the desired
4192 results.
4193
4194 ** Emacs no longer includes an old version of the C preprocessor from
4195 GCC. This was formerly used to help compile Emacs with C compilers
4196 that had limits on the significant length of an identifier, but in
4197 fact we stopped supporting such compilers some time ago.
4198 \f
4199 * Changes in Emacs 20.3
4200
4201 ** The new command C-x z (repeat) repeats the previous command
4202 including its argument. If you repeat the z afterward,
4203 it repeats the command additional times; thus, you can
4204 perform many repetitions with one keystroke per repetition.
4205
4206 ** Emacs now supports "selective undo" which undoes only within a
4207 specified region. To do this, set point and mark around the desired
4208 region and type C-u C-x u (or C-u C-_). You can then continue undoing
4209 further, within the same region, by repeating the ordinary undo
4210 command C-x u or C-_. This will keep undoing changes that were made
4211 within the region you originally specified, until either all of them
4212 are undone, or it encounters a change which crosses the edge of that
4213 region.
4214
4215 In Transient Mark mode, undoing when a region is active requests
4216 selective undo.
4217
4218 ** If you specify --unibyte when starting Emacs, then all buffers are
4219 unibyte, except when a Lisp program specifically creates a multibyte
4220 buffer. Setting the environment variable EMACS_UNIBYTE has the same
4221 effect. The --no-unibyte option overrides EMACS_UNIBYTE and directs
4222 Emacs to run normally in multibyte mode.
4223
4224 The option --unibyte does not affect the reading of Emacs Lisp files,
4225 though. If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode, use
4226 -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line. That will force Emacs to
4227 load that file in unibyte mode, regardless of how Emacs was started.
4228
4229 ** toggle-enable-multibyte-characters no longer has a key binding and
4230 no longer appears in the menu bar. We've realized that changing the
4231 enable-multibyte-characters variable in an existing buffer is
4232 something that most users not do.
4233
4234 ** You can specify a coding system to use for the next cut or paste
4235 operations through the window system with the command C-x RET X.
4236 The coding system can make a difference for communication with other
4237 applications.
4238
4239 C-x RET x specifies a coding system for all subsequent cutting and
4240 pasting operations.
4241
4242 ** You can specify the printer to use for commands that do printing by
4243 setting the variable `printer-name'. Just what a printer name looks
4244 like depends on your operating system. You can specify a different
4245 printer for the Postscript printing commands by setting
4246 `ps-printer-name'.
4247
4248 ** Emacs now supports on-the-fly spell checking by the means of a
4249 minor mode. It is called M-x flyspell-mode. You don't have to remember
4250 any other special commands to use it, and you will hardly notice it
4251 except when you make a spelling error. Flyspell works by highlighting
4252 incorrect words as soon as they are completed or as soon as the cursor
4253 hits a new word.
4254
4255 Flyspell mode works with whichever dictionary you have selected for
4256 Ispell in Emacs. In TeX mode, it understands TeX syntax so as not
4257 to be confused by TeX commands.
4258
4259 You can correct a misspelled word by editing it into something
4260 correct. You can also correct it, or accept it as correct, by
4261 clicking on the word with Mouse-2; that gives you a pop-up menu
4262 of various alternative replacements and actions.
4263
4264 Flyspell mode also proposes "automatic" corrections. M-TAB replaces
4265 the current misspelled word with a possible correction. If several
4266 corrections are made possible, M-TAB cycles through them in
4267 alphabetical order, or in order of decreasing likelihood if
4268 flyspell-sort-corrections is nil.
4269
4270 Flyspell mode also flags an error when a word is repeated, if
4271 flyspell-mark-duplications-flag is non-nil.
4272
4273 ** Changes in input method usage.
4274
4275 Now you can use arrow keys (right, left, down, up) for selecting among
4276 the alternatives just the same way as you do by C-f, C-b, C-n, and C-p
4277 respectively.
4278
4279 You can use the ENTER key to accept the current conversion.
4280
4281 If you type TAB to display a list of alternatives, you can select one
4282 of the alternatives with Mouse-2.
4283
4284 The meaning of the variable `input-method-verbose-flag' is changed so
4285 that you can set it to t, nil, `default', or `complex-only'.
4286
4287 If the value is nil, extra guidance is never given.
4288
4289 If the value is t, extra guidance is always given.
4290
4291 If the value is `complex-only', extra guidance is always given only
4292 when you are using complex input methods such as chinese-py.
4293
4294 If the value is `default' (this is the default), extra guidance is
4295 given in the following case:
4296 o When you are using a complex input method.
4297 o When you are using a simple input method but not in the minibuffer.
4298
4299 If you are using Emacs through a very slow line, setting
4300 input-method-verbose-flag to nil or to complex-only is a good choice,
4301 and if you are using an input method you are not familiar with,
4302 setting it to t is helpful.
4303
4304 The old command select-input-method is now called set-input-method.
4305
4306 In the language environment "Korean", you can use the following
4307 keys:
4308 Shift-SPC toggle-korean-input-method
4309 C-F9 quail-hangul-switch-symbol-ksc
4310 F9 quail-hangul-switch-hanja
4311 These key bindings are canceled when you switch to another language
4312 environment.
4313
4314 ** The minibuffer history of file names now records the specified file
4315 names, not the entire minibuffer input. For example, if the
4316 minibuffer starts out with /usr/foo/, you might type in /etc/passwd to
4317 get
4318
4319 /usr/foo//etc/passwd
4320
4321 which stands for the file /etc/passwd.
4322
4323 Formerly, this used to put /usr/foo//etc/passwd in the history list.
4324 Now this puts just /etc/passwd in the history list.
4325
4326 ** If you are root, Emacs sets backup-by-copying-when-mismatch to t
4327 at startup, so that saving a file will be sure to preserve
4328 its owner and group.
4329
4330 ** find-func.el can now also find the place of definition of Emacs
4331 Lisp variables in user-loaded libraries.
4332
4333 ** C-x r t (string-rectangle) now deletes the existing rectangle
4334 contents before inserting the specified string on each line.
4335
4336 ** There is a new command delete-whitespace-rectangle
4337 which deletes whitespace starting from a particular column
4338 in all the lines on a rectangle. The column is specified
4339 by the left edge of the rectangle.
4340
4341 ** You can now store a number into a register with C-u NUMBER C-x r n REG,
4342 increment it by INC with C-u INC C-x r + REG (to increment by one, omit
4343 C-u INC), and insert it in the buffer with C-x r g REG. This is useful
4344 for writing keyboard macros.
4345
4346 ** The new command M-x speedbar displays a frame in which directories,
4347 files, and tags can be displayed, manipulated, and jumped to. The
4348 frame defaults to 20 characters in width, and is the same height as
4349 the frame that it was started from. Some major modes define
4350 additional commands for the speedbar, including Rmail, GUD/GDB, and
4351 info.
4352
4353 ** query-replace-regexp is now bound to C-M-%.
4354
4355 ** In Transient Mark mode, when the region is active, M-x
4356 query-replace and the other replace commands now operate on the region
4357 contents only.
4358
4359 ** M-x write-region, when used interactively, now asks for
4360 confirmation before overwriting an existing file. When you call
4361 the function from a Lisp program, a new optional argument CONFIRM
4362 says whether to ask for confirmation in this case.
4363
4364 ** If you use find-file-literally and the file is already visited
4365 non-literally, the command asks you whether to revisit the file
4366 literally. If you say no, it signals an error.
4367
4368 ** Major modes defined with the "derived mode" feature
4369 now use the proper name for the mode hook: WHATEVER-mode-hook.
4370 Formerly they used the name WHATEVER-mode-hooks, but that is
4371 inconsistent with Emacs conventions.
4372
4373 ** shell-command-on-region (and shell-command) reports success or
4374 failure if the command produces no output.
4375
4376 ** Set focus-follows-mouse to nil if your window system or window
4377 manager does not transfer focus to another window when you just move
4378 the mouse.
4379
4380 ** mouse-menu-buffer-maxlen has been renamed to
4381 mouse-buffer-menu-maxlen to be consistent with the other related
4382 function and variable names.
4383
4384 ** The new variable auto-coding-alist specifies coding systems for
4385 reading specific files. This has higher priority than
4386 file-coding-system-alist.
4387
4388 ** If you set the variable unibyte-display-via-language-environment to
4389 t, then Emacs displays non-ASCII characters are displayed by
4390 converting them to the equivalent multibyte characters according to
4391 the current language environment. As a result, they are displayed
4392 according to the current fontset.
4393
4394 ** C-q's handling of codes in the range 0200 through 0377 is changed.
4395
4396 The codes in the range 0200 through 0237 are inserted as one byte of
4397 that code regardless of the values of nonascii-translation-table and
4398 nonascii-insert-offset.
4399
4400 For the codes in the range 0240 through 0377, if
4401 enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil and nonascii-translation-table
4402 nor nonascii-insert-offset can't convert them to valid multibyte
4403 characters, they are converted to Latin-1 characters.
4404
4405 ** If you try to find a file that is not read-accessible, you now get
4406 an error, rather than an empty buffer and a warning.
4407
4408 ** In the minibuffer history commands M-r and M-s, an upper case
4409 letter in the regular expression forces case-sensitive search.
4410
4411 ** In the *Help* buffer, cross-references to commands and variables
4412 are inferred and hyperlinked. Use C-h m in Help mode for the relevant
4413 command keys.
4414
4415 ** M-x apropos-command, with a prefix argument, no longer looks for
4416 user option variables--instead it looks for noninteractive functions.
4417
4418 Meanwhile, the command apropos-variable normally searches for
4419 user option variables; with a prefix argument, it looks at
4420 all variables that have documentation.
4421
4422 ** When you type a long line in the minibuffer, and the minibuffer
4423 shows just one line, automatically scrolling works in a special way
4424 that shows you overlap with the previous line of text. The variable
4425 minibuffer-scroll-overlap controls how many characters of overlap
4426 it should show; the default is 20.
4427
4428 Meanwhile, Resize Minibuffer mode is still available; in that mode,
4429 the minibuffer grows taller (up to a point) as needed to show the whole
4430 of your input.
4431
4432 ** The new command M-x customize-changed-options lets you customize
4433 all the options whose meanings or default values have changed in
4434 recent Emacs versions. You specify a previous Emacs version number as
4435 argument, and the command creates a customization buffer showing all
4436 the customizable options which were changed since that version.
4437 Newly added options are included as well.
4438
4439 If you don't specify a particular version number argument,
4440 then the customization buffer shows all the customizable options
4441 for which Emacs versions of changes are recorded.
4442
4443 This function is also bound to the Changed Options entry in the
4444 Customize menu.
4445
4446 ** When you run M-x grep with a prefix argument, it figures out
4447 the tag around point and puts that into the default grep command.
4448
4449 ** The new command M-* (pop-tag-mark) pops back through a history of
4450 buffer positions from which M-. or other tag-finding commands were
4451 invoked.
4452
4453 ** The new variable comment-padding specifies the number of spaces
4454 that `comment-region' will insert before the actual text of the comment.
4455 The default is 1.
4456
4457 ** In Fortran mode the characters `.', `_' and `$' now have symbol
4458 syntax, not word syntax. Fortran mode now supports `imenu' and has
4459 new commands fortran-join-line (M-^) and fortran-narrow-to-subprogram
4460 (C-x n d). M-q can be used to fill a statement or comment block
4461 sensibly.
4462
4463 ** GUD now supports jdb, the Java debugger, and pdb, the Python debugger.
4464
4465 ** If you set the variable add-log-keep-changes-together to a non-nil
4466 value, the command `C-x 4 a' will automatically notice when you make
4467 two entries in one day for one file, and combine them.
4468
4469 ** You can use the command M-x diary-mail-entries to mail yourself a
4470 reminder about upcoming diary entries. See the documentation string
4471 for a sample shell script for calling this function automatically
4472 every night.
4473
4474 ** Desktop changes
4475
4476 *** All you need to do to enable use of the Desktop package, is to set
4477 the variable desktop-enable to t with Custom.
4478
4479 *** Minor modes are now restored. Which minor modes are restored
4480 and how modes are restored is controlled by `desktop-minor-mode-table'.
4481
4482 ** There is no need to do anything special, now, to enable Gnus to
4483 read and post multi-lingual articles.
4484
4485 ** Outline mode has now support for showing hidden outlines when
4486 doing an isearch. In order for this to happen search-invisible should
4487 be set to open (the default). If an isearch match is inside a hidden
4488 outline the outline is made visible. If you continue pressing C-s and
4489 the match moves outside the formerly invisible outline, the outline is
4490 made invisible again.
4491
4492 ** Mail reading and sending changes
4493
4494 *** The Rmail e command now switches to displaying the whole header of
4495 the message before it lets you edit the message. This is so that any
4496 changes you make in the header will not be lost if you subsequently
4497 toggle.
4498
4499 *** The w command in Rmail, which writes the message body into a file,
4500 now works in the summary buffer as well. (The command to delete the
4501 summary buffer is now Q.) The default file name for the w command, if
4502 the message has no subject, is stored in the variable
4503 rmail-default-body-file.
4504
4505 *** Most of the commands and modes that operate on mail and netnews no
4506 longer depend on the value of mail-header-separator. Instead, they
4507 handle whatever separator the buffer happens to use.
4508
4509 *** If you set mail-signature to a value which is not t, nil, or a string,
4510 it should be an expression. When you send a message, this expression
4511 is evaluated to insert the signature.
4512
4513 *** The new Lisp library feedmail.el (version 8) enhances processing of
4514 outbound email messages. It works in coordination with other email
4515 handling packages (e.g., rmail, VM, gnus) and is responsible for
4516 putting final touches on messages and actually submitting them for
4517 transmission. Users of the emacs program "fakemail" might be
4518 especially interested in trying feedmail.
4519
4520 feedmail is not enabled by default. See comments at the top of
4521 feedmail.el for set-up instructions. Among the bigger features
4522 provided by feedmail are:
4523
4524 **** you can park outgoing messages into a disk-based queue and
4525 stimulate sending some or all of them later (handy for laptop users);
4526 there is also a queue for draft messages
4527
4528 **** you can get one last look at the prepped outbound message and
4529 be prompted for confirmation
4530
4531 **** does smart filling of address headers
4532
4533 **** can generate a MESSAGE-ID: line and a DATE: line; the date can be
4534 the time the message was written or the time it is being sent; this
4535 can make FCC copies more closely resemble copies that recipients get
4536
4537 **** you can specify an arbitrary function for actually transmitting
4538 the message; included in feedmail are interfaces for /bin/[r]mail,
4539 /usr/lib/sendmail, and elisp smtpmail; it's easy to write a new
4540 function for something else (10-20 lines of elisp)
4541
4542 ** Dired changes
4543
4544 *** The Dired function dired-do-toggle, which toggles marked and unmarked
4545 files, is now bound to "t" instead of "T".
4546
4547 *** dired-at-point has been added to ffap.el. It allows one to easily
4548 run Dired on the directory name at point.
4549
4550 *** Dired has a new command: %g. It searches the contents of
4551 files in the directory and marks each file that contains a match
4552 for a specified regexp.
4553
4554 ** VC Changes
4555
4556 *** New option vc-ignore-vc-files lets you turn off version control
4557 conveniently.
4558
4559 *** VC Dired has been completely rewritten. It is now much
4560 faster, especially for CVS, and works very similar to ordinary
4561 Dired.
4562
4563 VC Dired is invoked by typing C-x v d and entering the name of the
4564 directory to display. By default, VC Dired gives you a recursive
4565 listing of all files at or below the given directory which are
4566 currently locked (for CVS, all files not up-to-date are shown).
4567
4568 You can change the listing format by setting vc-dired-recurse to nil,
4569 then it shows only the given directory, and you may also set
4570 vc-dired-terse-display to nil, then it shows all files under version
4571 control plus the names of any subdirectories, so that you can type `i'
4572 on such lines to insert them manually, as in ordinary Dired.
4573
4574 All Dired commands operate normally in VC Dired, except for `v', which
4575 is redefined as the version control prefix. That means you may type
4576 `v l', `v =' etc. to invoke `vc-print-log', `vc-diff' and the like on
4577 the file named in the current Dired buffer line. `v v' invokes
4578 `vc-next-action' on this file, or on all files currently marked.
4579
4580 The new command `v t' (vc-dired-toggle-terse-mode) allows you to
4581 toggle between terse display (only locked files) and full display (all
4582 VC files plus subdirectories). There is also a special command,
4583 `* l', to mark all files currently locked.
4584
4585 Giving a prefix argument to C-x v d now does the same thing as in
4586 ordinary Dired: it allows you to supply additional options for the ls
4587 command in the minibuffer, to fine-tune VC Dired's output.
4588
4589 *** Under CVS, if you merge changes from the repository into a working
4590 file, and CVS detects conflicts, VC now offers to start an ediff
4591 session to resolve them.
4592
4593 Alternatively, you can use the new command `vc-resolve-conflicts' to
4594 resolve conflicts in a file at any time. It works in any buffer that
4595 contains conflict markers as generated by rcsmerge (which is what CVS
4596 uses as well).
4597
4598 *** You can now transfer changes between branches, using the new
4599 command vc-merge (C-x v m). It is implemented for RCS and CVS. When
4600 you invoke it in a buffer under version-control, you can specify
4601 either an entire branch or a pair of versions, and the changes on that
4602 branch or between the two versions are merged into the working file.
4603 If this results in any conflicts, they may be resolved interactively,
4604 using ediff.
4605
4606 ** Changes in Font Lock
4607
4608 *** The face and variable previously known as font-lock-reference-face
4609 are now called font-lock-constant-face to better reflect their typical
4610 use for highlighting constants and labels. (Its face properties are
4611 unchanged.) The variable font-lock-reference-face remains for now for
4612 compatibility reasons, but its value is font-lock-constant-face.
4613
4614 ** Frame name display changes
4615
4616 *** The command set-frame-name lets you set the name of the current
4617 frame. You can use the new command select-frame-by-name to select and
4618 raise a frame; this is mostly useful on character-only terminals, or
4619 when many frames are invisible or iconified.
4620
4621 *** On character-only terminal (not a window system), changing the
4622 frame name is now reflected on the mode line and in the Buffers/Frames
4623 menu.
4624
4625 ** Comint (subshell) changes
4626
4627 *** In Comint modes, the commands to kill, stop or interrupt a
4628 subjob now also kill pending input. This is for compatibility
4629 with ordinary shells, where the signal characters do this.
4630
4631 *** There are new commands in Comint mode.
4632
4633 C-c C-x fetches the "next" line from the input history;
4634 that is, the line after the last line you got.
4635 You can use this command to fetch successive lines, one by one.
4636
4637 C-c SPC accumulates lines of input. More precisely, it arranges to
4638 send the current line together with the following line, when you send
4639 the following line.
4640
4641 C-c C-a if repeated twice consecutively now moves to the process mark,
4642 which separates the pending input from the subprocess output and the
4643 previously sent input.
4644
4645 C-c M-r now runs comint-previous-matching-input-from-input;
4646 it searches for a previous command, using the current pending input
4647 as the search string.
4648
4649 *** New option compilation-scroll-output can be set to scroll
4650 automatically in compilation-mode windows.
4651
4652 ** C mode changes
4653
4654 *** Multiline macros are now handled, both as they affect indentation,
4655 and as recognized syntax. New syntactic symbol cpp-macro-cont is
4656 assigned to second and subsequent lines of a multiline macro
4657 definition.
4658
4659 *** A new style "user" which captures all non-hook-ified
4660 (i.e. top-level) .emacs file variable settings and customizations.
4661 Style "cc-mode" is an alias for "user" and is deprecated. "gnu"
4662 style is still the default however.
4663
4664 *** "java" style now conforms to Sun's JDK coding style.
4665
4666 *** There are new commands c-beginning-of-defun, c-end-of-defun which
4667 are alternatives which you could bind to C-M-a and C-M-e if you prefer
4668 them. They do not have key bindings by default.
4669
4670 *** New and improved implementations of M-a (c-beginning-of-statement)
4671 and M-e (c-end-of-statement).
4672
4673 *** C++ namespace blocks are supported, with new syntactic symbols
4674 namespace-open, namespace-close, and innamespace.
4675
4676 *** File local variable settings of c-file-style and c-file-offsets
4677 makes the style variables local to that buffer only.
4678
4679 *** New indentation functions c-lineup-close-paren,
4680 c-indent-one-line-block, c-lineup-dont-change.
4681
4682 *** Improvements (hopefully!) to the way CC Mode is loaded. You
4683 should now be able to do a (require 'cc-mode) to get the entire
4684 package loaded properly for customization in your .emacs file. A new
4685 variable c-initialize-on-load controls this and is t by default.
4686
4687 ** Changes to hippie-expand.
4688
4689 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-skip-space'. If
4690 non-nil, trailing spaces may be included in the abbreviation to search for,
4691 which then gives the same behavior as the original `dabbrev-expand'.
4692
4693 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-as-symbol'. If
4694 non-nil, characters of syntax '_' is considered part of the word when
4695 expanding dynamically.
4696
4697 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-no-restriction'. If
4698 non-nil, narrowed buffers are widened before they are searched.
4699
4700 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-only-buffers'. If
4701 non-empty, buffers searched are restricted to the types specified in
4702 this list. Useful for example when constructing new special-purpose
4703 expansion functions with `make-hippie-expand-function'.
4704
4705 *** Text properties of the expansion are no longer copied.
4706
4707 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
4708
4709 *** Any titleword matching a regexp in the new variable
4710 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore (case sensitive) is ignored during
4711 automatic key generation. This replaces variable
4712 bibtex-autokey-titleword-first-ignore, which only checked for matches
4713 against the first word in the title.
4714
4715 *** Autokey generation now uses all words from the title, not just
4716 capitalized words. To avoid conflicts with existing customizations,
4717 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore is set up such that words starting with
4718 lowerkey characters will still be ignored. Thus, if you want to use
4719 lowercase words from the title, you will have to overwrite the
4720 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore standard setting.
4721
4722 *** Case conversion of names and title words for automatic key
4723 generation is more flexible. Variable bibtex-autokey-preserve-case is
4724 replaced by bibtex-autokey-titleword-case-convert and
4725 bibtex-autokey-name-case-convert.
4726
4727 ** Changes in vcursor.el.
4728
4729 *** Support for character terminals is available: there is a new keymap
4730 and the vcursor will appear as an arrow between buffer text. A
4731 variable `vcursor-interpret-input' allows input from the vcursor to be
4732 entered exactly as if typed. Numerous functions, including
4733 `vcursor-compare-windows', have been rewritten to improve consistency
4734 in the selection of windows and corresponding keymaps.
4735
4736 *** vcursor options can now be altered with M-x customize under the
4737 Editing group once the package is loaded.
4738
4739 *** Loading vcursor now does not define keys by default, as this is
4740 generally a bad side effect. Use M-x customize to set
4741 vcursor-key-bindings to t to restore the old behaviour.
4742
4743 *** vcursor-auto-disable can be `copy', which turns off copying from the
4744 vcursor, but doesn't disable it, after any non-vcursor command.
4745
4746 ** Ispell changes.
4747
4748 *** You can now spell check comments and strings in the current
4749 buffer with M-x ispell-comments-and-strings. Comments and strings
4750 are identified by syntax tables in effect.
4751
4752 *** Generic region skipping implemented.
4753 A single buffer can be broken into a number of regions where text will
4754 and will not be checked. The definitions of the regions can be user
4755 defined. New applications and improvements made available by this
4756 include:
4757
4758 o URLs are automatically skipped
4759 o EMail message checking is vastly improved.
4760
4761 *** Ispell can highlight the erroneous word even on non-window terminals.
4762
4763 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
4764
4765 RefTeX has been updated in order to make it more usable with very
4766 large projects (like a several volume math book). The parser has been
4767 re-written from scratch. To get maximum speed from RefTeX, check the
4768 section `Optimizations' in the manual.
4769
4770 *** New recursive parser.
4771
4772 The old version of RefTeX created a single large buffer containing the
4773 entire multifile document in order to parse the document. The new
4774 recursive parser scans the individual files.
4775
4776 *** Parsing only part of a document.
4777
4778 Reparsing of changed document parts can now be made faster by enabling
4779 partial scans. To use this feature, read the documentation string of
4780 the variable `reftex-enable-partial-scans' and set the variable to t.
4781
4782 (setq reftex-enable-partial-scans t)
4783
4784 *** Storing parsing information in a file.
4785
4786 This can improve startup times considerably. To turn it on, use
4787
4788 (setq reftex-save-parse-info t)
4789
4790 *** Using multiple selection buffers
4791
4792 If the creation of label selection buffers is too slow (this happens
4793 for large documents), you can reuse these buffers by setting
4794
4795 (setq reftex-use-multiple-selection-buffers t)
4796
4797 *** References to external documents.
4798
4799 The LaTeX package `xr' allows to cross-reference labels in external
4800 documents. RefTeX can provide information about the external
4801 documents as well. To use this feature, set up the \externaldocument
4802 macros required by the `xr' package and rescan the document with
4803 RefTeX. The external labels can then be accessed with the `x' key in
4804 the selection buffer provided by `reftex-reference' (bound to `C-c )').
4805 The `x' key also works in the table of contents buffer.
4806
4807 *** Many more labeled LaTeX environments are recognized by default.
4808
4809 The builtin command list now covers all the standard LaTeX commands,
4810 and all of the major packages included in the LaTeX distribution.
4811
4812 Also, RefTeX now understands the \appendix macro and changes
4813 the enumeration of sections in the *toc* buffer accordingly.
4814
4815 *** Mouse support for selection and *toc* buffers
4816
4817 The mouse can now be used to select items in the selection and *toc*
4818 buffers. See also the new option `reftex-highlight-selection'.
4819
4820 *** New keymaps for selection and table of contents modes.
4821
4822 The selection processes for labels and citation keys, and the table of
4823 contents buffer now have their own keymaps: `reftex-select-label-map',
4824 `reftex-select-bib-map', `reftex-toc-map'. The selection processes
4825 have a number of new keys predefined. In particular, TAB lets you
4826 enter a label with completion. Check the on-the-fly help (press `?'
4827 at the selection prompt) or read the Info documentation to find out
4828 more.
4829
4830 *** Support for the varioref package
4831
4832 The `v' key in the label selection buffer toggles \ref versus \vref.
4833
4834 *** New hooks
4835
4836 Three new hooks can be used to redefine the way labels, references,
4837 and citations are created. These hooks are
4838 `reftex-format-label-function', `reftex-format-ref-function',
4839 `reftex-format-cite-function'.
4840
4841 *** Citations outside LaTeX
4842
4843 The command `reftex-citation' may also be used outside LaTeX (e.g. in
4844 a mail buffer). See the Info documentation for details.
4845
4846 *** Short context is no longer fontified.
4847
4848 The short context in the label menu no longer copies the
4849 fontification from the text in the buffer. If you prefer it to be
4850 fontified, use
4851
4852 (setq reftex-refontify-context t)
4853
4854 ** file-cache-minibuffer-complete now accepts a prefix argument.
4855 With a prefix argument, it does not try to do completion of
4856 the file name within its directory; it only checks for other
4857 directories that contain the same file name.
4858
4859 Thus, given the file name Makefile, and assuming that a file
4860 Makefile.in exists in the same directory, ordinary
4861 file-cache-minibuffer-complete will try to complete Makefile to
4862 Makefile.in and will therefore never look for other directories that
4863 have Makefile. A prefix argument tells it not to look for longer
4864 names such as Makefile.in, so that instead it will look for other
4865 directories--just as if the name were already complete in its present
4866 directory.
4867
4868 ** New modes and packages
4869
4870 *** There is a new alternative major mode for Perl, Cperl mode.
4871 It has many more features than Perl mode, and some people prefer
4872 it, but some do not.
4873
4874 *** There is a new major mode, M-x vhdl-mode, for editing files of VHDL
4875 code.
4876
4877 *** M-x which-function-mode enables a minor mode that displays the
4878 current function name continuously in the mode line, as you move
4879 around in a buffer.
4880
4881 Which Function mode is effective in major modes which support Imenu.
4882
4883 *** Gametree is a major mode for editing game analysis trees. The author
4884 uses it for keeping notes about his postal Chess games, but it should
4885 be helpful for other two-player games as well, as long as they have an
4886 established system of notation similar to Chess.
4887
4888 *** The new minor mode checkdoc-minor-mode provides Emacs Lisp
4889 documentation string checking for style and spelling. The style
4890 guidelines are found in the Emacs Lisp programming manual.
4891
4892 *** The net-utils package makes some common networking features
4893 available in Emacs. Some of these functions are wrappers around
4894 system utilities (ping, nslookup, etc); others are implementations of
4895 simple protocols (finger, whois) in Emacs Lisp. There are also
4896 functions to make simple connections to TCP/IP ports for debugging and
4897 the like.
4898
4899 *** highlight-changes-mode is a minor mode that uses colors to
4900 identify recently changed parts of the buffer text.
4901
4902 *** The new package `midnight' lets you specify things to be done
4903 within Emacs at midnight--by default, kill buffers that you have not
4904 used in a considerable time. To use this feature, customize
4905 the user option `midnight-mode' to t.
4906
4907 *** The file generic-x.el defines a number of simple major modes.
4908
4909 apache-generic-mode: For Apache and NCSA httpd configuration files
4910 samba-generic-mode: Samba configuration files
4911 fvwm-generic-mode: For fvwm initialization files
4912 x-resource-generic-mode: For X resource files
4913 hosts-generic-mode: For hosts files (.rhosts, /etc/hosts, etc)
4914 mailagent-rules-generic-mode: For mailagent .rules files
4915 javascript-generic-mode: For JavaScript files
4916 vrml-generic-mode: For VRML files
4917 java-manifest-generic-mode: For Java MANIFEST files
4918 java-properties-generic-mode: For Java property files
4919 mailrc-generic-mode: For .mailrc files
4920
4921 Platform-specific modes:
4922
4923 prototype-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V prototype files
4924 pkginfo-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V pkginfo files
4925 alias-generic-mode: For C shell alias files
4926 inf-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INF files
4927 ini-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INI files
4928 reg-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Registry files
4929 bat-generic-mode: For MS-Windows BAT scripts
4930 rc-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Resource files
4931 rul-generic-mode: For InstallShield scripts
4932 \f
4933 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 since the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
4934
4935 ** If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode,
4936 use -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line.
4937 That will force Emacs to read that file in unibyte mode.
4938 Otherwise, the file will be loaded and byte-compiled in multibyte mode.
4939
4940 Thus, each lisp file is read in a consistent way regardless of whether
4941 you started Emacs with --unibyte, so that a Lisp program gives
4942 consistent results regardless of how Emacs was started.
4943
4944 ** The new function assoc-default is useful for searching an alist,
4945 and using a default value if the key is not found there. You can
4946 specify a comparison predicate, so this function is useful for
4947 searching comparing a string against an alist of regular expressions.
4948
4949 ** The functions unibyte-char-to-multibyte and
4950 multibyte-char-to-unibyte convert between unibyte and multibyte
4951 character codes, in a way that is appropriate for the current language
4952 environment.
4953
4954 ** The functions read-event, read-char and read-char-exclusive now
4955 take two optional arguments. PROMPT, if non-nil, specifies a prompt
4956 string. SUPPRESS-INPUT-METHOD, if non-nil, says to disable the
4957 current input method for reading this one event.
4958
4959 ** Two new variables print-escape-nonascii and print-escape-multibyte
4960 now control whether to output certain characters as
4961 backslash-sequences. print-escape-nonascii applies to single-byte
4962 non-ASCII characters; print-escape-multibyte applies to multibyte
4963 characters. Both of these variables are used only when printing
4964 in readable fashion (prin1 uses them, princ does not).
4965 \f
4966 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 before the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
4967
4968 ** Compiled Emacs Lisp files made with the modified "MBSK" version
4969 of Emacs 20.2 do not work in Emacs 20.3.
4970
4971 ** Buffer positions are now measured in characters, as they were
4972 in Emacs 19 and before. This means that (forward-char 1)
4973 always increases point by 1.
4974
4975 The function chars-in-region now just subtracts its arguments. It is
4976 considered obsolete. The function char-boundary-p has been deleted.
4977
4978 See below for additional changes relating to multibyte characters.
4979
4980 ** defcustom, defface and defgroup now accept the keyword `:version'.
4981 Use this to specify in which version of Emacs a certain variable's
4982 default value changed. For example,
4983
4984 (defcustom foo-max 34 "*Maximum number of foo's allowed."
4985 :type 'integer
4986 :group 'foo
4987 :version "20.3")
4988
4989 (defgroup foo-group nil "The foo group."
4990 :version "20.3")
4991
4992 If an entire new group is added or the variables in it have the
4993 default values changed, then just add a `:version' to that group. It
4994 is recommended that new packages added to the distribution contain a
4995 `:version' in the top level group.
4996
4997 This information is used to control the customize-changed-options command.
4998
4999 ** It is now an error to change the value of a symbol whose name
5000 starts with a colon--if it is interned in the standard obarray.
5001
5002 However, setting such a symbol to its proper value, which is that
5003 symbol itself, is not an error. This is for the sake of programs that
5004 support previous Emacs versions by explicitly setting these variables
5005 to themselves.
5006
5007 If you set the variable keyword-symbols-constant-flag to nil,
5008 this error is suppressed, and you can set these symbols to any
5009 values whatever.
5010
5011 ** There is a new debugger command, R.
5012 It evaluates an expression like e, but saves the result
5013 in the buffer *Debugger-record*.
5014
5015 ** Frame-local variables.
5016
5017 You can now make a variable local to various frames. To do this, call
5018 the function make-variable-frame-local; this enables frames to have
5019 local bindings for that variable.
5020
5021 These frame-local bindings are actually frame parameters: you create a
5022 frame-local binding in a specific frame by calling
5023 modify-frame-parameters and specifying the variable name as the
5024 parameter name.
5025
5026 Buffer-local bindings take precedence over frame-local bindings.
5027 Thus, if the current buffer has a buffer-local binding, that binding is
5028 active; otherwise, if the selected frame has a frame-local binding,
5029 that binding is active; otherwise, the default binding is active.
5030
5031 It would not be hard to implement window-local bindings, but it is not
5032 clear that this would be very useful; windows tend to come and go in a
5033 very transitory fashion, so that trying to produce any specific effect
5034 through a window-local binding would not be very robust.
5035
5036 ** `sregexq' and `sregex' are two new functions for constructing
5037 "symbolic regular expressions." These are Lisp expressions that, when
5038 evaluated, yield conventional string-based regexps. The symbolic form
5039 makes it easier to construct, read, and maintain complex patterns.
5040 See the documentation in sregex.el.
5041
5042 ** parse-partial-sexp's return value has an additional element which
5043 is used to pass information along if you pass it to another call to
5044 parse-partial-sexp, starting its scan where the first call ended.
5045 The contents of this field are not yet finalized.
5046
5047 ** eval-region now accepts a fourth optional argument READ-FUNCTION.
5048 If it is non-nil, that function is used instead of `read'.
5049
5050 ** unload-feature by default removes the feature's functions from
5051 known hooks to avoid trouble, but a package providing FEATURE can
5052 define a hook FEATURE-unload-hook to be run by unload-feature instead.
5053
5054 ** read-from-minibuffer no longer returns the argument DEFAULT-VALUE
5055 when the user enters empty input. It now returns the null string, as
5056 it did in Emacs 19. The default value is made available in the
5057 history via M-n, but it is not applied here as a default.
5058
5059 The other, more specialized minibuffer-reading functions continue to
5060 return the default value (not the null string) when the user enters
5061 empty input.
5062
5063 ** The new variable read-buffer-function controls which routine to use
5064 for selecting buffers. For example, if you set this variable to
5065 `iswitchb-read-buffer', iswitchb will be used to read buffer names.
5066 Other functions can also be used if they accept the same arguments as
5067 `read-buffer' and return the selected buffer name as a string.
5068
5069 ** The new function read-passwd reads a password from the terminal,
5070 echoing a period for each character typed. It takes three arguments:
5071 a prompt string, a flag which says "read it twice to make sure", and a
5072 default password to use if the user enters nothing.
5073
5074 ** The variable fill-nobreak-predicate gives major modes a way to
5075 specify not to break a line at certain places. Its value is a
5076 function which is called with no arguments, with point located at the
5077 place where a break is being considered. If the function returns
5078 non-nil, then the line won't be broken there.
5079
5080 ** window-end now takes an optional second argument, UPDATE.
5081 If this is non-nil, then the function always returns an accurate
5082 up-to-date value for the buffer position corresponding to the
5083 end of the window, even if this requires computation.
5084
5085 ** other-buffer now takes an optional argument FRAME
5086 which specifies which frame's buffer list to use.
5087 If it is nil, that means use the selected frame's buffer list.
5088
5089 ** The new variable buffer-display-time, always local in every buffer,
5090 holds the value of (current-time) as of the last time that a window
5091 was directed to display this buffer.
5092
5093 ** It is now meaningful to compare two window-configuration objects
5094 with `equal'. Two window-configuration objects are equal if they
5095 describe equivalent arrangements of windows, in the same frame--in
5096 other words, if they would give the same results if passed to
5097 set-window-configuration.
5098
5099 ** compare-window-configurations is a new function that compares two
5100 window configurations loosely. It ignores differences in saved buffer
5101 positions and scrolling, and considers only the structure and sizes of
5102 windows and the choice of buffers to display.
5103
5104 ** The variable minor-mode-overriding-map-alist allows major modes to
5105 override the key bindings of a minor mode. The elements of this alist
5106 look like the elements of minor-mode-map-alist: (VARIABLE . KEYMAP).
5107
5108 If the VARIABLE in an element of minor-mode-overriding-map-alist has a
5109 non-nil value, the paired KEYMAP is active, and totally overrides the
5110 map (if any) specified for the same variable in minor-mode-map-alist.
5111
5112 minor-mode-overriding-map-alist is automatically local in all buffers,
5113 and it is meant to be set by major modes.
5114
5115 ** The function match-string-no-properties is like match-string
5116 except that it discards all text properties from the result.
5117
5118 ** The function load-average now accepts an optional argument
5119 USE-FLOATS. If it is non-nil, the load average values are returned as
5120 floating point numbers, rather than as integers to be divided by 100.
5121
5122 ** The new variable temporary-file-directory specifies the directory
5123 to use for creating temporary files. The default value is determined
5124 in a reasonable way for your operating system; on GNU and Unix systems
5125 it is based on the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables.
5126
5127 ** Menu changes
5128
5129 *** easymenu.el now uses the new menu item format and supports the
5130 keywords :visible and :filter. The existing keyword :keys is now
5131 better supported.
5132
5133 The variable `easy-menu-precalculate-equivalent-keybindings' controls
5134 a new feature which calculates keyboard equivalents for the menu when
5135 you define the menu. The default is t. If you rarely use menus, you
5136 can set the variable to nil to disable this precalculation feature;
5137 then the calculation is done only if you use the menu bar.
5138
5139 *** A new format for menu items is supported.
5140
5141 In a keymap, a key binding that has the format
5142 (STRING . REAL-BINDING) or (STRING HELP-STRING . REAL-BINDING)
5143 defines a menu item. Now a menu item definition may also be a list that
5144 starts with the symbol `menu-item'.
5145
5146 The format is:
5147 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) or
5148 (menu-item ITEM-NAME REAL-BINDING . ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST)
5149 where ITEM-NAME is an expression which evaluates to the menu item
5150 string, and ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST has the form of a property list.
5151 The supported properties include
5152
5153 :enable FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
5154 item is enabled.
5155 :visible FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
5156 item should appear in the menu.
5157 :filter FILTER-FN
5158 FILTER-FN is a function of one argument,
5159 which will be REAL-BINDING.
5160 It should return a binding to use instead.
5161 :keys DESCRIPTION
5162 DESCRIPTION is a string that describes an equivalent keyboard
5163 binding for for REAL-BINDING. DESCRIPTION is expanded with
5164 `substitute-command-keys' before it is used.
5165 :key-sequence KEY-SEQUENCE
5166 KEY-SEQUENCE is a key-sequence for an equivalent
5167 keyboard binding.
5168 :key-sequence nil
5169 This means that the command normally has no
5170 keyboard equivalent.
5171 :help HELP HELP is the extra help string (not currently used).
5172 :button (TYPE . SELECTED)
5173 TYPE is :toggle or :radio.
5174 SELECTED is a form, to be evaluated, and its
5175 value says whether this button is currently selected.
5176
5177 Buttons are at the moment only simulated by prefixes in the menu.
5178 Eventually ordinary X-buttons may be supported.
5179
5180 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) defines unselectable item.
5181
5182 ** New event types
5183
5184 *** The new event type `mouse-wheel' is generated by a wheel on a
5185 mouse (such as the MS Intellimouse). The event contains a delta that
5186 corresponds to the amount and direction that the wheel is rotated,
5187 which is typically used to implement a scroll or zoom. The format is:
5188
5189 (mouse-wheel POSITION DELTA)
5190
5191 where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
5192 same format as a mouse-click event, and DELTA is a signed number
5193 indicating the number of increments by which the wheel was rotated. A
5194 negative DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated backwards, towards
5195 the user, and a positive DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated
5196 forward, away from the user.
5197
5198 As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
5199
5200 *** The new event type `drag-n-drop' is generated when a group of
5201 files is selected in an application outside of Emacs, and then dragged
5202 and dropped onto an Emacs frame. The event contains a list of
5203 filenames that were dragged and dropped, which are then typically
5204 loaded into Emacs. The format is:
5205
5206 (drag-n-drop POSITION FILES)
5207
5208 where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
5209 same format as a mouse-click event, and FILES is the list of filenames
5210 that were dragged and dropped.
5211
5212 As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
5213
5214 ** Changes relating to multibyte characters.
5215
5216 *** The variable enable-multibyte-characters is now read-only;
5217 any attempt to set it directly signals an error. The only way
5218 to change this value in an existing buffer is with set-buffer-multibyte.
5219
5220 *** In a string constant, `\ ' now stands for "nothing at all". You
5221 can use it to terminate a hex escape which is followed by a character
5222 that could otherwise be read as part of the hex escape.
5223
5224 *** String indices are now measured in characters, as they were
5225 in Emacs 19 and before.
5226
5227 The function chars-in-string has been deleted.
5228 The function concat-chars has been renamed to `string'.
5229
5230 *** The function set-buffer-multibyte sets the flag in the current
5231 buffer that says whether the buffer uses multibyte representation or
5232 unibyte representation. If the argument is nil, it selects unibyte
5233 representation. Otherwise it selects multibyte representation.
5234
5235 This function does not change the contents of the buffer, viewed
5236 as a sequence of bytes. However, it does change the contents
5237 viewed as characters; a sequence of two bytes which is treated as
5238 one character when the buffer uses multibyte representation
5239 will count as two characters using unibyte representation.
5240
5241 This function sets enable-multibyte-characters to record which
5242 representation is in use. It also adjusts various data in the buffer
5243 (including its markers, overlays and text properties) so that they are
5244 consistent with the new representation.
5245
5246 *** string-make-multibyte takes a string and converts it to multibyte
5247 representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care
5248 about the representation, because Emacs converts when necessary;
5249 however, it makes a difference when you compare strings.
5250
5251 The conversion of non-ASCII characters works by adding the value of
5252 nonascii-insert-offset to each character, or by translating them
5253 using the table nonascii-translation-table.
5254
5255 *** string-make-unibyte takes a string and converts it to unibyte
5256 representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care about the
5257 representation, but it makes a difference when you compare strings.
5258
5259 The conversion from multibyte to unibyte representation
5260 loses information; the only time Emacs performs it automatically
5261 is when inserting a multibyte string into a unibyte buffer.
5262
5263 *** string-as-multibyte takes a string, and returns another string
5264 which contains the same bytes, but treats them as multibyte.
5265
5266 *** string-as-unibyte takes a string, and returns another string
5267 which contains the same bytes, but treats them as unibyte.
5268
5269 *** The new function compare-strings lets you compare
5270 portions of two strings. Unibyte strings are converted to multibyte,
5271 so that a unibyte string can match a multibyte string.
5272 You can specify whether to ignore case or not.
5273
5274 *** assoc-ignore-case now uses compare-strings so that
5275 it can treat unibyte and multibyte strings as equal.
5276
5277 *** Regular expression operations and buffer string searches now
5278 convert the search pattern to multibyte or unibyte to accord with the
5279 buffer or string being searched.
5280
5281 One consequence is that you cannot always use \200-\377 inside of
5282 [...] to match all non-ASCII characters. This does still work when
5283 searching or matching a unibyte buffer or string, but not when
5284 searching or matching a multibyte string. Unfortunately, there is no
5285 obvious choice of syntax to use within [...] for that job. But, what
5286 you want is just to match all non-ASCII characters, the regular
5287 expression [^\0-\177] works for it.
5288
5289 *** Structure of coding system changed.
5290
5291 All coding systems (including aliases and subsidiaries) are named
5292 by symbols; the symbol's `coding-system' property is a vector
5293 which defines the coding system. Aliases share the same vector
5294 as the principal name, so that altering the contents of this
5295 vector affects the principal name and its aliases. You can define
5296 your own alias name of a coding system by the function
5297 define-coding-system-alias.
5298
5299 The coding system definition includes a property list of its own. Use
5300 the new functions `coding-system-get' and `coding-system-put' to
5301 access such coding system properties as post-read-conversion,
5302 pre-write-conversion, character-translation-table-for-decode,
5303 character-translation-table-for-encode, mime-charset, and
5304 safe-charsets. For instance, (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1
5305 'mime-charset) gives the corresponding MIME-charset parameter
5306 `iso-8859-1'.
5307
5308 Among the coding system properties listed above, safe-charsets is new.
5309 The value of this property is a list of character sets which this
5310 coding system can correctly encode and decode. For instance:
5311 (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1 'safe-charsets) => (ascii latin-iso8859-1)
5312
5313 Here, "correctly encode" means that the encoded character sets can
5314 also be handled safely by systems other than Emacs as far as they
5315 are capable of that coding system. Though, Emacs itself can encode
5316 the other character sets and read it back correctly.
5317
5318 *** The new function select-safe-coding-system can be used to find a
5319 proper coding system for encoding the specified region or string.
5320 This function requires a user interaction.
5321
5322 *** The new functions find-coding-systems-region and
5323 find-coding-systems-string are helper functions used by
5324 select-safe-coding-system. They return a list of all proper coding
5325 systems to encode a text in some region or string. If you don't want
5326 a user interaction, use one of these functions instead of
5327 select-safe-coding-system.
5328
5329 *** The explicit encoding and decoding functions, such as
5330 decode-coding-region and encode-coding-string, now set
5331 last-coding-system-used to reflect the actual way encoding or decoding
5332 was done.
5333
5334 *** The new function detect-coding-with-language-environment can be
5335 used to detect a coding system of text according to priorities of
5336 coding systems used by some specific language environment.
5337
5338 *** The functions detect-coding-region and detect-coding-string always
5339 return a list if the arg HIGHEST is nil. Thus, if only ASCII
5340 characters are found, they now return a list of single element
5341 `undecided' or its subsidiaries.
5342
5343 *** The new functions coding-system-change-eol-conversion and
5344 coding-system-change-text-conversion can be used to get a different
5345 coding system than what specified only in how end-of-line or text is
5346 converted.
5347
5348 *** The new function set-selection-coding-system can be used to set a
5349 coding system for communicating with other X clients.
5350
5351 *** The function `map-char-table' now passes as argument only valid
5352 character codes, plus generic characters that stand for entire
5353 character sets or entire subrows of a character set. In other words,
5354 each time `map-char-table' calls its FUNCTION argument, the key value
5355 either will be a valid individual character code, or will stand for a
5356 range of characters.
5357
5358 *** The new function `char-valid-p' can be used for checking whether a
5359 Lisp object is a valid character code or not.
5360
5361 *** The new function `charset-after' returns a charset of a character
5362 in the current buffer at position POS.
5363
5364 *** Input methods are now implemented using the variable
5365 input-method-function. If this is non-nil, its value should be a
5366 function; then, whenever Emacs reads an input event that is a printing
5367 character with no modifier bits, it calls that function, passing the
5368 event as an argument. Often this function will read more input, first
5369 binding input-method-function to nil.
5370
5371 The return value should be a list of the events resulting from input
5372 method processing. These events will be processed sequentially as
5373 input, before resorting to unread-command-events. Events returned by
5374 the input method function are not passed to the input method function,
5375 not even if they are printing characters with no modifier bits.
5376
5377 The input method function is not called when reading the second and
5378 subsequent events of a key sequence.
5379
5380 *** You can customize any language environment by using
5381 set-language-environment-hook and exit-language-environment-hook.
5382
5383 The hook `exit-language-environment-hook' should be used to undo
5384 customizations that you made with set-language-environment-hook. For
5385 instance, if you set up a special key binding for a specific language
5386 environment by set-language-environment-hook, you should set up
5387 exit-language-environment-hook to restore the normal key binding.
5388 \f
5389 * Changes in Emacs 20.1
5390
5391 ** Emacs has a new facility for customization of its many user
5392 options. It is called M-x customize. With this facility you can look
5393 at the many user options in an organized way; they are grouped into a
5394 tree structure.
5395
5396 M-x customize also knows what sorts of values are legitimate for each
5397 user option and ensures that you don't use invalid values.
5398
5399 With M-x customize, you can set options either for the present Emacs
5400 session or permanently. (Permanent settings are stored automatically
5401 in your .emacs file.)
5402
5403 ** Scroll bars are now on the left side of the window.
5404 You can change this with M-x customize-option scroll-bar-mode.
5405
5406 ** The mode line no longer includes the string `Emacs'.
5407 This makes more space in the mode line for other information.
5408
5409 ** When you select a region with the mouse, it is highlighted
5410 immediately afterward. At that time, if you type the DELETE key, it
5411 kills the region.
5412
5413 The BACKSPACE key, and the ASCII character DEL, do not do this; they
5414 delete the character before point, as usual.
5415
5416 ** In an incremental search the whole current match is highlighted
5417 on terminals which support this. (You can disable this feature
5418 by setting search-highlight to nil.)
5419
5420 ** In the minibuffer, in some cases, you can now use M-n to
5421 insert the default value into the minibuffer as text. In effect,
5422 the default value (if the minibuffer routines know it) is tacked
5423 onto the history "in the future". (The more normal use of the
5424 history list is to use M-p to insert minibuffer input used in the
5425 past.)
5426
5427 ** In Text mode, now only blank lines separate paragraphs.
5428 This makes it possible to get the full benefit of Adaptive Fill mode
5429 in Text mode, and other modes derived from it (such as Mail mode).
5430 TAB in Text mode now runs the command indent-relative; this
5431 makes a practical difference only when you use indented paragraphs.
5432
5433 As a result, the old Indented Text mode is now identical to Text mode,
5434 and is an alias for it.
5435
5436 If you want spaces at the beginning of a line to start a paragraph,
5437 use the new mode, Paragraph Indent Text mode.
5438
5439 ** Scrolling changes
5440
5441 *** Scroll commands to scroll a whole screen now preserve the screen
5442 position of the cursor, if scroll-preserve-screen-position is non-nil.
5443
5444 In this mode, if you scroll several screens back and forth, finishing
5445 on the same screen where you started, the cursor goes back to the line
5446 where it started.
5447
5448 *** If you set scroll-conservatively to a small number, then when you
5449 move point a short distance off the screen, Emacs will scroll the
5450 screen just far enough to bring point back on screen, provided that
5451 does not exceed `scroll-conservatively' lines.
5452
5453 *** The new variable scroll-margin says how close point can come to the
5454 top or bottom of a window. It is a number of screen lines; if point
5455 comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of the window, Emacs
5456 recenters the window.
5457
5458 ** International character set support (MULE)
5459
5460 Emacs now supports a wide variety of international character sets,
5461 including European variants of the Latin alphabet, as well as Chinese,
5462 Devanagari (Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopian, Greek, IPA, Japanese,
5463 Korean, Lao, Russian, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. These
5464 features have been merged from the modified version of Emacs known as
5465 MULE (for "MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs")
5466
5467 Users of these scripts have established many more-or-less standard
5468 coding systems for storing files. Emacs uses a single multibyte
5469 character encoding within Emacs buffers; it can translate from a wide
5470 variety of coding systems when reading a file and can translate back
5471 into any of these coding systems when saving a file.
5472
5473 Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used,
5474 generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs
5475 supports various "input methods", typically one for each script or
5476 language, to make it possible to type them.
5477
5478 The Emacs internal multibyte encoding represents a non-ASCII
5479 character as a sequence of bytes in the range 0200 through 0377.
5480
5481 The new prefix key C-x RET is used for commands that pertain
5482 to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods.
5483
5484 You can disable multibyte character support as follows:
5485
5486 (setq-default enable-multibyte-characters nil)
5487
5488 Calling the function standard-display-european turns off multibyte
5489 characters, unless you specify a non-nil value for the second
5490 argument, AUTO. This provides compatibility for people who are
5491 already using standard-display-european to continue using unibyte
5492 characters for their work until they want to change.
5493
5494 *** Input methods
5495
5496 An input method is a kind of character conversion which is designed
5497 specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language
5498 has its own input method (though sometimes several languages which use
5499 the same characters can share one input method). Some languages
5500 support several input methods.
5501
5502 The simplest kind of input method works by mapping ASCII letters into
5503 another alphabet. This is how the Greek and Russian input methods
5504 work.
5505
5506 A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of
5507 characters into one letter. Many European input methods use
5508 composition to produce a single non-ASCII letter from a sequence which
5509 consists of a letter followed by diacritics. For example, a' is one
5510 sequence of two characters that might be converted into a single
5511 letter.
5512
5513 The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed
5514 by conversion. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way.
5515 First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone
5516 marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are
5517 mapped into one syllable sign--most often a "composite character".
5518
5519 None of these methods works very well for Chinese and Japanese, so
5520 they are handled specially. First you input a whole word using
5521 phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs
5522 converts it into one or more characters using a large dictionary.
5523
5524 Since there is more than one way to represent a phonetically spelled
5525 word using Chinese characters, Emacs can only guess which one to use;
5526 typically these input methods give you a way to say "guess again" if
5527 the first guess is wrong.
5528
5529 *** The command C-x RET m (toggle-enable-multibyte-characters)
5530 turns multibyte character support on or off for the current buffer.
5531
5532 If multibyte character support is turned off in a buffer, then each
5533 byte is a single character, even codes 0200 through 0377--exactly as
5534 they did in Emacs 19.34. This includes the features for support for
5535 the European characters, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2.
5536
5537 However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to
5538 use ISO Latin-1 or ISO Latin-2; the Emacs multibyte character set
5539 includes all the characters in these character sets, and Emacs can
5540 translate automatically to and from either one.
5541
5542 *** Visiting a file in unibyte mode.
5543
5544 Turning off multibyte character support in the buffer after visiting a
5545 file with multibyte code conversion will display the multibyte
5546 sequences already in the buffer, byte by byte. This is probably not
5547 what you want.
5548
5549 If you want to edit a file of unibyte characters (Latin-1, for
5550 example), you can do it by specifying `no-conversion' as the coding
5551 system when reading the file. This coding system also turns off
5552 multibyte characters in that buffer.
5553
5554 If you turn off multibyte character support entirely, this turns off
5555 character conversion as well.
5556
5557 *** Displaying international characters on X Windows.
5558
5559 A font for X typically displays just one alphabet or script.
5560 Therefore, displaying the entire range of characters Emacs supports
5561 requires using many fonts.
5562
5563 Therefore, Emacs now supports "fontsets". Each fontset is a
5564 collection of fonts, each assigned to a range of character codes.
5565
5566 A fontset has a name, like a font. Individual fonts are defined by
5567 the X server; fontsets are defined within Emacs itself. But once you
5568 have defined a fontset, you can use it in a face or a frame just as
5569 you would use a font.
5570
5571 If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it
5572 specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot
5573 display that character. It will display an empty box instead.
5574
5575 The fontset height and width are determined by the ASCII characters
5576 (that is, by the font in the fontset which is used for ASCII
5577 characters). If another font in the fontset has a different height,
5578 or the wrong width, then characters assigned to that font are clipped,
5579 and displayed within a box if highlight-wrong-size-font is non-nil.
5580
5581 *** Defining fontsets.
5582
5583 Emacs does not use any fontset by default. Its default font is still
5584 chosen as in previous versions. You can tell Emacs to use a fontset
5585 with the `-fn' option or the `Font' X resource.
5586
5587 Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value
5588 of standard-fontset-spec. This fontset's short name is
5589 `fontset-standard'. Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the
5590 standard fontset are created automatically.
5591
5592 If you specify a default ASCII font with the `Font' resource or `-fn'
5593 argument, a fontset is generated from it. This works by replacing the
5594 FOUNDARY, FAMILY, ADD_STYLE, and AVERAGE_WIDTH fields of the font name
5595 with `*' then using this to specify a fontset. This fontset's short
5596 name is `fontset-startup'.
5597
5598 Emacs checks resources of the form Fontset-N where N is 0, 1, 2...
5599 The resource value should have this form:
5600 FONTSET-NAME, [CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME]...
5601 FONTSET-NAME should have the form of a standard X font name, except:
5602 * most fields should be just the wild card "*".
5603 * the CHARSET_REGISTRY field should be "fontset"
5604 * the CHARSET_ENCODING field can be any nickname of the fontset.
5605 The construct CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME can be repeated any number
5606 of times; each time specifies the font for one character set.
5607 CHARSET-NAME should be the name name of a character set, and
5608 FONT-NAME should specify an actual font to use for that character set.
5609
5610 Each of these fontsets has an alias which is made from the
5611 last two font name fields, CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING.
5612 You can refer to the fontset by that alias or by its full name.
5613
5614 For any character sets that you don't mention, Emacs tries to choose a
5615 font by substituting into FONTSET-NAME. For instance, with the
5616 following resource,
5617 Emacs*Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24
5618 the font for ASCII is generated as below:
5619 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1
5620 Here is the substitution rule:
5621 Change CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING to that of the charset
5622 defined in the variable x-charset-registries. For instance, ASCII has
5623 the entry (ascii . "ISO8859-1") in this variable. Then, reduce
5624 sequences of wild cards -*-...-*- with a single wildcard -*-.
5625 (This is to prevent use of auto-scaled fonts.)
5626
5627 The function which processes the fontset resource value to create the
5628 fontset is called create-fontset-from-fontset-spec. You can also call
5629 that function explicitly to create a fontset.
5630
5631 With the X resource Emacs.Font, you can specify a fontset name just
5632 like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset
5633 name in a wildcard resource like Emacs*Font--that tries to specify the
5634 fontset for other purposes including menus, and they cannot handle
5635 fontsets.
5636
5637 *** The command M-x set-language-environment sets certain global Emacs
5638 defaults for a particular choice of language.
5639
5640 Selecting a language environment typically specifies a default input
5641 method and which coding systems to recognize automatically when
5642 visiting files. However, it does not try to reread files you have
5643 already visited; the text in those buffers is not affected. The
5644 language environment may also specify a default choice of coding
5645 system for new files that you create.
5646
5647 It makes no difference which buffer is current when you use
5648 set-language-environment, because these defaults apply globally to the
5649 whole Emacs session.
5650
5651 For example, M-x set-language-environment RET Latin-1 RET
5652 chooses the Latin-1 character set. In the .emacs file, you can do this
5653 with (set-language-environment "Latin-1").
5654
5655 *** The command C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system)
5656 specifies the file coding system for the current buffer. This
5657 specifies what sort of character code translation to do when saving
5658 the file. As an argument, you must specify the name of one of the
5659 coding systems that Emacs supports.
5660
5661 *** The command C-x RET c (universal-coding-system-argument)
5662 lets you specify a coding system when you read or write a file.
5663 This command uses the minibuffer to read a coding system name.
5664 After you exit the minibuffer, the specified coding system
5665 is used for *the immediately following command*.
5666
5667 So if the immediately following command is a command to read or
5668 write a file, it uses the specified coding system for that file.
5669
5670 If the immediately following command does not use the coding system,
5671 then C-x RET c ultimately has no effect.
5672
5673 For example, C-x RET c iso-8859-1 RET C-x C-f temp RET
5674 visits the file `temp' treating it as ISO Latin-1.
5675
5676 *** You can specify the coding system for a file using the -*-
5677 construct. Include `coding: CODINGSYSTEM;' inside the -*-...-*-
5678 to specify use of coding system CODINGSYSTEM. You can also
5679 specify the coding system in a local variable list at the end
5680 of the file.
5681
5682 *** The command C-x RET t (set-terminal-coding-system) specifies
5683 the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a character
5684 code for terminal output, all characters output to the terminal are
5685 translated into that character code.
5686
5687 This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built in
5688 various countries to support the languages of those countries.
5689
5690 By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all.
5691
5692 *** The command C-x RET k (set-keyboard-coding-system) specifies
5693 the coding system for keyboard input.
5694
5695 Character code translation of keyboard input is useful for terminals
5696 with keys that send non-ASCII graphic characters--for example,
5697 some terminals designed for ISO Latin-1 or subsets of it.
5698
5699 By default, keyboard input is not translated at all.
5700
5701 Character code translation of keyboard input is similar to using an
5702 input method, in that both define sequences of keyboard input that
5703 translate into single characters. However, input methods are designed
5704 to be convenient for interactive use, while the code translations are
5705 designed to work with terminals.
5706
5707 *** The command C-x RET p (set-buffer-process-coding-system)
5708 specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess.
5709 This command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess
5710 has its own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify
5711 translation to and from a particular subprocess by giving the command
5712 in the corresponding buffer.
5713
5714 By default, process input and output are not translated at all.
5715
5716 *** The variable file-name-coding-system specifies the coding system
5717 to use for encoding file names before operating on them.
5718 It is also used for decoding file names obtained from the system.
5719
5720 *** The command C-\ (toggle-input-method) activates or deactivates
5721 an input method. If no input method has been selected before, the
5722 command prompts for you to specify the language and input method you
5723 want to use.
5724
5725 C-u C-\ (select-input-method) lets you switch to a different input
5726 method. C-h C-\ (or C-h I) describes the current input method.
5727
5728 *** Some input methods remap the keyboard to emulate various keyboard
5729 layouts commonly used for particular scripts. How to do this
5730 remapping properly depends on your actual keyboard layout. To specify
5731 which layout your keyboard has, use M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout.
5732
5733 *** The command C-h C (describe-coding-system) displays
5734 the coding systems currently selected for various purposes, plus
5735 related information.
5736
5737 *** The command C-h h (view-hello-file) displays a file called
5738 HELLO, which has examples of text in many languages, using various
5739 scripts.
5740
5741 *** The command C-h L (describe-language-support) displays
5742 information about the support for a particular language.
5743 You specify the language as an argument.
5744
5745 *** The mode line now contains a letter or character that identifies
5746 the coding system used in the visited file. It normally follows the
5747 first dash.
5748
5749 A dash indicates the default state of affairs: no code conversion
5750 (except CRLF => newline if appropriate). `=' means no conversion
5751 whatsoever. The ISO 8859 coding systems are represented by digits
5752 1 through 9. Other coding systems are represented by letters:
5753
5754 A alternativnyj (Russian)
5755 B big5 (Chinese)
5756 C cn-gb-2312 (Chinese)
5757 C iso-2022-cn (Chinese)
5758 D in-is13194-devanagari (Indian languages)
5759 E euc-japan (Japanese)
5760 I iso-2022-cjk or iso-2022-ss2 (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
5761 J junet (iso-2022-7) or old-jis (iso-2022-jp-1978-irv) (Japanese)
5762 K euc-korea (Korean)
5763 R koi8 (Russian)
5764 Q tibetan
5765 S shift_jis (Japanese)
5766 T lao
5767 T tis620 (Thai)
5768 V viscii or vscii (Vietnamese)
5769 i iso-2022-lock (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
5770 k iso-2022-kr (Korean)
5771 v viqr (Vietnamese)
5772 z hz (Chinese)
5773
5774 When you are using a character-only terminal (not a window system),
5775 two additional characters appear in between the dash and the file
5776 coding system. These two characters describe the coding system for
5777 keyboard input, and the coding system for terminal output.
5778
5779 *** The new variable rmail-file-coding-system specifies the code
5780 conversion to use for RMAIL files. The default value is nil.
5781
5782 When you read mail with Rmail, each message is decoded automatically
5783 into Emacs' internal format. This has nothing to do with
5784 rmail-file-coding-system. That variable controls reading and writing
5785 Rmail files themselves.
5786
5787 *** The new variable sendmail-coding-system specifies the code
5788 conversion for outgoing mail. The default value is nil.
5789
5790 Actually, there are three different ways of specifying the coding system
5791 for sending mail:
5792
5793 - If you use C-x RET f in the mail buffer, that takes priority.
5794 - Otherwise, if you set sendmail-coding-system non-nil, that specifies it.
5795 - Otherwise, the default coding system for new files is used,
5796 if that is non-nil. That comes from your language environment.
5797 - Otherwise, Latin-1 is used.
5798
5799 *** The command C-h t (help-with-tutorial) accepts a prefix argument
5800 to specify the language for the tutorial file. Currently, English,
5801 Japanese, Korean and Thai are supported. We welcome additional
5802 translations.
5803
5804 ** An easy new way to visit a file with no code or format conversion
5805 of any kind: Use M-x find-file-literally. There is also a command
5806 insert-file-literally which inserts a file into the current buffer
5807 without any conversion.
5808
5809 ** C-q's handling of octal character codes is changed.
5810 You can now specify any number of octal digits.
5811 RET terminates the digits and is discarded;
5812 any other non-digit terminates the digits and is then used as input.
5813
5814 ** There are new commands for looking up Info documentation for
5815 functions, variables and file names used in your programs.
5816
5817 Type M-x info-lookup-symbol to look up a symbol in the buffer at point.
5818 Type M-x info-lookup-file to look up a file in the buffer at point.
5819
5820 Precisely which Info files are used to look it up depends on the major
5821 mode. For example, in C mode, the GNU libc manual is used.
5822
5823 ** M-TAB in most programming language modes now runs the command
5824 complete-symbol. This command performs completion on the symbol name
5825 in the buffer before point.
5826
5827 With a numeric argument, it performs completion based on the set of
5828 symbols documented in the Info files for the programming language that
5829 you are using.
5830
5831 With no argument, it does completion based on the current tags tables,
5832 just like the old binding of M-TAB (complete-tag).
5833
5834 ** File locking works with NFS now.
5835
5836 The lock file for FILENAME is now a symbolic link named .#FILENAME,
5837 in the same directory as FILENAME.
5838
5839 This means that collision detection between two different machines now
5840 works reasonably well; it also means that no file server or directory
5841 can become a bottleneck.
5842
5843 The new method does have drawbacks. It means that collision detection
5844 does not operate when you edit a file in a directory where you cannot
5845 create new files. Collision detection also doesn't operate when the
5846 file server does not support symbolic links. But these conditions are
5847 rare, and the ability to have collision detection while using NFS is
5848 so useful that the change is worth while.
5849
5850 When Emacs or a system crashes, this may leave behind lock files which
5851 are stale. So you may occasionally get warnings about spurious
5852 collisions. When you determine that the collision is spurious, just
5853 tell Emacs to go ahead anyway.
5854
5855 ** If you wish to use Show Paren mode to display matching parentheses,
5856 it is no longer sufficient to load paren.el. Instead you must call
5857 show-paren-mode.
5858
5859 ** If you wish to use Delete Selection mode to replace a highlighted
5860 selection when you insert new text, it is no longer sufficient to load
5861 delsel.el. Instead you must call the function delete-selection-mode.
5862
5863 ** If you wish to use Partial Completion mode to complete partial words
5864 within symbols or filenames, it is no longer sufficient to load
5865 complete.el. Instead you must call the function partial-completion-mode.
5866
5867 ** If you wish to use uniquify to rename buffers for you,
5868 it is no longer sufficient to load uniquify.el. You must also
5869 set uniquify-buffer-name-style to one of the non-nil legitimate values.
5870
5871 ** Changes in View mode.
5872
5873 *** Several new commands are available in View mode.
5874 Do H in view mode for a list of commands.
5875
5876 *** There are two new commands for entering View mode:
5877 view-file-other-frame and view-buffer-other-frame.
5878
5879 *** Exiting View mode does a better job of restoring windows to their
5880 previous state.
5881
5882 *** New customization variable view-scroll-auto-exit. If non-nil,
5883 scrolling past end of buffer makes view mode exit.
5884
5885 *** New customization variable view-exits-all-viewing-windows. If
5886 non-nil, view-mode will at exit restore all windows viewing buffer,
5887 not just the selected window.
5888
5889 *** New customization variable view-read-only. If non-nil, visiting a
5890 read-only file automatically enters View mode, and toggle-read-only
5891 turns View mode on or off.
5892
5893 *** New customization variable view-remove-frame-by-deleting controls
5894 how to remove a not needed frame at view mode exit. If non-nil,
5895 delete the frame, if nil make an icon of it.
5896
5897 ** C-x v l, the command to print a file's version control log,
5898 now positions point at the entry for the file's current branch version.
5899
5900 ** C-x v =, the command to compare a file with the last checked-in version,
5901 has a new feature. If the file is currently not locked, so that it is
5902 presumably identical to the last checked-in version, the command now asks
5903 which version to compare with.
5904
5905 ** When using hideshow.el, incremental search can temporarily show hidden
5906 blocks if a match is inside the block.
5907
5908 The block is hidden again if the search is continued and the next match
5909 is outside the block. By customizing the variable
5910 isearch-hide-immediately you can choose to hide all the temporarily
5911 shown blocks only when exiting from incremental search.
5912
5913 By customizing the variable hs-isearch-open you can choose what kind
5914 of blocks to temporarily show during isearch: comment blocks, code
5915 blocks, all of them or none.
5916
5917 ** The new command C-x 4 0 (kill-buffer-and-window) kills the
5918 current buffer and deletes the selected window. It asks for
5919 confirmation first.
5920
5921 ** C-x C-w, which saves the buffer into a specified file name,
5922 now changes the major mode according to that file name.
5923 However, the mode will not be changed if
5924 (1) a local variables list or the `-*-' line specifies a major mode, or
5925 (2) the current major mode is a "special" mode,
5926 not suitable for ordinary files, or
5927 (3) the new file name does not particularly specify any mode.
5928
5929 This applies to M-x set-visited-file-name as well.
5930
5931 However, if you set change-major-mode-with-file-name to nil, then
5932 these commands do not change the major mode.
5933
5934 ** M-x occur changes.
5935
5936 *** If the argument to M-x occur contains upper case letters,
5937 it performs a case-sensitive search.
5938
5939 *** In the *Occur* buffer made by M-x occur,
5940 if you type g or M-x revert-buffer, this repeats the search
5941 using the same regular expression and the same buffer as before.
5942
5943 ** In Transient Mark mode, the region in any one buffer is highlighted
5944 in just one window at a time. At first, it is highlighted in the
5945 window where you set the mark. The buffer's highlighting remains in
5946 that window unless you select to another window which shows the same
5947 buffer--then the highlighting moves to that window.
5948
5949 ** The feature to suggest key bindings when you use M-x now operates
5950 after the command finishes. The message suggesting key bindings
5951 appears temporarily in the echo area. The previous echo area contents
5952 come back after a few seconds, in case they contain useful information.
5953
5954 ** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
5955 selected buffers, so that the default for C-x b is now based on the
5956 buffers recently selected in the selected frame.
5957
5958 ** Outline mode changes.
5959
5960 *** Outline mode now uses overlays (this is the former noutline.el).
5961
5962 *** Incremental searches skip over invisible text in Outline mode.
5963
5964 ** When a minibuffer window is active but not the selected window, if
5965 you try to use the minibuffer, you used to get a nested minibuffer.
5966 Now, this not only gives an error, it also cancels the minibuffer that
5967 was already active.
5968
5969 The motive for this change is so that beginning users do not
5970 unknowingly move away from minibuffers, leaving them active, and then
5971 get confused by it.
5972
5973 If you want to be able to have recursive minibuffers, you must
5974 set enable-recursive-minibuffers to non-nil.
5975
5976 ** Changes in dynamic abbrevs.
5977
5978 *** Expanding dynamic abbrevs with M-/ is now smarter about case
5979 conversion. If the expansion has mixed case not counting the first
5980 character, and the abbreviation matches the beginning of the expansion
5981 including case, then the expansion is copied verbatim.
5982
5983 The expansion is also copied verbatim if the abbreviation itself has
5984 mixed case. And using SPC M-/ to copy an additional word always
5985 copies it verbatim except when the previous copied word is all caps.
5986
5987 *** The values of `dabbrev-case-replace' and `dabbrev-case-fold-search'
5988 are no longer Lisp expressions. They have simply three possible
5989 values.
5990
5991 `dabbrev-case-replace' has these three values: nil (don't preserve
5992 case), t (do), or `case-replace' (do like M-x query-replace).
5993 `dabbrev-case-fold-search' has these three values: nil (don't ignore
5994 case), t (do), or `case-fold-search' (do like search).
5995
5996 ** Minibuffer history lists are truncated automatically now to a
5997 certain length. The variable history-length specifies how long they
5998 can be. The default value is 30.
5999
6000 ** Changes in Mail mode.
6001
6002 *** The key C-x m no longer runs the `mail' command directly.
6003 Instead, it runs the command `compose-mail', which invokes the mail
6004 composition mechanism you have selected with the variable
6005 `mail-user-agent'. The default choice of user agent is
6006 `sendmail-user-agent', which gives behavior compatible with the old
6007 behavior.
6008
6009 C-x 4 m now runs compose-mail-other-window, and C-x 5 m runs
6010 compose-mail-other-frame.
6011
6012 *** While composing a reply to a mail message, from Rmail, you can use
6013 the command C-c C-r to cite just the region from the message you are
6014 replying to. This copies the text which is the selected region in the
6015 buffer that shows the original message.
6016
6017 *** The command C-c C-i inserts a file at the end of the message,
6018 with separator lines around the contents.
6019
6020 *** The command M-x expand-mail-aliases expands all mail aliases
6021 in suitable mail headers. Emacs automatically extracts mail alias
6022 definitions from your mail alias file (e.g., ~/.mailrc). You do not
6023 need to expand mail aliases yourself before sending mail.
6024
6025 *** New features in the mail-complete command.
6026
6027 **** The mail-complete command now inserts the user's full name,
6028 for local users or if that is known. The variable mail-complete-style
6029 controls the style to use, and whether to do this at all.
6030 Its values are like those of mail-from-style.
6031
6032 **** The variable mail-passwd-command lets you specify a shell command
6033 to run to fetch a set of password-entries that add to the ones in
6034 /etc/passwd.
6035
6036 **** The variable mail-passwd-file now specifies a list of files to read
6037 to get the list of user ids. By default, one file is used:
6038 /etc/passwd.
6039
6040 ** You can "quote" a file name to inhibit special significance of
6041 special syntax, by adding `/:' to the beginning. Thus, if you have a
6042 directory named `/foo:', you can prevent it from being treated as a
6043 reference to a remote host named `foo' by writing it as `/:/foo:'.
6044
6045 Emacs uses this new construct automatically when necessary, such as
6046 when you start it with a working directory whose name might otherwise
6047 be taken to be magic.
6048
6049 ** There is a new command M-x grep-find which uses find to select
6050 files to search through, and grep to scan them. The output is
6051 available in a Compile mode buffer, as with M-x grep.
6052
6053 M-x grep now uses the -e option if the grep program supports that.
6054 (-e prevents problems if the search pattern starts with a dash.)
6055
6056 ** In Dired, the & command now flags for deletion the files whose names
6057 suggest they are probably not needed in the long run.
6058
6059 In Dired, * is now a prefix key for mark-related commands.
6060
6061 new key dired.el binding old key
6062 ------- ---------------- -------
6063 * c dired-change-marks c
6064 * m dired-mark m
6065 * * dired-mark-executables * (binding deleted)
6066 * / dired-mark-directories / (binding deleted)
6067 * @ dired-mark-symlinks @ (binding deleted)
6068 * u dired-unmark u
6069 * DEL dired-unmark-backward DEL
6070 * ? dired-unmark-all-files M-C-?
6071 * ! dired-unmark-all-marks
6072 * % dired-mark-files-regexp % m
6073 * C-n dired-next-marked-file M-}
6074 * C-p dired-prev-marked-file M-{
6075
6076 ** Rmail changes.
6077
6078 *** When Rmail cannot convert your incoming mail into Babyl format, it
6079 saves the new mail in the file RMAILOSE.n, where n is an integer
6080 chosen to make a unique name. This way, Rmail will not keep crashing
6081 each time you run it.
6082
6083 *** In Rmail, the variable rmail-summary-line-count-flag now controls
6084 whether to include the line count in the summary. Non-nil means yes.
6085
6086 *** In Rmail summary buffers, d and C-d (the commands to delete
6087 messages) now take repeat counts as arguments. A negative argument
6088 means to move in the opposite direction.
6089
6090 *** In Rmail, the t command now takes an optional argument which lets
6091 you specify whether to show the message headers in full or pruned.
6092
6093 *** In Rmail, the new command w (rmail-output-body-to-file) writes
6094 just the body of the current message into a file, without the headers.
6095 It takes the file name from the message subject, by default, but you
6096 can edit that file name in the minibuffer before it is actually used
6097 for output.
6098
6099 ** Gnus changes.
6100
6101 *** nntp.el has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
6102
6103 *** Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
6104 Gnus.
6105
6106 *** Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like
6107 `and', `or', `not', and parent redirection.
6108
6109 *** Article washing status can be displayed in the
6110 article mode line.
6111
6112 *** gnus.el has been split into many smaller files.
6113
6114 *** Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID.
6115
6116 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
6117
6118 *** New variables for specifying what score and adapt files
6119 are to be considered home score and adapt files. See
6120 `gnus-home-score-file' and `gnus-home-adapt-files'.
6121
6122 *** Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics.
6123
6124 *** Article editing has been revamped and is now usable.
6125
6126 *** Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions.
6127 See `gnus-signature-separator' and `gnus-signature-limit'.
6128
6129 *** Summary pick mode has been made to look more nn-like.
6130 Line numbers are displayed and the `.' command can be
6131 used to pick articles.
6132
6133 *** Commands for moving the .newsrc.eld from one server to
6134 another have been added.
6135
6136 `M-x gnus-change-server'
6137
6138 *** A way to specify that "uninteresting" fields be suppressed when
6139 generating lines in buffers.
6140
6141 *** Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with
6142 `M-C-_'.
6143
6144 *** Scoring can be done on words using the new score type `w'.
6145
6146 *** Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis:
6147
6148 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
6149
6150 *** Scores can be decayed.
6151
6152 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
6153
6154 *** Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The
6155 Date is normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first.
6156
6157 *** A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
6158 the native server.
6159
6160 `M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups'
6161
6162 *** A new command for reading collections of documents
6163 (nndoc with nnvirtual on top) has been added -- `M-C-d'.
6164
6165 *** Process mark sets can be pushed and popped.
6166
6167 *** A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post
6168 even when the NNTP server doesn't allow posting.
6169
6170 *** A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
6171 (DejaNews, Alta Vista, InReference) has been added.
6172
6173 Use the `G w' command in the group buffer to create such
6174 a group.
6175
6176 *** Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard
6177 sorting functions, and each topic can be sorted independently.
6178
6179 See the commands under the `T S' submap.
6180
6181 *** Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently.
6182
6183 See the commands under the `G P' submap.
6184
6185 *** Cached articles can be pulled into the groups.
6186
6187 Use the `Y c' command.
6188
6189 *** Score files are now applied in a more reliable order.
6190
6191 *** Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated.
6192
6193 `M-x nnmail-split-history'
6194
6195 *** More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk
6196 from incoming mail before saving the mail.
6197
6198 See `nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook'.
6199
6200 *** The nnml mail backend now understands compressed article files.
6201
6202 *** To enable Gnus to read/post multi-lingual articles, you must execute
6203 the following code, for instance, in your .emacs.
6204
6205 (add-hook 'gnus-startup-hook 'gnus-mule-initialize)
6206
6207 Then, when you start Gnus, it will decode non-ASCII text automatically
6208 and show appropriate characters. (Note: if you are using gnus-mime
6209 from the SEMI package, formerly known as TM, you should NOT add this
6210 hook to gnus-startup-hook; gnus-mime has its own method of handling
6211 this issue.)
6212
6213 Since it is impossible to distinguish all coding systems
6214 automatically, you may need to specify a choice of coding system for a
6215 particular news group. This can be done by:
6216
6217 (gnus-mule-add-group NEWSGROUP 'CODING-SYSTEM)
6218
6219 Here NEWSGROUP should be a string which names a newsgroup or a tree
6220 of newsgroups. If NEWSGROUP is "XXX.YYY", all news groups under
6221 "XXX.YYY" (including "XXX.YYY.ZZZ") will use the specified coding
6222 system. CODING-SYSTEM specifies which coding system to use (for both
6223 for reading and posting).
6224
6225 CODING-SYSTEM can also be a cons cell of the form
6226 (READ-CODING-SYSTEM . POST-CODING-SYSTEM)
6227 Then READ-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you read messages from the
6228 newsgroups, while POST-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you post messages
6229 there.
6230
6231 Emacs knows the right coding systems for certain newsgroups by
6232 default. Here are some of these default settings:
6233
6234 (gnus-mule-add-group "fj" 'iso-2022-7)
6235 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text" 'hz-gb-2312)
6236 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.hk" 'hz-gb-2312)
6237 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text.big5" 'cn-big5)
6238 (gnus-mule-add-group "soc.culture.vietnamese" '(nil . viqr))
6239
6240 When you reply by mail to an article, these settings are ignored;
6241 the mail is encoded according to sendmail-coding-system, as usual.
6242
6243 ** CC mode changes.
6244
6245 *** If you edit primarily one style of C (or C++, Objective-C, Java)
6246 code, you may want to make the CC Mode style variables have global
6247 values so that you can set them directly in your .emacs file. To do
6248 this, set c-style-variables-are-local-p to nil in your .emacs file.
6249 Note that this only takes effect if you do it *before* cc-mode.el is
6250 loaded.
6251
6252 If you typically edit more than one style of C (or C++, Objective-C,
6253 Java) code in a single Emacs session, you may want to make the CC Mode
6254 style variables have buffer local values. By default, all buffers
6255 share the same style variable settings; to make them buffer local, set
6256 c-style-variables-are-local-p to t in your .emacs file. Note that you
6257 must do this *before* CC Mode is loaded.
6258
6259 *** The new variable c-indentation-style holds the C style name
6260 of the current buffer.
6261
6262 *** The variable c-block-comments-indent-p has been deleted, because
6263 it is no longer necessary. C mode now handles all the supported styles
6264 of block comments, with no need to say which one you will use.
6265
6266 *** There is a new indentation style "python", which specifies the C
6267 style that the Python developers like.
6268
6269 *** There is a new c-cleanup-list option: brace-elseif-brace.
6270 This says to put ...} else if (...) {... on one line,
6271 just as brace-else-brace says to put ...} else {... on one line.
6272
6273 ** VC Changes [new]
6274
6275 ** In vc-retrieve-snapshot (C-x v r), if you don't specify a snapshot
6276 name, it retrieves the *latest* versions of all files in the current
6277 directory and its subdirectories (aside from files already locked).
6278
6279 This feature is useful if your RCS directory is a link to a common
6280 master directory, and you want to pick up changes made by other
6281 developers.
6282
6283 You can do the same thing for an individual file by typing C-u C-x C-q
6284 RET in a buffer visiting that file.
6285
6286 *** VC can now handle files under CVS that are being "watched" by
6287 other developers. Such files are made read-only by CVS. To get a
6288 writable copy, type C-x C-q in a buffer visiting such a file. VC then
6289 calls "cvs edit", which notifies the other developers of it.
6290
6291 *** vc-version-diff (C-u C-x v =) now suggests reasonable defaults for
6292 version numbers, based on the current state of the file.
6293
6294 ** Calendar changes.
6295
6296 A new function, list-holidays, allows you list holidays or subclasses
6297 of holidays for ranges of years. Related menu items allow you do this
6298 for the year of the selected date, or the following/previous years.
6299
6300 ** ps-print changes
6301
6302 There are some new user variables for customizing the page layout.
6303
6304 *** Paper size, paper orientation, columns
6305
6306 The variable `ps-paper-type' determines the size of paper ps-print
6307 formats for; it should contain one of the symbols:
6308 `a4' `a3' `letter' `legal' `letter-small' `tabloid'
6309 `ledger' `statement' `executive' `a4small' `b4' `b5'
6310 It defaults to `letter'.
6311 If you need other sizes, see the variable `ps-page-dimensions-database'.
6312
6313 The variable `ps-landscape-mode' determines the orientation
6314 of the printing on the page. nil, the default, means "portrait" mode,
6315 non-nil means "landscape" mode.
6316
6317 The variable `ps-number-of-columns' must be a positive integer.
6318 It determines the number of columns both in landscape and portrait mode.
6319 It defaults to 1.
6320
6321 *** Horizontal layout
6322
6323 The horizontal layout is determined by the variables
6324 `ps-left-margin', `ps-inter-column', and `ps-right-margin'.
6325 All are measured in points.
6326
6327 *** Vertical layout
6328
6329 The vertical layout is determined by the variables
6330 `ps-bottom-margin', `ps-top-margin', and `ps-header-offset'.
6331 All are measured in points.
6332
6333 *** Headers
6334
6335 If the variable `ps-print-header' is nil, no header is printed. Then
6336 `ps-header-offset' is not relevant and `ps-top-margin' represents the
6337 margin above the text.
6338
6339 If the variable `ps-print-header-frame' is non-nil, a gaudy
6340 framing box is printed around the header.
6341
6342 The contents of the header are determined by `ps-header-lines',
6343 `ps-show-n-of-n', `ps-left-header' and `ps-right-header'.
6344
6345 The height of the header is determined by `ps-header-line-pad',
6346 `ps-header-font-family', `ps-header-title-font-size' and
6347 `ps-header-font-size'.
6348
6349 *** Font managing
6350
6351 The variable `ps-font-family' determines which font family is to be
6352 used for ordinary text. Its value must be a key symbol in the alist
6353 `ps-font-info-database'. You can add other font families by adding
6354 elements to this alist.
6355
6356 The variable `ps-font-size' determines the size of the font
6357 for ordinary text. It defaults to 8.5 points.
6358
6359 ** hideshow changes.
6360
6361 *** now supports hiding of blocks of single line comments (like // for
6362 C++, ; for lisp).
6363
6364 *** Support for java-mode added.
6365
6366 *** When doing `hs-hide-all' it is now possible to also hide the comments
6367 in the file if `hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all' is set.
6368
6369 *** The new function `hs-hide-initial-comment' hides the the comments at
6370 the beginning of the files. Finally those huge RCS logs don't stay in your
6371 way! This is run by default when entering the `hs-minor-mode'.
6372
6373 *** Now uses overlays instead of `selective-display', so is more
6374 robust and a lot faster.
6375
6376 *** A block beginning can span multiple lines.
6377
6378 *** The new variable `hs-show-hidden-short-form' if t, directs hideshow
6379 to show only the beginning of a block when it is hidden. See the
6380 documentation for more details.
6381
6382 ** Changes in Enriched mode.
6383
6384 *** When you visit a file in enriched-mode, Emacs will make sure it is
6385 filled to the current fill-column. This behavior is now independent
6386 of the size of the window. When you save the file, the fill-column in
6387 use is stored as well, so that the whole buffer need not be refilled
6388 the next time unless the fill-column is different.
6389
6390 *** use-hard-newlines is now a minor mode. When it is enabled, Emacs
6391 distinguishes between hard and soft newlines, and treats hard newlines
6392 as paragraph boundaries. Otherwise all newlines inserted are marked
6393 as soft, and paragraph boundaries are determined solely from the text.
6394
6395 ** Font Lock mode
6396
6397 *** Custom support
6398
6399 The variables font-lock-face-attributes, font-lock-display-type and
6400 font-lock-background-mode are now obsolete; the recommended way to specify the
6401 faces to use for Font Lock mode is with M-x customize-group on the new custom
6402 group font-lock-highlighting-faces. If you set font-lock-face-attributes in
6403 your ~/.emacs file, Font Lock mode will respect its value. However, you should
6404 consider converting from setting that variable to using M-x customize.
6405
6406 You can still use X resources to specify Font Lock face appearances.
6407
6408 *** Maximum decoration
6409
6410 Fontification now uses the maximum level of decoration supported by
6411 default. Previously, fontification used a mode-specific default level
6412 of decoration, which is typically the minimum level of decoration
6413 supported. You can set font-lock-maximum-decoration to nil
6414 to get the old behavior.
6415
6416 *** New support
6417
6418 Support is now provided for Java, Objective-C, AWK and SIMULA modes.
6419
6420 Note that Font Lock mode can be turned on without knowing exactly what modes
6421 support Font Lock mode, via the command global-font-lock-mode.
6422
6423 *** Configurable support
6424
6425 Support for C, C++, Objective-C and Java can be more easily configured for
6426 additional types and classes via the new variables c-font-lock-extra-types,
6427 c++-font-lock-extra-types, objc-font-lock-extra-types and, you guessed it,
6428 java-font-lock-extra-types. These value of each of these variables should be a
6429 list of regexps matching the extra type names. For example, the default value
6430 of c-font-lock-extra-types is ("\\sw+_t") which means fontification follows the
6431 convention that C type names end in _t. This results in slower fontification.
6432
6433 Of course, you can change the variables that specify fontification in whatever
6434 way you wish, typically by adding regexps. However, these new variables make
6435 it easier to make specific and common changes for the fontification of types.
6436
6437 *** Adding highlighting patterns to existing support
6438
6439 You can use the new function font-lock-add-keywords to add your own
6440 highlighting patterns, such as for project-local or user-specific constructs,
6441 for any mode.
6442
6443 For example, to highlight `FIXME:' words in C comments, put:
6444
6445 (font-lock-add-keywords 'c-mode '(("\\<FIXME:" 0 font-lock-warning-face t)))
6446
6447 in your ~/.emacs.
6448
6449 *** New faces
6450
6451 Font Lock now defines two new faces, font-lock-builtin-face and
6452 font-lock-warning-face. These are intended to highlight builtin keywords,
6453 distinct from a language's normal keywords, and objects that should be brought
6454 to user attention, respectively. Various modes now use these new faces.
6455
6456 *** Changes to fast-lock support mode
6457
6458 The fast-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now process
6459 cache files silently. You can use the new variable fast-lock-verbose, in the
6460 same way as font-lock-verbose, to control this feature.
6461
6462 *** Changes to lazy-lock support mode
6463
6464 The lazy-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now fontify
6465 according to the true syntactic context relative to other lines. You can use
6466 the new variable lazy-lock-defer-contextually to control this feature. If
6467 non-nil, changes to the buffer will cause subsequent lines in the buffer to be
6468 refontified after lazy-lock-defer-time seconds of idle time. If nil, then only
6469 the modified lines will be refontified; this is the same as the previous Lazy
6470 Lock mode behaviour and the behaviour of Font Lock mode.
6471
6472 This feature is useful in modes where strings or comments can span lines.
6473 For example, if a string or comment terminating character is deleted, then if
6474 this feature is enabled subsequent lines in the buffer will be correctly
6475 refontified to reflect their new syntactic context. Previously, only the line
6476 containing the deleted character would be refontified and you would have to use
6477 the command M-g M-g (font-lock-fontify-block) to refontify some lines.
6478
6479 As a consequence of this new feature, two other variables have changed:
6480
6481 Variable `lazy-lock-defer-driven' is renamed `lazy-lock-defer-on-scrolling'.
6482 Variable `lazy-lock-defer-time' can now only be a time, i.e., a number.
6483 Buffer modes for which on-the-fly deferral applies can be specified via the
6484 new variable `lazy-lock-defer-on-the-fly'.
6485
6486 If you set these variables in your ~/.emacs, then you may have to change those
6487 settings.
6488
6489 ** Ada mode changes.
6490
6491 *** There is now better support for using find-file.el with Ada mode.
6492 If you switch between spec and body, the cursor stays in the same
6493 procedure (modulo overloading). If a spec has no body file yet, but
6494 you try to switch to its body file, Ada mode now generates procedure
6495 stubs.
6496
6497 *** There are two new commands:
6498 - `ada-make-local' : invokes gnatmake on the current buffer
6499 - `ada-check-syntax' : check syntax of current buffer.
6500
6501 The user options `ada-compiler-make', `ada-make-options',
6502 `ada-language-version', `ada-compiler-syntax-check', and
6503 `ada-compile-options' are used within these commands.
6504
6505 *** Ada mode can now work with Outline minor mode. The outline level
6506 is calculated from the indenting, not from syntactic constructs.
6507 Outlining does not work if your code is not correctly indented.
6508
6509 *** The new function `ada-gnat-style' converts the buffer to the style of
6510 formatting used in GNAT. It places two blanks after a comment start,
6511 places one blank between a word end and an opening '(', and puts one
6512 space between a comma and the beginning of a word.
6513
6514 ** Scheme mode changes.
6515
6516 *** Scheme mode indentation now uses many of the facilities of Lisp
6517 mode; therefore, the variables to customize it are the variables used
6518 for Lisp mode which have names starting with `lisp-'. The variables
6519 with names starting with `scheme-' which used to do this no longer
6520 have any effect.
6521
6522 If you want to use different indentation for Scheme and Lisp, this is
6523 still possible, but now you must do it by adding a hook to
6524 scheme-mode-hook, which could work by setting the `lisp-' indentation
6525 variables as buffer-local variables.
6526
6527 *** DSSSL mode is a variant of Scheme mode, for editing DSSSL scripts.
6528 Use M-x dsssl-mode.
6529
6530 ** Changes to the emacsclient program
6531
6532 *** If a socket can't be found, and environment variables LOGNAME or
6533 USER are set, emacsclient now looks for a socket based on the UID
6534 associated with the name. That is an emacsclient running as root
6535 can connect to an Emacs server started by a non-root user.
6536
6537 *** The emacsclient program now accepts an option --no-wait which tells
6538 it to return immediately without waiting for you to "finish" the
6539 buffer in Emacs.
6540
6541 *** The new option --alternate-editor allows to specify an editor to
6542 use if Emacs is not running. The environment variable
6543 ALTERNATE_EDITOR can be used for the same effect; the command line
6544 option takes precedence.
6545
6546 ** M-x eldoc-mode enables a minor mode in which the echo area
6547 constantly shows the parameter list for function being called at point
6548 (in Emacs Lisp and Lisp Interaction modes only).
6549
6550 ** C-x n d now runs the new command narrow-to-defun,
6551 which narrows the accessible parts of the buffer to just
6552 the current defun.
6553
6554 ** Emacs now handles the `--' argument in the standard way; all
6555 following arguments are treated as ordinary file names.
6556
6557 ** On MSDOS and Windows, the bookmark file is now called _emacs.bmk,
6558 and the saved desktop file is now called _emacs.desktop (truncated if
6559 necessary).
6560
6561 ** When you kill a buffer that visits a file,
6562 if there are any registers that save positions in the file,
6563 these register values no longer become completely useless.
6564 If you try to go to such a register with C-x j, then you are
6565 asked whether to visit the file again. If you say yes,
6566 it visits the file and then goes to the same position.
6567
6568 ** When you visit a file that changes frequently outside Emacs--for
6569 example, a log of output from a process that continues to run--it may
6570 be useful for Emacs to revert the file without querying you whenever
6571 you visit the file afresh with C-x C-f.
6572
6573 You can request this behavior for certain files by setting the
6574 variable revert-without-query to a list of regular expressions. If a
6575 file's name matches any of these regular expressions, find-file and
6576 revert-buffer revert the buffer without asking for permission--but
6577 only if you have not edited the buffer text yourself.
6578
6579 ** set-default-font has been renamed to set-frame-font
6580 since it applies only to the current frame.
6581
6582 ** In TeX mode, you can use the variable tex-main-file to specify the
6583 file for tex-file to run TeX on. (By default, tex-main-file is nil,
6584 and tex-file runs TeX on the current visited file.)
6585
6586 This is useful when you are editing a document that consists of
6587 multiple files. In each of the included files, you can set up a local
6588 variable list which specifies the top-level file of your document for
6589 tex-main-file. Then tex-file will run TeX on the whole document
6590 instead of just the file you are editing.
6591
6592 ** RefTeX mode
6593
6594 RefTeX mode is a new minor mode with special support for \label, \ref
6595 and \cite macros in LaTeX documents. RefTeX distinguishes labels of
6596 different environments (equation, figure, ...) and has full support for
6597 multifile documents. To use it, select a buffer with a LaTeX document and
6598 turn the mode on with M-x reftex-mode. Here are the main user commands:
6599
6600 C-c ( reftex-label
6601 Creates a label semi-automatically. RefTeX is context sensitive and
6602 knows which kind of label is needed.
6603
6604 C-c ) reftex-reference
6605 Offers in a menu all labels in the document, along with context of the
6606 label definition. The selected label is referenced as \ref{LABEL}.
6607
6608 C-c [ reftex-citation
6609 Prompts for a regular expression and displays a list of matching BibTeX
6610 database entries. The selected entry is cited with a \cite{KEY} macro.
6611
6612 C-c & reftex-view-crossref
6613 Views the cross reference of a \ref or \cite command near point.
6614
6615 C-c = reftex-toc
6616 Shows a table of contents of the (multifile) document. From there you
6617 can quickly jump to every section.
6618
6619 Under X, RefTeX installs a "Ref" menu in the menu bar, with additional
6620 commands. Press `?' to get help when a prompt mentions this feature.
6621 Full documentation and customization examples are in the file
6622 reftex.el. You can use the finder to view the file documentation:
6623 C-h p --> tex --> reftex.el
6624
6625 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
6626
6627 *** Info documentation is now available.
6628
6629 *** Don't allow parentheses in string constants anymore. This confused
6630 both the BibTeX program and Emacs BibTeX mode.
6631
6632 *** Renamed variable bibtex-mode-user-optional-fields to
6633 bibtex-user-optional-fields.
6634
6635 *** Removed variable bibtex-include-OPTannote
6636 (use bibtex-user-optional-fields instead).
6637
6638 *** New interactive functions to copy and kill fields and complete
6639 entries to the BibTeX kill ring, from where they can be yanked back by
6640 appropriate functions.
6641
6642 *** New interactive functions for repositioning and marking of
6643 entries. They are bound by default to M-C-l and M-C-h.
6644
6645 *** New hook bibtex-clean-entry-hook. It is called after entry has
6646 been cleaned.
6647
6648 *** New variable bibtex-field-delimiters, which replaces variables
6649 bibtex-field-{left|right}-delimiter.
6650
6651 *** New variable bibtex-entry-delimiters to determine how entries
6652 shall be delimited.
6653
6654 *** Allow preinitialization of fields. See documentation of
6655 bibtex-user-optional-fields, bibtex-entry-field-alist, and
6656 bibtex-include-OPTkey for details.
6657
6658 *** Book and InBook entries require either an author or an editor
6659 field. This is now supported by bibtex.el. Alternative fields are
6660 prefixed with `ALT'.
6661
6662 *** New variable bibtex-entry-format, which replaces variable
6663 bibtex-clean-entry-zap-empty-opts and allows specification of many
6664 formatting options performed on cleaning an entry (see variable
6665 documentation).
6666
6667 *** Even more control on how automatic keys are generated. See
6668 documentation of bibtex-generate-autokey for details. Transcriptions
6669 for foreign languages other than German are now handled, too.
6670
6671 *** New boolean user option bibtex-comma-after-last-field to decide if
6672 comma should be inserted at end of last field.
6673
6674 *** New boolean user option bibtex-align-at-equal-sign to determine if
6675 alignment should be made at left side of field contents or at equal
6676 signs. New user options to control entry layout (e.g. indentation).
6677
6678 *** New function bibtex-fill-entry to realign entries.
6679
6680 *** New function bibtex-reformat to reformat region or buffer.
6681
6682 *** New function bibtex-convert-alien to convert a BibTeX database
6683 from alien sources.
6684
6685 *** New function bibtex-complete-key (similar to bibtex-complete-string)
6686 to complete prefix to a key defined in buffer. Mainly useful in
6687 crossref entries.
6688
6689 *** New function bibtex-count-entries to count entries in buffer or
6690 region.
6691
6692 *** Added support for imenu.
6693
6694 *** The function `bibtex-validate' now checks current region instead
6695 of buffer if mark is active. Now it shows all errors of buffer in a
6696 `compilation mode' buffer. You can use the normal commands (e.g.
6697 `next-error') for compilation modes to jump to errors.
6698
6699 *** New variable `bibtex-string-file-path' to determine where the files
6700 from `bibtex-string-files' are searched.
6701
6702 ** Iso Accents mode now supports Latin-3 as an alternative.
6703
6704 ** The command next-error now opens blocks hidden by hideshow.
6705
6706 ** The function using-unix-filesystems has been replaced by the
6707 functions add-untranslated-filesystem and remove-untranslated-filesystem.
6708 Each of these functions takes the name of a drive letter or directory
6709 as an argument.
6710
6711 When a filesystem is added as untranslated, all files on it are read
6712 and written in binary mode (no cr/lf translation is performed).
6713
6714 ** browse-url changes
6715
6716 *** New methods for: Grail (browse-url-generic), MMM (browse-url-mmm),
6717 Lynx in a separate xterm (browse-url-lynx-xterm) or in an Emacs window
6718 (browse-url-lynx-emacs), remote W3 (browse-url-w3-gnudoit), generic
6719 non-remote-controlled browsers (browse-url-generic) and associated
6720 customization variables.
6721
6722 *** New commands `browse-url-of-region' and `browse-url'.
6723
6724 *** URLs marked up with <URL:...> (RFC1738) work if broken across
6725 lines. Browsing methods can be associated with URL regexps
6726 (e.g. mailto: URLs) via `browse-url-browser-function'.
6727
6728 ** Changes in Ediff
6729
6730 *** Clicking Mouse-2 on a brief command description in Ediff control panel
6731 pops up the Info file for this command.
6732
6733 *** There is now a variable, ediff-autostore-merges, which controls whether
6734 the result of a merge is saved in a file. By default, this is done only when
6735 merge is done from a session group (eg, when merging files in two different
6736 directories).
6737
6738 *** Since Emacs 19.31 (this hasn't been announced before), Ediff can compare
6739 and merge groups of files residing in different directories, or revisions of
6740 files in the same directory.
6741
6742 *** Since Emacs 19.31, Ediff can apply multi-file patches interactively.
6743 The patches must be in the context format or GNU unified format. (The bug
6744 related to the GNU format has now been fixed.)
6745
6746 ** Changes in Viper
6747
6748 *** The startup file is now .viper instead of .vip
6749 *** All variable/function names have been changed to start with viper-
6750 instead of vip-.
6751 *** C-\ now simulates the meta-key in all Viper states.
6752 *** C-z in Insert state now escapes to Vi for the duration of the next
6753 Viper command. In Vi and Insert states, C-z behaves as before.
6754 *** C-c \ escapes to Vi for one command if Viper is in Insert or Emacs states.
6755 *** _ is no longer the meta-key in Vi state.
6756 *** The variable viper-insert-state-cursor-color can be used to change cursor
6757 color when Viper is in insert state.
6758 *** If search lands the cursor near the top or the bottom of the window,
6759 Viper pulls the window up or down to expose more context. The variable
6760 viper-adjust-window-after-search controls this behavior.
6761
6762 ** Etags changes.
6763
6764 *** In C, C++, Objective C and Java, Etags tags global variables by
6765 default. The resulting tags files are inflated by 30% on average.
6766 Use --no-globals to turn this feature off. Etags can also tag
6767 variables which are members of structure-like constructs, but it does
6768 not by default. Use --members to turn this feature on.
6769
6770 *** C++ member functions are now recognized as tags.
6771
6772 *** Java is tagged like C++. In addition, "extends" and "implements"
6773 constructs are tagged. Files are recognised by the extension .java.
6774
6775 *** Etags can now handle programs written in Postscript. Files are
6776 recognised by the extensions .ps and .pdb (Postscript with C syntax).
6777 In Postscript, tags are lines that start with a slash.
6778
6779 *** Etags now handles Objective C and Objective C++ code. The usual C and
6780 C++ tags are recognized in these languages; in addition, etags
6781 recognizes special Objective C syntax for classes, class categories,
6782 methods and protocols.
6783
6784 *** Etags also handles Cobol. Files are recognised by the extension
6785 .cobol. The tagged lines are those containing a word that begins in
6786 column 8 and ends in a full stop, i.e. anything that could be a
6787 paragraph name.
6788
6789 *** Regexps in Etags now support intervals, as in ed or grep. The syntax of
6790 an interval is \{M,N\}, and it means to match the preceding expression
6791 at least M times and as many as N times.
6792
6793 ** The format for specifying a custom format for time-stamp to insert
6794 in files has changed slightly.
6795
6796 With the new enhancements to the functionality of format-time-string,
6797 time-stamp-format will change to be eventually compatible with it.
6798 This conversion is being done in two steps to maintain compatibility
6799 with old time-stamp-format values.
6800
6801 In the new scheme, alternate case is signified by the number-sign
6802 (`#') modifier, rather than changing the case of the format character.
6803 This feature is as yet incompletely implemented for compatibility
6804 reasons.
6805
6806 In the old time-stamp-format, all numeric fields defaulted to their
6807 natural width. (With format-time-string, each format has a
6808 fixed-width default.) In this version, you can specify the colon
6809 (`:') modifier to a numeric conversion to mean "give me the historical
6810 time-stamp-format width default." Do not use colon if you are
6811 specifying an explicit width, as in "%02d".
6812
6813 Numbers are no longer truncated to the requested width, except in the
6814 case of "%02y", which continues to give a two-digit year. Digit
6815 truncation probably wasn't being used for anything else anyway.
6816
6817 The new formats will work with old versions of Emacs. New formats are
6818 being recommended now to allow time-stamp-format to change in the
6819 future to be compatible with format-time-string. The new forms being
6820 recommended now will continue to work then.
6821
6822 See the documentation string for the variable time-stamp-format for
6823 details.
6824
6825 ** There are some additional major modes:
6826
6827 dcl-mode, for editing VMS DCL files.
6828 m4-mode, for editing files of m4 input.
6829 meta-mode, for editing MetaFont and MetaPost source files.
6830
6831 ** In Shell mode, the command shell-copy-environment-variable lets you
6832 copy the value of a specified environment variable from the subshell
6833 into Emacs.
6834
6835 ** New Lisp packages include:
6836
6837 *** battery.el displays battery status for laptops.
6838
6839 *** M-x bruce (named after Lenny Bruce) is a program that might
6840 be used for adding some indecent words to your email.
6841
6842 *** M-x crisp-mode enables an emulation for the CRiSP editor.
6843
6844 *** M-x dirtrack arranges for better tracking of directory changes
6845 in shell buffers.
6846
6847 *** The new library elint.el provides for linting of Emacs Lisp code.
6848 See the documentation for `elint-initialize', `elint-current-buffer'
6849 and `elint-defun'.
6850
6851 *** M-x expand-add-abbrevs defines a special kind of abbrev which is
6852 meant for programming constructs. These abbrevs expand like ordinary
6853 ones, when you type SPC, but only at the end of a line and not within
6854 strings or comments.
6855
6856 These abbrevs can act as templates: you can define places within an
6857 abbrev for insertion of additional text. Once you expand the abbrev,
6858 you can then use C-x a p and C-x a n to move back and forth to these
6859 insertion points. Thus you can conveniently insert additional text
6860 at these points.
6861
6862 *** filecache.el remembers the location of files so that you
6863 can visit them by short forms of their names.
6864
6865 *** find-func.el lets you find the definition of the user-loaded
6866 Emacs Lisp function at point.
6867
6868 *** M-x handwrite converts text to a "handwritten" picture.
6869
6870 *** M-x iswitchb-buffer is a command for switching to a buffer, much like
6871 switch-buffer, but it reads the argument in a more helpful way.
6872
6873 *** M-x landmark implements a neural network for landmark learning.
6874
6875 *** M-x locate provides a convenient interface to the `locate' program.
6876
6877 *** M4 mode is a new mode for editing files of m4 input.
6878
6879 *** mantemp.el creates C++ manual template instantiations
6880 from the GCC error messages which indicate which instantiations are needed.
6881
6882 *** mouse-copy.el provides a one-click copy and move feature.
6883 You can drag a region with M-mouse-1, and it is automatically
6884 inserted at point. M-Shift-mouse-1 deletes the text from its
6885 original place after inserting the copy.
6886
6887 *** mouse-drag.el lets you do scrolling by dragging Mouse-2
6888 on the buffer.
6889
6890 You click the mouse and move; that distance either translates into the
6891 velocity to scroll (with mouse-drag-throw) or the distance to scroll
6892 (with mouse-drag-drag). Horizontal scrolling is enabled when needed.
6893
6894 Enable mouse-drag with:
6895 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-throw)
6896 -or-
6897 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-drag)
6898
6899 *** mspools.el is useful for determining which mail folders have
6900 mail waiting to be read in them. It works with procmail.
6901
6902 *** Octave mode is a major mode for editing files of input for Octave.
6903 It comes with a facility for communicating with an Octave subprocess.
6904
6905 *** ogonek
6906
6907 The ogonek package provides functions for changing the coding of
6908 Polish diacritic characters in buffers. Codings known from various
6909 platforms are supported such as ISO8859-2, Mazovia, IBM Latin2, and
6910 TeX. For example, you can change the coding from Mazovia to
6911 ISO8859-2. Another example is a change of coding from ISO8859-2 to
6912 prefix notation (in which `/a' stands for the aogonek character, for
6913 instance) and vice versa.
6914
6915 To use this package load it using
6916 M-x load-library [enter] ogonek
6917 Then, you may get an explanation by calling one of
6918 M-x ogonek-jak -- in Polish
6919 M-x ogonek-how -- in English
6920 The info specifies the commands and variables provided as well as the
6921 ways of customization in `.emacs'.
6922
6923 *** Interface to ph.
6924
6925 Emacs provides a client interface to CCSO Nameservers (ph/qi)
6926
6927 The CCSO nameserver is used in many universities to provide directory
6928 services about people. ph.el provides a convenient Emacs interface to
6929 these servers.
6930
6931 *** uce.el is useful for replying to unsolicited commercial email.
6932
6933 *** vcursor.el implements a "virtual cursor" feature.
6934 You can move the virtual cursor with special commands
6935 while the real cursor does not move.
6936
6937 *** webjump.el is a "hot list" package which you can set up
6938 for visiting your favorite web sites.
6939
6940 *** M-x winner-mode is a minor mode which saves window configurations,
6941 so you can move back to other configurations that you have recently used.
6942
6943 ** movemail change
6944
6945 Movemail no longer needs to be installed setuid root in order for POP
6946 mail retrieval to function properly. This is because it no longer
6947 supports the RPOP (reserved-port POP) protocol; instead, it uses the
6948 user's POP password to authenticate to the mail server.
6949
6950 This change was made earlier, but not reported in NEWS before.
6951 \f
6952 * Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows.
6953
6954 ** Changes in handling MS-DOS/MS-Windows text files.
6955
6956 Emacs handles three different conventions for representing
6957 end-of-line: CRLF for MSDOS, LF for Unix and GNU, and CR (used on the
6958 Macintosh). Emacs determines which convention is used in a specific
6959 file based on the contents of that file (except for certain special
6960 file names), and when it saves the file, it uses the same convention.
6961
6962 To save the file and change the end-of-line convention, you can use
6963 C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system) to specify a different
6964 coding system for the buffer. Then, when you save the file, the newly
6965 specified coding system will take effect. For example, to save with
6966 LF, specify undecided-unix (or some other ...-unix coding system); to
6967 save with CRLF, specify undecided-dos.
6968 \f
6969 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 20.1
6970
6971 ** Byte-compiled files made with Emacs 20 will, in general, work in
6972 Emacs 19 as well, as long as the source code runs in Emacs 19. And
6973 vice versa: byte-compiled files made with Emacs 19 should also run in
6974 Emacs 20, as long as the program itself works in Emacs 20.
6975
6976 ** Windows-specific functions and variables have been renamed
6977 to start with w32- instead of win32-.
6978
6979 In hacker language, calling something a "win" is a form of praise. We
6980 don't want to praise a non-free Microsoft system, so we don't call it
6981 "win".
6982
6983 ** Basic Lisp changes
6984
6985 *** A symbol whose name starts with a colon now automatically
6986 evaluates to itself. Therefore such a symbol can be used as a constant.
6987
6988 *** The defined purpose of `defconst' has been changed. It should now
6989 be used only for values that should not be changed whether by a program
6990 or by the user.
6991
6992 The actual behavior of defconst has not been changed.
6993
6994 *** There are new macros `when' and `unless'
6995
6996 (when CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION (progn BODY...))
6997 (unless CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION nil BODY...)
6998
6999 *** Emacs now defines functions caar, cadr, cdar and cddr with their
7000 usual Lisp meanings. For example, caar returns the car of the car of
7001 its argument.
7002
7003 *** equal, when comparing strings, now ignores their text properties.
7004
7005 *** The new function `functionp' tests whether an object is a function.
7006
7007 *** arrayp now returns t for char-tables and bool-vectors.
7008
7009 *** Certain primitives which use characters (as integers) now get an
7010 error if the integer is not a valid character code. These primitives
7011 include insert-char, char-to-string, and the %c construct in the
7012 `format' function.
7013
7014 *** The `require' function now insists on adding a suffix, either .el
7015 or .elc, to the file name. Thus, (require 'foo) will not use a file
7016 whose name is just foo. It insists on foo.el or foo.elc.
7017
7018 *** The `autoload' function, when the file name does not contain
7019 either a directory name or the suffix .el or .elc, insists on
7020 adding one of these suffixes.
7021
7022 *** string-to-number now takes an optional second argument BASE
7023 which specifies the base to use when converting an integer.
7024 If BASE is omitted, base 10 is used.
7025
7026 We have not implemented other radices for floating point numbers,
7027 because that would be much more work and does not seem useful.
7028
7029 *** substring now handles vectors as well as strings.
7030
7031 *** The Common Lisp function eql is no longer defined normally.
7032 You must load the `cl' library to define it.
7033
7034 *** The new macro `with-current-buffer' lets you evaluate an expression
7035 conveniently with a different current buffer. It looks like this:
7036
7037 (with-current-buffer BUFFER BODY-FORMS...)
7038
7039 BUFFER is the expression that says which buffer to use.
7040 BODY-FORMS say what to do in that buffer.
7041
7042 *** The new primitive `save-current-buffer' saves and restores the
7043 choice of current buffer, like `save-excursion', but without saving or
7044 restoring the value of point or the mark. `with-current-buffer'
7045 works using `save-current-buffer'.
7046
7047 *** The new macro `with-temp-file' lets you do some work in a new buffer and
7048 write the output to a specified file. Like `progn', it returns the value
7049 of the last form.
7050
7051 *** The new macro `with-temp-buffer' lets you do some work in a new buffer,
7052 which is discarded after use. Like `progn', it returns the value of the
7053 last form. If you wish to return the buffer contents, use (buffer-string)
7054 as the last form.
7055
7056 *** The new function split-string takes a string, splits it at certain
7057 characters, and returns a list of the substrings in between the
7058 matches.
7059
7060 For example, (split-string "foo bar lose" " +") returns ("foo" "bar" "lose").
7061
7062 *** The new macro with-output-to-string executes some Lisp expressions
7063 with standard-output set up so that all output feeds into a string.
7064 Then it returns that string.
7065
7066 For example, if the current buffer name is `foo',
7067
7068 (with-output-to-string
7069 (princ "The buffer is ")
7070 (princ (buffer-name)))
7071
7072 returns "The buffer is foo".
7073
7074 ** Non-ASCII characters are now supported, if enable-multibyte-characters
7075 is non-nil.
7076
7077 These characters have character codes above 256. When inserted in the
7078 buffer or stored in a string, they are represented as multibyte
7079 characters that occupy several buffer positions each.
7080
7081 *** When enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, a single character in
7082 a buffer or string can be two or more bytes (as many as four).
7083
7084 Buffers and strings are still made up of unibyte elements;
7085 character positions and string indices are always measured in bytes.
7086 Therefore, moving forward one character can increase the buffer
7087 position by 2, 3 or 4. The function forward-char moves by whole
7088 characters, and therefore is no longer equivalent to
7089 (lambda (n) (goto-char (+ (point) n))).
7090
7091 ASCII characters (codes 0 through 127) are still single bytes, always.
7092 Sequences of byte values 128 through 255 are used to represent
7093 non-ASCII characters. These sequences are called "multibyte
7094 characters".
7095
7096 The first byte of a multibyte character is always in the range 128
7097 through 159 (octal 0200 through 0237). These values are called
7098 "leading codes". The second and subsequent bytes are always in the
7099 range 160 through 255 (octal 0240 through 0377). The first byte, the
7100 leading code, determines how many bytes long the sequence is.
7101
7102 *** The function forward-char moves over characters, and therefore
7103 (forward-char 1) may increase point by more than 1 if it moves over a
7104 multibyte character. Likewise, delete-char always deletes a
7105 character, which may be more than one buffer position.
7106
7107 This means that some Lisp programs, which assume that a character is
7108 always one buffer position, need to be changed.
7109
7110 However, all ASCII characters are always one buffer position.
7111
7112 *** The regexp [\200-\377] no longer matches all non-ASCII characters,
7113 because when enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, these characters
7114 have codes that are not in the range octal 200 to octal 377. However,
7115 the regexp [^\000-\177] does match all non-ASCII characters,
7116 guaranteed.
7117
7118 *** The function char-boundary-p returns non-nil if position POS is
7119 between two characters in the buffer (not in the middle of a
7120 character).
7121
7122 When the value is non-nil, it says what kind of character follows POS:
7123
7124 0 if POS is at an ASCII character or at the end of range,
7125 1 if POS is before a 2-byte length multi-byte form,
7126 2 if POS is at a head of 3-byte length multi-byte form,
7127 3 if POS is at a head of 4-byte length multi-byte form,
7128 4 if POS is at a head of multi-byte form of a composite character.
7129
7130 *** The function char-bytes returns how many bytes the character CHAR uses.
7131
7132 *** Strings can contain multibyte characters. The function
7133 `length' returns the string length counting bytes, which may be
7134 more than the number of characters.
7135
7136 You can include a multibyte character in a string constant by writing
7137 it literally. You can also represent it with a hex escape,
7138 \xNNNNNNN..., using as many digits as necessary. Any character which
7139 is not a valid hex digit terminates this construct. If you want to
7140 follow it with a character that is a hex digit, write backslash and
7141 newline in between; that will terminate the hex escape.
7142
7143 *** The function concat-chars takes arguments which are characters
7144 and returns a string containing those characters.
7145
7146 *** The function sref access a multibyte character in a string.
7147 (sref STRING INDX) returns the character in STRING at INDEX. INDEX
7148 counts from zero. If INDEX is at a position in the middle of a
7149 character, sref signals an error.
7150
7151 *** The function chars-in-string returns the number of characters
7152 in a string. This is less than the length of the string, if the
7153 string contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
7154
7155 *** The function chars-in-region returns the number of characters
7156 in a region from BEG to END. This is less than (- END BEG) if the
7157 region contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
7158
7159 *** The function string-to-list converts a string to a list of
7160 the characters in it. string-to-vector converts a string
7161 to a vector of the characters in it.
7162
7163 *** The function store-substring alters part of the contents
7164 of a string. You call it as follows:
7165
7166 (store-substring STRING IDX OBJ)
7167
7168 This says to alter STRING, by storing OBJ starting at index IDX in
7169 STRING. OBJ may be either a character or a (smaller) string.
7170 This function really does alter the contents of STRING.
7171 Since it is impossible to change the length of an existing string,
7172 it is an error if OBJ doesn't fit within STRING's actual length.
7173
7174 *** char-width returns the width (in columns) of the character CHAR,
7175 if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
7176
7177 *** string-width returns the width (in columns) of the text in STRING,
7178 if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
7179
7180 *** truncate-string-to-width shortens a string, if necessary,
7181 to fit within a certain number of columns. (Of course, it does
7182 not alter the string that you give it; it returns a new string
7183 which contains all or just part of the existing string.)
7184
7185 (truncate-string-to-width STR END-COLUMN &optional START-COLUMN PADDING)
7186
7187 This returns the part of STR up to column END-COLUMN.
7188
7189 The optional argument START-COLUMN specifies the starting column.
7190 If this is non-nil, then the first START-COLUMN columns of the string
7191 are not included in the resulting value.
7192
7193 The optional argument PADDING, if non-nil, is a padding character to be added
7194 at the beginning and end the resulting string, to extend it to exactly
7195 WIDTH columns. If PADDING is nil, that means do not pad; then, if STRING
7196 is narrower than WIDTH, the value is equal to STRING.
7197
7198 If PADDING and START-COLUMN are both non-nil, and if there is no clean
7199 place in STRING that corresponds to START-COLUMN (because one
7200 character extends across that column), then the padding character
7201 PADDING is added one or more times at the beginning of the result
7202 string, so that its columns line up as if it really did start at
7203 column START-COLUMN.
7204
7205 *** When the functions in the list after-change-functions are called,
7206 the third argument is the number of bytes in the pre-change text, not
7207 necessarily the number of characters. It is, in effect, the
7208 difference in buffer position between the beginning and the end of the
7209 changed text, before the change.
7210
7211 *** The characters Emacs uses are classified in various character
7212 sets, each of which has a name which is a symbol. In general there is
7213 one character set for each script, not for each language.
7214
7215 **** The function charsetp tests whether an object is a character set name.
7216
7217 **** The variable charset-list holds a list of character set names.
7218
7219 **** char-charset, given a character code, returns the name of the character
7220 set that the character belongs to. (The value is a symbol.)
7221
7222 **** split-char, given a character code, returns a list containing the
7223 name of the character set, followed by one or two byte-values
7224 which identify the character within that character set.
7225
7226 **** make-char, given a character set name and one or two subsequent
7227 byte-values, constructs a character code. This is roughly the
7228 opposite of split-char.
7229
7230 **** find-charset-region returns a list of the character sets
7231 of all the characters between BEG and END.
7232
7233 **** find-charset-string returns a list of the character sets
7234 of all the characters in a string.
7235
7236 *** Here are the Lisp facilities for working with coding systems
7237 and specifying coding systems.
7238
7239 **** The function coding-system-list returns a list of all coding
7240 system names (symbols). With optional argument t, it returns a list
7241 of all distinct base coding systems, not including variants.
7242 (Variant coding systems are those like latin-1-dos, latin-1-unix
7243 and latin-1-mac which specify the end-of-line conversion as well
7244 as what to do about code conversion.)
7245
7246 **** coding-system-p tests a symbol to see if it is a coding system
7247 name. It returns t if so, nil if not.
7248
7249 **** file-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
7250 for certain file names. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
7251 except that the PATTERN is matched against the file name.
7252
7253 Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
7254 which file names the element applies to. PATTERN should be a regexp
7255 to match against a file name.
7256
7257 VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
7258 a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
7259 decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
7260 to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
7261 systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
7262 specifies the coding system for encoding.
7263
7264 If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
7265 or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
7266
7267 **** The variable network-coding-system-alist specifies
7268 the coding system to use for network sockets.
7269
7270 Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
7271 which network sockets the element applies to. PATTERN should be
7272 either a port number or a regular expression matching some network
7273 service names.
7274
7275 VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
7276 a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
7277 decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
7278 to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
7279 systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
7280 specifies the coding system for encoding.
7281
7282 If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
7283 or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
7284
7285 **** process-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
7286 for certain subprocess. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
7287 except that the PATTERN is matched against the program name used to
7288 start the subprocess.
7289
7290 **** The variable default-process-coding-system specifies the coding
7291 systems to use for subprocess (and net connection) input and output,
7292 when nothing else specifies what to do. The value is a cons cell
7293 (OUTPUT-CODING . INPUT-CODING). OUTPUT-CODING applies to output
7294 to the subprocess, and INPUT-CODING applies to input from it.
7295
7296 **** The variable coding-system-for-write, if non-nil, specifies the
7297 coding system to use for writing a file, or for output to a synchronous
7298 subprocess.
7299
7300 It also applies to any asynchronous subprocess or network connection,
7301 but in a different way: the value of coding-system-for-write when you
7302 start the subprocess or connection affects that subprocess or
7303 connection permanently or until overridden.
7304
7305 The variable coding-system-for-write takes precedence over
7306 file-coding-system-alist, process-coding-system-alist and
7307 network-coding-system-alist, and all other methods of specifying a
7308 coding system for output. But most of the time this variable is nil.
7309 It exists so that Lisp programs can bind it to a specific coding
7310 system for one operation at a time.
7311
7312 **** coding-system-for-read applies similarly to input from
7313 files, subprocesses or network connections.
7314
7315 **** The function process-coding-system tells you what
7316 coding systems(s) an existing subprocess is using.
7317 The value is a cons cell,
7318 (DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM . ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM)
7319 where DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for decoding output from
7320 the subprocess, and ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for encoding
7321 input to the subprocess.
7322
7323 **** The function set-process-coding-system can be used to
7324 change the coding systems in use for an existing subprocess.
7325
7326 ** Emacs has a new facility to help users manage the many
7327 customization options. To make a Lisp program work with this facility,
7328 you need to use the new macros defgroup and defcustom.
7329
7330 You use defcustom instead of defvar, for defining a user option
7331 variable. The difference is that you specify two additional pieces of
7332 information (usually): the "type" which says what values are
7333 legitimate, and the "group" which specifies the hierarchy for
7334 customization.
7335
7336 Thus, instead of writing
7337
7338 (defvar foo-blurgoze nil
7339 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely.")
7340
7341 you would now write this:
7342
7343 (defcustom foo-blurgoze nil
7344 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely."
7345 :type 'boolean
7346 :group foo)
7347
7348 The type `boolean' means that this variable has only
7349 two meaningful states: nil and non-nil. Other type values
7350 describe other possibilities; see the manual for Custom
7351 for a description of them.
7352
7353 The "group" argument is used to specify a group which the option
7354 should belong to. You define a new group like this:
7355
7356 (defgroup ispell nil
7357 "Spell checking using Ispell."
7358 :group 'processes)
7359
7360 The "group" argument in defgroup specifies the parent group. The root
7361 group is called `emacs'; it should not contain any variables itself,
7362 but only other groups. The immediate subgroups of `emacs' correspond
7363 to the keywords used by C-h p. Under these subgroups come
7364 second-level subgroups that belong to individual packages.
7365
7366 Each Emacs package should have its own set of groups. A simple
7367 package should have just one group; a more complex package should
7368 have a hierarchy of its own groups. The sole or root group of a
7369 package should be a subgroup of one or more of the "keyword"
7370 first-level subgroups.
7371
7372 ** New `widget' library for inserting UI components in buffers.
7373
7374 This library, used by the new custom library, is documented in a
7375 separate manual that accompanies Emacs.
7376
7377 ** easy-mmode
7378
7379 The easy-mmode package provides macros and functions that make
7380 developing minor modes easier. Roughly, the programmer has to code
7381 only the functionality of the minor mode. All the rest--toggles,
7382 predicate, and documentation--can be done in one call to the macro
7383 `easy-mmode-define-minor-mode' (see the documentation). See also
7384 `easy-mmode-define-keymap'.
7385
7386 ** Text property changes
7387
7388 *** The `intangible' property now works on overlays as well as on a
7389 text property.
7390
7391 *** The new functions next-char-property-change and
7392 previous-char-property-change scan through the buffer looking for a
7393 place where either a text property or an overlay might change. The
7394 functions take two arguments, POSITION and LIMIT. POSITION is the
7395 starting position for the scan. LIMIT says where to stop the scan.
7396
7397 If no property change is found before LIMIT, the value is LIMIT. If
7398 LIMIT is nil, scan goes to the beginning or end of the accessible part
7399 of the buffer. If no property change is found, the value is the
7400 position of the beginning or end of the buffer.
7401
7402 *** In the `local-map' text property or overlay property, the property
7403 value can now be a symbol whose function definition is a keymap. This
7404 is an alternative to using the keymap itself.
7405
7406 ** Changes in invisibility features
7407
7408 *** Isearch can now temporarily show parts of the buffer which are
7409 hidden by an overlay with a invisible property, when the search match
7410 is inside that portion of the buffer. To enable this the overlay
7411 should have a isearch-open-invisible property which is a function that
7412 would be called having the overlay as an argument, the function should
7413 make the overlay visible.
7414
7415 During incremental search the overlays are shown by modifying the
7416 invisible and intangible properties, if beside this more actions are
7417 needed the overlay should have a isearch-open-invisible-temporary
7418 which is a function. The function is called with 2 arguments: one is
7419 the overlay and the second is nil when it should show the overlay and
7420 t when it should hide it.
7421
7422 *** add-to-invisibility-spec, remove-from-invisibility-spec
7423
7424 Modes that use overlays to hide portions of a buffer should set the
7425 invisible property of the overlay to the mode's name (or another symbol)
7426 and modify the `buffer-invisibility-spec' to include that symbol.
7427 Use `add-to-invisibility-spec' and `remove-from-invisibility-spec' to
7428 manipulate the `buffer-invisibility-spec'.
7429 Here is an example of how to do this:
7430
7431 ;; If we want to display an ellipsis:
7432 (add-to-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
7433 ;; If you don't want ellipsis:
7434 (add-to-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
7435
7436 ...
7437 (overlay-put (make-overlay beginning end) 'invisible 'my-symbol)
7438
7439 ...
7440 ;; When done with the overlays:
7441 (remove-from-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
7442 ;; Or respectively:
7443 (remove-from-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
7444
7445 ** Changes in syntax parsing.
7446
7447 *** The syntax-directed buffer-scan functions (such as
7448 `parse-partial-sexp', `forward-word' and similar functions) can now
7449 obey syntax information specified by text properties, if the variable
7450 `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil.
7451
7452 If the value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is nil, the behavior
7453 is as before: the syntax-table of the current buffer is always
7454 used to determine the syntax of the character at the position.
7455
7456 When `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil, the syntax of a
7457 character in the buffer is calculated thus:
7458
7459 a) if the `syntax-table' text-property of that character
7460 is a cons, this cons becomes the syntax-type;
7461
7462 Valid values of `syntax-table' text-property are: nil, a valid
7463 syntax-table, and a valid syntax-table element, i.e.,
7464 a cons cell of the form (SYNTAX-CODE . MATCHING-CHAR).
7465
7466 b) if the character's `syntax-table' text-property
7467 is a syntax table, this syntax table is used
7468 (instead of the syntax-table of the current buffer) to
7469 determine the syntax type of the character.
7470
7471 c) otherwise the syntax-type is determined by the syntax-table
7472 of the current buffer.
7473
7474 *** The meaning of \s in regular expressions is also affected by the
7475 value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties'. The details are the same as
7476 for the syntax-directed buffer-scan functions.
7477
7478 *** There are two new syntax-codes, `!' and `|' (numeric values 14
7479 and 15). A character with a code `!' starts a comment which is ended
7480 only by another character with the same code (unless quoted). A
7481 character with a code `|' starts a string which is ended only by
7482 another character with the same code (unless quoted).
7483
7484 These codes are mainly meant for use as values of the `syntax-table'
7485 text property.
7486
7487 *** The function `parse-partial-sexp' has new semantics for the sixth
7488 arg COMMENTSTOP. If it is `syntax-table', parse stops after the start
7489 of a comment or a string, or after end of a comment or a string.
7490
7491 *** The state-list which the return value from `parse-partial-sexp'
7492 (and can also be used as an argument) now has an optional ninth
7493 element: the character address of the start of last comment or string;
7494 nil if none. The fourth and eighth elements have special values if the
7495 string/comment is started by a "!" or "|" syntax-code.
7496
7497 *** Since new features of `parse-partial-sexp' allow a complete
7498 syntactic parsing, `font-lock' no longer supports
7499 `font-lock-comment-start-regexp'.
7500
7501 ** Changes in face features
7502
7503 *** The face functions are now unconditionally defined in Emacs, even
7504 if it does not support displaying on a device that supports faces.
7505
7506 *** The function face-documentation returns the documentation string
7507 of a face (or nil if it doesn't have one).
7508
7509 *** The function face-bold-p returns t if a face should be bold.
7510 set-face-bold-p sets that flag.
7511
7512 *** The function face-italic-p returns t if a face should be italic.
7513 set-face-italic-p sets that flag.
7514
7515 *** You can now specify foreground and background colors for text
7516 by adding elements of the form (foreground-color . COLOR-NAME)
7517 and (background-color . COLOR-NAME) to the list of faces in
7518 the `face' property (either the character's text property or an
7519 overlay property).
7520
7521 This means that you no longer need to create named faces to use
7522 arbitrary colors in a Lisp package.
7523
7524 ** Changes in file-handling functions
7525
7526 *** File-access primitive functions no longer discard an extra redundant
7527 directory name from the beginning of the file name. In other words,
7528 they no longer do anything special with // or /~. That conversion
7529 is now done only in substitute-in-file-name.
7530
7531 This makes it possible for a Lisp program to open a file whose name
7532 begins with ~.
7533
7534 *** If copy-file is unable to set the date of the output file,
7535 it now signals an error with the condition file-date-error.
7536
7537 *** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
7538 the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a list of integers.
7539
7540 *** insert-file-contents can now read from a special file,
7541 as long as the arguments VISIT and REPLACE are nil.
7542
7543 *** The RAWFILE arg to find-file-noselect, if non-nil, now suppresses
7544 character code conversion as well as other things.
7545
7546 Meanwhile, this feature does work with remote file names
7547 (formerly it did not).
7548
7549 *** Lisp packages which create temporary files should use the TMPDIR
7550 environment variable to decide which directory to put them in.
7551
7552 *** interpreter-mode-alist elements now specify regexps
7553 instead of constant strings.
7554
7555 *** expand-file-name no longer treats `//' or `/~' specially. It used
7556 to delete all the text of a file name up through the first slash of
7557 any `//' or `/~' sequence. Now it passes them straight through.
7558
7559 substitute-in-file-name continues to treat those sequences specially,
7560 in the same way as before.
7561
7562 *** The variable `format-alist' is more general now.
7563 The FROM-FN and TO-FN in a format definition can now be strings
7564 which specify shell commands to use as filters to perform conversion.
7565
7566 *** The new function access-file tries to open a file, and signals an
7567 error if that fails. If the open succeeds, access-file does nothing
7568 else, and returns nil.
7569
7570 *** The function insert-directory now signals an error if the specified
7571 directory cannot be listed.
7572
7573 ** Changes in minibuffer input
7574
7575 *** The functions read-buffer, read-variable, read-command, read-string
7576 read-file-name, read-from-minibuffer and completing-read now take an
7577 additional argument which specifies the default value. If this
7578 argument is non-nil, it should be a string; that string is used in two
7579 ways:
7580
7581 It is returned if the user enters empty input.
7582 It is available through the history command M-n.
7583
7584 *** The functions read-string, read-from-minibuffer,
7585 read-no-blanks-input and completing-read now take an additional
7586 argument INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. If this is non-nil, then the
7587 minibuffer inherits the current input method and the setting of
7588 enable-multibyte-characters from the previously current buffer.
7589
7590 In an interactive spec, you can use M instead of s to read an
7591 argument in this way.
7592
7593 *** All minibuffer input functions discard text properties
7594 from the text you enter in the minibuffer, unless the variable
7595 minibuffer-allow-text-properties is non-nil.
7596
7597 ** Echo area features
7598
7599 *** Clearing the echo area now runs the normal hook
7600 echo-area-clear-hook. Note that the echo area can be used while the
7601 minibuffer is active; in that case, the minibuffer is still active
7602 after the echo area is cleared.
7603
7604 *** The function current-message returns the message currently displayed
7605 in the echo area, or nil if there is none.
7606
7607 ** Keyboard input features
7608
7609 *** tty-erase-char is a new variable that reports which character was
7610 set up as the terminal's erase character when time Emacs was started.
7611
7612 *** num-nonmacro-input-events is the total number of input events
7613 received so far from the terminal. It does not count those generated
7614 by keyboard macros.
7615
7616 ** Frame-related changes
7617
7618 *** make-frame runs the normal hook before-make-frame-hook just before
7619 creating a frame, and just after creating a frame it runs the abnormal
7620 hook after-make-frame-functions with the new frame as arg.
7621
7622 *** The new hook window-configuration-change-hook is now run every time
7623 the window configuration has changed. The frame whose configuration
7624 has changed is the selected frame when the hook is run.
7625
7626 *** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
7627 selected buffers, in its buffer-list frame parameter, so that the
7628 value of other-buffer is now based on the buffers recently displayed
7629 in the selected frame.
7630
7631 *** The value of the frame parameter vertical-scroll-bars
7632 is now `left', `right' or nil. A non-nil value specifies
7633 which side of the window to put the scroll bars on.
7634
7635 ** X Windows features
7636
7637 *** You can examine X resources for other applications by binding
7638 x-resource-class around a call to x-get-resource. The usual value of
7639 x-resource-class is "Emacs", which is the correct value for Emacs.
7640
7641 *** In menus, checkboxes and radio buttons now actually work.
7642 The menu displays the current status of the box or button.
7643
7644 *** The function x-list-fonts now takes an optional fourth argument
7645 MAXIMUM which sets a limit on how many matching fonts to return.
7646 A smaller value of MAXIMUM makes the function faster.
7647
7648 If the only question is whether *any* font matches the pattern,
7649 it is good to supply 1 for this argument.
7650
7651 ** Subprocess features
7652
7653 *** A reminder: it is no longer necessary for subprocess filter
7654 functions and sentinels to do save-match-data, because Emacs does this
7655 automatically.
7656
7657 *** The new function shell-command-to-string executes a shell command
7658 and returns the output from the command as a string.
7659
7660 *** The new function process-contact returns t for a child process,
7661 and (HOSTNAME SERVICE) for a net connection.
7662
7663 ** An error in running pre-command-hook or post-command-hook
7664 does clear the variable to nil. The documentation was wrong before.
7665
7666 ** In define-key-after, if AFTER is t, the new binding now always goes
7667 at the end of the keymap. If the keymap is a menu, this means it
7668 goes after the other menu items.
7669
7670 ** If you have a program that makes several changes in the same area
7671 of the buffer, you can use the macro combine-after-change-calls
7672 around that Lisp code to make it faster when after-change hooks
7673 are in use.
7674
7675 The macro arranges to call the after-change functions just once for a
7676 series of several changes--if that seems safe.
7677
7678 Don't alter the variables after-change-functions and
7679 after-change-function within the body of a combine-after-change-calls
7680 form.
7681
7682 ** If you define an abbrev (with define-abbrev) whose EXPANSION
7683 is not a string, then the abbrev does not expand in the usual sense,
7684 but its hook is still run.
7685
7686 ** Normally, the Lisp debugger is not used (even if you have enabled it)
7687 for errors that are handled by condition-case.
7688
7689 If you set debug-on-signal to a non-nil value, then the debugger is called
7690 regardless of whether there is a handler for the condition. This is
7691 useful for debugging problems that happen inside of a condition-case.
7692
7693 This mode of operation seems to be unreliable in other ways. Errors that
7694 are normal and ought to be handled, perhaps in timers or process
7695 filters, will instead invoke the debugger. So don't say you weren't
7696 warned.
7697
7698 ** The new variable ring-bell-function lets you specify your own
7699 way for Emacs to "ring the bell".
7700
7701 ** If run-at-time's TIME argument is t, the action is repeated at
7702 integral multiples of REPEAT from the epoch; this is useful for
7703 functions like display-time.
7704
7705 ** You can use the function locate-library to find the precise file
7706 name of a Lisp library. This isn't new, but wasn't documented before.
7707
7708 ** Commands for entering view mode have new optional arguments that
7709 can be used from Lisp. Low-level entrance to and exit from view mode
7710 is done by functions view-mode-enter and view-mode-exit.
7711
7712 ** batch-byte-compile-file now makes Emacs return a nonzero status code
7713 if there is an error in compilation.
7714
7715 ** pop-to-buffer, switch-to-buffer-other-window and
7716 switch-to-buffer-other-frame now accept an additional optional
7717 argument NORECORD, much like switch-to-buffer. If it is non-nil,
7718 they don't put the buffer at the front of the buffer list.
7719
7720 ** If your .emacs file leaves the *scratch* buffer non-empty,
7721 Emacs does not display the startup message, so as to avoid changing
7722 the *scratch* buffer.
7723
7724 ** The new function regexp-opt returns an efficient regexp to match a string.
7725 The arguments are STRINGS and (optionally) PAREN. This function can be used
7726 where regexp matching or searching is intensively used and speed is important,
7727 e.g., in Font Lock mode.
7728
7729 ** The variable buffer-display-count is local to each buffer,
7730 and is incremented each time the buffer is displayed in a window.
7731 It starts at 0 when the buffer is created.
7732
7733 ** The new function compose-mail starts composing a mail message
7734 using the user's chosen mail composition agent (specified with the
7735 variable mail-user-agent). It has variants compose-mail-other-window
7736 and compose-mail-other-frame.
7737
7738 ** The `user-full-name' function now takes an optional parameter which
7739 can either be a number (the UID) or a string (the login name). The
7740 full name of the specified user will be returned.
7741
7742 ** Lisp packages that load files of customizations, or any other sort
7743 of user profile, should obey the variable init-file-user in deciding
7744 where to find it. They should load the profile of the user name found
7745 in that variable. If init-file-user is nil, meaning that the -q
7746 option was used, then Lisp packages should not load the customization
7747 files at all.
7748
7749 ** format-time-string now allows you to specify the field width
7750 and type of padding. This works as in printf: you write the field
7751 width as digits in the middle of a %-construct. If you start
7752 the field width with 0, it means to pad with zeros.
7753
7754 For example, %S normally specifies the number of seconds since the
7755 minute; %03S means to pad this with zeros to 3 positions, %_3S to pad
7756 with spaces to 3 positions. Plain %3S pads with zeros, because that
7757 is how %S normally pads to two positions.
7758
7759 ** thing-at-point now supports a new kind of "thing": url.
7760
7761 ** imenu.el changes.
7762
7763 You can now specify a function to be run when selecting an
7764 item from menu created by imenu.
7765
7766 An example of using this feature: if we define imenu items for the
7767 #include directives in a C file, we can open the included file when we
7768 select one of those items.
7769 \f
7770 * Emacs 19.34 is a bug-fix release with no user-visible changes.
7771 \f
7772 * Changes in Emacs 19.33.
7773
7774 ** Bibtex mode no longer turns on Auto Fill automatically. (No major
7775 mode should do that--it is the user's choice.)
7776
7777 ** The variable normal-auto-fill-function specifies the function to
7778 use for auto-fill-function, if and when Auto Fill is turned on.
7779 Major modes can set this locally to alter how Auto Fill works.
7780 \f
7781 * Editing Changes in Emacs 19.32
7782
7783 ** C-x f with no argument now signals an error.
7784 To set the fill column at the current column, use C-u C-x f.
7785
7786 ** Expanding dynamic abbrevs with M-/ is now smarter about case
7787 conversion. If you type the abbreviation with mixed case, and it
7788 matches the beginning of the expansion including case, then the
7789 expansion is copied verbatim. Using SPC M-/ to copy an additional
7790 word always copies it verbatim except when the previous copied word is
7791 all caps.
7792
7793 ** On a non-windowing terminal, which can display only one Emacs frame
7794 at a time, creating a new frame with C-x 5 2 also selects that frame.
7795
7796 When using a display that can show multiple frames at once, C-x 5 2
7797 does make the frame visible, but does not select it. This is the same
7798 as in previous Emacs versions.
7799
7800 ** You can use C-x 5 2 to create multiple frames on MSDOS, just as on a
7801 non-X terminal on Unix. Of course, only one frame is visible at any
7802 time, since your terminal doesn't have the ability to display multiple
7803 frames.
7804
7805 ** On Windows, set win32-pass-alt-to-system to a non-nil value
7806 if you would like tapping the Alt key to invoke the Windows menu.
7807 This feature is not enabled by default; since the Alt key is also the
7808 Meta key, it is too easy and painful to activate this feature by
7809 accident.
7810
7811 ** The command apply-macro-to-region-lines repeats the last defined
7812 keyboard macro once for each complete line within the current region.
7813 It does this line by line, by moving point to the beginning of that
7814 line and then executing the macro.
7815
7816 This command is not new, but was never documented before.
7817
7818 ** You can now use Mouse-1 to place the region around a string constant
7819 (something surrounded by doublequote characters or other delimiter
7820 characters of like syntax) by double-clicking on one of the delimiting
7821 characters.
7822
7823 ** Font Lock mode
7824
7825 *** Font Lock support modes
7826
7827 Font Lock can be configured to use Fast Lock mode and Lazy Lock mode (see
7828 below) in a flexible way. Rather than adding the appropriate function to the
7829 hook font-lock-mode-hook, you can use the new variable font-lock-support-mode
7830 to control which modes have Fast Lock mode or Lazy Lock mode turned on when
7831 Font Lock mode is enabled.
7832
7833 For example, to use Fast Lock mode when Font Lock mode is turned on, put:
7834
7835 (setq font-lock-support-mode 'fast-lock-mode)
7836
7837 in your ~/.emacs.
7838
7839 *** lazy-lock
7840
7841 The lazy-lock package speeds up Font Lock mode by making fontification occur
7842 only when necessary, such as when a previously unfontified part of the buffer
7843 becomes visible in a window. When you create a buffer with Font Lock mode and
7844 Lazy Lock mode turned on, the buffer is not fontified. When certain events
7845 occur (such as scrolling), Lazy Lock makes sure that the visible parts of the
7846 buffer are fontified. Lazy Lock also defers on-the-fly fontification until
7847 Emacs has been idle for a given amount of time.
7848
7849 To use this package, put in your ~/.emacs:
7850
7851 (setq font-lock-support-mode 'lazy-lock-mode)
7852
7853 To control the package behaviour, see the documentation for `lazy-lock-mode'.
7854
7855 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
7856
7857 *** For all entries allow spaces and tabs between opening brace or
7858 paren and key.
7859
7860 *** Non-escaped double-quoted characters (as in `Sch"of') are now
7861 supported.
7862
7863 ** Gnus changes.
7864
7865 Gnus, the Emacs news reader, has undergone further rewriting. Many new
7866 commands and variables have been added. There should be no
7867 significant incompatibilities between this Gnus version and the
7868 previously released version, except in the message composition area.
7869
7870 Below is a list of the more user-visible changes. Coding changes
7871 between Gnus 5.1 and 5.2 are more extensive.
7872
7873 *** A new message composition mode is used. All old customization
7874 variables for mail-mode, rnews-reply-mode and gnus-msg are now
7875 obsolete.
7876
7877 *** Gnus is now able to generate "sparse" threads -- threads where
7878 missing articles are represented by empty nodes.
7879
7880 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
7881
7882 *** Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server.
7883
7884 To disable this: (setq gnus-message-archive-group nil)
7885
7886 *** Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
7887 referred.
7888
7889 *** Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions:
7890
7891 (setq gnus-use-grouplens t)
7892
7893 *** A trn-line tree buffer can be displayed.
7894
7895 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
7896
7897 *** An nn-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
7898 buffers.
7899
7900 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7901
7902 *** In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode:
7903
7904 `M-x gnus-binary-mode'
7905
7906 *** Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy.
7907
7908 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
7909
7910 *** Gnus can re-send and bounce mail.
7911
7912 Use the `S D r' and `S D b'.
7913
7914 *** Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
7915 is possible.
7916
7917 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
7918
7919 *** Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
7920 groups of groups.
7921
7922 *** Caching is possible in virtual groups.
7923
7924 *** nndoc now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews news
7925 batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything else.
7926
7927 *** Gnus has a new backend (nnsoup) to create/read SOUP packets.
7928
7929 *** The Gnus cache is much faster.
7930
7931 *** Groups can be sorted according to many criteria.
7932
7933 For instance: (setq gnus-group-sort-function 'gnus-group-sort-by-rank)
7934
7935 *** New group parameters have been introduced to set list-address and
7936 expiration times.
7937
7938 *** All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used.
7939
7940 *** There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on
7941 process marked articles on the `M P' submap.
7942
7943 *** The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
7944 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
7945 bound to keys on the `/' submap.
7946
7947 *** Articles can be made persistent -- as an alternative to saving
7948 articles with the `*' command.
7949
7950 *** All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
7951
7952 *** Article headers can be buttonized.
7953
7954 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
7955
7956 *** All mail backends support fetching articles by Message-ID.
7957
7958 *** Duplicate mail can now be treated properly. See the
7959 `nnmail-treat-duplicates' variable.
7960
7961 *** All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
7962 buffer.
7963
7964 *** Frames can be part of `gnus-buffer-configuration'.
7965
7966 *** Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process.
7967
7968 *** Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to filter spam.
7969
7970 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
7971
7972 *** Groups can be made permanently visible.
7973
7974 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
7975
7976 *** Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
7977
7978 *** Gnus respects the Mail-Copies-To header.
7979
7980 *** Threads can be gathered by looking at the References header.
7981
7982 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7983 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
7984
7985 *** Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
7986 refetching.
7987
7988 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
7989
7990 *** A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
7991 buffer to allow easier treatment.
7992
7993 *** Gnus can suggest where to save articles. See `gnus-split-methods'.
7994
7995 *** Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving.
7996
7997 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
7998
7999 *** gnus-uu can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
8000 articles.
8001
8002 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
8003
8004 *** Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text.
8005
8006 *** Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
8007 cited text to hide is now customizable.
8008
8009 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
8010
8011 *** Boring headers can be hidden.
8012
8013 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers)
8014
8015 *** Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
8016
8017 *** Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
8018
8019 The Gnus manual has been expanded. It explains all these new features
8020 in greater detail.
8021 \f
8022 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 19.32
8023
8024 ** The function set-visited-file-name now accepts an optional
8025 second argument NO-QUERY. If it is non-nil, then the user is not
8026 asked for confirmation in the case where the specified file already
8027 exists.
8028
8029 ** The variable print-length applies to printing vectors and bitvectors,
8030 as well as lists.
8031
8032 ** The new function keymap-parent returns the parent keymap
8033 of a given keymap.
8034
8035 ** The new function set-keymap-parent specifies a new parent for a
8036 given keymap. The arguments are KEYMAP and PARENT. PARENT must be a
8037 keymap or nil.
8038
8039 ** Sometimes menu keymaps use a command name, a symbol, which is really
8040 an automatically generated alias for some other command, the "real"
8041 name. In such a case, you should give that alias symbol a non-nil
8042 menu-alias property. That property tells the menu system to look for
8043 equivalent keys for the real name instead of equivalent keys for the
8044 alias.
8045 \f
8046 * Editing Changes in Emacs 19.31
8047
8048 ** Freedom of the press restricted in the United States.
8049
8050 Emacs has been censored in accord with the Communications Decency Act.
8051 This includes removing some features of the doctor program. That law
8052 was described by its supporters as a ban on pornography, but it bans
8053 far more than that. The Emacs distribution has never contained any
8054 pornography, but parts of it were nonetheless prohibited.
8055
8056 For information on US government censorship of the Internet, and what
8057 you can do to bring back freedom of the press, see the web site
8058 `http://www.vtw.org/'.
8059
8060 ** A note about C mode indentation customization.
8061
8062 The old (Emacs 19.29) ways of specifying a C indentation style
8063 do not normally work in the new implementation of C mode.
8064 It has its own methods of customizing indentation, which are
8065 much more powerful than the old C mode. See the Editing Programs
8066 chapter of the manual for details.
8067
8068 However, you can load the library cc-compat to make the old
8069 customization variables take effect.
8070
8071 ** Marking with the mouse.
8072
8073 When you mark a region with the mouse, the region now remains
8074 highlighted until the next input event, regardless of whether you are
8075 using M-x transient-mark-mode.
8076
8077 ** Improved Windows NT/95 support.
8078
8079 *** Emacs now supports scroll bars on Windows NT and Windows 95.
8080
8081 *** Emacs now supports subprocesses on Windows 95. (Subprocesses used
8082 to work on NT only and not on 95.)
8083
8084 *** There are difficulties with subprocesses, though, due to problems
8085 in Windows, beyond the control of Emacs. They work fine as long as
8086 you run Windows applications. The problems arise when you run a DOS
8087 application in a subprocesses. Since current shells run as DOS
8088 applications, these problems are significant.
8089
8090 If you run a DOS application in a subprocess, then the application is
8091 likely to busy-wait, which means that your machine will be 100% busy.
8092 However, if you don't mind the temporary heavy load, the subprocess
8093 will work OK as long as you tell it to terminate before you start any
8094 other DOS application as a subprocess.
8095
8096 Emacs is unable to terminate or interrupt a DOS subprocess.
8097 You have to do this by providing input directly to the subprocess.
8098
8099 If you run two DOS applications at the same time in two separate
8100 subprocesses, even if one of them is asynchronous, you will probably
8101 have to reboot your machine--until then, it will remain 100% busy.
8102 Windows simply does not cope when one Windows process tries to run two
8103 separate DOS subprocesses. Typing CTL-ALT-DEL and then choosing
8104 Shutdown seems to work although it may take a few minutes.
8105
8106 ** M-x resize-minibuffer-mode.
8107
8108 This command, not previously mentioned in NEWS, toggles a mode in
8109 which the minibuffer window expands to show as many lines as the
8110 minibuffer contains.
8111
8112 ** `title' frame parameter and resource.
8113
8114 The `title' X resource now specifies just the frame title, nothing else.
8115 It does not affect the name used for looking up other X resources.
8116 It works by setting the new `title' frame parameter, which likewise
8117 affects just the displayed title of the frame.
8118
8119 The `name' parameter continues to do what it used to do:
8120 it specifies the frame name for looking up X resources,
8121 and also serves as the default for the displayed title
8122 when the `title' parameter is unspecified or nil.
8123
8124 ** Emacs now uses the X toolkit by default, if you have a new
8125 enough version of X installed (X11R5 or newer).
8126
8127 ** When you compile Emacs with the Motif widget set, Motif handles the
8128 F10 key by activating the menu bar. To avoid confusion, the usual
8129 Emacs binding of F10 is replaced with a no-op when using Motif.
8130
8131 If you want to be able to use F10 in Emacs, you can rebind the Motif
8132 menubar to some other key which you don't use. To do so, add
8133 something like this to your X resources file. This example rebinds
8134 the Motif menu bar activation key to S-F12:
8135
8136 Emacs*defaultVirtualBindings: osfMenuBar : Shift<Key>F12
8137
8138 ** In overwrite mode, DEL now inserts spaces in most cases
8139 to replace the characters it "deletes".
8140
8141 ** The Rmail summary now shows the number of lines in each message.
8142
8143 ** Rmail has a new command M-x unforward-rmail-message, which extracts
8144 a forwarded message from the message that forwarded it. To use it,
8145 select a message which contains a forwarded message and then type the command.
8146 It inserts the forwarded message as a separate Rmail message
8147 immediately after the selected one.
8148
8149 This command also undoes the textual modifications that are standardly
8150 made, as part of forwarding, by Rmail and other mail reader programs.
8151
8152 ** Turning off saving of .saves-... files in your home directory.
8153
8154 Each Emacs session writes a file named .saves-... in your home
8155 directory to record which files M-x recover-session should recover.
8156 If you exit Emacs normally with C-x C-c, it deletes that file. If
8157 Emacs or the operating system crashes, the file remains for M-x
8158 recover-session.
8159
8160 You can turn off the writing of these files by setting
8161 auto-save-list-file-name to nil. If you do this, M-x recover-session
8162 will not work.
8163
8164 Some previous Emacs versions failed to delete these files even on
8165 normal exit. This is fixed now. If you are thinking of turning off
8166 this feature because of past experiences with versions that had this
8167 bug, it would make sense to check whether you still want to do so
8168 now that the bug is fixed.
8169
8170 ** Changes to Version Control (VC)
8171
8172 There is a new variable, vc-follow-symlinks. It indicates what to do
8173 when you visit a link to a file that is under version control.
8174 Editing the file through the link bypasses the version control system,
8175 which is dangerous and probably not what you want.
8176
8177 If this variable is t, VC follows the link and visits the real file,
8178 telling you about it in the echo area. If it is `ask' (the default),
8179 VC asks for confirmation whether it should follow the link. If nil,
8180 the link is visited and a warning displayed.
8181
8182 ** iso-acc.el now lets you specify a choice of language.
8183 Languages include "latin-1" (the default) and "latin-2" (which
8184 is designed for entering ISO Latin-2 characters).
8185
8186 There are also choices for specific human languages such as French and
8187 Portuguese. These are subsets of Latin-1, which differ in that they
8188 enable only the accent characters needed for particular language.
8189 The other accent characters, not needed for the chosen language,
8190 remain normal.
8191
8192 ** Posting articles and sending mail now has M-TAB completion on various
8193 header fields (Newsgroups, To, CC, ...).
8194
8195 Completion in the Newsgroups header depends on the list of groups
8196 known to your news reader. Completion in the Followup-To header
8197 offers those groups which are in the Newsgroups header, since
8198 Followup-To usually just holds one of those.
8199
8200 Completion in fields that hold mail addresses works based on the list
8201 of local users plus your aliases. Additionally, if your site provides
8202 a mail directory or a specific host to use for any unrecognized user
8203 name, you can arrange to query that host for completion also. (See the
8204 documentation of variables `mail-directory-process' and
8205 `mail-directory-stream'.)
8206
8207 ** A greatly extended sgml-mode offers new features such as (to be configured)
8208 skeletons with completing read for tags and attributes, typing named
8209 characters including optionally all 8bit characters, making tags invisible
8210 with optional alternate display text, skipping and deleting tag(pair)s.
8211
8212 Note: since Emacs' syntax feature cannot limit the special meaning of ', " and
8213 - to inside <>, for some texts the result, especially of font locking, may be
8214 wrong (see `sgml-specials' if you get wrong results).
8215
8216 The derived html-mode configures this with tags and attributes more or
8217 less HTML3ish. It also offers optional quick keys like C-c 1 for
8218 headline or C-c u for unordered list (see `html-quick-keys'). Edit /
8219 Text Properties / Face or M-g combinations create tags as applicable.
8220 Outline minor mode is supported and level 1 font-locking tries to
8221 fontify tag contents (which only works when they fit on one line, due
8222 to a limitation in font-lock).
8223
8224 External viewing via browse-url can occur automatically upon saving.
8225
8226 ** M-x imenu-add-to-menubar now adds to the menu bar for the current
8227 buffer only. If you want to put an Imenu item in the menu bar for all
8228 buffers that use a particular major mode, use the mode hook, as in
8229 this example:
8230
8231 (add-hook 'emacs-lisp-mode-hook
8232 '(lambda () (imenu-add-to-menubar "Index")))
8233
8234 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
8235
8236 *** Field names may now contain digits, hyphens, and underscores.
8237
8238 *** Font Lock mode is now supported.
8239
8240 *** bibtex-make-optional-field is no longer interactive.
8241
8242 *** If bibtex-maintain-sorted-entries is non-nil, inserting new
8243 entries is now done with a faster algorithm. However, inserting
8244 will fail in this case if the buffer contains invalid entries or
8245 isn't in sorted order, so you should finish each entry with C-c C-c
8246 (bibtex-close-entry) after you have inserted or modified it.
8247 The default value of bibtex-maintain-sorted-entries is nil.
8248
8249 *** Function `show-all' is no longer bound to a key, since C-u C-c C-q
8250 does the same job.
8251
8252 *** Entries with quotes inside quote-delimited fields (as `author =
8253 "Stefan Sch{\"o}f"') are now supported.
8254
8255 *** Case in field names doesn't matter anymore when searching for help
8256 text.
8257
8258 ** Font Lock mode
8259
8260 *** Global Font Lock mode
8261
8262 Font Lock mode can be turned on globally, in buffers that support it, by the
8263 new command global-font-lock-mode. You can use the new variable
8264 font-lock-global-modes to control which modes have Font Lock mode automagically
8265 turned on. By default, this variable is set so that Font Lock mode is turned
8266 on globally where the buffer mode supports it.
8267
8268 For example, to automagically turn on Font Lock mode where supported, put:
8269
8270 (global-font-lock-mode t)
8271
8272 in your ~/.emacs.
8273
8274 *** Local Refontification
8275
8276 In Font Lock mode, editing a line automatically refontifies that line only.
8277 However, if your change alters the syntactic context for following lines,
8278 those lines remain incorrectly fontified. To refontify them, use the new
8279 command M-g M-g (font-lock-fontify-block).
8280
8281 In certain major modes, M-g M-g refontifies the entire current function.
8282 (The variable font-lock-mark-block-function controls how to find the
8283 current function.) In other major modes, M-g M-g refontifies 16 lines
8284 above and below point.
8285
8286 With a prefix argument N, M-g M-g refontifies N lines above and below point.
8287
8288 ** Follow mode
8289
8290 Follow mode is a new minor mode combining windows showing the same
8291 buffer into one tall "virtual window". The windows are typically two
8292 side-by-side windows. Follow mode makes them scroll together as if
8293 they were a unit. To use it, go to a frame with just one window,
8294 split it into two side-by-side windows using C-x 3, and then type M-x
8295 follow-mode.
8296
8297 M-x follow-mode turns off Follow mode if it is already enabled.
8298
8299 To display two side-by-side windows and activate Follow mode, use the
8300 command M-x follow-delete-other-windows-and-split.
8301
8302 ** hide-show changes.
8303
8304 The hooks hs-hide-hooks and hs-show-hooks have been renamed
8305 to hs-hide-hook and hs-show-hook, to follow the convention for
8306 normal hooks.
8307
8308 ** Simula mode now has a menu containing the most important commands.
8309 The new command simula-indent-exp is bound to C-M-q.
8310
8311 ** etags can now handle programs written in Erlang. Files are
8312 recognised by the extensions .erl and .hrl. The tagged lines are
8313 those that begin a function, record, or macro.
8314
8315 ** MSDOS Changes
8316
8317 *** It is now possible to compile Emacs with the version 2 of DJGPP.
8318 Compilation with DJGPP version 1 also still works.
8319
8320 *** The documentation of DOS-specific aspects of Emacs was rewritten
8321 and expanded; see the ``MS-DOS'' node in the on-line docs.
8322
8323 *** Emacs now uses ~ for backup file names, not .bak.
8324
8325 *** You can simulate mouse-3 on two-button mice by simultaneously
8326 pressing both mouse buttons.
8327
8328 *** A number of packages and commands which previously failed or had
8329 restricted functionality on MS-DOS, now work. The most important ones
8330 are:
8331
8332 **** Printing (both with `M-x lpr-buffer' and with `ps-print' package)
8333 now works.
8334
8335 **** `Ediff' works (in a single-frame mode).
8336
8337 **** `M-x display-time' can be used on MS-DOS (due to the new
8338 implementation of Emacs timers, see below).
8339
8340 **** `Dired' supports Unix-style shell wildcards.
8341
8342 **** The `c-macro-expand' command now works as on other platforms.
8343
8344 **** `M-x recover-session' works.
8345
8346 **** `M-x list-colors-display' displays all the available colors.
8347
8348 **** The `TPU-EDT' package works.
8349 \f
8350 * Lisp changes in Emacs 19.31.
8351
8352 ** The function using-unix-filesystems on Windows NT and Windows 95
8353 tells Emacs to read and write files assuming that they reside on a
8354 remote Unix filesystem. No CR/LF translation is done on any files in
8355 this case. Invoking using-unix-filesystems with t activates this
8356 behavior, and invoking it with any other value deactivates it.
8357
8358 ** Change in system-type and system-configuration values.
8359
8360 The value of system-type on a Linux-based GNU system is now `lignux',
8361 not `linux'. This means that some programs which use `system-type'
8362 need to be changed. The value of `system-configuration' will also
8363 be different.
8364
8365 It is generally recommended to use `system-configuration' rather
8366 than `system-type'.
8367
8368 See the file LINUX-GNU in this directory for more about this.
8369
8370 ** The functions shell-command and dired-call-process
8371 now run file name handlers for default-directory, if it has them.
8372
8373 ** Undoing the deletion of text now restores the positions of markers
8374 that pointed into or next to the deleted text.
8375
8376 ** Timers created with run-at-time now work internally to Emacs, and
8377 no longer use a separate process. Therefore, they now work more
8378 reliably and can be used for shorter time delays.
8379
8380 The new function run-with-timer is a convenient way to set up a timer
8381 to run a specified amount of time after the present. A call looks
8382 like this:
8383
8384 (run-with-timer SECS REPEAT FUNCTION ARGS...)
8385
8386 SECS says how many seconds should elapse before the timer happens.
8387 It may be an integer or a floating point number. When the timer
8388 becomes ripe, the action is to call FUNCTION with arguments ARGS.
8389
8390 REPEAT gives the interval for repeating the timer (measured in
8391 seconds). It may be an integer or a floating point number. nil or 0
8392 means don't repeat at all--call FUNCTION just once.
8393
8394 *** with-timeout provides an easy way to do something but give
8395 up if too much time passes.
8396
8397 (with-timeout (SECONDS TIMEOUT-FORMS...) BODY...)
8398
8399 This executes BODY, but gives up after SECONDS seconds.
8400 If it gives up, it runs the TIMEOUT-FORMS and returns the value
8401 of the last one of them. Normally it returns the value of the last
8402 form in BODY.
8403
8404 *** You can now arrange to call a function whenever Emacs is idle for
8405 a certain length of time. To do this, call run-with-idle-timer. A
8406 call looks like this:
8407
8408 (run-with-idle-timer SECS REPEAT FUNCTION ARGS...)
8409
8410 SECS says how many seconds of idleness should elapse before the timer
8411 runs. It may be an integer or a floating point number. When the
8412 timer becomes ripe, the action is to call FUNCTION with arguments
8413 ARGS.
8414
8415 Emacs becomes idle whenever it finishes executing a keyboard or mouse
8416 command. It remains idle until it receives another keyboard or mouse
8417 command.
8418
8419 REPEAT, if non-nil, means this timer should be activated again each
8420 time Emacs becomes idle and remains idle for SECS seconds The timer
8421 does not repeat if Emacs *remains* idle; it runs at most once after
8422 each time Emacs becomes idle.
8423
8424 If REPEAT is nil, the timer runs just once, the first time Emacs is
8425 idle for SECS seconds.
8426
8427 *** post-command-idle-hook is now obsolete; you shouldn't use it at
8428 all, because it interferes with the idle timer mechanism. If your
8429 programs use post-command-idle-hook, convert them to use idle timers
8430 instead.
8431
8432 *** y-or-n-p-with-timeout lets you ask a question but give up if
8433 there is no answer within a certain time.
8434
8435 (y-or-n-p-with-timeout PROMPT SECONDS DEFAULT-VALUE)
8436
8437 asks the question PROMPT (just like y-or-n-p). If the user answers
8438 within SECONDS seconds, it returns the answer that the user gave.
8439 Otherwise it gives up after SECONDS seconds, and returns DEFAULT-VALUE.
8440
8441 ** Minor change to `encode-time': you can now pass more than seven
8442 arguments. If you do that, the first six arguments have the usual
8443 meaning, the last argument is interpreted as the time zone, and the
8444 arguments in between are ignored.
8445
8446 This means that it works to use the list returned by `decode-time' as
8447 the list of arguments for `encode-time'.
8448
8449 ** The default value of load-path now includes the directory
8450 /usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp In addition to
8451 /usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp. You can use this new directory for
8452 site-specific Lisp packages that belong with a particular Emacs
8453 version.
8454
8455 It is not unusual for a Lisp package that works well in one Emacs
8456 version to cause trouble in another. Sometimes packages need updating
8457 for incompatible changes; sometimes they look at internal data that
8458 has changed; sometimes the package has been installed in Emacs itself
8459 and the installed version should be used. Whatever the reason for the
8460 problem, this new feature makes it easier to solve.
8461
8462 ** When your program contains a fixed file name (like .completions or
8463 .abbrev.defs), the file name usually needs to be different on operating
8464 systems with limited file name syntax.
8465
8466 Now you can avoid ad-hoc conditionals by using the function
8467 convert-standard-filename to convert the file name to a proper form
8468 for each operating system. Here is an example of use, from the file
8469 completions.el:
8470
8471 (defvar save-completions-file-name
8472 (convert-standard-filename "~/.completions")
8473 "*The filename to save completions to.")
8474
8475 This sets the variable save-completions-file-name to a value that
8476 depends on the operating system, because the definition of
8477 convert-standard-filename depends on the operating system. On
8478 Unix-like systems, it returns the specified file name unchanged. On
8479 MS-DOS, it adapts the name to fit the limitations of that system.
8480
8481 ** The interactive spec N now returns the numeric prefix argument
8482 rather than the raw prefix argument. (It still reads a number using the
8483 minibuffer if there is no prefix argument at all.)
8484
8485 ** When a process is deleted, this no longer disconnects the process
8486 marker from its buffer position.
8487
8488 ** The variable garbage-collection-messages now controls whether
8489 Emacs displays a message at the beginning and end of garbage collection.
8490 The default is nil, meaning there are no messages.
8491
8492 ** The variable debug-ignored-errors specifies certain kinds of errors
8493 that should not enter the debugger. Its value is a list of error
8494 condition symbols and/or regular expressions. If the error has any
8495 of the condition symbols listed, or if any of the regular expressions
8496 matches the error message, then that error does not enter the debugger,
8497 regardless of the value of debug-on-error.
8498
8499 This variable is initialized to match certain common but uninteresting
8500 errors that happen often during editing.
8501
8502 ** The new function error-message-string converts an error datum
8503 into its error message. The error datum is what condition-case
8504 puts into the variable, to describe the error that happened.
8505
8506 ** Anything that changes which buffer appears in a given window
8507 now runs the window-scroll-functions for that window.
8508
8509 ** The new function get-buffer-window-list returns a list of windows displaying
8510 a buffer. The function is called with the buffer (a buffer object or a buffer
8511 name) and two optional arguments specifying the minibuffer windows and frames
8512 to search. Therefore this function takes optional args like next-window etc.,
8513 and not get-buffer-window.
8514
8515 ** buffer-substring now runs the hook buffer-access-fontify-functions,
8516 calling each function with two arguments--the range of the buffer
8517 being accessed. buffer-substring-no-properties does not call them.
8518
8519 If you use this feature, you should set the variable
8520 buffer-access-fontified-property to a non-nil symbol, which is a
8521 property name. Then, if all the characters in the buffer range have a
8522 non-nil value for that property, the buffer-access-fontify-functions
8523 are not called. When called, these functions should put a non-nil
8524 property on the text that they fontify, so that they won't get called
8525 over and over for the same text.
8526
8527 ** Changes in lisp-mnt.el
8528
8529 *** The lisp-mnt package can now recognize file headers that are written
8530 in the formats used by the `what' command and the RCS `ident' command:
8531
8532 ;; @(#) HEADER: text
8533 ;; $HEADER: text $
8534
8535 in addition to the normal
8536
8537 ;; HEADER: text
8538
8539 *** The commands lm-verify and lm-synopsis are now interactive. lm-verify
8540 checks that the library file has proper sections and headers, and
8541 lm-synopsis extracts first line "synopsis'"information.
8542
8543
8544 \f
8545 * For older news, see the file ONEWS
8546
8547 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
8548 Copyright information:
8549
8550 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
8551
8552 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
8553 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
8554 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
8555 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
8556
8557 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
8558 of this document, or of portions of it,
8559 under the above conditions, provided also that they
8560 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
8561 \f
8562 Local variables:
8563 mode: outline
8564 paragraph-separate: "[ \f]*$"
8565 end: