1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes. 2003-05-21
2 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
3 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 See the end for copying conditions.
6 Please send Emacs bug reports to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.
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9 `view-emacs-news' with a prefix argument or by typing C-u C-h C-n.
12 +++ indicates that the appropriate manual has already been updated.
13 --- means no change in the manuals is called for.
14 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
15 so we will look at it and add it to the manual.
18 * Installation Changes in Emacs 22.1
21 ** Emacs now supports new configure options `--program-prefix',
22 `--program-suffix' and `--program-transform-name' that affect the names of
26 ** Emacs can now be built without sound support.
29 ** You can build Emacs with Gtk+ widgets by specifying `--with-x-toolkit=gtk'
30 when you run configure. This requires Gtk+ 2.0 or newer. This port
31 provides a way to display multilingual text in menus (with some caveats).
34 ** The `emacsserver' program has been removed, replaced with elisp code.
37 ** By default, Emacs now uses a setgid helper program to update game
38 scores. The directory ${localstatedir}/games/emacs is the normal
39 place for game scores to be stored. You can control this with the
40 configure option `--with-game-dir'. The specific user that Emacs uses
41 to own the game scores is controlled by `--with-game-user'. If access
42 to a game user is not available, then scores will be stored separately
43 in each user's home directory.
46 ** Leim is now part of the Emacs distribution.
47 You no longer need to download a separate tarball in order to build
51 ** The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual is now part of the distribution.
53 The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual in Info format is built as part of the
54 Emacs build procedure and installed together with the Emacs User
55 Manual. A menu item was added to the menu bar that makes it easy
56 accessible (Help->More Manuals->Emacs Lisp Reference).
59 ** The Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp manual is now part of
62 This manual is now part of the standard distribution and is installed,
63 together with the Emacs User Manual, into the Info directory. A menu
64 item was added to the menu bar that makes it easy accessible
65 (Help->More Manuals->Introduction to Emacs Lisp).
68 ** New translations of the Emacs Tutorial are available in the
69 following languages: Brasilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese (both
70 with simplified and traditional characters), French, and Italian.
71 Type `C-u C-h t' to choose one of them in case your language setup
72 doesn't automatically select the right one.
75 ** A French translation of the `Emacs Survival Guide' is available.
78 ** Emacs now includes support for loading image libraries on demand.
79 (Currently this feature is only used on MS Windows.) You can configure
80 the supported image types and their associated dynamic libraries by
81 setting the variable `image-library-alist'.
84 ** Support for Cygwin was added.
87 ** Support for FreeBSD/Alpha has been added.
90 ** Support for GNU/Linux systems on S390 machines was added.
93 ** Support for MacOS X was added.
94 See the files mac/README and mac/INSTALL for build instructions.
97 ** Support for GNU/Linux systems on X86-64 machines was added.
100 ** Mac OS 9 port now uses the Carbon API by default. You can also
101 create non-Carbon build by specifying `NonCarbon' as a target. See
102 the files mac/README and mac/INSTALL for build instructions.
105 ** Building with -DENABLE_CHECKING does not automatically build with union
106 types any more. Add -DUSE_LISP_UNION_TYPE if you want union types.
109 ** When pure storage overflows while dumping, Emacs now prints how
110 much pure storage it will approximately need.
112 * Startup Changes in Emacs 22.1
114 ** New command line option -Q or --quick.
115 This is like using -q --no-site-file, but in addition it also disables
116 the fancy startup screen.
119 ** New command line option -D or --basic-display.
120 Disables the menu-bar, the tool-bar, the scroll-bars, tool tips, and
124 ** New command line option -nbc or --no-blinking-cursor disables
125 the blinking cursor on graphical terminals.
128 ** The option --script FILE runs Emacs in batch mode and loads FILE.
129 It is useful for writing Emacs Lisp shell script files, because they
130 can start with this line:
132 #!/usr/bin/emacs --script
135 ** The option --directory DIR now modifies `load-path' immediately.
136 Directories are added to the front of `load-path' in the order they
137 appear on the command line. For example, with this command line:
139 emacs -batch -L .. -L /tmp --eval "(require 'foo)"
141 Emacs looks for library `foo' in the parent directory, then in /tmp, then
142 in the other directories in `load-path'. (-L is short for --directory.)
145 ** The command line option --no-windows has been changed to
146 --no-window-system. The old one still works, but is deprecated.
149 ** The -f option, used from the command line to call a function,
150 now reads arguments for the function interactively if it is
151 an interactively callable function.
154 ** When you specify a frame size with --geometry, the size applies to
155 all frames you create. A position specified with --geometry only
156 affects the initial frame.
159 ** Emacs can now be invoked in full-screen mode on a windowed display.
160 When Emacs is invoked on a window system, the new command-line options
161 `--fullwidth', `--fullheight', and `--fullscreen' produce a frame
162 whose width, height, or both width and height take up the entire
163 screen size. (For now, this does not work with some window managers.)
166 ** Emacs now displays a splash screen by default even if command-line
167 arguments were given. The new command-line option --no-splash
168 disables the splash screen; see also the variable
169 `inhibit-startup-message' (which is also aliased as
170 `inhibit-splash-screen').
173 ** New user option `inhibit-startup-buffer-menu'.
174 When loading many files, for instance with `emacs *', Emacs normally
175 displays a buffer menu. This option turns the buffer menu off.
179 You can now put the init files .emacs and .emacs_SHELL under
180 ~/.emacs.d or directly under ~. Emacs will find them in either place.
183 ** Emacs now reads the standard abbrevs file ~/.abbrev_defs
184 automatically at startup, if it exists. When Emacs offers to save
185 modified buffers, it saves the abbrevs too if they have changed. It
186 can do this either silently or asking for confirmation first,
187 according to the value of `save-abbrevs'.
189 * Incompatible Editing Changes in Emacs 22.1
192 ** M-g is now a prefix key.
193 M-g g and M-g M-g run goto-line.
194 M-g n and M-g M-n run next-error (like C-x `).
195 M-g p and M-g M-p run previous-error.
198 ** C-u M-g M-g switches to the most recent previous buffer,
199 and goes to the specified line in that buffer.
201 When goto-line starts to execute, if there's a number in the buffer at
202 point then it acts as the default argument for the minibuffer.
205 ** The old bindings C-M-delete and C-M-backspace have been deleted,
206 since there are situations where one or the other will shut down
207 the operating system or your X server.
210 ** line-move-ignore-invisible now defaults to t.
213 ** When the undo information of the current command gets really large
214 (beyond the value of `undo-outer-limit'), Emacs discards it and warns
218 ** `apply-macro-to-region-lines' now operates on all lines that begin
219 in the region, rather than on all complete lines in the region.
222 ** A prefix argument is no longer required to repeat a jump to a
223 previous mark, i.e. C-u C-SPC C-SPC C-SPC ... cycles through the
224 mark ring. Use C-u C-u C-SPC to set the mark immediately after a jump.
227 ** The info-search bindings on C-h C-f, C-h C-k and C-h C-i
228 have been moved to C-h F, C-h K and C-h S.
231 ** In incremental search, C-w is changed. M-%, C-M-w and C-M-y are special.
233 See below under "incremental search changes".
236 ** C-x C-f RET, typing nothing in the minibuffer, is no longer a special case.
238 Since the default input is the current directory, this has the effect
239 of specifying the current directory. Normally that means to visit the
240 directory with Dired.
243 ** The completion commands TAB, SPC and ? in the minibuffer apply only
244 to the text before point. If there is text in the buffer after point,
245 it remains unchanged.
248 ** M-o now is the prefix key for setting text properties;
249 M-o M-o requests refontification.
252 ** You can now follow links by clicking Mouse-1 on the link.
254 See below for more details.
257 ** In Dired's ! command (dired-do-shell-command), `*' and `?' now
258 control substitution of the file names only when they are surrounded
259 by whitespace. This means you can now use them as shell wildcards
260 too. If you want to use just plain `*' as a wildcard, type `*""'; the
261 doublequotes make no difference in the shell, but they prevent
262 special treatment in `dired-do-shell-command'.
264 * Editing Changes in Emacs 22.1
267 ** The max size of buffers and integers has been doubled.
268 On 32bit machines, it is now 256M (i.e. 268435455).
271 ** M-g is now a prefix key.
272 M-g g and M-g M-g run goto-line.
273 M-g n and M-g M-n run next-error (like C-x `).
274 M-g p and M-g M-p run previous-error.
277 ** C-u M-g M-g switches to the most recent previous buffer,
278 and goes to the specified line in that buffer.
280 When goto-line starts to execute, if there's a number in the buffer at
281 point then it acts as the default argument for the minibuffer.
284 ** The old bindings C-M-delete and C-M-backspace have been deleted,
285 since there are situations where one or the other will shut down
286 the operating system or your X server.
289 ** line-move-ignore-invisible now defaults to t.
292 ** When the undo information of the current command gets really large
293 (beyond the value of `undo-outer-limit'), Emacs discards it and warns
297 ** `apply-macro-to-region-lines' now operates on all lines that begin
298 in the region, rather than on all complete lines in the region.
301 ** You can now switch buffers in a cyclic order with C-x C-left and
302 (prev-buffer) and C-x C-right (next-buffer). C-x left and C-x right
306 ** `undo-only' does an undo which does not redo any previous undo.
309 ** M-SPC (just-one-space) when given a numeric argument N
310 converts whitespace around point to N spaces.
313 ** New commands to operate on pairs of open and close characters:
314 `insert-pair', `delete-pair', `raise-sexp'.
317 ** New command `kill-whole-line' kills an entire line at once.
318 By default, it is bound to C-S-<backspace>.
321 ** Yanking text now discards certain text properties that can
322 be inconvenient when you did not expect them. The variable
323 `yank-excluded-properties' specifies which ones. Insertion
324 of register contents and rectangles also discards these properties.
327 ** The default values of paragraph-start and indent-line-function have
328 been changed to reflect those used in Text mode rather than those used
329 in Indented-Text mode.
332 ** M-x setenv now expands environment variable references.
334 Substrings of the form `$foo' and `${foo}' in the specified new value
335 now refer to the value of environment variable foo. To include a `$'
336 in the value, use `$$'.
339 ** `special-display-buffer-names' and `special-display-regexps' now
340 understand two new boolean pseudo-frame-parameters `same-frame' and
344 ** The default for the paper size (variable ps-paper-type) is taken
347 ** Mark command changes:
350 *** A prefix argument is no longer required to repeat a jump to a
351 previous mark, i.e. C-u C-SPC C-SPC C-SPC ... cycles through the
352 mark ring. Use C-u C-u C-SPC to set the mark immediately after a jump.
355 *** Marking commands extend the region when invoked multiple times.
357 If you type C-M-SPC (mark-sexp), M-@ (mark-word), M-h
358 (mark-paragraph), or C-M-h (mark-defun) repeatedly, the marked region
359 extends each time, so you can mark the next two sexps with M-C-SPC
360 M-C-SPC, for example. This feature also works for
361 mark-end-of-sentence, if you bind that to a key. It also extends the
362 region when the mark is active in Transient Mark mode, regardless of
363 the last command. To start a new region with one of marking commands
364 in Transient Mark mode, you can deactivate the active region with C-g,
365 or set the new mark with C-SPC.
368 *** M-h (mark-paragraph) now accepts a prefix arg.
370 With positive arg, M-h marks the current and the following paragraphs;
371 if the arg is negative, it marks the current and the preceding
375 *** Some commands do something special in Transient Mark mode when the
376 mark is active--for instance, they limit their operation to the
377 region. Even if you don't normally use Transient Mark mode, you might
378 want to get this behavior from a particular command. There are two
379 ways you can enable Transient Mark mode and activate the mark, for one
382 One method is to type C-SPC C-SPC; this enables Transient Mark mode
383 and sets the mark at point. The other method is to type C-u C-x C-x.
384 This enables Transient Mark mode temporarily but does not alter the
387 After these commands, Transient Mark mode remains enabled until you
388 deactivate the mark. That typically happens when you type a command
389 that alters the buffer, but you can also deactivate the mark by typing
393 *** Movement commands `beginning-of-buffer', `end-of-buffer',
394 `beginning-of-defun', `end-of-defun' do not set the mark if the mark
395 is already active in Transient Mark mode.
397 ** Help command changes:
400 *** Changes in C-h bindings:
402 C-h e displays the *Messages* buffer.
404 C-h followed by a control character is used for displaying files
407 C-h C-f displays the FAQ.
408 C-h C-e displays the PROBLEMS file.
410 The info-search bindings on C-h C-f, C-h C-k and C-h C-i
411 have been moved to C-h F, C-h K and C-h S.
413 C-h c, C-h k, C-h w, and C-h f now handle remapped interactive commands.
415 - C-h c and C-h k report the actual command (after possible remapping)
416 run by the key sequence.
418 - C-h w and C-h f on a command which has been remapped now report the
419 command it is remapped to, and the keys which can be used to run
422 For example, if C-k is bound to kill-line, and kill-line is remapped
423 to new-kill-line, these commands now report:
425 - C-h c and C-h k C-k reports:
426 C-k runs the command new-kill-line
428 - C-h w and C-h f kill-line reports:
429 kill-line is remapped to new-kill-line which is on C-k, <deleteline>
431 - C-h w and C-h f new-kill-line reports:
432 new-kill-line is on C-k
435 *** Help commands `describe-function' and `describe-key' now show function
436 arguments in lowercase italics on displays that support it. To change the
437 default, customize face `help-argument-name' or redefine the function
438 `help-default-arg-highlight'.
441 *** C-h v and C-h f commands now include a hyperlink to the C source for
442 variables and functions defined in C (if the C source is available).
445 *** Help mode now only makes hyperlinks for faces when the face name is
446 preceded or followed by the word `face'. It no longer makes
447 hyperlinks for variables without variable documentation, unless
448 preceded by one of the words `variable' or `option'. It now makes
449 hyperlinks to Info anchors (or nodes) if the anchor (or node) name is
450 enclosed in single quotes and preceded by `info anchor' or `Info
451 anchor' (in addition to earlier `info node' and `Info node').
454 *** The new command `describe-char' (C-u C-x =) pops up a buffer with
455 description various information about a character, including its
456 encodings and syntax, its text properties, how to input, overlays, and
457 widgets at point. You can get more information about some of them, by
458 clicking on mouse-sensitive areas or moving there and pressing RET.
461 *** The command `list-text-properties-at' has been deleted because
462 C-u C-x = gives the same information and more.
465 *** New command `display-local-help' displays any local help at point
466 in the echo area. It is bound to `C-h .'. It normally displays the
467 same string that would be displayed on mouse-over using the
468 `help-echo' property, but, in certain cases, it can display a more
469 keyboard oriented alternative.
472 *** New user option `help-at-pt-display-when-idle' allows to
473 automatically show the help provided by `display-local-help' on
474 point-over, after suitable idle time. The amount of idle time is
475 determined by the user option `help-at-pt-timer-delay' and defaults
476 to one second. This feature is turned off by default.
479 *** The apropos commands now accept a list of words to match.
480 When more than one word is specified, at least two of those words must
481 be present for an item to match. Regular expression matching is still
485 *** The new option `apropos-sort-by-scores' causes the matching items
486 to be sorted according to their score. The score for an item is a
487 number calculated to indicate how well the item matches the words or
488 regular expression that you entered to the apropos command. The best
489 match is listed first, and the calculated score is shown for each
492 ** Incremental Search changes:
495 *** Vertical scrolling is now possible within incremental search.
496 To enable this feature, customize the new user option
497 `isearch-allow-scroll'. User written commands which satisfy stringent
498 constraints can be marked as "scrolling commands". See the Emacs manual
502 *** C-w in incremental search now grabs either a character or a word,
503 making the decision in a heuristic way. This new job is done by the
504 command `isearch-yank-word-or-char'. To restore the old behavior,
505 bind C-w to `isearch-yank-word' in `isearch-mode-map'.
508 *** C-y in incremental search now grabs the next line if point is already
509 at the end of a line.
512 *** C-M-w deletes and C-M-y grabs a character in isearch mode.
513 Another method to grab a character is to enter the minibuffer by `M-e'
514 and to type `C-f' at the end of the search string in the minibuffer.
517 *** M-% typed in isearch mode invokes `query-replace' or
518 `query-replace-regexp' (depending on search mode) with the current
519 search string used as the string to replace.
522 *** Isearch no longer adds `isearch-resume' commands to the command
523 history by default. To enable this feature, customize the new
524 user option `isearch-resume-in-command-history'.
526 ** Replace command changes:
529 *** New user option `query-replace-skip-read-only': when non-nil,
530 `query-replace' and related functions simply ignore
531 a match if part of it has a read-only property.
534 *** When used interactively, the commands `query-replace-regexp' and
535 `replace-regexp' allow \,expr to be used in a replacement string,
536 where expr is an arbitrary Lisp expression evaluated at replacement
537 time. In many cases, this will be more convenient than using
538 `query-replace-regexp-eval'. `\#' in a replacement string now refers
539 to the count of replacements already made by the replacement command.
540 All regular expression replacement commands now allow `\?' in the
541 replacement string to specify a position where the replacement string
542 can be edited for each replacement.
545 *** query-replace uses isearch lazy highlighting when the new user option
546 `query-replace-lazy-highlight' is non-nil.
549 *** The current match in query-replace is highlighted in new face
550 `query-replace' which by default inherits from isearch face.
552 ** File operation changes:
555 *** Unquoted `$' in file names do not signal an error any more when
556 the corresponding environment variable does not exist.
557 Instead, the `$ENVVAR' text is left as is, so that `$$' quoting
558 is only rarely needed.
561 *** In processing a local variables list, Emacs strips the prefix and
562 suffix are from every line before processing all the lines.
565 *** find-file-read-only visits multiple files in read-only mode,
566 when the file name contains wildcard characters.
569 *** find-alternate-file replaces the current file with multiple files,
570 when the file name contains wildcard characters.
573 *** Auto Compression mode is now enabled by default.
576 *** C-x C-f RET, typing nothing in the minibuffer, is no longer a special case.
578 Since the default input is the current directory, this has the effect
579 of specifying the current directory. Normally that means to visit the
580 directory with Dired.
583 *** When you are root, and you visit a file whose modes specify
584 read-only, the Emacs buffer is now read-only too. Type C-x C-q if you
585 want to make the buffer writable. (As root, you can in fact alter the
589 *** C-x s (save-some-buffers) now offers an option `d' to diff a buffer
590 against its file, so you can see what changes you would be saving.
593 *** The commands copy-file, rename-file, make-symbolic-link and
594 add-name-to-file, when given a directory as the "new name" argument,
595 convert it to a file name by merging in the within-directory part of
596 the existing file's name. (This is the same convention that shell
597 commands cp, mv, and ln follow.) Thus, M-x copy-file RET ~/foo RET
598 /tmp RET copies ~/foo to /tmp/foo.
601 *** When used interactively, `format-write-file' now asks for confirmation
602 before overwriting an existing file, unless a prefix argument is
603 supplied. This behavior is analogous to `write-file'.
606 *** The variable `auto-save-file-name-transforms' now has a third element that
607 controls whether or not the function `make-auto-save-file-name' will
608 attempt to construct a unique auto-save name (e.g. for remote files).
611 *** If the user visits a file larger than `large-file-warning-threshold',
612 Emacs asks for confirmation.
615 *** require-final-newline now has two new possible values:
617 `visit' means add a newline (as an undoable change) if it's needed
618 when visiting the file.
620 `visit-save' means add a newline (as an undoable change) if it's
621 needed when visiting the file, and also add a newline if it's needed
622 when saving the file.
625 *** The new option mode-require-final-newline controls how certain
626 major modes enable require-final-newline. Any major mode that's
627 designed for a kind of file that should normally end in a newline
628 sets require-final-newline based on mode-require-final-newline.
629 So you can customize mode-require-final-newline to control what these
632 ** Minibuffer changes:
635 *** There's a new face `minibuffer-prompt'.
636 Emacs adds this face to the list of text properties stored in the
637 variable `minibuffer-prompt-properties', which is used to display the
641 *** Enhanced visual feedback in `*Completions*' buffer.
643 Completions lists use faces to highlight what all completions
644 have in common and where they begin to differ.
646 The common prefix shared by all possible completions uses the face
647 `completions-common-part', while the first character that isn't the
648 same uses the face `completions-first-difference'. By default,
649 `completions-common-part' inherits from `default', and
650 `completions-first-difference' inherits from `bold'. The idea of
651 `completions-common-part' is that you can use it to make the common
652 parts less visible than normal, so that the rest of the differing
653 parts is, by contrast, slightly highlighted.
656 *** File-name completion can now ignore specified directories.
657 If an element of the list in `completion-ignored-extensions' ends in a
658 slash `/', it indicates a subdirectory that should be ignored when
659 completing file names. Elements of `completion-ignored-extensions'
660 which do not end in a slash are never considered when a completion
661 candidate is a directory.
664 *** The completion commands TAB, SPC and ? in the minibuffer apply only
665 to the text before point. If there is text in the buffer after point,
666 it remains unchanged.
669 *** New user option `history-delete-duplicates'.
670 If set to t when adding a new history element, all previous identical
671 elements are deleted.
673 ** Redisplay changes:
676 *** The mode line position information now comes before the major mode.
677 When the file is maintained under version control, that information
678 appears between the position information and the major mode.
680 *** Easy to overlook single character negation is now font-locked.
681 You can use the new variable `font-lock-negation-char-face' and the face of
682 the same name to customize this. Currently the cc-modes, sh-script-mode,
683 cperl-mode and make-mode support this.
686 *** Control characters and escape glyphs are now shown in the new
690 *** Non-breaking space and hyphens are now prefixed with an escape
691 character, unless the new user variable `show-nonbreak-escape' is set
695 *** The parameters of automatic hscrolling can now be customized.
696 The variable `hscroll-margin' determines how many columns away from
697 the window edge point is allowed to get before automatic hscrolling
698 will horizontally scroll the window. The default value is 5.
700 The variable `hscroll-step' determines how many columns automatic
701 hscrolling scrolls the window when point gets too close to the
702 window edge. If its value is zero, the default, Emacs scrolls the
703 window so as to center point. If its value is an integer, it says how
704 many columns to scroll. If the value is a floating-point number, it
705 gives the fraction of the window's width to scroll the window.
707 The variable `automatic-hscrolling' was renamed to
708 `auto-hscroll-mode'. The old name is still available as an alias.
710 *** Moving or scrolling through images (and other lines) taller that
711 the window now works sensibly, by automatically adjusting the window's
715 *** The new face `mode-line-inactive' is used to display the mode line
716 of non-selected windows. The `mode-line' face is now used to display
717 the mode line of the currently selected window.
719 The new variable `mode-line-in-non-selected-windows' controls whether
720 the `mode-line-inactive' face is used.
723 *** You can now customize the use of window fringes. To control this
724 for all frames, use M-x fringe-mode or the Show/Hide submenu of the
725 top-level Options menu, or customize the `fringe-mode' variable. To
726 control this for a specific frame, use the command M-x
730 *** Angle icons in the fringes can indicate the buffer boundaries. In
731 addition, up and down arrow bitmaps in the fringe indicate which ways
732 the window can be scrolled.
734 This behavior is activated by setting the buffer-local variable
735 `indicate-buffer-boundaries' to a non-nil value. The default value of
736 this variable is found in `default-indicate-buffer-boundaries'.
738 If value is `left' or `right', both angle and arrow bitmaps are
739 displayed in the left or right fringe, resp.
741 The value can also be an alist which specifies the presense and
742 position of each bitmap individually.
744 For example, ((top . left) (t . right)) places the top angle bitmap
745 in left fringe, the bottom angle bitmap in right fringe, and both
746 arrow bitmaps in right fringe. To show just the angle bitmaps in the
747 left fringe, but no arrow bitmaps, use ((top . left) (bottom . left)).
750 *** On window systems, lines which are exactly as wide as the window
751 (not counting the final newline character) are no longer broken into
752 two lines on the display (with just the newline on the second line).
753 Instead, the newline now "overflows" into the right fringe, and the
754 cursor will be displayed in the fringe when positioned on that newline.
756 The new user option 'overflow-newline-into-fringe' can be set to nil to
757 revert to the old behavior of continuing such lines.
760 *** When a window has display margin areas, the fringes are now
761 displayed between the margins and the buffer's text area, rather than
762 outside those margins.
765 *** A window can now have individual fringe and scroll-bar settings,
766 in addition to the individual display margin settings.
768 Such individual settings are now preserved when windows are split
769 horizontally or vertically, a saved window configuration is restored,
770 or when the frame is resized.
772 ** Cursor display changes:
775 *** On X, MS Windows, and Mac OS, the blinking cursor's "off" state is
776 now controlled by the variable `blink-cursor-alist'.
779 *** The X resource cursorBlink can be used to turn off cursor blinking.
782 *** Emacs can produce an underscore-like (horizontal bar) cursor.
783 The underscore cursor is set by putting `(cursor-type . hbar)' in
784 default-frame-alist. It supports variable heights, like the `bar'
788 *** Display of hollow cursors now obeys the buffer-local value (if any)
789 of `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' in the buffer that the cursor
793 *** The variable `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' can now be set to any
794 of the recognized cursor types.
796 ** Font-Lock changes:
799 *** M-o now is the prefix key for setting text properties;
800 M-o M-o requests refontification.
803 *** All modes now support using M-x font-lock-mode to toggle
804 fontification, even those such as Occur, Info, and comint-derived
805 modes that do their own fontification in a special way.
807 The variable `Info-fontify' is no longer applicable; to disable
808 fontification in Info, remove `turn-on-font-lock' from
812 *** font-lock-lines-before specifies a number of lines before the
813 current line that should be refontified when you change the buffer.
814 The default value is 1.
817 *** font-lock: in modes like C and Lisp where the fontification assumes that
818 an open-paren in column 0 is always outside of any string or comment,
819 font-lock now highlights any such open-paren-in-column-zero in bold-red
820 if it is inside a string or a comment, to indicate that it can cause
821 trouble with fontification and/or indentation.
824 *** The default settings for JIT stealth lock parameters are changed.
825 The default value for the user option jit-lock-stealth-time is now 16
826 instead of 3, and the default value of jit-lock-stealth-nice is now
827 0.5 instead of 0.125. The new defaults should lower the CPU usage
828 when Emacs is fontifying in the background.
831 *** jit-lock can now be delayed with `jit-lock-defer-time'.
833 If this variable is non-nil, its value should be the amount of Emacs
834 idle time in seconds to wait before starting fontification. For
835 example, if you set `jit-lock-defer-time' to 0.25, fontification will
836 only happen after 0.25s of idle time.
839 *** contextual refontification is now separate from stealth fontification.
841 jit-lock-defer-contextually is renamed jit-lock-contextually and
842 jit-lock-context-time determines the delay after which contextual
843 refontification takes place.
848 *** A menu item "Show/Hide" was added to the top-level menu "Options".
849 This menu allows you to turn various display features on and off (such
850 as the fringes, the tool bar, the speedbar, and the menu bar itself).
851 You can also move the vertical scroll bar to either side here or turn
852 it off completely. There is also a menu-item to toggle displaying of
853 current date and time, current line and column number in the
857 *** Speedbar has moved from the "Tools" top level menu to "Show/Hide".
860 *** You can exit dialog windows and menus by typing C-g.
863 *** The menu item "Open File..." has been split into two items, "New File..."
864 and "Open File...". "Open File..." now opens only existing files. This is
865 to support existing GUI file selection dialogs better.
868 *** The file selection dialog for Gtk+, Mac, W32 and Motif/Lesstif can be
869 disabled by customizing the variable `use-file-dialog'.
872 *** The pop up menus for Lucid now stay up if you do a fast click and can
873 be navigated with the arrow keys (like Gtk+, Mac and W32).
876 *** The Lucid menus can display multilingual text in your locale. You have
877 to explicitly specify a fontSet resource for this to work, for example
878 `-xrm "Emacs*fontSet: -*-helvetica-medium-r-*--*-120-*-*-*-*-*-*,*"'.
881 *** Dialogs for Lucid/Athena and Lesstif/Motif now pops down when pressing
882 ESC, like they do for Gtk+, Mac and W32.
885 *** For Gtk+ version 2.4, you can make Emacs use the old file dialog
886 by setting the variable `x-use-old-gtk-file-dialog' to t. Default is to use
892 *** New display feature: focus follows the mouse from one Emacs window
893 to another, even within a frame. If you set the variable
894 mouse-autoselect-window to non-nil value, moving the mouse to a
895 different Emacs window will select that window (minibuffer window can
896 be selected only when it is active). The default is nil, so that this
897 feature is not enabled.
900 *** On X, when the window manager requires that you click on a frame to
901 select it (give it focus), the selected window and cursor position
902 normally changes according to the mouse click position. If you set
903 the variable x-mouse-click-focus-ignore-position to t, the selected
904 window and cursor position do not change when you click on a frame
908 *** You can now follow links by clicking Mouse-1 on the link.
910 Traditionally, Emacs uses a Mouse-1 click to set point and a Mouse-2
911 click to follow a link, whereas most other applications use a Mouse-1
912 click for both purposes, depending on whether you click outside or
913 inside a link. Now the behavior of a Mouse-1 click has been changed
914 to match this context-sentitive dual behavior. (If you prefer the old
915 behavior, set the user option `mouse-1-click-follows-link' to nil.)
917 Depending on the current mode, a Mouse-2 click in Emacs can do much
918 more than just follow a link, so the new Mouse-1 behavior is only
919 activated for modes which explicitly mark a clickable text as a "link"
920 (see the new function `mouse-on-link-p' for details). The Lisp
921 packages that are included in release 22.1 have been adapted to do
922 this, but external packages may not yet support this. However, there
923 is no risk in using such packages, as the worst thing that could
924 happen is that you get the original Mouse-1 behavior when you click
925 on a link, which typically means that you set point where you click.
927 If you want to get the original Mouse-1 action also inside a link, you
928 just need to press the Mouse-1 button a little longer than a normal
929 click (i.e. press and hold the Mouse-1 button for half a second before
932 Dragging the Mouse-1 inside a link still performs the original
933 drag-mouse-1 action, typically copy the text.
935 You can customize the new Mouse-1 behavior via the new user options
936 `mouse-1-click-follows-link' and `mouse-1-click-in-non-selected-windows'.
939 *** Emacs normally highlights mouse sensitive text whenever the mouse
940 is over the text. By setting the new variable `mouse-highlight', you
941 can optionally enable mouse highlighting only after you move the
942 mouse, so that highlighting disappears when you press a key. You can
943 also disable mouse highlighting.
946 *** You can now customize if selecting a region by dragging the mouse
947 shall not copy the selected text to the kill-ring by setting the new
948 variable mouse-drag-copy-region to nil.
951 *** mouse-wheels can now scroll a specific fraction of the window
952 (rather than a fixed number of lines) and the scrolling is `progressive'.
955 *** Unexpected yanking of text due to accidental clicking on the mouse
956 wheel button (typically mouse-2) during wheel scrolling is now avoided.
957 This behavior can be customized via the mouse-wheel-click-event and
958 mouse-wheel-inhibit-click-time variables.
961 *** Under X, mouse-wheel-mode is turned on by default.
966 *** Language environment and various default coding systems are setup
967 more correctly according to the current locale name. If the locale
968 name doesn't specify a charset, the default is what glibc defines.
969 This change can result in using the different coding systems as
970 default in some locale (e.g. vi_VN).
973 *** The keyboard-coding-system is now automatically set based on your
974 current locale settings if you are not using a window system. This
975 can mean that the META key doesn't work but generates non-ASCII
976 characters instead, depending on how the terminal (or terminal
977 emulator) works. Use `set-keyboard-coding-system' (or customize
978 keyboard-coding-system) if you prefer META to work (the old default)
979 or if the locale doesn't describe the character set actually generated
980 by the keyboard. See Info node `Single-Byte Character Support'.
983 *** The new command `revert-buffer-with-coding-system' (C-x RET r)
984 revisits the current file using a coding system that you specify.
987 *** New command `recode-region' decodes the region again by a specified
991 *** The new command `recode-file-name' changes the encoding of the name
995 *** New command `ucs-insert' inserts a character specified by its
999 *** The new command `set-file-name-coding-system' (C-x RET F) sets
1000 coding system for encoding and decoding file names. A new menu item
1001 (Options->Mule->Set Coding Systems->For File Name) invokes this
1005 *** New command quail-show-key shows what key (or key sequence) to type
1006 in the current input method to input a character at point.
1009 *** Limited support for character `unification' has been added.
1010 Emacs now knows how to translate between different representations of
1011 the same characters in various Emacs charsets according to standard
1012 Unicode mappings. This applies mainly to characters in the ISO 8859
1013 sets plus some other 8-bit sets, but can be extended. For instance,
1014 translation works amongst the Emacs ...-iso8859-... charsets and the
1015 mule-unicode-... ones.
1017 By default this translation happens automatically on encoding.
1018 Self-inserting characters are translated to make the input conformant
1019 with the encoding of the buffer in which it's being used, where
1022 You can force a more complete unification with the user option
1023 unify-8859-on-decoding-mode. That maps all the Latin-N character sets
1024 into Unicode characters (from the latin-iso8859-1 and
1025 mule-unicode-0100-24ff charsets) on decoding. Note that this mode
1026 will often effectively clobber data with an iso-2022 encoding.
1029 *** There is support for decoding Greek and Cyrillic characters into
1030 either Unicode (the mule-unicode charsets) or the iso-8859 charsets,
1031 when possible. The latter are more space-efficient. This is
1032 controlled by user option utf-fragment-on-decoding.
1035 *** New language environments: French, Ukrainian, Tajik,
1036 Bulgarian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, UTF-8, Windows-1255, Welsh, Latin-6,
1037 Latin-7, Lithuanian, Latvian, Swedish, Slovenian, Croatian, Georgian,
1038 Italian, Russian, Malayalam, Tamil, Russian, Chinese-EUC-TW. (Set up
1039 automatically according to the locale.)
1042 *** New input methods: latin-alt-postfix, latin-postfix, latin-prefix,
1043 ukrainian-computer, belarusian, bulgarian-bds, russian-computer,
1044 vietnamese-telex, lithuanian-numeric, lithuanian-keyboard,
1045 latvian-keyboard, welsh, georgian, rfc1345, ucs, sgml,
1046 bulgarian-phonetic, dutch, slovenian, croatian, malayalam-inscript,
1050 *** New input method chinese-sisheng for inputting Chinese Pinyin
1054 *** Improved Thai support. A new minor mode `thai-word-mode' (which is
1055 automatically activated if you select Thai as a language
1056 environment) changes key bindings of most word-oriented commands to
1057 versions which recognize Thai words. Affected commands are
1061 M-DEL (backward-kill-word)
1062 M-t (transpose-words)
1063 M-q (fill-paragraph)
1066 *** Indian support has been updated.
1067 The in-is13194 coding system is now Unicode-based. CDAC fonts are
1068 assumed. There is a framework for supporting various
1069 Indian scripts, but currently only Devanagari, Malayalam and Tamil are
1073 *** A UTF-7 coding system is available in the library `utf-7'.
1076 *** The utf-8/16 coding systems have been enhanced.
1077 By default, untranslatable utf-8 sequences are simply composed into
1078 single quasi-characters. User option `utf-translate-cjk-mode' (it is
1079 turned on by default) arranges to translate many utf-8 CJK character
1080 sequences into real Emacs characters in a similar way to the Mule-UCS
1081 system. As this loads a fairly big data on demand, people who are not
1082 interested in CJK characters may want to customize it to nil.
1083 You can augment/amend the CJK translation via hash tables
1084 `ucs-mule-cjk-to-unicode' and `ucs-unicode-to-mule-cjk'. The utf-8
1085 coding system now also encodes characters from most of Emacs's
1086 one-dimensional internal charsets, specifically the ISO-8859 ones.
1087 The utf-16 coding system is affected similarly.
1090 *** A new coding system `euc-tw' has been added for traditional Chinese
1091 in CNS encoding; it accepts both Big 5 and CNS as input; on saving,
1092 Big 5 is then converted to CNS.
1095 *** Many new coding systems are available by loading the `code-pages'
1096 library. These include complete versions of most of those in
1097 codepage.el, based on Unicode mappings. `codepage-setup' is now
1098 obsolete and is used only in the MS-DOS port of Emacs. windows-1252
1099 and windows-1251 are preloaded since the former is so common and the
1100 latter is used by GNU locales.
1103 *** New variable `utf-translate-cjk-unicode-range' controls which
1104 Unicode characters to translate in `utf-translate-cjk-mode'.
1107 *** iso-10646-1 (`Unicode') fonts can be used to display any range of
1108 characters encodable by the utf-8 coding system. Just specify the
1109 fontset appropriately.
1111 ** Customize changes:
1114 *** The commands M-x customize-face and M-x customize-face-other-window
1115 now look at the character after point. If a face or faces are
1116 specified for that character, the commands by default customize those
1120 *** The face-customization widget has been reworked to be less confusing.
1121 In particular, when you enable a face attribute using the corresponding
1122 check-box, there's no longer a redundant `*' option in value selection
1123 for that attribute; the values you can choose are only those which make
1124 sense for the attribute. When an attribute is de-selected by unchecking
1125 its check-box, then the (now ignored, but still present temporarily in
1126 case you re-select the attribute) value is hidden.
1129 *** When you set or reset a variable's value in a Customize buffer,
1130 the previous value becomes the "backup value" of the variable.
1131 You can go back to that backup value by selecting "Use Backup Value"
1132 under the "[State]" button.
1134 ** Buffer Menu changes:
1137 *** New command `Buffer-menu-toggle-files-only' toggles display of file
1138 buffers only in the Buffer Menu. It is bound to `T' in Buffer Menu
1142 *** `buffer-menu' and `list-buffers' now list buffers whose names begin
1143 with a space, when those buffers are visiting files. Normally buffers
1144 whose names begin with space are omitted.
1147 *** The new options `buffers-menu-show-directories' and
1148 `buffers-menu-show-status' let you control how buffers are displayed
1149 in the menu dropped down when you click "Buffers" from the menu bar.
1151 `buffers-menu-show-directories' controls whether the menu displays
1152 leading directories as part of the file name visited by the buffer.
1153 If its value is `unless-uniquify', the default, directories are
1154 shown unless uniquify-buffer-name-style' is non-nil. The value of nil
1155 and t turn the display of directories off and on, respectively.
1157 `buffers-menu-show-status' controls whether the Buffers menu includes
1158 the modified and read-only status of the buffers. By default it is
1159 t, and the status is shown.
1161 Setting these variables directly does not take effect until next time
1162 the Buffers menu is regenerated.
1167 *** New faces dired-header, dired-mark, dired-marked, dired-flagged,
1168 dired-ignored, dired-directory, dired-symlink, dired-warning
1169 introduced for Dired mode instead of font-lock faces.
1172 *** New Dired command `dired-compare-directories' marks files
1173 with different file attributes in two dired buffers.
1176 *** New Dired command `dired-do-touch' (bound to T) changes timestamps
1177 of marked files with the value entered in the minibuffer.
1180 *** In Dired's ! command (dired-do-shell-command), `*' and `?' now
1181 control substitution of the file names only when they are surrounded
1182 by whitespace. This means you can now use them as shell wildcards
1183 too. If you want to use just plain `*' as a wildcard, type `*""'; the
1184 doublequotes make no difference in the shell, but they prevent
1185 special treatment in `dired-do-shell-command'.
1188 *** In Dired, the w command now copies the current line's file name
1189 into the kill ring. With a zero prefix arg, copies absolute file names.
1192 *** In Dired-x, Omitting files is now a minor mode, dired-omit-mode.
1194 The mode toggling command is bound to M-o. A new command
1195 dired-mark-omitted, bound to * O, marks omitted files. The variable
1196 dired-omit-files-p is obsoleted, use the mode toggling function
1200 *** The variables dired-free-space-program and dired-free-space-args
1201 have been renamed to directory-free-space-program and
1202 directory-free-space-args, and they now apply whenever Emacs puts a
1203 directory listing into a buffer.
1208 *** The comint prompt can now be made read-only, using the new user
1209 option `comint-prompt-read-only'. This is not enabled by default,
1210 except in IELM buffers. The read-only status of IELM prompts can be
1211 controlled with the new user option `ielm-prompt-read-only', which
1212 overrides `comint-prompt-read-only'.
1214 The new commands `comint-kill-whole-line' and `comint-kill-region'
1215 support editing comint buffers with read-only prompts.
1217 `comint-kill-whole-line' is like `kill-whole-line', but ignores both
1218 read-only and field properties. Hence, it always kill entire
1219 lines, including any prompts.
1221 `comint-kill-region' is like `kill-region', except that it ignores
1222 read-only properties, if it is safe to do so. This means that if any
1223 part of a prompt is deleted, then the entire prompt must be deleted
1224 and that all prompts must stay at the beginning of a line. If this is
1225 not the case, then `comint-kill-region' behaves just like
1226 `kill-region' if read-only are involved: it copies the text to the
1227 kill-ring, but does not delete it.
1230 *** The new command `comint-insert-previous-argument' in comint-derived
1231 modes (shell-mode etc) inserts arguments from previous command lines,
1232 like bash's `ESC .' binding. It is bound by default to `C-c .', but
1233 otherwise behaves quite similarly to the bash version.
1235 *** `comint-use-prompt-regexp-instead-of-fields' has been renamed
1236 `comint-use-prompt-regexp'. The old name has been kept as an alias,
1237 but declared obsolete.
1239 ** M-x Compile changes:
1242 *** M-x compile has become more robust and reliable
1244 Quite a few more kinds of messages are recognized. Messages that are
1245 recognized as warnings or informational come in orange or green, instead of
1246 red. Informational messages are by default skipped with `next-error'
1247 (controlled by `compilation-skip-threshold').
1249 Location data is collected on the fly as the *compilation* buffer changes.
1250 This means you could modify messages to make them point to different files.
1251 This also means you can not go to locations of messages you may have deleted.
1253 The variable `compilation-error-regexp-alist' has now become customizable. If
1254 you had added your own regexps to this, you'll probably need to include a
1255 leading `^', otherwise they'll match anywhere on a line. There is now also a
1256 `compilation-mode-font-lock-keywords' and it nicely handles all the checks
1257 that configure outputs and -o options so you see at a glance where you are.
1259 The new file etc/compilation.txt gives examples of each type of message.
1262 *** New user option `compilation-environment'.
1263 This option allows you to specify environment variables for inferior
1264 compilation processes without affecting the environment that all
1265 subprocesses inherit.
1268 *** New options `next-error-highlight' and `next-error-highlight-no-select'
1269 specify the method of highlighting of the corresponding source line
1270 in new face `next-error'.
1273 *** A new minor mode `next-error-follow-minor-mode' can be used in
1274 compilation-mode, grep-mode, occur-mode, and diff-mode (i.e. all the
1275 modes that can use `next-error'). In this mode, cursor motion in the
1276 buffer causes automatic display in another window of the corresponding
1277 matches, compilation errors, etc. This minor mode can be toggled with
1280 ** Occur mode changes:
1283 *** In the *Occur* buffer, `o' switches to it in another window, and
1284 C-o displays the current line's occurrence in another window without
1288 *** You can now use next-error (C-x `) and previous-error to advance to
1289 the next/previous matching line found by M-x occur.
1292 *** The new command `multi-occur' is just like `occur', except it can
1293 search multiple buffers. There is also a new command
1294 `multi-occur-by-filename-regexp' which allows you to specify the
1295 buffers to search by their filename. Internally, Occur mode has been
1296 rewritten, and now uses font-lock, among other changes.
1301 *** Grep has been decoupled from compilation mode setup.
1303 There's a new separate package grep.el, with its own submenu and
1304 customization group.
1307 *** M-x grep provides highlighting support.
1309 Hits are fontified in green, and hits in binary files in orange. Grep buffers
1310 can be saved and automatically revisited.
1313 *** `grep-find' is now also available under the name `find-grep' where
1314 people knowing `find-grep-dired' would probably expect it.
1317 *** The new variables `grep-window-height', `grep-auto-highlight', and
1318 `grep-scroll-output' override the corresponding compilation mode
1319 settings, for grep commands only.
1322 *** New option `grep-highlight-matches' highlightes matches in *grep*
1323 buffer. It uses a special feature of some grep programs which accept
1324 --color option to output markers around matches. When going to the next
1325 match with `next-error' the exact match is highlighted in the source
1326 buffer. Otherwise, if `grep-highlight-matches' is nil, the whole
1327 source line is highlighted.
1330 *** New key bindings in grep output window:
1331 SPC and DEL scrolls window up and down. C-n and C-p moves to next and
1332 previous match in the grep window. RET jumps to the source line of
1333 the current match. `n' and `p' shows next and previous match in
1334 other window, but does not switch buffer. `{' and `}' jumps to the
1335 previous or next file in the grep output. TAB also jumps to the next
1339 *** M-x grep now tries to avoid appending `/dev/null' to the command line
1340 by using GNU grep `-H' option instead. M-x grep automatically
1341 detects whether this is possible or not the first time it is invoked.
1342 When `-H' is used, the grep command line supplied by the user is passed
1343 unchanged to the system to execute, which allows more complicated
1344 command lines to be used than was possible before.
1346 ** X Windows Support:
1349 *** Emacs now supports drag and drop for X. Dropping a file on a window
1350 opens it, dropping text inserts the text. Dropping a file on a dired
1351 buffer copies or moves the file to that directory.
1354 *** Under X11, it is possible to swap Alt and Meta (and Super and Hyper).
1355 The new variables `x-alt-keysym', `x-hyper-keysym', `x-meta-keysym',
1356 and `x-super-keysym' can be used to choose which keysyms Emacs should
1357 use for the modifiers. For example, the following two lines swap
1359 (setq x-alt-keysym 'meta)
1360 (setq x-meta-keysym 'alt)
1363 *** The X resource useXIM can be used to turn off use of XIM, which can
1364 speed up Emacs with slow networking to the X server.
1366 If the configure option `--without-xim' was used to turn off use of
1367 XIM by default, the X resource useXIM can be used to turn it on.
1370 *** The new variable `x-select-request-type' controls how Emacs
1371 requests X selection. The default value is nil, which means that
1372 Emacs requests X selection with types COMPOUND_TEXT and UTF8_STRING,
1373 and use the more appropriately result.
1376 *** The scrollbar under LessTif or Motif has a smoother drag-scrolling.
1377 On the other hand, the size of the thumb does not represent the actual
1378 amount of text shown any more (only a crude approximation of it).
1383 *** Emacs now responds to mouse-clicks on the mode-line, header-line and
1384 display margin, when run in an xterm.
1387 *** Improved key bindings support when running in an xterm.
1388 When emacs is running in an xterm more key bindings are available. The
1389 following should work:
1390 {C,S,C-S,A}-{right,left,up,down,prior,next,delete,insert,F1-12}.
1391 These key bindings work on xterm from X.org 6.8, they might not work on
1392 some older versions of xterm, or on some proprietary versions.
1394 ** Character terminal color support changes:
1397 *** The new command-line option --color=MODE lets you specify a standard
1398 mode for a tty color support. It is meant to be used on character
1399 terminals whose capabilities are not set correctly in the terminal
1400 database, or with terminal emulators which support colors, but don't
1401 set the TERM environment variable to a name of a color-capable
1402 terminal. "emacs --color" uses the same color commands as GNU `ls'
1403 when invoked with "ls --color", so if your terminal can support colors
1404 in "ls --color", it will support "emacs --color" as well. See the
1405 user manual for the possible values of the MODE parameter.
1408 *** Emacs now supports several character terminals which provide more
1409 than 8 colors. For example, for `xterm', 16-color, 88-color, and
1410 256-color modes are supported. Emacs automatically notes at startup
1411 the extended number of colors, and defines the appropriate entries for
1412 all of these colors.
1415 *** Emacs now uses the full range of available colors for the default
1416 faces when running on a color terminal, including 16-, 88-, and
1417 256-color xterms. This means that when you run "emacs -nw" on an
1418 88-color or 256-color xterm, you will see essentially the same face
1422 *** There's a new support for colors on `rxvt' terminal emulator.
1424 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 22.1
1427 ** New package benchmark.el contains simple support for convenient
1428 timing measurements of code (including the garbage collection component).
1431 ** Filesets are collections of files. You can define a fileset in
1432 various ways, such as based on a directory tree or based on
1433 program files that include other program files.
1435 Once you have defined a fileset, you can perform various operations on
1436 all the files in it, such as visiting them or searching and replacing
1440 ** Calc is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1442 Calc is an advanced desk calculator and mathematical tool written in
1443 Emacs Lisp. Its documentation is in a separate manual; within Emacs,
1444 type "C-h i m calc RET" to read that manual. A reference card is
1445 available in `etc/calccard.tex' and `etc/calccard.ps'.
1448 ** `cfengine-mode' is a major mode for editing GNU Cfengine
1449 configuration files.
1452 ** The new package conf-mode.el handles thousands of configuration files, with
1453 varying syntaxes for comments (;, #, //, /* */ or !), assignment (var = value,
1454 var : value, var value or keyword var value) and sections ([section] or
1455 section { }). Many files under /etc/, or with suffixes like .cf through
1456 .config, .properties (Java), .desktop (KDE/Gnome), .ini and many others are
1460 ** CUA mode is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1462 The new cua package provides CUA-like keybindings using C-x for
1463 cut (kill), C-c for copy, C-v for paste (yank), and C-z for undo.
1464 With cua, the region can be set and extended using shifted movement
1465 keys (like pc-selection-mode) and typed text replaces the active
1466 region (like delete-selection-mode). Do not enable these modes with
1467 cua-mode. Customize the variable `cua-mode' to enable cua.
1469 In addition, cua provides unified rectangle support with visible
1470 rectangle highlighting: Use S-return to start a rectangle, extend it
1471 using the movement commands (or mouse-3), and cut or copy it using C-x
1472 or C-c (using C-w and M-w also works).
1474 Use M-o and M-c to `open' or `close' the rectangle, use M-b or M-f, to
1475 fill it with blanks or another character, use M-u or M-l to upcase or
1476 downcase the rectangle, use M-i to increment the numbers in the
1477 rectangle, use M-n to fill the rectangle with a numeric sequence (such
1478 as 10 20 30...), use M-r to replace a regexp in the rectangle, and use
1479 M-' or M-/ to restrict command on the rectangle to a subset of the
1480 rows. See the commentary in cua-base.el for more rectangle commands.
1482 Cua also provides unified support for registers: Use a numeric
1483 prefix argument between 0 and 9, i.e. M-0 .. M-9, for C-x, C-c, and
1484 C-v to cut or copy into register 0-9, or paste from register 0-9.
1486 The last text deleted (not killed) is automatically stored in
1487 register 0. This includes text deleted by typing text.
1489 Finally, cua provides a global mark which is set using S-C-space.
1490 When the global mark is active, any text which is cut or copied is
1491 automatically inserted at the global mark position. See the
1492 commentary in cua-base.el for more global mark related commands.
1494 The features of cua also works with the standard emacs bindings for
1495 kill, copy, yank, and undo. If you want to use cua mode, but don't
1496 want the C-x, C-c, C-v, and C-z bindings, you can customize the
1497 `cua-enable-cua-keys' variable.
1499 Note: This version of cua mode is not backwards compatible with older
1500 versions of cua.el and cua-mode.el. To ensure proper operation, you
1501 must remove older versions of cua.el or cua-mode.el as well as the
1502 loading and customization of those packages from the .emacs file.
1505 ** The new package dns-mode.el add syntax highlight of DNS master files.
1506 The key binding C-c C-s (`dns-mode-soa-increment-serial') can be used
1507 to increment the SOA serial.
1510 ** The new global minor mode `file-name-shadow-mode' modifies the way
1511 filenames being entered by the user in the minibuffer are displayed, so
1512 that it's clear when part of the entered filename will be ignored due to
1513 emacs' filename parsing rules. The ignored portion can be made dim,
1514 invisible, or otherwise less visually noticable. The display method can
1515 be displayed by customizing the variable `file-name-shadow-properties'.
1518 ** The new package flymake.el does on-the-fly syntax checking of program
1519 source files. See the Flymake's Info manual for more details.
1522 ** The new Lisp library fringe.el controls the appearance of fringes.
1525 ** GDB-Script-mode is used for files like .gdbinit.
1528 ** The new package ibuffer provides a powerful, completely
1529 customizable replacement for buff-menu.el.
1532 ** Ido mode is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1534 The ido (interactively do) package is an extension of the iswitchb
1535 package to do interactive opening of files and directories in addition
1536 to interactive buffer switching. Ido is a superset of iswitchb (with
1537 a few exceptions), so don't enable both packages.
1540 ** Image files are normally visited in Image mode, which lets you toggle
1541 between viewing the image and viewing the text using C-c C-c.
1544 ** The new keypad setup package provides several common bindings for
1545 the numeric keypad which is available on most keyboards. The numeric
1546 keypad typically has the digits 0 to 9, a decimal point, keys marked
1547 +, -, /, and *, an Enter key, and a NumLock toggle key. The keypad
1548 package only controls the use of the digit and decimal keys.
1550 By customizing the variables `keypad-setup', `keypad-shifted-setup',
1551 `keypad-numlock-setup', and `keypad-numlock-shifted-setup', or by
1552 using the function `keypad-setup', you can rebind all digit keys and
1553 the decimal key of the keypad in one step for each of the four
1554 possible combinations of the Shift key state (not pressed/pressed) and
1555 the NumLock toggle state (off/on).
1557 The choices for the keypad keys in each of the above states are:
1558 `Plain numeric keypad' where the keys generates plain digits,
1559 `Numeric keypad with decimal key' where the character produced by the
1560 decimal key can be customized individually (for internationalization),
1561 `Numeric Prefix Arg' where the keypad keys produce numeric prefix args
1562 for emacs editing commands, `Cursor keys' and `Shifted Cursor keys'
1563 where the keys work like (shifted) arrow keys, home/end, etc., and
1564 `Unspecified/User-defined' where the keypad keys (kp-0, kp-1, etc.)
1565 are left unspecified and can be bound individually through the global
1569 ** The new kmacro package provides a simpler user interface to
1570 emacs' keyboard macro facilities.
1572 Basically, it uses two function keys (default F3 and F4) like this:
1573 F3 starts a macro, F4 ends the macro, and pressing F4 again executes
1574 the last macro. While defining the macro, F3 inserts a counter value
1575 which automatically increments every time the macro is executed.
1577 There is now a keyboard macro ring which stores the most recently
1580 The C-x C-k sequence is now a prefix for the kmacro keymap which
1581 defines bindings for moving through the keyboard macro ring,
1582 C-x C-k C-p and C-x C-k C-n, editing the last macro C-x C-k C-e,
1583 manipulating the macro counter and format via C-x C-k C-c,
1584 C-x C-k C-a, and C-x C-k C-f. See the commentary in kmacro.el
1587 The normal macro bindings C-x (, C-x ), and C-x e now interfaces to
1588 the keyboard macro ring.
1590 The C-x e command now automatically terminates the current macro
1591 before calling it, if used while defining a macro.
1593 In addition, when ending or calling a macro with C-x e, the macro can
1594 be repeated immediately by typing just the `e'. You can customize
1595 this behavior via the variable kmacro-call-repeat-key and
1596 kmacro-call-repeat-with-arg.
1598 Keyboard macros can now be debugged and edited interactively.
1599 C-x C-k SPC steps through the last keyboard macro one key sequence
1600 at a time, prompting for the actions to take.
1603 ** The new package longlines.el provides a minor mode for editing text
1604 files composed of long lines, based on the `use-hard-newlines'
1605 mechanism. The long lines are broken up by inserting soft newlines,
1606 which are automatically removed when saving the file to disk or
1607 copying into the kill ring, clipboard, etc. By default, Longlines
1608 mode inserts soft newlines automatically during editing, a behavior
1609 referred to as "soft word wrap" in other text editors. This is
1610 similar to Refill mode, but more reliable. To turn the word wrap
1611 feature off, set `longlines-auto-wrap' to nil.
1613 ** The printing package is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1615 If you enable the printing package by including (require 'printing) in
1616 the .emacs file, the normal Print item on the File menu is replaced
1617 with a Print sub-menu which allows you to preview output through
1618 ghostview, use ghostscript to print (if you don't have a PostScript
1619 printer) or send directly to printer a PostScript code generated by
1620 `ps-print' package. Use M-x pr-help for more information.
1623 ** The new python.el package is used to edit Python and Jython programs.
1626 ** The minor mode Reveal mode makes text visible on the fly as you
1627 move your cursor into hidden regions of the buffer.
1628 It should work with any package that uses overlays to hide parts
1629 of a buffer, such as outline-minor-mode, hs-minor-mode, hide-ifdef-mode, ...
1631 There is also Global Reveal mode which affects all buffers.
1634 ** The ruler-mode.el library provides a minor mode for displaying an
1635 "active" ruler in the header line. You can use the mouse to visually
1636 change the `fill-column', `window-margins' and `tab-stop-list'
1640 ** SES mode (ses-mode) is a new major mode for creating and editing
1641 spreadsheet files. Besides the usual Emacs features (intuitive command
1642 letters, undo, cell formulas in Lisp, plaintext files, etc.) it also offers
1643 viral immunity and import/export of tab-separated values.
1646 ** The new global minor mode `size-indication-mode' (off by default)
1647 shows the size of accessible part of the buffer on the mode line.
1650 ** The new package table.el implements editable, WYSIWYG, embedded
1651 `text tables' in Emacs buffers. It simulates the effect of putting
1652 these tables in a special major mode. The package emulates WYSIWYG
1653 table editing available in modern word processors. The package also
1654 can generate a table source in typesetting and markup languages such
1655 as latex and html from the visually laid out text table.
1658 ** The thumbs.el package allows you to preview image files as thumbnails
1659 and can be invoked from a Dired buffer.
1662 ** Tramp is now part of the distribution.
1664 This package is similar to Ange-FTP: it allows you to edit remote
1665 files. But whereas Ange-FTP uses FTP to access the remote host,
1666 Tramp uses a shell connection. The shell connection is always used
1667 for filename completion and directory listings and suchlike, but for
1668 the actual file transfer, you can choose between the so-called
1669 `inline' methods (which transfer the files through the shell
1670 connection using base64 or uu encoding) and the `out-of-band' methods
1671 (which invoke an external copying program such as `rcp' or `scp' or
1672 `rsync' to do the copying).
1674 Shell connections can be acquired via `rsh', `ssh', `telnet' and also
1675 `su' and `sudo'. Ange-FTP is still supported via the `ftp' method.
1677 If you want to disable Tramp you should set
1679 (setq tramp-default-method "ftp")
1682 ** The library tree-widget.el provides a new widget to display a set
1683 of hierarchical data as an outline. For example, the tree-widget is
1684 well suited to display a hierarchy of directories and files.
1687 ** The URL package (which had been part of W3) is now part of Emacs.
1690 ** New minor mode, Visible mode, toggles invisibility in the current buffer.
1691 When enabled, it makes all invisible text visible. When disabled, it
1692 restores the previous value of `buffer-invisibility-spec'.
1695 ** The wdired.el package allows you to use normal editing commands on Dired
1696 buffers to change filenames, permissions, etc...
1699 ** The TCL package tcl-mode.el was replaced by tcl.el.
1700 This was actually done in Emacs-21.1, and was not documented.
1702 ** The new package bindat.el provides functions to unpack and pack
1703 binary data structures, such as network packets, to and from Lisp
1707 ** The new package button.el implements simple and fast `clickable buttons'
1708 in emacs buffers. `buttons' are much lighter-weight than the `widgets'
1709 implemented by widget.el, and can be used by lisp code that doesn't
1710 require the full power of widgets. Emacs uses buttons for such things
1711 as help and apropos buffers.
1714 ** master-mode.el implements a minor mode for scrolling a slave
1715 buffer without leaving your current buffer, the master buffer.
1717 It can be used by sql.el, for example: the SQL buffer is the master
1718 and its SQLi buffer is the slave. This allows you to scroll the SQLi
1719 buffer containing the output from the SQL buffer containing the
1722 This is how to use sql.el and master.el together: the variable
1723 sql-buffer contains the slave buffer. It is a local variable in the
1726 (add-hook 'sql-mode-hook
1727 (function (lambda ()
1729 (master-set-slave sql-buffer))))
1730 (add-hook 'sql-set-sqli-hook
1731 (function (lambda ()
1732 (master-set-slave sql-buffer))))
1735 ** New Lisp library testcover.el works with edebug to help you determine
1736 whether you've tested all your Lisp code. Function testcover-start
1737 instruments all functions in a given file. Then test your code. Function
1738 testcover-mark-all adds overlay "splotches" to the Lisp file's buffer to
1739 show where coverage is lacking. Command testcover-next-mark (bind it to
1740 a key!) will move point forward to the next spot that has a splotch.
1742 Normally, a red splotch indicates the form was never completely
1743 evaluated; a brown splotch means it always evaluated to the same
1744 value. The red splotches are skipped for forms that can't possibly
1745 complete their evaluation, such as `error'. The brown splotches are
1746 skipped for forms that are expected to always evaluate to the same
1747 value, such as (setq x 14).
1749 For difficult cases, you can add do-nothing macros to your code to
1750 help out the test coverage tool. The macro `noreturn' suppresses a
1751 red splotch. It is an error if the argument to `noreturn' does
1752 return. The macro 1value suppresses a brown splotch for its argument.
1753 This macro is a no-op except during test-coverage -- then it signals
1754 an error if the argument actually returns differing values.
1756 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 22.1:
1759 ** In Outline mode, hide-body no longer hides lines at the top
1760 of the file that precede the first header line.
1763 ** Telnet now prompts you for a port number with C-u M-x telnet.
1766 ** The terminal emulation code in term.el has been improved, it can
1767 run most curses applications now.
1770 ** M-x diff uses diff-mode instead of compilation-mode.
1773 ** You can now customize fill-nobreak-predicate to control where
1774 filling can break lines. The value is now normally a list of
1775 functions, but it can also be a single function, for compatibility.
1777 We provide two sample predicates, fill-single-word-nobreak-p and
1778 fill-french-nobreak-p, for use in the value of fill-nobreak-predicate.
1781 ** M-x view-file and commands that use it now avoid interfering
1782 with special modes such as Tar mode.
1785 ** Commands winner-redo and winner-undo, from winner.el, are now bound to
1786 C-c <left> and C-c <right>, respectively. This is an incompatible change.
1789 ** global-whitespace-mode is a new alias for whitespace-global-mode.
1792 ** M-x compare-windows now can automatically skip non-matching text to
1793 resync points in both windows.
1796 ** New user option `add-log-always-start-new-record'.
1797 When this option is enabled, M-x add-change-log-entry always
1798 starts a new record regardless of when the last record is.
1801 ** PO translation files are decoded according to their MIME headers
1802 when Emacs visits them.
1804 ** Info mode changes:
1807 *** A numeric prefix argument of `info' selects an Info buffer
1808 with the number appended to the *info* buffer name (e.g. "*info*<2>").
1811 *** isearch in Info uses Info-search and searches through multiple nodes.
1812 Before leaving the initial Info node isearch fails once with the error
1813 message [initial node], and with subsequent C-s/C-r continues through
1814 other nodes. When isearch fails for the rest of the manual, it wraps
1815 aroung the whole manual to the top/final node. The user option
1816 `Info-isearch-search' controls whether to use Info-search for isearch,
1817 or the default isearch search function that wraps around the current
1820 *** New search commands: `Info-search-case-sensitively' (bound to S),
1821 `Info-search-backward', and `Info-search-next' which repeats the last
1822 search without prompting for a new search string.
1824 *** New command `Info-history-forward' (bound to r and new toolbar icon)
1825 moves forward in history to the node you returned from after using
1826 `Info-history-back' (renamed from `Info-last').
1828 *** New command `Info-history' (bound to L) displays a menu of visited nodes.
1830 *** New command `Info-toc' (bound to T) creates a node with table of contents
1831 from the tree structure of menus of the current Info file.
1833 *** New command `info-apropos' searches the indices of the known
1834 Info files on your system for a string, and builds a menu of the
1837 *** New command `Info-copy-current-node-name' (bound to w) copies
1838 the current Info node name into the kill ring. With a zero prefix
1839 arg, puts the node name inside the `info' function call.
1842 *** New face `info-xref-visited' distinguishes visited nodes from unvisited
1843 and a new option `Info-fontify-visited-nodes' to control this.
1845 *** http and ftp links in Info are now operational: they look like cross
1846 references and following them calls `browse-url'.
1849 *** Info now hides node names in menus and cross references by default.
1850 If you prefer the old behavior, you can set the new user option
1851 `Info-hide-note-references' to nil.
1854 *** Images in Info pages are supported.
1855 Info pages show embedded images, in Emacs frames with image support.
1856 Info documentation that includes images, processed with makeinfo
1857 version 4.7 or newer, compiles to Info pages with embedded images.
1860 *** The default value for `Info-scroll-prefer-subnodes' is now nil.
1863 *** Info-index offers completion.
1865 ** Lisp mode changes:
1868 *** Lisp mode now uses font-lock-doc-face for the docstrings.
1871 *** A prefix argument of C-M-q in Emacs Lisp mode pretty-printifies the
1872 list starting after point.
1874 *** New features in evaluation commands
1877 *** The function `eval-defun' (C-M-x) called on defface reinitializes
1878 the face to the value specified in the defface expression.
1881 *** Typing C-x C-e twice prints the value of the integer result
1882 in additional formats (octal, hexadecimal, character) specified
1883 by the new function `eval-expression-print-format'. The same
1884 function also defines the result format for `eval-expression' (M-:),
1885 `eval-print-last-sexp' (C-j) and some edebug evaluation functions.
1890 *** Font lock support.
1891 CC Mode now provides font lock support for all its languages. This
1892 supersedes the font lock patterns that have been in the core font lock
1893 package for C, C++, Java and Objective-C. Like indentation, font
1894 locking is done in a uniform way across all languages (except the new
1895 AWK mode - see below). That means that the new font locking will be
1896 different from the old patterns in various details for most languages.
1898 The main goal of the font locking in CC Mode is accuracy, to provide a
1899 dependable aid in recognizing the various constructs. Some, like
1900 strings and comments, are easy to recognize while others like
1901 declarations and types can be very tricky. CC Mode can go to great
1902 lengths to recognize declarations and casts correctly, especially when
1903 the types aren't recognized by standard patterns. This is a fairly
1904 demanding analysis which can be slow on older hardware, and it can
1905 therefore be disabled by choosing a lower decoration level with the
1906 variable font-lock-maximum-decoration.
1908 Note that the most demanding font lock level has been tuned with lazy
1909 fontification in mind, i.e. there should be a support mode that waits
1910 with the fontification until the text is actually shown
1911 (e.g. Just-in-time Lock mode, which is the default, or Lazy Lock
1912 mode). Fontifying a file with several thousand lines in one go can
1913 take the better part of a minute.
1915 **** The (c|c++|objc|java|idl|pike)-font-lock-extra-types variables
1916 are now used by CC Mode to recognize identifiers that are certain to
1917 be types. (They are also used in cases that aren't related to font
1918 locking.) At the maximum decoration level, types are often recognized
1919 properly anyway, so these variables should be fairly restrictive and
1920 not contain patterns for uncertain types.
1922 **** Support for documentation comments.
1923 There is a "plugin" system to fontify documentation comments like
1924 Javadoc and the markup within them. It's independent of the host
1925 language, so it's possible to e.g. turn on Javadoc font locking in C
1926 buffers. See the variable c-doc-comment-style for details.
1928 Currently two kinds of doc comment styles are recognized: Suns Javadoc
1929 and Autodoc which is used in Pike. This is by no means a complete
1930 list of the most common tools; if your doc comment extractor of choice
1931 is missing then please drop a note to bug-cc-mode@gnu.org.
1933 **** Better handling of C++ templates.
1934 As a side effect of the more accurate font locking, C++ templates are
1935 now handled much better. The angle brackets that delimit them are
1936 given parenthesis syntax so that they can be navigated like other
1939 This also improves indentation of templates, although there still is
1940 work to be done in that area. E.g. it's required that multiline
1941 template clauses are written in full and then refontified to be
1942 recognized, and the indentation of nested templates is a bit odd and
1943 not as configurable as it ought to be.
1945 **** Improved handling of Objective-C and CORBA IDL.
1946 Especially the support for Objective-C and IDL has gotten an overhaul.
1947 The special "@" declarations in Objective-C are handled correctly.
1948 All the keywords used in CORBA IDL, PSDL, and CIDL are recognized and
1949 handled correctly, also wrt indentation.
1951 *** Support for the AWK language.
1952 Support for the AWK language has been introduced. The implementation is
1953 based around GNU AWK version 3.1, but it should work pretty well with
1954 any AWK. As yet, not all features of CC Mode have been adapted for AWK.
1957 **** Indentation Engine
1958 The CC Mode indentation engine fully supports AWK mode.
1960 AWK mode handles code formatted in the conventional AWK fashion: `{'s
1961 which start actions, user-defined functions, or compound statements are
1962 placed on the same line as the associated construct; the matching `}'s
1963 are normally placed under the start of the respective pattern, function
1964 definition, or structured statement.
1966 The predefined indentation functions haven't yet been adapted for AWK
1967 mode, though some of them may work serendipitously. There shouldn't be
1968 any problems writing custom indentation functions for AWK mode.
1970 The command C-c C-q (c-indent-defun) hasn't yet been adapted for AWK,
1971 though in practice it works properly nearly all the time. Should it
1972 fail, explicitly set the region around the function (using C-u C-SPC:
1973 C-M-h probably won't work either) then do C-M-\ (indent-region).
1976 There is a single level of font locking in AWK mode, rather than the
1977 three distinct levels the other modes have. There are several
1978 idiosyncrasies in AWK mode's font-locking due to the peculiarities of
1979 the AWK language itself.
1981 **** Comment Commands
1982 M-; (indent-for-comment) works fine. None of the other CC Mode
1983 comment formatting commands have yet been adapted for AWK mode.
1985 **** Movement Commands
1986 Most of the movement commands work in AWK mode. The most important
1987 exceptions are M-a (c-beginning-of-statement) and M-e
1988 (c-end-of-statement) which haven't yet been adapted.
1990 The notion of "defun" has been augmented to include AWK pattern-action
1991 pairs. C-M-a (c-awk-beginning-of-defun) and C-M-e (c-awk-end-of-defun)
1992 recognise these pattern-action pairs, as well as user defined
1995 **** Auto-newline Insertion and Clean-ups
1996 Auto-newline insertion hasn't yet been adapted for AWK. Some of
1997 the clean-ups can actually convert good AWK code into syntactically
1998 invalid code. These features are best disabled in AWK buffers.
2000 *** New syntactic symbols in IDL mode.
2001 The top level constructs "module" and "composition" (from CIDL) are
2002 now handled like "namespace" in C++: They are given syntactic symbols
2003 module-open, module-close, inmodule, composition-open,
2004 composition-close, and incomposition.
2006 *** New functions to do hungry delete without enabling hungry delete mode.
2007 The functions c-hungry-backspace and c-hungry-delete-forward can be
2008 bound to keys to get this feature without toggling a mode.
2009 Contributed by Kevin Ryde.
2011 *** Better control over require-final-newline. The variable that
2012 controls how to handle a final newline when the buffer is saved,
2013 require-final-newline, is now customizable on a per-mode basis through
2014 c-require-final-newline. That is a list of modes, and only those
2015 modes set require-final-newline. By default that's C, C++ and
2018 The specified modes set require-final-newline based on
2019 mode-require-final-newline, as usual.
2021 *** Format change for syntactic context elements.
2022 The elements in the syntactic context returned by c-guess-basic-syntax
2023 and stored in c-syntactic-context has been changed somewhat to allow
2024 attaching more information. They are now lists instead of single cons
2025 cells. E.g. a line that previously had the syntactic analysis
2027 ((inclass . 11) (topmost-intro . 13))
2031 ((inclass 11) (topmost-intro 13))
2033 In some cases there are more than one position given for a syntactic
2036 This change might affect code that call c-guess-basic-syntax directly,
2037 and custom lineup functions if they use c-syntactic-context. However,
2038 the argument given to lineup functions is still a single cons cell
2039 with nil or an integer in the cdr.
2041 *** API changes for derived modes.
2042 There have been extensive changes "under the hood" which can affect
2043 derived mode writers. Some of these changes are likely to cause
2044 incompatibilities with existing derived modes, but on the other hand
2045 care has now been taken to make it possible to extend and modify CC
2046 Mode with less risk of such problems in the future.
2048 **** New language variable system.
2049 See the comment blurb near the top of cc-langs.el.
2051 **** New initialization functions.
2052 The initialization procedure has been split up into more functions to
2053 give better control: c-basic-common-init, c-font-lock-init, and
2054 c-init-language-vars.
2056 *** Changes in analysis of nested syntactic constructs.
2057 The syntactic analysis engine has better handling of cases where
2058 several syntactic constructs appear nested on the same line. They are
2059 now handled as if each construct started on a line of its own.
2061 This means that CC Mode now indents some cases differently, and
2062 although it's more consistent there might be cases where the old way
2063 gave results that's more to one's liking. So if you find a situation
2064 where you think that the indentation has become worse, please report
2065 it to bug-cc-mode@gnu.org.
2067 **** New syntactic symbol substatement-label.
2068 This symbol is used when a label is inserted between a statement and
2069 its substatement. E.g:
2075 *** Better handling of multiline macros.
2077 **** Syntactic indentation inside macros.
2078 The contents of multiline #define's are now analyzed and indented
2079 syntactically just like other code. This can be disabled by the new
2080 variable c-syntactic-indentation-in-macros. A new syntactic symbol
2081 cpp-define-intro has been added to control the initial indentation
2084 **** New lineup function c-lineup-cpp-define.
2085 Now used by default to line up macro continuation lines. The behavior
2086 of this function closely mimics the indentation one gets if the macro
2087 is indented while the line continuation backslashes are temporarily
2088 removed. If syntactic indentation in macros is turned off, it works
2089 much line c-lineup-dont-change, which was used earlier, but handles
2090 empty lines within the macro better.
2092 **** Automatically inserted newlines continues the macro if used within one.
2093 This applies to the newlines inserted by the auto-newline mode, and to
2094 c-context-line-break and c-context-open-line.
2096 **** Better alignment of line continuation backslashes.
2097 c-backslash-region tries to adapt to surrounding backslashes. New
2098 variable c-backslash-max-column which put a limit on how far out
2099 backslashes can be moved.
2101 **** Automatic alignment of line continuation backslashes.
2102 This is controlled by the new variable c-auto-align-backslashes. It
2103 affects c-context-line-break, c-context-open-line and newlines
2104 inserted in auto-newline mode.
2106 **** Line indentation works better inside macros.
2107 Regardless whether syntactic indentation and syntactic indentation
2108 inside macros are enabled or not, line indentation now ignores the
2109 line continuation backslashes. This is most noticeable when syntactic
2110 indentation is turned off and there are empty lines (save for the
2111 backslash) in the macro.
2113 *** indent-for-comment is more customizable.
2114 The behavior of M-; (indent-for-comment) is now configurable through
2115 the variable c-indent-comment-alist. The indentation behavior based
2116 on the preceding code on the line, e.g. to get two spaces after #else
2117 and #endif but indentation to comment-column in most other cases
2118 (something which was hardcoded earlier).
2120 *** New function c-context-open-line.
2121 It's the open-line equivalent of c-context-line-break.
2123 *** New lineup functions
2125 **** c-lineup-string-cont
2126 This lineup function lines up a continued string under the one it
2129 result = prefix + "A message "
2130 "string."; <- c-lineup-string-cont
2132 **** c-lineup-cascaded-calls
2133 Lines up series of calls separated by "->" or ".".
2135 **** c-lineup-knr-region-comment
2136 Gives (what most people think is) better indentation of comments in
2137 the "K&R region" between the function header and its body.
2139 **** c-lineup-gcc-asm-reg
2140 Provides better indentation inside asm blocks. Contributed by Kevin
2143 **** c-lineup-argcont
2144 Lines up continued function arguments after the preceding comma.
2145 Contributed by Kevin Ryde.
2147 *** Better caching of the syntactic context.
2148 CC Mode caches the positions of the opening parentheses (of any kind)
2149 of the lists surrounding the point. Those positions are used in many
2150 places as anchor points for various searches. The cache is now
2151 improved so that it can be reused to a large extent when the point is
2152 moved. The less it moves, the less needs to be recalculated.
2154 The effect is that CC Mode should be fast most of the time even when
2155 opening parens are hung (i.e. aren't in column zero). It's typically
2156 only the first time after the point is moved far down in a complex
2157 file that it'll take noticeable time to find out the syntactic
2160 *** Statements are recognized in a more robust way.
2161 Statements are recognized most of the time even when they occur in an
2162 "invalid" context, e.g. in a function argument. In practice that can
2163 happen when macros are involved.
2165 *** Improved the way c-indent-exp chooses the block to indent.
2166 It now indents the block for the closest sexp following the point
2167 whose closing paren ends on a different line. This means that the
2168 point doesn't have to be immediately before the block to indent.
2169 Also, only the block and the closing line is indented; the current
2170 line is left untouched.
2172 *** Added toggle for syntactic indentation.
2173 The function c-toggle-syntactic-indentation can be used to toggle
2174 syntactic indentation.
2177 ** Perl mode has a new variable `perl-indent-continued-arguments'.
2180 ** The old Octave mode bindings C-c f and C-c i have been changed
2181 to C-c C-f and C-c C-i. The C-c C-i subcommands now have duplicate
2182 bindings on control characters--thus, C-c C-i C-b is the same as
2183 C-c C-i b, and so on.
2185 ** Fortran mode changes:
2188 *** Fortran mode does more font-locking by default. Use level 3
2189 highlighting for the old default.
2192 *** Fortran mode has a new variable `fortran-directive-re'.
2193 Adapt this to match the format of any compiler directives you use.
2194 Lines that match are never indented, and are given distinctive font-locking.
2197 *** F90 mode and Fortran mode have new navigation commands
2198 `f90-end-of-block', `f90-beginning-of-block', `f90-next-block',
2199 `f90-previous-block', `fortran-end-of-block',
2200 `fortran-beginning-of-block'.
2203 *** F90 mode and Fortran mode have support for hs-minor-mode (hideshow).
2204 It cannot deal with every code format, but ought to handle a sizeable
2208 *** The new function `f90-backslash-not-special' can be used to change
2209 the syntax of backslashes in F90 buffers.
2212 ** Prolog mode has a new variable `prolog-font-lock-keywords'
2213 to support use of font-lock.
2215 ** HTML/SGML changes:
2218 *** Emacs now tries to set up buffer coding systems for HTML/XML files
2222 *** SGML mode has indentation and supports XML syntax.
2223 The new variable `sgml-xml-mode' tells SGML mode to use XML syntax.
2224 When this option is enabled, SGML tags are inserted in XML style,
2225 i.e., there is always a closing tag.
2226 By default, its setting is inferred on a buffer-by-buffer basis
2227 from the file name or buffer contents.
2230 *** `xml-mode' is now an alias for `sgml-mode', which has XML support.
2235 *** C-c C-c prompts for a command to run, and tries to offer a good default.
2238 *** The user option `tex-start-options-string' has been replaced
2239 by two new user options: `tex-start-options', which should hold
2240 command-line options to feed to TeX, and `tex-start-commands' which should hold
2241 TeX commands to use at startup.
2244 *** verbatim environments are now highlighted in courier by font-lock
2245 and super/sub-scripts are made into super/sub-scripts.
2248 *** New major mode doctex-mode for *.dtx files.
2251 *** The new command bibtex-url browses a URL for the BibTeX entry at
2252 point (bound to C-c C-l and mouse-2, RET on clickable fields).
2254 *** The new command bibtex-entry-update (bound to C-c C-u) updates
2255 an existing BibTeX entry.
2257 *** New `bibtex-entry-format' option `required-fields', enabled by default.
2259 *** bibtex-maintain-sorted-entries can take values `plain',
2260 `crossref', and `entry-class' which control the sorting scheme used
2261 for BibTeX entries. `bibtex-sort-entry-class' controls the sorting
2262 scheme `entry-class'. TAB completion for reference keys and
2263 automatic detection of duplicates does not require anymore that
2264 bibtex-maintain-sorted-entries is non-nil.
2266 *** If the new variable bibtex-parse-keys-fast is non-nil,
2267 use fast but simplified algorithm for parsing BibTeX keys.
2269 *** If the new variable bibtex-autoadd-commas is non-nil,
2270 automatically add missing commas at end of BibTeX fields.
2272 *** The new variable bibtex-autofill-types contains a list of entry
2273 types for which fields are filled automatically (if possible).
2275 *** The new command bibtex-complete completes word fragment before
2276 point according to context (bound to M-tab).
2278 *** The new commands bibtex-find-entry and bibtex-find-crossref
2279 locate entries and crossref'd entries (bound to C-c C-s and C-c C-x).
2280 Crossref fields are clickable (bound to mouse-2, RET).
2282 *** In BibTeX mode the command fill-paragraph (bound to M-q) fills
2283 individual fields of a BibTeX entry.
2285 *** The new variables bibtex-files and bibtex-file-path define a set
2286 of BibTeX files that are searched for entry keys.
2288 *** The new command bibtex-validate-globally checks for duplicate keys
2289 in multiple BibTeX files.
2291 *** The new command bibtex-copy-summary-as-kill pushes summary
2292 of BibTeX entry to kill ring (bound to C-c C-t).
2295 ** In Enriched mode, `set-left-margin' and `set-right-margin' are now
2296 by default bound to `C-c [' and `C-c ]' instead of the former `C-c C-l'
2302 *** In GUD mode, when talking to GDB, C-x C-a C-j "jumps" the program
2303 counter to the specified source line (the one where point is).
2306 *** GUD mode has its own tool bar for controlling execution of the inferior
2307 and other common debugger commands.
2310 *** The new package gdb-ui.el provides an enhanced graphical interface to
2311 GDB. You can interact with GDB through the GUD buffer in the usual way, but
2312 there are also further buffers which control the execution and describe the
2313 state of your program. It separates the input/output of your program from
2314 that of GDB and watches expressions in the speedbar. It also uses features of
2315 Emacs 21 such as the display margin for breakpoints, and the toolbar.
2317 Use M-x gdba to start GDB-UI.
2319 *** GUD tooltips can be toggled independently of normal tooltips
2320 with the minor mode, gud-tooltip-mode.
2323 *** In graphical mode, with a C program, GUD Tooltips have been extended to
2324 display the #define directive associated with an identifier when program is
2328 ** GUD mode improvements for jdb:
2330 *** Search for source files using jdb classpath and class
2331 information. Fast startup since there is no need to scan all
2332 source files up front. There is also no need to create and maintain
2333 lists of source directories to scan. Look at `gud-jdb-use-classpath'
2334 and `gud-jdb-classpath' customization variables documentation.
2336 *** Supports the standard breakpoint (gud-break, gud-clear)
2337 set/clear operations from java source files under the classpath, stack
2338 traversal (gud-up, gud-down), and run until current stack finish
2341 *** Supports new jdb (Java 1.2 and later) in addition to oldjdb
2344 *** The previous method of searching for source files has been
2345 preserved in case someone still wants/needs to use it.
2346 Set gud-jdb-use-classpath to nil.
2348 Added Customization Variables
2350 *** gud-jdb-command-name. What command line to use to invoke jdb.
2352 *** gud-jdb-use-classpath. Allows selection of java source file searching
2353 method: set to t for new method, nil to scan gud-jdb-directories for
2354 java sources (previous method).
2356 *** gud-jdb-directories. List of directories to scan and search for java
2357 classes using the original gud-jdb method (if gud-jdb-use-classpath
2362 *** The STARTTLS elisp wrapper (starttls.el) can now use GNUTLS
2363 instead of the OpenSSL based "starttls" tool. For backwards
2364 compatibility, it prefers "starttls", but you can toggle
2365 `starttls-use-gnutls' to switch to GNUTLS (or simply remove the
2368 *** Do not allow debugger output history variable to grow without bounds.
2370 ** Auto-Revert changes:
2373 *** You can now use Auto Revert mode to `tail' a file.
2374 If point is at the end of a file buffer before reverting, Auto Revert
2375 mode keeps it at the end after reverting. Similarly if point is
2376 displayed at the end of a file buffer in any window, it stays at
2377 the end of the buffer in that window. This allows to tail a file:
2378 just put point at the end of the buffer and it stays there. This
2379 rule applies to file buffers. For non-file buffers, the behavior can
2382 If you are sure that the file will only change by growing at the end,
2383 then you can tail the file more efficiently by using the new minor
2384 mode Auto Revert Tail mode. The function `auto-revert-tail-mode'
2388 *** Auto Revert mode is now more careful to avoid excessive reverts and
2389 other potential problems when deciding which non-file buffers to
2390 revert. This matters especially if Global Auto Revert mode is enabled
2391 and `global-auto-revert-non-file-buffers' is non-nil. Auto Revert
2392 mode only reverts a non-file buffer if the buffer has a non-nil
2393 `revert-buffer-function' and a non-nil `buffer-stale-function', which
2394 decides whether the buffer should be reverted. Currently, this means
2395 that auto reverting works for Dired buffers (although this may not
2396 work properly on all operating systems) and for the Buffer Menu.
2399 *** If the new user option `auto-revert-check-vc-info' is non-nil, Auto
2400 Revert mode reliably updates version control info (such as the version
2401 control number in the mode line), in all version controlled buffers in
2402 which it is active. If the option is nil, the default, then this info
2403 only gets updated whenever the buffer gets reverted.
2408 The recent file list is now automatically cleanup when recentf mode is
2409 enabled. The new option `recentf-auto-cleanup' controls when to do
2412 The `recentf-keep' option replaces `recentf-keep-non-readable-files-p'
2413 and provides a more general mechanism to customize which file names to
2414 keep in the recent list.
2416 With the more advanced option: `recentf-filename-handler', you can
2417 specify a function that transforms filenames handled by recentf. For
2418 example, if set to `file-truename', the same file will not be in the
2419 recent list with different symbolic links.
2421 To follow naming convention, `recentf-menu-append-commands-flag'
2422 replaces the misnamed option `recentf-menu-append-commands-p'. The
2423 old name remains available as alias, but has been marked obsolete.
2429 *** Desktop saving is now a minor mode, desktop-save-mode. Variable
2430 desktop-enable is obsolete. Customize desktop-save-mode to enable desktop
2434 *** Buffers are saved in the desktop file in the same order as that in the
2438 *** The desktop package can be customized to restore only some buffers immediately,
2439 remaining buffers are restored lazily (when Emacs is idle).
2443 - desktop-revert reverts to the last loaded desktop.
2444 - desktop-change-dir kills current desktop and loads a new.
2445 - desktop-save-in-desktop-dir saves desktop in the directory from which
2447 - desktop-lazy-complete runs the desktop load to completion.
2448 - desktop-lazy-abort aborts lazy loading of the desktop.
2451 *** New customizable variables:
2452 - desktop-save. Determins whether the desktop should be saved when it is
2454 - desktop-file-name-format. Format in which desktop file names should be saved.
2455 - desktop-path. List of directories in which to lookup the desktop file.
2456 - desktop-locals-to-save. List of local variables to save.
2457 - desktop-globals-to-clear. List of global variables that `desktop-clear' will clear.
2458 - desktop-clear-preserve-buffers-regexp. Regexp identifying buffers that `desktop-clear'
2460 - desktop-restore-eager. Number of buffers to restore immediately. Remaining buffers are
2461 restored lazily (when Emacs is idle).
2462 - desktop-lazy-verbose. Verbose reporting of lazily created buffers.
2463 - desktop-lazy-idle-delay. Idle delay before starting to create buffers.
2466 *** New command line option --no-desktop
2470 - desktop-after-read-hook run after a desktop is loaded.
2471 - desktop-no-desktop-file-hook run when no desktop file is found.
2474 ** The saveplace.el package now filters out unreadable files.
2475 When you exit Emacs, the saved positions in visited files no longer
2476 include files that aren't readable, e.g. files that don't exist.
2477 Customize the new option `save-place-forget-unreadable-files' to nil
2478 to get the old behavior. The new options `save-place-save-skipped'
2479 and `save-place-skip-check-regexp' allow further fine-tuning of this
2485 *** When comparing directories.
2486 Typing D brings up a buffer that lists the differences between the contents of
2487 directories. Now it is possible to use this buffer to copy the missing files
2488 from one directory to another.
2491 *** When comparing files or buffers.
2492 Typing the = key now offers to perform the word-by-word comparison of the
2493 currently highlighted regions in an inferior Ediff session. If you answer 'n'
2494 then it reverts to the old behavior and asks the user to select regions for
2497 *** The new command `ediff-backup' compares a file with its most recent
2498 backup using `ediff'. If you specify the name of a backup file,
2499 `ediff-backup' compares it with the file of which it is a backup.
2504 *** New regular expressions features
2506 **** New syntax for regular expressions, multi-line regular expressions.
2507 The syntax --ignore-case-regexp=/regex/ is now undocumented and retained
2508 only for backward compatibility. The new equivalent syntax is
2509 --regex=/regex/i. More generally, it is --regex=/TAGREGEX/TAGNAME/MODS,
2510 where `/TAGNAME' is optional, as usual, and MODS is a string of 0 or
2511 more characters among `i' (ignore case), `m' (multi-line) and `s'
2512 (single-line). The `m' and `s' modifiers behave as in Perl regular
2513 expressions: `m' allows regexps to match more than one line, while `s'
2514 (which implies `m') means that `.' matches newlines. The ability to
2515 span newlines allows writing of much more powerful regular expressions
2516 and rapid prototyping for tagging new languages.
2518 **** Regular expressions can use char escape sequences as in Gcc.
2519 The escaped character sequence \a, \b, \d, \e, \f, \n, \r, \t, \v,
2520 respectively, stand for the ASCII characters BEL, BS, DEL, ESC, FF, NL,
2523 **** Regular expressions can be bound to a given language.
2524 The syntax --regex={LANGUAGE}REGEX means that REGEX is used to make tags
2525 only for files of language LANGUAGE, and ignored otherwise. This is
2526 particularly useful when storing regexps in a file.
2528 **** Regular expressions can be read from a file.
2529 The --regex=@regexfile option means read the regexps from a file, one
2530 per line. Lines beginning with space or tab are ignored.
2532 *** New language parsing features
2534 **** The `::' qualifier triggers C++ parsing in C file.
2535 Previously, only the `template' and `class' keywords had this effect.
2537 **** The gnucc __attribute__ keyword is now recognised and ignored.
2539 **** New language HTML.
2540 Title and h1, h2, h3 are tagged. Also, tags are generated when name= is
2541 used inside an anchor and whenever id= is used.
2543 **** In Makefiles, constants are tagged.
2544 If you want the old behavior instead, thus avoiding to increase the
2545 size of the tags file, use the --no-globals option.
2547 **** New language Lua.
2548 All functions are tagged.
2550 **** In Perl, packages are tags.
2551 Subroutine tags are named from their package. You can jump to sub tags
2552 as you did before, by the sub name, or additionally by looking for
2555 **** In Prolog, etags creates tags for rules in addition to predicates.
2557 **** New language PHP.
2558 Tags are functions, classes and defines.
2559 If the --members option is specified to etags, tags are variables also.
2561 **** New default keywords for TeX.
2562 The new keywords are def, newcommand, renewcommand, newenvironment and
2565 *** Honour #line directives.
2566 When Etags parses an input file that contains C preprocessor's #line
2567 directives, it creates tags using the file name and line number
2568 specified in those directives. This is useful when dealing with code
2569 created from Cweb source files. When Etags tags the generated file, it
2570 writes tags pointing to the source file.
2572 *** New option --parse-stdin=FILE.
2573 This option is mostly useful when calling etags from programs. It can
2574 be used (only once) in place of a file name on the command line. Etags
2575 reads from standard input and marks the produced tags as belonging to
2581 *** The key C-x C-q no longer checks files in or out, it only changes
2582 the read-only state of the buffer (toggle-read-only). We made this
2583 change because we held a poll and found that many users were unhappy
2584 with the previous behavior. If you do prefer this behavior, you
2585 can bind `vc-toggle-read-only' to C-x C-q in your .emacs:
2587 (global-set-key "\C-x\C-q" 'vc-toggle-read-only)
2589 The function `vc-toggle-read-only' will continue to exist.
2592 *** There is a new user option `vc-cvs-global-switches' that allows
2593 you to specify switches that are passed to any CVS command invoked
2594 by VC. These switches are used as "global options" for CVS, which
2595 means they are inserted before the command name. For example, this
2596 allows you to specify a compression level using the "-z#" option for
2600 *** New backends for Subversion and Meta-CVS.
2603 *** vc-annotate-mode enhancements
2605 In vc-annotate mode, you can now use the following key bindings for
2606 enhanced functionality to browse the annotations of past revisions, or
2607 to view diffs or log entries directly from vc-annotate-mode:
2609 P: annotates the previous revision
2610 N: annotates the next revision
2611 J: annotates the revision at line
2612 A: annotates the revision previous to line
2613 D: shows the diff of the revision at line with its previous revision
2614 L: shows the log of the revision at line
2615 W: annotates the workfile (most up to date) version
2620 *** In pcl-cvs mode, there is a new `d y' command to view the diffs
2621 between the local version of the file and yesterday's head revision
2625 *** In pcl-cvs mode, there is a new `d r' command to view the changes
2626 anyone has committed to the repository since you last executed
2627 "checkout", "update" or "commit". That means using cvs diff options
2631 ** There is a new user option `mail-default-directory' that allows you
2632 to specify the value of `default-directory' for mail buffers. This
2633 directory is used for auto-save files of mail buffers. It defaults to
2637 ** Emacs can now indicate in the mode-line the presence of new e-mail
2638 in a directory or in a file. See the documentation of the user option
2639 `display-time-mail-directory'.
2644 *** Rmail now displays 5-digit message ids in its summary buffer.
2647 *** Support for `movemail' from GNU mailutils was added to Rmail.
2648 This version of `movemail' allows to read mail from a wide range of
2649 mailbox formats, including remote POP3 and IMAP4 mailboxes with or
2650 without TLS encryption. If GNU mailutils is installed on the system
2651 and its version of `movemail' can be found in exec-path, it will be
2652 used instead of the native one.
2657 *** Gnus now includes Sieve and PGG
2658 Sieve is a library for managing Sieve scripts. PGG is a library to handle
2662 *** There are many news features, bug fixes and improvements.
2663 See the file GNUS-NEWS or the node "Oort Gnus" in the Gnus manual for details.
2668 Upgraded to MH-E version 7.82. There have been major changes since
2669 version 5.0.2; see MH-E-NEWS for details.
2671 ** Calendar changes:
2674 *** There is a new calendar package, icalendar.el, that can be used to
2675 convert Emacs diary entries to/from the iCalendar format.
2678 *** Diary sexp entries can have custom marking in the calendar.
2679 Diary sexp functions which only apply to certain days (such as
2680 `diary-block' or `diary-cyclic') now take an optional parameter MARK,
2681 which is the name of a face or a single-character string indicating
2682 how to highlight the day in the calendar display. Specifying a
2683 single-character string as @var{mark} places the character next to the
2684 day in the calendar. Specifying a face highlights the day with that
2685 face. This lets you have different colors or markings for vacations,
2686 appointments, paydays or anything else using a sexp.
2689 *** The new function `calendar-goto-day-of-year' (g D) prompts for a
2690 year and day number, and moves to that date. Negative day numbers
2691 count backward from the end of the year.
2694 *** The new Calendar function `calendar-goto-iso-week' (g w)
2695 prompts for a year and a week number, and moves to the first
2696 day of that ISO week.
2699 *** The new variable `calendar-minimum-window-height' affects the
2700 window generated by the function `generate-calendar-window'.
2703 *** The functions `holiday-easter-etc' and `holiday-advent' now take
2704 optional arguments, in order to only report on the specified holiday
2705 rather than all. This makes customization of variables such as
2706 `christian-holidays' simpler.
2709 *** The function `simple-diary-display' now by default sets a header line.
2710 This can be controlled through the variables `diary-header-line-flag'
2711 and `diary-header-line-format'.
2714 *** The procedure for activating appointment reminders has changed: use
2715 the new function `appt-activate'. The new variable
2716 `appt-display-format' controls how reminders are displayed, replacing
2717 appt-issue-message, appt-visible, and appt-msg-window.
2720 *** The new functions `diary-from-outlook', `diary-from-outlook-gnus',
2721 and `diary-from-outlook-rmail' can be used to import diary entries
2722 from Outlook-format appointments in mail messages. The variable
2723 `diary-outlook-formats' can be customized to recognize additional
2729 *** The variable `sql-product' controls the highlightng of different
2730 SQL dialects. This variable can be set globally via Customize, on a
2731 buffer-specific basis via local variable settings, or for the current
2732 session using the new SQL->Product submenu. (This menu replaces the
2733 SQL->Highlighting submenu.)
2735 The following values are supported:
2737 ansi ANSI Standard (default)
2751 The current product name will be shown on the mode line following the
2754 The technique of setting `sql-mode-font-lock-defaults' directly in
2755 your .emacs will no longer establish the default highlighting -- Use
2756 `sql-product' to accomplish this.
2758 ANSI keywords are always highlighted.
2760 *** The function `sql-add-product-keywords' can be used to add
2761 font-lock rules to the product specific rules. For example, to have
2762 all identifiers ending in "_t" under MS SQLServer treated as a type,
2763 you would use the following line in your .emacs file:
2765 (sql-add-product-keywords 'ms
2766 '(("\\<\\w+_t\\>" . font-lock-type-face)))
2768 *** Oracle support includes keyword highlighting for Oracle 9i. Most
2769 SQL and PL/SQL keywords are implemented. SQL*Plus commands are
2770 highlighted in `font-lock-doc-face'.
2772 *** Microsoft SQLServer support has been significantly improved.
2773 Keyword highlighting for SqlServer 2000 is implemented.
2774 sql-interactive-mode defaults to use osql, rather than isql, because
2775 osql flushes its error stream more frequently. Thus error messages
2776 are displayed when they occur rather than when the session is
2779 If the username and password are not provided to `sql-ms', osql is
2780 called with the -E command line argument to use the operating system
2781 credentials to authenticate the user.
2783 *** Postgres support is enhanced.
2784 Keyword highlighting of Postgres 7.3 is implemented. Prompting for
2785 the username and the pgsql `-U' option is added.
2787 *** MySQL support is enhanced.
2788 Keyword higlighting of MySql 4.0 is implemented.
2790 *** Imenu support has been enhanced to locate tables, views, indexes,
2791 packages, procedures, functions, triggers, sequences, rules, and
2794 *** Added SQL->Start SQLi Session menu entry which calls the
2795 appropriate sql-interactive-mode wrapper for the current setting of
2799 *** Support for the SQLite interpreter has been added to sql.el by calling
2805 *** New ffap commands and keybindings: C-x C-r (`ffap-read-only'),
2806 C-x C-v (`ffap-alternate-file'), C-x C-d (`ffap-list-directory'),
2807 C-x 4 r (`ffap-read-only-other-window'), C-x 4 d (`ffap-dired-other-window'),
2808 C-x 5 r (`ffap-read-only-other-frame'), C-x 5 d (`ffap-dired-other-frame').
2811 *** FFAP accepts wildcards in a file name by default. C-x C-f passes
2812 it to `find-file' with non-nil WILDCARDS argument, which visits
2813 multiple files, and C-x d passes it to `dired'.
2816 ** skeleton.el now supports using - to mark the skeleton-point without
2817 interregion interaction. @ has reverted to only setting
2818 skeleton-positions and no longer sets skeleton-point. Skeletons
2819 which used @ to mark skeleton-point independent of _ should now use -
2820 instead. The updated skeleton-insert docstring explains these new
2821 features along with other details of skeleton construction.
2824 ** New variable `hs-set-up-overlay' allows customization of the overlay
2825 used to effect hiding for hideshow minor mode. Integration with isearch
2826 handles the overlay property `display' specially, preserving it during
2827 temporary overlay showing in the course of an isearch operation.
2830 ** hide-ifdef-mode now uses overlays rather than selective-display
2831 to hide its text. This should be mostly transparent but slightly
2832 changes the behavior of motion commands like C-e and C-p.
2835 ** partial-completion-mode now does partial completion on directory names.
2838 ** The type-break package now allows `type-break-file-name' to be nil
2839 and if so, doesn't store any data across sessions. This is handy if
2840 you don't want the .type-break file in your home directory or are
2841 annoyed by the need for interaction when you kill Emacs.
2844 ** `ps-print' can now print characters from the mule-unicode charsets.
2846 Printing text with characters from the mule-unicode-* sets works with
2847 ps-print, provided that you have installed the appropriate BDF fonts.
2848 See the file INSTALL for URLs where you can find these fonts.
2851 ** New command `strokes-global-set-stroke-string'.
2852 This is like `strokes-global-set-stroke', but it allows you to bind
2853 the stroke directly to a string to insert. This is convenient for
2854 using strokes as an input method.
2856 ** Emacs server changes:
2859 *** You can have several Emacs servers on the same machine.
2861 % emacs --eval '(setq server-name "foo")' -f server-start &
2862 % emacs --eval '(setq server-name "bar")' -f server-start &
2863 % emacsclient -s foo file1
2864 % emacsclient -s bar file2
2867 *** The `emacsclient' command understands the options `--eval' and
2868 `--display' which tell Emacs respectively to evaluate the given elisp
2869 expression and to use the given display when visiting files.
2872 *** User option `server-mode' can be used to start a server process.
2875 ** LDAP support now defaults to ldapsearch from OpenLDAP version 2.
2878 ** You can now disable pc-selection-mode after enabling it.
2879 M-x pc-selection-mode behaves like a proper minor mode, and with no
2880 argument it toggles the mode.
2882 Turning off PC-Selection mode restores the global key bindings
2883 that were replaced by turning on the mode.
2886 ** `uniquify-strip-common-suffix' tells uniquify to prefer
2887 `file|dir1' and `file|dir2' to `file|dir1/subdir' and `file|dir2/subdir'.
2890 ** Support for `magic cookie' standout modes has been removed.
2891 Emacs will still work on terminals that require magic cookies in order
2892 to use standout mode, however they will not be able to display
2893 mode-lines in inverse-video.
2896 ** The game `mpuz' is enhanced.
2898 `mpuz' now allows the 2nd factor not to have two identical digits. By
2899 default, all trivial operations involving whole lines are performed
2900 automatically. The game uses faces for better visual feedback.
2903 ** display-battery has been replaced by display-battery-mode.
2906 ** calculator.el now has radix grouping mode, which is available when
2907 `calculator-output-radix' is non-nil. In this mode a separator
2908 character is used every few digits, making it easier to see byte
2909 boundries etc. For more info, see the documentation of the variable
2910 `calculator-radix-grouping-mode'.
2913 ** fast-lock.el and lazy-lock.el are obsolete. Use jit-lock.el instead.
2916 ** iso-acc.el is now obsolete. Use one of the latin input methods instead.
2919 ** cplus-md.el has been removed to avoid problems with Custom.
2921 * Changes in Emacs 22.1 on non-free operating systems
2924 ** Passing resources on the command line now works on MS Windows.
2925 You can use --xrm to pass resource settings to Emacs, overriding any
2926 existing values. For example:
2928 emacs --xrm "Emacs.Background:red" --xrm "Emacs.Geometry:100x20"
2930 will start up Emacs on an initial frame of 100x20 with red background,
2931 irrespective of geometry or background setting on the Windows registry.
2934 ** On MS Windows, the "system caret" now follows the cursor.
2935 This enables Emacs to work better with programs that need to track
2936 the cursor, for example screen magnifiers and text to speech programs.
2939 ** Tooltips now work on MS Windows.
2940 See the Emacs 21.1 NEWS entry for tooltips for details.
2943 ** Images are now supported on MS Windows.
2944 PBM and XBM images are supported out of the box. Other image formats
2945 depend on external libraries. All of these libraries have been ported
2946 to Windows, and can be found in both source and binary form at
2947 http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/. Note that libpng also depends on
2948 zlib, and tiff depends on the version of jpeg that it was compiled
2949 against. For additional information, see nt/INSTALL.
2952 ** Sound is now supported on MS Windows.
2953 WAV format is supported on all versions of Windows, other formats such
2954 as AU, AIFF and MP3 may be supported in the more recent versions of
2955 Windows, or when other software provides hooks into the system level
2956 sound support for those formats.
2959 ** Different shaped mouse pointers are supported on MS Windows.
2960 The mouse pointer changes shape depending on what is under the pointer.
2963 ** Pointing devices with more than 3 buttons are now supported on MS Windows.
2964 The new variable `w32-pass-extra-mouse-buttons-to-system' controls
2965 whether Emacs should handle the extra buttons itself (the default), or
2966 pass them to Windows to be handled with system-wide functions.
2969 ** Emacs takes note of colors defined in Control Panel on MS-Windows.
2970 The Control Panel defines some default colors for applications in much
2971 the same way as wildcard X Resources do on X. Emacs now adds these
2972 colors to the colormap prefixed by System (eg SystemMenu for the
2973 default Menu background, SystemMenuText for the foreground), and uses
2974 some of them to initialize some of the default faces.
2975 `list-colors-display' shows the list of System color names, in case
2976 you wish to use them in other faces.
2979 ** On MS Windows NT/W2K/XP, Emacs uses Unicode for clipboard operations.
2980 Those systems use Unicode internally, so this allows Emacs to share
2981 multilingual text with other applications. On other versions of
2982 MS Windows, Emacs now uses the appropriate locale coding-system, so
2983 the clipboard should work correctly for your local language without
2987 ** On Mac OS, the value of the variable `keyboard-coding-system' is
2988 now dynamically changed according to the current keyboard script. The
2989 variable `mac-keyboard-text-encoding' and the constants
2990 `kTextEncodingMacRoman', `kTextEncodingISOLatin1', and
2991 `kTextEncodingISOLatin2' are obsolete.
2993 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 22.1
2996 ** `suppress-keymap' now works by remapping `self-insert-command' to
2997 the command `undefined'. (In earlier Emacs versions, it used
2998 `substitute-key-definition' to rebind self inserting characters to
3002 ** Mode line display ignores text properties as well as the
3003 :propertize and :eval forms in the value of a variable whose
3004 `risky-local-variable' property is nil.
3007 ** Support for Mocklisp has been removed.
3009 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 22.1
3011 ** General Lisp changes:
3014 *** The function `eql' is now available without requiring the CL package.
3017 *** `makehash' is now obsolete. Use `make-hash-table' instead.
3020 *** If optional third argument APPEND to `add-to-list' is non-nil, a
3021 new element gets added at the end of the list instead of at the
3022 beginning. This change actually occurred in Emacs-21.1, but was not
3026 *** New function `copy-tree' makes a copy of a tree, recursively copying
3030 *** New function `delete-dups' destructively removes `equal'
3031 duplicates from a list. Of several `equal' occurrences of an element
3032 in the list, the first one is kept.
3035 *** `declare' is now a macro. This change was made mostly for
3036 documentation purposes and should have no real effect on Lisp code.
3039 *** The new function `rassq-delete-all' deletes all elements from an
3040 alist whose cdr is `eq' to a specified value.
3043 *** The function `number-sequence' returns a list of equally-separated
3044 numbers. For instance, (number-sequence 4 9) returns (4 5 6 7 8 9).
3045 By default, the separation is 1, but you can specify a different separation
3046 as the third argument. (number-sequence 1.5 6 2) returns (1.5 3.5 5.5).
3049 *** The variables `most-positive-fixnum' and `most-negative-fixnum'
3050 hold the largest and smallest possible integer values.
3053 *** The flags, width, and precision options for %-specifications in function
3054 `format' are now documented. Some flags that were accepted but not
3055 implemented (such as "*") are no longer accepted.
3058 *** Functions `get' and `plist-get' no longer signals an error for
3059 a malformed property list. They also detect cyclic lists.
3062 *** The new functions `lax-plist-get' and `lax-plist-put' are like
3063 `plist-get' and `plist-put', except that they compare the property
3064 name using `equal' rather than `eq'.
3067 *** The new variable `print-continuous-numbering', when non-nil, says
3068 that successive calls to print functions should use the same
3069 numberings for circular structure references. This is only relevant
3070 when `print-circle' is non-nil.
3072 When you bind `print-continuous-numbering' to t, you should
3073 also bind `print-number-table' to nil.
3076 *** New function `macroexpand-all' expands all macros in a form.
3078 It is similar to the Common-Lisp function of the same name.
3079 One difference is that it guarantees to return the original argument
3080 if no expansion is done, which can be tested using `eq'.
3083 *** The function `atan' now accepts an optional second argument.
3085 When called with 2 arguments, as in `(atan Y X)', `atan' returns the
3086 angle in radians between the vector [X, Y] and the X axis. (This is
3087 equivalent to the standard C library function `atan2'.)
3090 *** A function's doc string can now specify the calling pattern.
3092 You put this in the doc string's last line, which should match the
3093 regexp "\n\n(fn.*)\\'".
3096 *** New macro `with-local-quit' temporarily sets `inhibit-quit' to nil.
3098 This is for use around potentially blocking or long-running code in
3099 timers and `post-command-hook' functions.
3101 *** `define-obsolete-function-alias'
3102 combines `defalias' and `make-obsolete'.
3105 *** New function `unsafep' returns nil if the given Lisp form can't
3106 possibly do anything dangerous; otherwise it returns a reason why the
3107 form might be unsafe (calls unknown function, alters global variable,
3110 ** Lisp code indentation features:
3113 *** The `defmacro' form can contain declarations specifying how to
3114 indent the macro in Lisp mode and how to debug it with Edebug. The
3115 syntax of defmacro has been extended to
3117 (defmacro NAME LAMBDA-LIST [DOC-STRING] [DECLARATION ...] ...)
3119 DECLARATION is a list `(declare DECLARATION-SPECIFIER ...)'. The
3120 declaration specifiers supported are:
3123 Set NAME's `lisp-indent-function' property to INDENT.
3126 Set NAME's `edebug-form-spec' property to DEBUG. (This is
3127 equivalent to writing a `def-edebug-spec' for the macro.
3130 *** cl-indent now allows customization of Indentation of backquoted forms.
3132 See the new user option `lisp-backquote-indentation'.
3135 *** cl-indent now handles indentation of simple and extended `loop' forms.
3137 The new user options `lisp-loop-keyword-indentation',
3138 `lisp-loop-forms-indentation', and `lisp-simple-loop-indentation' can
3139 be used to customize the indentation of keywords and forms in loop
3143 ** Variable aliases:
3145 *** defvaralias ALIAS-VAR BASE-VAR [DOCSTRING]
3147 This function defines the symbol ALIAS-VAR as a variable alias for
3148 symbol BASE-VAR. This means that retrieving the value of ALIAS-VAR
3149 returns the value of BASE-VAR, and changing the value of ALIAS-VAR
3150 changes the value of BASE-VAR.
3152 DOCSTRING, if present, is the documentation for ALIAS-VAR; else it has
3153 the same documentation as BASE-VAR.
3155 *** indirect-variable VARIABLE
3157 This function returns the variable at the end of the chain of aliases
3158 of VARIABLE. If VARIABLE is not a symbol, or if VARIABLE is not
3159 defined as an alias, the function returns VARIABLE.
3161 It might be noteworthy that variables aliases work for all kinds of
3162 variables, including buffer-local and frame-local variables.
3165 *** The macro `define-obsolete-variable-alias' combines `defvaralias' and
3166 `make-obsolete-variable'.
3168 ** defcustom changes:
3171 *** defcustom and other custom declarations now use a default group
3172 (the last prior group defined in the same file) when no :group was given.
3175 *** The new customization type `float' specifies numbers with floating
3176 point (no integers are allowed).
3181 *** The escape sequence \s is now interpreted as a SPACE character,
3182 unless it is followed by a `-' in a character constant (e.g. ?\s-A),
3183 in which case it is still interpreted as the super modifier.
3184 In strings, \s is always interpreted as a space.
3187 *** A hex escape in a string forces the string to be multibyte.
3188 An octal escape makes it unibyte.
3191 *** `split-string' now includes null substrings in the returned list if
3192 the optional argument SEPARATORS is non-nil and there are matches for
3193 SEPARATORS at the beginning or end of the string. If SEPARATORS is
3194 nil, or if the new optional third argument OMIT-NULLS is non-nil, all
3195 empty matches are omitted from the returned list.
3198 *** New function `string-to-multibyte' converts a unibyte string to a
3199 multibyte string with the same individual character codes.
3202 *** New function `substring-no-properties returns a substring without
3206 *** The new function `assoc-string' replaces `assoc-ignore-case' and
3207 `assoc-ignore-representation', which are still available, but have
3208 been declared obsolete.
3210 ** Buffer/variable changes:
3213 *** The new function `buffer-local-value' returns the buffer-local
3214 binding of VARIABLE (a symbol) in buffer BUFFER. If VARIABLE does not
3215 have a buffer-local binding in buffer BUFFER, it returns the default
3216 value of VARIABLE instead.
3219 ** There is a new facility for displaying warnings to the user.
3221 See the functions `warn' and `display-warning' .
3224 ** Progress reporters.
3226 These provide a simple and uniform way for commands to present
3227 progress messages for the user.
3229 See the new functions `make-progress-reporter',
3230 `progress-reporter-update', `progress-reporter-force-update',
3231 `progress-reporter-done', and `dotimes-with-progress-reporter'.
3233 ** Buffer positions:
3236 *** Function `compute-motion' now calculates the usable window
3237 width if the WIDTH argument is nil. If the TOPOS argument is nil,
3238 the usable window height and width is used.
3241 *** The `line-move', `scroll-up', and `scroll-down' functions will now
3242 modify the window vscroll to scroll through display rows that are
3243 taller that the height of the window, for example in the presense of
3244 large images. To disable this feature, Lisp code can bind the new
3245 variable `auto-window-vscroll' to nil.
3248 *** The argument to `forward-word', `backward-word',
3249 `forward-to-indentation' and `backward-to-indentation' is now
3250 optional, and defaults to 1.
3253 *** Lisp code can now test if a given buffer position is inside a
3254 clickable link with the new function `mouse-on-link-p'. This is the
3255 function used by the new `mouse-1-click-follows-link' functionality.
3258 *** New function `line-number-at-pos' returns the line number of the
3259 current line in the current buffer, or if optional buffer position is
3260 given, line number of corresponding line in current buffer.
3263 *** `field-beginning' and `field-end' now accept an additional optional
3267 *** Function `pos-visible-in-window-p' now returns the pixel coordinates
3268 and partial visiblity state of the corresponding row, if the PARTIALLY
3272 *** New functions `posn-at-point' and `posn-at-x-y' return
3273 click-event-style position information for a given visible buffer
3274 position or for a given window pixel coordinate.
3276 ** Text modification:
3279 *** The new function `insert-buffer-substring-as-yank' works like
3280 `insert-buffer-substring', but removes the text properties in the
3281 `yank-excluded-properties' list.
3284 *** The new function `insert-buffer-substring-no-properties' is like
3285 insert-buffer-substring, but removes all text properties from the
3289 *** The new function `filter-buffer-substring' extracts a buffer
3290 substring, passes it through a set of filter functions, and returns
3291 the filtered substring. It is used instead of `buffer-substring' or
3292 `delete-and-extract-region' when copying text into a user-accessible
3293 data structure, like the kill-ring, X clipboard, or a register. The
3294 list of filter function is specified by the new variable
3295 `buffer-substring-filters'. For example, Longlines mode uses
3296 `buffer-substring-filters' to remove soft newlines from the copied
3300 *** Function `translate-region' accepts also a char-table as TABLE
3304 *** The new translation table `translation-table-for-input'
3305 is used for customizing self-insertion. The character to
3306 be inserted is translated through it.
3311 The new function `text-clone-create'. Text clones are chunks of text
3312 that are kept identical by transparently propagating changes from one
3316 *** The function `insert-string' is now obsolete.
3318 ** Syntax table changes:
3321 *** The macro `with-syntax-table' does not copy the table any more.
3324 *** The new function `syntax-after' returns the syntax code
3325 of the character after a specified buffer position, taking account
3326 of text properties as well as the character code.
3329 *** `syntax-class' extracts the class of a syntax code (as returned
3332 *** The new package `syntax.el' provides an efficient way to find the
3333 current syntactic context (as returned by `parse-partial-sexp').
3338 *** New variables `gc-elapsed' and `gcs-done' provide extra information
3339 on garbage collection.
3342 *** Functions from `post-gc-hook' are run at the end of garbage
3343 collection. The hook is run with GC inhibited, so use it with care.
3345 ** Buffer-related changes:
3348 *** `list-buffers-noselect' now takes an additional argument, BUFFER-LIST.
3349 If it is non-nil, it specifies which buffers to list.
3352 *** `kill-buffer-hook' is now a permanent local.
3354 ** Local variables lists:
3357 *** Text properties in local variables.
3359 A file local variables list cannot specify a string with text
3360 properties--any specified text properties are discarded.
3363 *** The variable `safe-local-eval-forms' specifies a list of forms that
3364 are ok to evaluate when they appear in an `eval' local variables
3365 specification. Normally Emacs asks for confirmation before evaluating
3366 such a form, but if the form appears in this list, no confirmation is
3370 *** If a function has a non-nil `safe-local-eval-function' property,
3371 that means it is ok to evaluate some calls to that function when it
3372 appears in an `eval' local variables specification. If the property
3373 is t, then any form calling that function with constant arguments is
3374 ok. If the property is a function or list of functions, they are called
3375 with the form as argument, and if any returns t, the form is ok to call.
3377 If the form is not "ok to call", that means Emacs asks for
3378 confirmation as before.
3382 *** The new function copy-abbrev-table returns a new abbrev table that
3383 is a copy of a given abbrev table.
3386 *** define-abbrev now accepts an optional argument SYSTEM-FLAG. If
3387 non-nil, this marks the abbrev as a "system" abbrev, which means that
3388 it won't be stored in the user's abbrevs file if he saves the abbrevs.
3389 Major modes that predefine some abbrevs should always specify this
3395 *** An element of buffer-undo-list can now have the form (apply FUNNAME
3396 . ARGS), where FUNNAME is a symbol other than t or nil. That stands
3397 for a high-level change that should be undone by evaluating (apply
3400 These entries can also have the form (apply DELTA BEG END FUNNAME . ARGS)
3401 which indicates that the change which took place was limited to the
3402 range BEG...END and increased the buffer size by DELTA.
3405 *** If the buffer's undo list for the current command gets longer than
3406 undo-outer-limit, garbage collection empties it. This is to prevent
3407 it from using up the available memory and choking Emacs.
3410 ** New `yank-handler' text property can be used to control how
3411 previously killed text on the kill-ring is reinserted.
3413 The value of the yank-handler property must be a list with one to four
3414 elements with the following format:
3415 (FUNCTION PARAM NOEXCLUDE UNDO).
3417 The `insert-for-yank' function looks for a yank-handler property on
3418 the first character on its string argument (typically the first
3419 element on the kill-ring). If a yank-handler property is found,
3420 the normal behavior of `insert-for-yank' is modified in various ways:
3422 When FUNCTION is present and non-nil, it is called instead of `insert'
3423 to insert the string. FUNCTION takes one argument--the object to insert.
3424 If PARAM is present and non-nil, it replaces STRING as the object
3425 passed to FUNCTION (or `insert'); for example, if FUNCTION is
3426 `yank-rectangle', PARAM should be a list of strings to insert as a
3428 If NOEXCLUDE is present and non-nil, the normal removal of the
3429 yank-excluded-properties is not performed; instead FUNCTION is
3430 responsible for removing those properties. This may be necessary
3431 if FUNCTION adjusts point before or after inserting the object.
3432 If UNDO is present and non-nil, it is a function that will be called
3433 by `yank-pop' to undo the insertion of the current object. It is
3434 called with two arguments, the start and end of the current region.
3435 FUNCTION can set `yank-undo-function' to override the UNDO value.
3437 *** The functions kill-new, kill-append, and kill-region now have an
3438 optional argument to specify the yank-handler text property to put on
3441 *** The function yank-pop will now use a non-nil value of the variable
3442 `yank-undo-function' (instead of delete-region) to undo the previous
3443 yank or yank-pop command (or a call to insert-for-yank). The function
3444 insert-for-yank automatically sets that variable according to the UNDO
3445 element of the string argument's yank-handler text property if present.
3447 *** The function `insert-for-yank' now supports strings where the
3448 `yank-handler' property does not span the first character of the
3449 string. The old behavior is available if you call
3450 `insert-for-yank-1' instead.
3452 *** The new function insert-for-yank normally works like `insert', but
3453 removes the text properties in the `yank-excluded-properties' list.
3454 However, the insertion of the text can be modified by a `yank-handler'
3457 ** File operation changes:
3460 *** New vars `exec-suffixes' and `load-suffixes' used when
3461 searching for an executable resp. an elisp file.
3464 *** The new primitive `set-file-times' sets a file's access and
3465 modification times. Magic file name handlers can handle this
3469 *** The new function `file-remote-p' tests a file name and returns
3470 non-nil if it specifies a remote file (one that Emacs accesses using
3471 its own special methods and not directly through the file system).
3472 The value in that case is an identifier for the remote file system.
3475 *** `auto-save-file-format' has been renamed to
3476 `buffer-auto-save-file-format' and made into a permanent local.
3479 *** Functions `file-name-sans-extension' and `file-name-extension' now
3480 ignore the leading dots in file names, so that file names such as
3481 `.emacs' are treated as extensionless.
3484 *** copy-file now takes an additional option arg MUSTBENEW.
3486 This argument works like the MUSTBENEW argument of write-file.
3489 *** If the second argument to `copy-file' is the name of a directory,
3490 the file is copied to that directory instead of signaling an error.
3493 *** `visited-file-modtime' and `calendar-time-from-absolute' now return
3494 a list of two integers, instead of a cons.
3497 *** `file-chase-links' now takes an optional second argument LIMIT which
3498 specifies the maximum number of links to chase through. If after that
3499 many iterations the file name obtained is still a symbolic link,
3500 `file-chase-links' returns it anyway.
3503 *** The new hook `before-save-hook' is invoked by `basic-save-buffer'
3504 before saving buffers. This allows packages to perform various final
3505 tasks, for example; it can be used by the copyright package to make
3506 sure saved files have the current year in any copyright headers.
3509 *** If a buffer sets buffer-save-without-query to non-nil,
3510 save-some-buffers will always save that buffer without asking
3513 *** New function `locate-file' searches for a file in a list of directories.
3514 `locate-file' accepts a name of a file to search (a string), and two
3515 lists: a list of directories to search in and a list of suffixes to
3516 try; typical usage might use `exec-path' and `load-path' for the list
3517 of directories, and `exec-suffixes' and `load-suffixes' for the list
3518 of suffixes. The function also accepts a predicate argument to
3519 further filter candidate files.
3521 One advantage of using this function is that the list of suffixes in
3522 `exec-suffixes' is OS-dependant, so this function will find
3523 executables without polluting Lisp code with OS dependancies.
3526 *** The precedence of file-name-handlers has been changed.
3527 Instead of blindly choosing the first handler that matches,
3528 find-file-name-handler now gives precedence to a file-name handler
3529 that matches near the end of the file name. More specifically, the
3530 handler whose (match-beginning 0) is the largest is chosen.
3531 In case of ties, the old "first matched" rule applies.
3534 *** A file name handler can declare which operations it handles.
3536 You do this by putting an `operation' property on the handler name
3537 symbol. The property value should be a list of the operations that
3538 the handler really handles. It won't be called for any other
3541 This is useful for autoloaded handlers, to prevent them from being
3542 autoloaded when not really necessary.
3547 *** An interactive specification can now use the code letter 'U' to get
3548 the up-event that was discarded in case the last key sequence read for a
3549 previous 'k' or 'K' argument was a down-event; otherwise nil is used.
3552 *** The new interactive-specification `G' reads a file name
3553 much like `F', but if the input is a directory name (even defaulted),
3554 it returns just the directory name.
3557 *** Functions y-or-n-p, read-char, read-key-sequence and the like, that
3558 display a prompt but don't use the minibuffer, now display the prompt
3559 using the text properties (esp. the face) of the prompt string.
3562 *** (while-no-input BODY...) runs BODY, but only so long as no input
3563 arrives. If the user types or clicks anything, BODY stops as if a
3564 quit had occurred. while-no-input returns the value of BODY, if BODY
3565 finishes. It returns nil if BODY was aborted.
3567 ** Minibuffer changes:
3569 *** The new function `minibufferp' returns non-nil if its optional
3570 buffer argument is a minibuffer. If the argument is omitted, it
3571 defaults to the current buffer.
3574 *** New function minibuffer-selected-window returns the window which
3575 was selected when entering the minibuffer.
3578 *** read-from-minibuffer now accepts an additional argument KEEP-ALL
3579 saying to put all inputs in the history list, even empty ones.
3582 *** The `read-file-name' function now takes an additional argument which
3583 specifies a predicate which the file name read must satify. The
3584 new variable `read-file-name-predicate' contains the predicate argument
3585 while reading the file name from the minibuffer; the predicate in this
3586 variable is used by read-file-name-internal to filter the completion list.
3589 *** The new variable `read-file-name-function' can be used by lisp code
3590 to override the internal read-file-name function.
3593 *** The new variable `read-file-name-completion-ignore-case' specifies
3594 whether completion ignores case when reading a file name with the
3595 `read-file-name' function.
3598 *** The new function `read-directory-name' can be used instead of
3599 `read-file-name' to read a directory name; when used, completion
3600 will only show directories.
3602 ** Searching and matching changes:
3605 *** New function `looking-back' checks whether a regular expression matches
3606 the text before point. Specifying the LIMIT argument bounds how far
3607 back the match can start; this is a way to keep it from taking too long.
3610 *** The new variable search-spaces-regexp controls how to search
3611 for spaces in a regular expression. If it is non-nil, it should be a
3612 regular expression, and any series of spaces stands for that regular
3613 expression. If it is nil, spaces stand for themselves.
3615 Spaces inside of constructs such as [..] and *, +, ? are never
3616 replaced with search-spaces-regexp.
3619 *** There are now two new regular expression operators, \_< and \_>,
3620 for matching the beginning and end of a symbol. A symbol is a
3621 non-empty sequence of either word or symbol constituent characters, as
3622 specified by the syntax table.
3625 *** skip-chars-forward and skip-chars-backward now handle
3626 character classes such as [:alpha:], along with individual characters
3630 *** In `replace-match', the replacement text no longer inherits
3631 properties from surrounding text.
3634 *** The list returned by `(match-data t)' now has the buffer as a final
3635 element, if the last match was on a buffer. `set-match-data'
3636 accepts such a list for restoring the match state.
3639 *** rx.el has new corresponding `symbol-end' and `symbol-start' elements.
3642 *** The default value of `sentence-end' is now defined using the new
3643 variable `sentence-end-without-space', which contains such characters
3644 that end a sentence without following spaces.
3646 The function `sentence-end' should be used to obtain the value of the
3647 variable `sentence-end'. If the variable `sentence-end' is nil, then
3648 this function returns the regexp constructed from the variables
3649 `sentence-end-without-period', `sentence-end-double-space' and
3650 `sentence-end-without-space'.
3653 ** Enhancements to keymaps.
3655 *** Cleaner way to enter key sequences.
3657 You can enter a constant key sequence in a more natural format, the
3658 same one used for saving keyboard macros, using the macro `kbd'. For
3661 (kbd "C-x C-f") => "\^x\^f"
3663 *** Interactive commands can be remapped through keymaps.
3665 This is an alternative to using defadvice or substitute-key-definition
3666 to modify the behavior of a key binding using the normal keymap
3667 binding and lookup functionality.
3669 When a key sequence is bound to a command, and that command is
3670 remapped to another command, that command is run instead of the
3674 Suppose that minor mode my-mode has defined the commands
3675 my-kill-line and my-kill-word, and it wants C-k (and any other key
3676 bound to kill-line) to run the command my-kill-line instead of
3677 kill-line, and likewise it wants to run my-kill-word instead of
3680 Instead of rebinding C-k and the other keys in the minor mode map,
3681 command remapping allows you to directly map kill-line into
3682 my-kill-line and kill-word into my-kill-word through the minor mode
3683 map using define-key:
3685 (define-key my-mode-map [remap kill-line] 'my-kill-line)
3686 (define-key my-mode-map [remap kill-word] 'my-kill-word)
3688 Now, when my-mode is enabled, and the user enters C-k or M-d,
3689 the commands my-kill-line and my-kill-word are run.
3691 Notice that only one level of remapping is supported. In the above
3692 example, this means that if my-kill-line is remapped to other-kill,
3693 then C-k still runs my-kill-line.
3695 The following changes have been made to provide command remapping:
3697 - Command remappings are defined using `define-key' with a prefix-key
3698 `remap', i.e. `(define-key MAP [remap CMD] DEF)' remaps command CMD
3699 to definition DEF in keymap MAP. The definition is not limited to
3700 another command; it can be anything accepted for a normal binding.
3702 - The new function `command-remapping' returns the binding for a
3703 remapped command in the current keymaps, or nil if not remapped.
3705 - key-binding now remaps interactive commands unless the optional
3706 third argument NO-REMAP is non-nil.
3708 - where-is-internal now returns nil for a remapped command (e.g.
3709 kill-line if my-mode is enabled), and the actual key binding for
3710 the command it is remapped to (e.g. C-k for my-kill-line).
3711 It also has a new optional fifth argument, NO-REMAP, which inhibits
3712 remapping if non-nil (e.g. it returns C-k for kill-line and
3713 <kill-line> for my-kill-line).
3715 - The new variable `this-original-command' contains the original
3716 command before remapping. It is equal to `this-command' when the
3717 command was not remapped.
3719 *** If text has a `keymap' property, that keymap takes precedence
3720 over minor mode keymaps.
3722 *** The `keymap' property now also works at the ends of overlays and
3723 text-properties, according to their stickiness. This also means that it
3724 works with empty overlays. The same hold for the `local-map' property.
3726 *** Dense keymaps now handle inheritance correctly.
3727 Previously a dense keymap would hide all of the simple-char key
3728 bindings of the parent keymap.
3730 *** `define-key-after' now accepts keys longer than 1.
3732 *** New function `current-active-maps' returns a list of currently
3735 *** New function `describe-buffer-bindings' inserts the list of all
3736 defined keys and their definitions.
3738 *** New function `keymap-prompt' returns the prompt-string of a keymap
3740 *** (map-keymap FUNCTION KEYMAP) applies the function to each binding
3743 *** New variable emulation-mode-map-alists.
3745 Lisp packages using many minor mode keymaps can now maintain their own
3746 keymap alist separate from minor-mode-map-alist by adding their keymap
3750 ** Atomic change groups.
3752 To perform some changes in the current buffer "atomically" so that
3753 they either all succeed or are all undone, use `atomic-change-group'
3754 around the code that makes changes. For instance:
3756 (atomic-change-group
3758 (delete-region x y))
3760 If an error (or other nonlocal exit) occurs inside the body of
3761 `atomic-change-group', it unmakes all the changes in that buffer that
3762 were during the execution of the body. The change group has no effect
3763 on any other buffers--any such changes remain.
3765 If you need something more sophisticated, you can directly call the
3766 lower-level functions that `atomic-change-group' uses. Here is how.
3768 To set up a change group for one buffer, call `prepare-change-group'.
3769 Specify the buffer as argument; it defaults to the current buffer.
3770 This function returns a "handle" for the change group. You must save
3771 the handle to activate the change group and then finish it.
3773 Before you change the buffer again, you must activate the change
3774 group. Pass the handle to `activate-change-group' afterward to
3777 After you make the changes, you must finish the change group. You can
3778 either accept the changes or cancel them all. Call
3779 `accept-change-group' to accept the changes in the group as final;
3780 call `cancel-change-group' to undo them all.
3782 You should use `unwind-protect' to make sure the group is always
3783 finished. The call to `activate-change-group' should be inside the
3784 `unwind-protect', in case the user types C-g just after it runs.
3785 (This is one reason why `prepare-change-group' and
3786 `activate-change-group' are separate functions.) Once you finish the
3787 group, don't use the handle again--don't try to finish the same group
3790 To make a multibuffer change group, call `prepare-change-group' once
3791 for each buffer you want to cover, then use `nconc' to combine the
3792 returned values, like this:
3794 (nconc (prepare-change-group buffer-1)
3795 (prepare-change-group buffer-2))
3797 You can then activate the multibuffer change group with a single call
3798 to `activate-change-group', and finish it with a single call to
3799 `accept-change-group' or `cancel-change-group'.
3801 Nested use of several change groups for the same buffer works as you
3802 would expect. Non-nested use of change groups for the same buffer
3803 will lead to undesirable results, so don't let it happen; the first
3804 change group you start for any given buffer should be the last one
3808 ** Enhancements to process support
3810 *** Function list-processes now has an optional argument; if non-nil,
3811 only the processes whose query-on-exit flag is set are listed.
3813 *** New set-process-query-on-exit-flag and process-query-on-exit-flag
3814 functions. The existing process-kill-without-query function is still
3815 supported, but new code should use the new functions.
3817 *** Function signal-process now accepts a process object or process
3818 name in addition to a process id to identify the signalled process.
3820 *** Processes now have an associated property list where programs can
3821 maintain process state and other per-process related information.
3823 The new functions process-get and process-put are used to access, add,
3824 and modify elements on this property list.
3826 The new low-level functions process-plist and set-process-plist are
3827 used to access and replace the entire property list of a process.
3829 *** Function accept-process-output now has an optional fourth arg
3830 `just-this-one'. If non-nil, only output from the specified process
3831 is handled, suspending output from other processes. If value is an
3832 integer, also inhibit running timers. This feature is generally not
3833 recommended, but may be necessary for specific applications, such as
3836 *** Adaptive read buffering of subprocess output.
3838 On some systems, when emacs reads the output from a subprocess, the
3839 output data is read in very small blocks, potentially resulting in
3840 very poor performance. This behavior can be remedied to some extent
3841 by setting the new variable process-adaptive-read-buffering to a
3842 non-nil value (the default), as it will automatically delay reading
3843 from such processes, to allowing them to produce more output before
3844 emacs tries to read it.
3846 *** The new function `call-process-shell-command'.
3848 This executes a shell command command synchronously in a separate
3851 *** The new function `process-file' is similar to `call-process', but
3852 obeys file handlers. The file handler is chosen based on
3853 `default-directory'.
3855 *** A filter function of a process is called with a multibyte string
3856 if the filter's multibyteness is t. That multibyteness is decided by
3857 the value of `default-enable-multibyte-characters' when the process is
3858 created and can be changed later by `set-process-filter-multibyte'.
3860 *** The new function `set-process-filter-multibyte' sets the
3861 multibyteness of the strings passed to the process's filter.
3863 *** The new function `process-filter-multibyte-p' returns the
3864 multibyteness of the strings passed to the process's filter.
3866 *** If a process's coding system is `raw-text' or `no-conversion' and its
3867 buffer is multibyte, the output of the process is at first converted
3868 to multibyte by `string-to-multibyte' then inserted in the buffer.
3869 Previously, it was converted to multibyte by `string-as-multibyte',
3870 which was not compatible with the behavior of file reading.
3873 ** Enhanced networking support.
3875 *** There is a new `make-network-process' function which supports
3876 opening of stream and datagram connections to a server, as well as
3877 create a stream or datagram server inside emacs.
3879 - A server is started using :server t arg.
3880 - Datagram connection is selected using :type 'datagram arg.
3881 - A server can open on a random port using :service t arg.
3882 - Local sockets are supported using :family 'local arg.
3883 - Non-blocking connect is supported using :nowait t arg.
3884 - The process' property list can be initialized using :plist PLIST arg;
3885 a copy of the server process' property list is automatically inherited
3886 by new client processes created to handle incoming connections.
3888 To test for the availability of a given feature, use featurep like this:
3889 (featurep 'make-network-process '(:type datagram))
3891 *** Original open-network-stream is now emulated using make-network-process.
3893 *** New function open-network-stream-nowait.
3895 This function initiates a non-blocking connect and returns immediately
3896 without waiting for the connection to be established. It takes the
3897 filter and sentinel functions as arguments; when the non-blocking
3898 connect completes, the sentinel is called with a status string
3899 matching "open" or "failed".
3901 *** New function open-network-stream-server.
3903 This function creates a network server process for a TCP service.
3904 When a client connects to the specified service, a new subprocess
3905 is created to handle the new connection, and the sentinel function
3906 is called for the new process.
3908 *** New functions process-datagram-address and set-process-datagram-address.
3910 These functions are used with datagram-based network processes to get
3911 and set the current address of the remote partner.
3913 *** New function format-network-address.
3915 This function reformats the lisp representation of a network address
3916 to a printable string. For example, an IP address A.B.C.D and port
3917 number P is represented as a five element vector [A B C D P], and the
3918 printable string returned for this vector is "A.B.C.D:P". See the doc
3919 string for other formatting options.
3921 *** By default, the function process-contact still returns (HOST SERVICE)
3922 for a network process. Using the new optional KEY arg, the complete list
3923 of network process properties or a specific property can be selected.
3925 Using :local and :remote as the KEY, the address of the local or
3926 remote end-point is returned. An Inet address is represented as a 5
3927 element vector, where the first 4 elements contain the IP address and
3928 the fifth is the port number.
3930 *** Network processes can now be stopped and restarted with
3931 `stop-process' and `continue-process'. For a server process, no
3932 connections are accepted in the stopped state. For a client process,
3933 no input is received in the stopped state.
3935 *** New function network-interface-list.
3937 This function returns a list of network interface names and their
3938 current network addresses.
3940 *** New function network-interface-info.
3942 This function returns the network address, hardware address, current
3943 status, and other information about a specific network interface.
3945 *** The sentinel is now called when a network process is deleted with
3946 delete-process. The status message passed to the sentinel for a
3947 deleted network process is "deleted". The message passed to the
3948 sentinel when the connection is closed by the remote peer has been
3949 changed to "connection broken by remote peer".
3951 ** Using window objects:
3954 *** New function `window-body-height'.
3956 This is like `window-height' but does not count the mode line or the
3960 *** New function `window-body-height'.
3962 This is like window-height but does not count the mode line
3966 *** You can now make a window as short as one line.
3968 A window that is just one line tall does not display either a mode
3969 line or a header line, even if the variables `mode-line-format' and
3970 `header-line-format' call for them. A window that is two lines tall
3971 cannot display both a mode line and a header line at once; if the
3972 variables call for both, only the mode line actually appears.
3975 *** The new function `window-inside-edges' returns the edges of the
3976 actual text portion of the window, not including the scroll bar or
3977 divider line, the fringes, the display margins, the header line and
3981 *** The new functions `window-pixel-edges' and `window-inside-pixel-edges'
3982 return window edges in units of pixels, rather than columns and lines.
3985 *** The new macro `with-selected-window' temporarily switches the
3986 selected window without impacting the order of `buffer-list'.
3989 *** `select-window' takes an optional second argument `norecord'.
3991 This is like `switch-to-buffer'.
3994 *** `save-selected-window' now saves and restores the selected window
3995 of every frame. This way, it restores everything that can be changed
3996 by calling `select-window'.
3999 *** `set-window-buffer' has an optional argument KEEP-MARGINS.
4001 If non-nil, that says to preserve the window's current margin, fringe,
4002 and scroll-bar settings.
4005 ** Customizable fringe bitmaps
4007 *** New function `define-fringe-bitmap' can now be used to create new
4008 fringe bitmaps, as well as change the built-in fringe bitmaps.
4010 To change a built-in bitmap, do (require 'fringe) and use the symbol
4011 identifing the bitmap such as `left-truncation or `continued-line'.
4013 *** New function `destroy-fringe-bitmap' deletes a fringe bitmap
4014 or restores a built-in one to its default value.
4016 *** New function `set-fringe-bitmap-face' can now be used to set a
4017 specific face to be used for a specific fringe bitmap. The face is
4018 automatically merged with the `fringe' face, so normally, the face
4019 should only specify the foreground color of the bitmap.
4021 *** There are new display properties, `left-fringe; and `right-fringe',
4022 that can be used to show a specific bitmap in the left or right fringe
4023 bitmap of the display line.
4025 Format is `display (left-fringe BITMAP [FACE])', where BITMAP is a
4026 symbol identifying a fringe bitmap, either built-in or defined with
4027 `define-fringe-bitmap', and FACE is an optional face name to be used
4028 for displaying the bitmap instead of the default `fringe' face.
4029 When specified, FACE is automatically merged with the `fringe' face.
4031 *** New function `fringe-bitmaps-at-pos' returns the current fringe
4032 bitmaps in the display line at a given buffer position.
4034 ** Other window fringe features:
4037 *** Controlling the default left and right fringe widths.
4039 The default left and right fringe widths for all windows of a frame
4040 can now be controlled by setting the `left-fringe' and `right-fringe'
4041 frame parameters to an integer value specifying the width in pixels.
4042 Setting the width to 0 effectively removes the corresponding fringe.
4044 The actual default fringe widths for the frame may deviate from the
4045 specified widths, since the combined fringe widths must match an
4046 integral number of columns. The extra width is distributed evenly
4047 between the left and right fringe. For force a specific fringe width,
4048 specify the width as a negative integer (if both widths are negative,
4049 only the left fringe gets the specified width).
4051 Setting the width to nil (the default), restores the default fringe
4052 width which is the minimum number of pixels necessary to display any
4053 of the currently defined fringe bitmaps. The width of the built-in
4054 fringe bitmaps is 8 pixels.
4057 *** Per-window fringe and scrollbar settings
4059 **** Windows can now have their own individual fringe widths and
4062 To control the fringe widths of a window, either set the buffer-local
4063 variables `left-fringe-width', `right-fringe-width', or call
4064 `set-window-fringes'.
4066 To control the fringe position in a window, that is, whether fringes
4067 are positioned between the display margins and the window's text area,
4068 or at the edges of the window, either set the buffer-local variable
4069 `fringes-outside-margins' or call `set-window-fringes'.
4071 The function `window-fringes' can be used to obtain the current
4072 settings. To make `left-fringe-width', `right-fringe-width', and
4073 `fringes-outside-margins' take effect, you must set them before
4074 displaying the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force
4075 an update of the display margins.
4077 **** Windows can now have their own individual scroll-bar settings
4078 controlling the width and position of scroll-bars.
4080 To control the scroll-bar of a window, either set the buffer-local
4081 variables `scroll-bar-mode' and `scroll-bar-width', or call
4082 `set-window-scroll-bars'. The function `window-scroll-bars' can be
4083 used to obtain the current settings. To make `scroll-bar-mode' and
4084 `scroll-bar-width' take effect, you must set them before displaying
4085 the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force an update
4086 of the display margins.
4088 ** Redisplay features:
4091 *** `sit-for' can now be called with args (SECONDS &optional NODISP).
4094 *** New function `force-window-update' can initiate a full redisplay of
4095 one or all windows. Normally, this is not needed as changes in window
4096 contents are detected automatically. However, certain implicit
4097 changes to mode lines, header lines, or display properties may require
4098 forcing an explicit window update.
4101 *** (char-displayable-p CHAR) returns non-nil if Emacs ought to be able
4102 to display CHAR. More precisely, if the selected frame's fontset has
4103 a font to display the character set that CHAR belongs to.
4105 Fontsets can specify a font on a per-character basis; when the fontset
4106 does that, this value cannot be accurate.
4109 *** You can define multiple overlay arrows via the new
4110 variable `overlay-arrow-variable-list'.
4112 It contains a list of varibles which contain overlay arrow position
4113 markers, including the original `overlay-arrow-position' variable.
4115 Each variable on this list can have individual `overlay-arrow-string'
4116 and `overlay-arrow-bitmap' properties that specify an overlay arrow
4117 string (for non-window terminals) or fringe bitmap (for window
4118 systems) to display at the corresponding overlay arrow position.
4119 If either property is not set, the default `overlay-arrow-string' or
4120 'overlay-arrow-fringe-bitmap' will be used.
4123 *** New `line-height' and `line-spacing' properties for newline characters
4125 A newline can now have `line-height' and `line-spacing' text or overlay
4126 properties that control the height of the corresponding display row.
4128 If the `line-height' property value is t, the newline does not
4129 contribute to the height of the display row; instead the height of the
4130 newline glyph is reduced. Also, a `line-spacing' property on this
4131 newline is ignored. This can be used to tile small images or image
4132 slices without adding blank areas between the images.
4134 If the `line-height' property value is a positive integer, the value
4135 specifies the minimum line height in pixels. If necessary, the line
4136 height it increased by increasing the line's ascent.
4138 If the `line-height' property value is a float, the minimum line
4139 height is calculated by multiplying the default frame line height by
4142 If the `line-height' property value is a cons (FACE . RATIO), the
4143 minimum line height is calculated as RATIO * height of named FACE.
4144 RATIO is int or float. If FACE is t, it specifies the current face.
4146 If the `line-height' property value is a cons (nil . RATIO), the line
4147 height is calculated as RATIO * actual height of the line's contents.
4149 If the `line-height' value is a cons (HEIGHT . TOTAL), HEIGHT specifies
4150 the line height as described above, while TOTAL is any of the forms
4151 described above and specifies the total height of the line, causing a
4152 varying number of pixels to be inserted after the line to make it line
4153 exactly that many pixels high.
4155 If the `line-spacing' property value is an positive integer, the value
4156 is used as additional pixels to insert after the display line; this
4157 overrides the default frame `line-spacing' and any buffer local value of
4158 the `line-spacing' variable.
4160 If the `line-spacing' property is a float or cons, the line spacing
4161 is calculated as specified above for the `line-height' property.
4164 *** The buffer local line-spacing variable can now have a float value,
4165 which is used as a height relative to the default frame line height.
4168 *** Enhancements to stretch display properties
4170 The display property stretch specification form `(space PROPS)', where
4171 PROPS is a property list now allows pixel based width and height
4172 specifications, as well as enhanced horizontal text alignment.
4174 The value of these properties can now be a (primitive) expression
4175 which is evaluated during redisplay. The following expressions
4178 EXPR ::= NUM | (NUM) | UNIT | ELEM | POS | IMAGE | FORM
4179 NUM ::= INTEGER | FLOAT | SYMBOL
4180 UNIT ::= in | mm | cm | width | height
4181 ELEM ::= left-fringe | right-fringe | left-margin | right-margin
4183 POS ::= left | center | right
4184 FORM ::= (NUM . EXPR) | (OP EXPR ...)
4187 The form `NUM' specifies a fractional width or height of the default
4188 frame font size. The form `(NUM)' specifies an absolute number of
4189 pixels. If a symbol is specified, its buffer-local variable binding
4190 is used. The `in', `mm', and `cm' units specifies the number of
4191 pixels per inch, milli-meter, and centi-meter, resp. The `width' and
4192 `height' units correspond to the width and height of the current face
4193 font. An image specification corresponds to the width or height of
4196 The `left-fringe', `right-fringe', `left-margin', `right-margin',
4197 `scroll-bar', and `text' elements specify to the width of the
4198 corresponding area of the window.
4200 The `left', `center', and `right' positions can be used with :align-to
4201 to specify a position relative to the left edge, center, or right edge
4202 of the text area. One of the above window elements (except `text')
4203 can also be used with :align-to to specify that the position is
4204 relative to the left edge of the given area. Once the base offset for
4205 a relative position has been set (by the first occurrence of one of
4206 these symbols), further occurences of these symbols are interpreted as
4207 the width of the area.
4209 For example, to align to the center of the left-margin, use
4210 :align-to (+ left-margin (0.5 . left-margin))
4212 If no specific base offset is set for alignment, it is always relative
4213 to the left edge of the text area. For example, :align-to 0 in a
4214 header-line aligns with the first text column in the text area.
4216 The value of the form `(NUM . EXPR)' is the value of NUM multiplied by
4217 the value of the expression EXPR. For example, (2 . in) specifies a
4218 width of 2 inches, while (0.5 . IMAGE) specifies half the width (or
4219 height) of the specified image.
4221 The form `(+ EXPR ...)' adds up the value of the expressions.
4222 The form `(- EXPR ...)' negates or subtracts the value of the expressions.
4225 *** Normally, the cursor is displayed at the end of any overlay and
4226 text property string that may be present at the current window
4227 position. The cursor can now be placed on any character of such
4228 strings by giving that character a non-nil `cursor' text property.
4231 *** The display space :width and :align-to text properties are now
4232 supported on text terminals.
4235 *** Support for displaying image slices
4237 **** New display property (slice X Y WIDTH HEIGHT) can be used with
4238 an image property to display only a specific slice of the image.
4240 **** Function insert-image has new optional fourth arg to
4241 specify image slice (X Y WIDTH HEIGHT).
4243 **** New function insert-sliced-image inserts a given image as a
4244 specified number of evenly sized slices (rows x columns).
4247 *** Images can now have an associated image map via the :map property.
4249 An image map is an alist where each element has the format (AREA ID PLIST).
4250 An AREA is specified as either a rectangle, a circle, or a polygon:
4251 A rectangle is a cons (rect . ((X0 . Y0) . (X1 . Y1))) specifying the
4252 pixel coordinates of the upper left and bottom right corners.
4253 A circle is a cons (circle . ((X0 . Y0) . R)) specifying the center
4254 and the radius of the circle; R can be a float or integer.
4255 A polygon is a cons (poly . [X0 Y0 X1 Y1 ...]) where each pair in the
4256 vector describes one corner in the polygon.
4258 When the mouse pointer is above a hot-spot area of an image, the
4259 PLIST of that hot-spot is consulted; if it contains a `help-echo'
4260 property it defines a tool-tip for the hot-spot, and if it contains
4261 a `pointer' property, it defines the shape of the mouse cursor when
4262 it is over the hot-spot. See the variable 'void-area-text-pointer'
4263 for possible pointer shapes.
4265 When you click the mouse when the mouse pointer is over a hot-spot,
4266 an event is composed by combining the ID of the hot-spot with the
4267 mouse event, e.g. [area4 mouse-1] if the hot-spot's ID is `area4'.
4269 ** Mouse pointer features:
4273 *** The mouse pointer shape in void text areas (i.e. after the end of a
4274 line or below the last line in the buffer) of the text window is now
4275 controlled by the new variable `void-text-area-pointer'. The default
4276 is to use the `arrow' (non-text) pointer. Other choices are `text'
4277 (or nil), `hand', `vdrag', `hdrag', `modeline', and `hourglass'.
4280 *** The mouse pointer shape over an image can now be controlled by the
4281 :pointer image property.
4284 *** The mouse pointer shape over ordinary text or images can now be
4285 controlled/overriden via the `pointer' text property.
4287 ** Mouse event enhancements:
4290 *** Mouse clicks on fringes now generates left-fringe or right-fringes
4291 events, rather than a text area click event.
4294 *** Mouse clicks in the left and right marginal areas now includes a
4295 sensible buffer position corresponding to the first character in the
4296 corresponding text row.
4299 *** Function `mouse-set-point' now works for events outside text area.
4302 *** Mouse events now includes buffer position for all event types.
4305 *** `posn-point' now returns buffer position for non-text area events.
4308 *** New function `posn-area' returns window area clicked on (nil means
4312 *** Mouse events include actual glyph column and row for all event types.
4315 *** New function `posn-actual-col-row' returns actual glyph coordinates.
4318 *** Mouse events can now include image object in addition to string object.
4321 *** Mouse events include relative x and y pixel coordinates relative to
4322 the top left corner of the object (image or character) clicked on.
4325 *** Mouse events include the pixel width and height of the object
4326 (image or character) clicked on.
4329 *** New functions 'posn-object', 'posn-object-x-y', and
4330 'posn-object-width-height' return the image or string object of a mouse
4331 click, the x and y pixel coordinates relative to the top left corner
4332 of that object, and the total width and height of that object.
4334 ** Text property and overlay changes:
4337 *** Arguments for remove-overlays are now optional, so that you can
4338 remove all overlays in the buffer by just calling (remove-overlays).
4341 *** New variable char-property-alias-alist.
4343 This variable allows you to create alternative names for text
4344 properties. It works at the same level as `default-text-properties',
4345 although it applies to overlays as well. This variable was introduced
4346 to implement the `font-lock-face' property.
4349 *** New function `get-char-property-and-overlay' accepts the same
4350 arguments as `get-char-property' and returns a cons whose car is the
4351 return value of `get-char-property' called with those arguments and
4352 whose cdr is the overlay in which the property was found, or nil if
4353 it was found as a text property or not found at all.
4356 *** The new function remove-list-of-text-properties is almost the same
4357 as `remove-text-properties'. The only difference is that it takes a
4358 list of property names as argument rather than a property list.
4363 *** The new face attribute condition `min-colors' can be used to tailor
4364 the face color to the number of colors supported by a display, and
4365 define the foreground and background colors accordingly so that they
4366 look best on a terminal that supports at least this many colors. This
4367 is now the preferred method for defining default faces in a way that
4368 makes a good use of the capabilities of the display.
4371 *** New function display-supports-face-attributes-p can be used to test
4372 whether a given set of face attributes is actually displayable.
4374 A new predicate `supports' has also been added to the `defface' face
4375 specification language, which can be used to do this test for faces
4376 defined with defface.
4379 *** The special treatment of faces whose names are of the form `fg:COLOR'
4380 or `bg:COLOR' has been removed. Lisp programs should use the
4381 `defface' facility for defining faces with specific colors, or use
4382 the feature of specifying the face attributes :foreground and :background
4383 directly in the `face' property instead of using a named face.
4386 *** The first face specification element in a defface can specify
4387 `default' instead of frame classification. Then its attributes act as
4388 defaults that apply to all the subsequent cases (and can be overridden
4392 *** The variable `face-font-rescale-alist' specifies how much larger
4393 (or smaller) font we should use. For instance, if the value is
4394 '((SOME-FONTNAME-PATTERN . 1.3)) and a face requests a font of 10
4395 point, we actually use a font of 13 point if the font matches
4396 SOME-FONTNAME-PATTERN.
4399 *** The function `face-differs-from-default-p' now truly checks
4400 whether the given face displays differently from the default face or
4401 not (previously it did only a very cursory check).
4404 *** `face-attribute', `face-foreground', `face-background', and
4405 `face-stipple' now accept a new optional argument, INHERIT, which
4406 controls how face inheritance is used when determining the value of a
4410 *** New functions `face-attribute-relative-p' and `merge-face-attribute'
4411 help with handling relative face attributes.
4414 *** The priority of faces in an :inherit attribute face list is reversed.
4416 If a face contains an :inherit attribute with a list of faces, earlier
4417 faces in the list override later faces in the list; in previous
4418 releases of Emacs, the order was the opposite. This change was made
4419 so that :inherit face lists operate identically to face lists in text
4423 *** New standard font-lock face `font-lock-preprocessor-face'.
4426 *** `set-fontset-font', `fontset-info', `fontset-font' now operate on
4427 the default fontset if the argument NAME is nil..
4429 ** Font-Lock changes:
4432 *** New special text property `font-lock-face'.
4434 This property acts like the `face' property, but it is controlled by
4435 M-x font-lock-mode. It is not, strictly speaking, a builtin text
4436 property. Instead, it is implemented inside font-core.el, using the
4437 new variable `char-property-alias-alist'.
4440 *** font-lock can manage arbitrary text-properties beside `face'.
4442 *** the FACENAME returned in `font-lock-keywords' can be a list of the
4443 form (face FACE PROP1 VAL1 PROP2 VAL2 ...) so you can set other
4444 properties than `face'.
4446 *** `font-lock-extra-managed-props' can be set to make sure those
4447 extra properties are automatically cleaned up by font-lock.
4450 *** jit-lock obeys a new text-property `jit-lock-defer-multiline'.
4452 If a piece of text with that property gets contextually refontified
4453 (see `jit-lock-defer-contextually'), then all of that text will
4454 be refontified. This is useful when the syntax of a textual element
4455 depends on text several lines further down (and when `font-lock-multiline'
4456 is not appropriate to solve that problem). For example in Perl:
4464 Adding/removing the last `e' changes the `bar' from being a piece of
4465 text to being a piece of code, so you'd put a `jit-lock-defer-multiline'
4466 property over the second half of the command to force (deferred)
4467 refontification of `bar' whenever the `e' is added/removed.
4469 ** Major mode mechanism changes:
4472 *** `set-auto-mode' now gives the interpreter magic line (if present)
4473 precedence over the file name. Likewise an `<?xml' or `<!DOCTYPE'
4474 declaration will give the buffer XML or SGML mode, based on the new
4475 var `magic-mode-alist'.
4478 *** Major mode functions now run the new normal hook
4479 `after-change-major-mode-hook', at their very end, after the mode hooks.
4482 *** If a major mode function has a non-nil `no-clone-indirect'
4483 property, `clone-indirect-buffer' signals an error if you use
4487 *** Major modes can define `eldoc-documentation-function'
4488 locally to provide Eldoc functionality by some method appropriate to
4492 *** `define-derived-mode' by default creates a new empty abbrev table.
4493 It does not copy abbrevs from the parent mode's abbrev table.
4496 *** The new function `run-mode-hooks' and the new macro `delay-mode-hooks'
4497 are used by `define-derived-mode' to make sure the mode hook for the
4498 parent mode is run at the end of the child mode.
4500 ** Minor mode changes:
4503 *** `define-minor-mode' now accepts arbitrary additional keyword arguments
4504 and simply passes them to `defcustom', if applicable.
4507 *** `minor-mode-list' now holds a list of minor mode commands.
4510 *** `define-global-minor-mode'.
4512 This is a new name for what was formerly called
4513 `easy-mmode-define-global-mode'. The old name remains as an alias.
4515 ** Command loop changes:
4518 *** The new function `called-interactively-p' does what many people
4519 have mistakenly believed `interactive-p' did: it returns t if the
4520 calling function was called through `call-interactively'. This should
4521 only be used when you cannot solve the problem by adding a new
4522 INTERACTIVE argument to the command.
4525 *** The function `commandp' takes an additional optional argument.
4527 If it is non-nil, then `commandp' checks for a function that could be
4528 called with `call-interactively', and does not return t for keyboard
4532 *** When a command returns, the command loop moves point out from
4533 within invisible text, in the same way it moves out from within text
4534 covered by an image or composition property.
4536 This makes it generally unnecessary to mark invisible text as intangible.
4537 This is particularly good because the intangible property often has
4538 unexpected side-effects since the property applies to everything
4539 (including `goto-char', ...) whereas this new code is only run after
4540 `post-command-hook' and thus does not care about intermediate states.
4543 *** If a command sets `transient-mark-mode' to `only', that
4544 enables Transient Mark mode for the following command only.
4545 During that following command, the value of `transient-mark-mode'
4546 is `identity'. If it is still `identity' at the end of the command,
4547 the next return to the command loop changes to nil.
4550 *** Both the variable and the function `disabled-command-hook' have
4551 been renamed to `disabled-command-function'. The variable
4552 `disabled-command-hook' has been kept as an obsolete alias.
4555 *** `emacsserver' now runs `pre-command-hook' and `post-command-hook'
4556 when it receives a request from emacsclient.
4558 ** Minibuffer changes:
4561 *** The functions all-completions and try-completion now accept lists
4562 of strings as well as hash-tables additionally to alists, obarrays
4563 and functions. Furthermore, the function `test-completion' is now
4564 exported to Lisp. The keys in alists and hash tables can be either
4565 strings or symbols, which are automatically converted with to strings.
4568 *** The new macro `dynamic-completion-table' supports using functions
4569 as a dynamic completion table.
4571 (dynamic-completion-table FUN)
4573 FUN is called with one argument, the string for which completion is required,
4574 and it should return an alist containing all the intended possible
4575 completions. This alist can be a full list of possible completions so that FUN
4576 can ignore the value of its argument. If completion is performed in the
4577 minibuffer, FUN will be called in the buffer from which the minibuffer was
4578 entered. `dynamic-completion-table' then computes the completion.
4581 *** The new macro `lazy-completion-table' initializes a variable
4582 as a lazy completion table.
4584 (lazy-completion-table VAR FUN &rest ARGS)
4586 If the completion table VAR is used for the first time (e.g., by passing VAR
4587 as an argument to `try-completion'), the function FUN is called with arguments
4588 ARGS. FUN must return the completion table that will be stored in VAR. If
4589 completion is requested in the minibuffer, FUN will be called in the buffer
4590 from which the minibuffer was entered. The return value of
4591 `lazy-completion-table' must be used to initialize the value of VAR.
4593 ** Lisp file loading changes:
4596 *** `load-history' can now have elements of the form (t . FUNNAME),
4597 which means FUNNAME was previously defined as an autoload (before the
4598 current file redefined it).
4601 *** `load-history' now records (defun . FUNNAME) when a function is
4602 defined. For a variable, it records just the variable name.
4605 *** The function symbol-file can now search specifically for function or
4606 variable definitions.
4609 *** `provide' and `featurep' now accept an optional second argument
4610 to test/provide subfeatures. Also `provide' now checks `after-load-alist'
4611 and runs any code associated with the provided feature.
4614 *** The variable `recursive-load-depth-limit' has been deleted.
4615 Emacs now signals an error if the same file is loaded with more
4616 than 3 levels of nesting.
4619 ** Byte compiler changes:
4621 *** The byte-compiler now displays the actual line and character
4622 position of errors, where possible. Additionally, the form of its
4623 warning and error messages have been brought more in line with the
4624 output of other GNU tools.
4626 *** The new macro `with-no-warnings' suppresses all compiler warnings
4627 inside its body. In terms of execution, it is equivalent to `progn'.
4629 *** You can avoid warnings for possibly-undefined symbols with a
4630 simple convention that the compiler understands. (This is mostly
4631 useful in code meant to be portable to different Emacs versions.)
4632 Write forms like the following, or code that macroexpands into such
4635 (if (fboundp 'foo) <then> <else>)
4636 (if (boundp 'foo) <then> <else)
4638 In the first case, using `foo' as a function inside the <then> form
4639 won't produce a warning if it's not defined as a function, and in the
4640 second case, using `foo' as a variable won't produce a warning if it's
4641 unbound. The test must be in exactly one of the above forms (after
4642 macro expansion), but such tests can be nested. Note that `when' and
4643 `unless' expand to `if', but `cond' doesn't.
4645 *** `(featurep 'xemacs)' is treated by the compiler as nil. This
4646 helps to avoid noisy compiler warnings in code meant to run under both
4647 Emacs and XEmacs and can sometimes make the result significantly more
4648 efficient. Since byte code from recent versions of XEmacs won't
4649 generally run in Emacs and vice versa, this optimization doesn't lose
4652 *** The local variable `no-byte-compile' in elisp files is now obeyed.
4655 *** When a Lisp file uses CL functions at run-time, compiling the file
4656 now issues warnings about these calls, unless the file performs
4657 (require 'cl) when loaded.
4659 ** Frame operations:
4662 *** New functions `frame-current-scroll-bars' and `window-current-scroll-bars'.
4664 These functions return the current locations of the vertical and
4665 horizontal scroll bars in a frame or window.
4668 *** The new function `modify-all-frames-parameters' modifies parameters
4669 for all (existing and future) frames.
4672 *** The new frame parameter `tty-color-mode' specifies the mode to use
4673 for color support on character terminal frames. Its value can be a
4674 number of colors to support, or a symbol. See the Emacs Lisp
4675 Reference manual for more detailed documentation.
4678 *** When using non-toolkit scroll bars with the default width,
4679 the `scroll-bar-width' frame parameter value is nil.
4684 *** Already true in Emacs 21.1, but not emphasized clearly enough:
4686 Multibyte buffers can now faithfully record all 256 character codes
4687 from 0 to 255. As a result, most of the past reasons to use unibyte
4688 buffers no longer exist. We only know of three reasons to use them
4691 1. If you prefer to use unibyte text all of the time.
4693 2. For reading files into temporary buffers, when you want to avoid
4694 the time it takes to convert the format.
4696 3. For binary files where format conversion would be pointless and
4700 *** set-buffer-file-coding-system now takes an additional argument,
4701 NOMODIFY. If it is non-nil, it means don't mark the buffer modified.
4704 *** The new variable `auto-coding-functions' lets you specify functions
4705 to examine a file being visited and deduce the proper coding system
4706 for it. (If the coding system is detected incorrectly for a specific
4707 file, you can put a `coding:' tags to override it.)
4710 *** The new function `merge-coding-systems' fills in unspecified aspects
4711 of one coding system from another coding system.
4714 *** New coding system property `mime-text-unsuitable' indicates that
4715 the coding system's `mime-charset' is not suitable for MIME text
4719 *** New function `decode-coding-inserted-region' decodes a region as if
4720 it is read from a file without decoding.
4723 *** New CCL functions `lookup-character' and `lookup-integer' access
4724 hash tables defined by the Lisp function `define-translation-hash-table'.
4727 *** New function quail-find-key returns a list of keys to type in the
4728 current input method to input a character.
4730 ** Mode line changes:
4733 *** New function `format-mode-line'.
4735 This returns the mode-line or header-line of the selected (or a
4736 specified) window as a string with or without text properties.
4739 *** The new mode-line construct `(:propertize ELT PROPS...)' can be
4740 used to add text properties to mode-line elements.
4743 *** The new `%i' and `%I' constructs for `mode-line-format' can be used
4744 to display the size of the accessible part of the buffer on the mode
4747 ** Menu manipulation changes:
4750 *** To manipulate the File menu using easy-menu, you must specify the
4751 proper name "file". In previous Emacs versions, you had to specify
4752 "files", even though the menu item itself was changed to say "File"
4753 several versions ago.
4756 *** The dummy function keys made by easy-menu are now always lower case.
4757 If you specify the menu item name "Ada", for instance, it uses `ada'
4758 as the "key" bound by that key binding.
4760 This is relevant only if Lisp code looks for the bindings that were
4761 made with easy-menu.
4764 *** `easy-menu-define' now allows you to use nil for the symbol name
4765 if you don't need to give the menu a name. If you install the menu
4766 into other keymaps right away (MAPS is non-nil), it usually doesn't
4767 need to have a name.
4769 ** Operating system access:
4772 *** The new primitive `get-internal-run-time' returns the processor
4773 run time used by Emacs since start-up.
4776 *** Functions `user-uid' and `user-real-uid' now return floats if the
4777 user UID doesn't fit in a Lisp integer. Function `user-full-name'
4778 accepts a float as UID parameter.
4781 *** New function `locale-info' accesses locale information.
4784 *** On MS Windows, locale-coding-system is used to interact with the OS.
4785 The Windows specific variable w32-system-coding-system, which was
4786 formerly used for that purpose is now an alias for locale-coding-system.
4789 *** New function `redirect-debugging-output' can be used to redirect
4790 debugging output on the stderr file handle to a file.
4795 *** A number of hooks have been renamed to better follow the conventions:
4797 find-file-hooks to find-file-hook,
4798 find-file-not-found-hooks to find-file-not-found-functions,
4799 write-file-hooks to write-file-functions,
4800 write-contents-hooks to write-contents-functions,
4801 x-lost-selection-hooks to x-lost-selection-functions,
4802 x-sent-selection-hooks to x-sent-selection-functions,
4803 delete-frame-hook to delete-frame-functions.
4805 In each case the old name remains as an alias for the moment.
4808 *** local-write-file-hooks is marked obsolete
4810 Use the LOCAL arg of `add-hook'.
4813 *** New function `x-send-client-message' sends a client message when
4816 * Installation changes in Emacs 21.3
4818 ** Support for GNU/Linux on little-endian MIPS and on IBM S390 has
4822 * Changes in Emacs 21.3
4824 ** The obsolete C mode (c-mode.el) has been removed to avoid problems
4827 ** UTF-16 coding systems are available, encoding the same characters
4830 ** There is a new language environment for UTF-8 (set up automatically
4833 ** Translation tables are available between equivalent characters in
4834 different Emacs charsets -- for instance `e with acute' coming from the
4835 Latin-1 and Latin-2 charsets. User options `unify-8859-on-encoding-mode'
4836 and `unify-8859-on-decoding-mode' respectively turn on translation
4837 between ISO 8859 character sets (`unification') on encoding
4838 (e.g. writing a file) and decoding (e.g. reading a file). Note that
4839 `unify-8859-on-encoding-mode' is useful and safe, but
4840 `unify-8859-on-decoding-mode' can cause text to change when you read
4841 it and write it out again without edits, so it is not generally advisable.
4842 By default `unify-8859-on-encoding-mode' is turned on.
4844 ** In Emacs running on the X window system, the default value of
4845 `selection-coding-system' is now `compound-text-with-extensions'.
4847 If you want the old behavior, set selection-coding-system to
4848 compound-text, which may be significantly more efficient. Using
4849 compound-text-with-extensions seems to be necessary only for decoding
4850 text from applications under XFree86 4.2, whose behavior is actually
4851 contrary to the compound text specification.
4854 * Installation changes in Emacs 21.2
4856 ** Support for BSD/OS 5.0 has been added.
4858 ** Support for AIX 5.1 was added.
4861 * Changes in Emacs 21.2
4863 ** Emacs now supports compound-text extended segments in X selections.
4865 X applications can use `extended segments' to encode characters in
4866 compound text that belong to character sets which are not part of the
4867 list of approved standard encodings for X, e.g. Big5. To paste
4868 selections with such characters into Emacs, use the new coding system
4869 compound-text-with-extensions as the value of selection-coding-system.
4871 ** The default values of `tooltip-delay' and `tooltip-hide-delay'
4874 ** On terminals whose erase-char is ^H (Backspace), Emacs
4875 now uses normal-erase-is-backspace-mode.
4877 ** When the *scratch* buffer is recreated, its mode is set from
4878 initial-major-mode, which normally is lisp-interaction-mode,
4879 instead of using default-major-mode.
4881 ** The new option `Info-scroll-prefer-subnodes' causes Info to behave
4882 like the stand-alone Info reader (from the GNU Texinfo package) as far
4883 as motion between nodes and their subnodes is concerned. If it is t
4884 (the default), Emacs behaves as before when you type SPC in a menu: it
4885 visits the subnode pointed to by the first menu entry. If this option
4886 is nil, SPC scrolls to the end of the current node, and only then goes
4887 to the first menu item, like the stand-alone reader does.
4889 This change was already in Emacs 21.1, but wasn't advertised in the
4893 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 21.2
4895 ** The meanings of scroll-up-aggressively and scroll-down-aggressively
4896 have been interchanged, so that the former now controls scrolling up,
4897 and the latter now controls scrolling down.
4899 ** The variable `compilation-parse-errors-filename-function' can
4900 be used to transform filenames found in compilation output.
4903 * Installation Changes in Emacs 21.1
4905 See the INSTALL file for information on installing extra libraries and
4906 fonts to take advantage of the new graphical features and extra
4907 charsets in this release.
4909 ** Support for GNU/Linux on IA64 machines has been added.
4911 ** Support for LynxOS has been added.
4913 ** There are new configure options associated with the support for
4914 images and toolkit scrollbars. Use the --help option in `configure'
4917 ** You can build a 64-bit Emacs for SPARC/Solaris systems which
4918 support 64-bit executables and also on Irix 6.5. This increases the
4919 maximum buffer size. See etc/MACHINES for instructions. Changes to
4920 build on other 64-bit systems should be straightforward modulo any
4921 necessary changes to unexec.
4923 ** There is a new configure option `--disable-largefile' to omit
4924 Unix-98-style support for large files if that is available.
4926 ** There is a new configure option `--without-xim' that instructs
4927 Emacs to not use X Input Methods (XIM), if these are available.
4929 ** `movemail' defaults to supporting POP. You can turn this off using
4930 the --without-pop configure option, should that be necessary.
4932 ** This version can be built for the Macintosh, but does not implement
4933 all of the new display features described below. The port currently
4934 lacks unexec, asynchronous processes, and networking support. See the
4935 "Emacs and the Mac OS" appendix in the Emacs manual, for the
4936 description of aspects specific to the Mac.
4938 ** Note that the MS-Windows port does not yet implement various of the
4939 new display features described below.
4942 * Changes in Emacs 21.1
4944 ** Emacs has a new redisplay engine.
4946 The new redisplay handles characters of variable width and height.
4947 Italic text can be used without redisplay problems. Fonts containing
4948 oversized characters, i.e. characters larger than the logical height
4949 of a font can be used. Images of various formats can be displayed in
4952 ** Emacs has a new face implementation.
4954 The new faces no longer fundamentally use X font names to specify the
4955 font. Instead, each face has several independent attributes--family,
4956 height, width, weight and slant--that it may or may not specify.
4957 These attributes can be merged from various faces, and then together
4960 Faces are supported on terminals that can display color or fonts.
4961 These terminal capabilities are auto-detected. Details can be found
4962 under Lisp changes, below.
4964 ** Emacs can display faces on TTY frames.
4966 Emacs automatically detects terminals that are able to display colors.
4967 Faces with a weight greater than normal are displayed extra-bright, if
4968 the terminal supports it. Faces with a weight less than normal and
4969 italic faces are displayed dimmed, if the terminal supports it.
4970 Underlined faces are displayed underlined if possible. Other face
4971 attributes such as `overline', `strike-through', and `box' are ignored
4974 The command-line options `-fg COLOR', `-bg COLOR', and `-rv' are now
4975 supported on character terminals.
4977 Emacs automatically remaps all X-style color specifications to one of
4978 the colors supported by the terminal. This means you could have the
4979 same color customizations that work both on a windowed display and on
4980 a TTY or when Emacs is invoked with the -nw option.
4982 ** New default font is Courier 12pt under X.
4986 Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and FreeBSD (Voxware
4987 driver and native BSD driver, a.k.a. Luigi's driver). Currently
4988 supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio (*.au).
4989 You must configure Emacs with the option `--with-sound=yes' to enable
4992 ** Emacs now resizes mini-windows if appropriate.
4994 If a message is longer than one line, or minibuffer contents are
4995 longer than one line, Emacs can resize the minibuffer window unless it
4996 is on a frame of its own. You can control resizing and the maximum
4997 minibuffer window size by setting the following variables:
4999 - User option: max-mini-window-height
5001 Maximum height for resizing mini-windows. If a float, it specifies a
5002 fraction of the mini-window frame's height. If an integer, it
5003 specifies a number of lines.
5007 - User option: resize-mini-windows
5009 How to resize mini-windows. If nil, don't resize. If t, always
5010 resize to fit the size of the text. If `grow-only', let mini-windows
5011 grow only, until they become empty, at which point they are shrunk
5014 Default is `grow-only'.
5018 Emacs now runs with the LessTif toolkit (see
5019 <http://www.lesstif.org>). You will need version 0.92.26, or later.
5021 ** LessTif/Motif file selection dialog.
5023 When Emacs is configured to use LessTif or Motif, reading a file name
5024 from a menu will pop up a file selection dialog if `use-dialog-box' is
5027 ** File selection dialog on MS-Windows is supported.
5029 When a file is visited by clicking File->Open, the MS-Windows version
5030 now pops up a standard file selection dialog where you can select a
5031 file to visit. File->Save As also pops up that dialog.
5033 ** Toolkit scroll bars.
5035 Emacs now uses toolkit scroll bars if available. When configured for
5036 LessTif/Motif, it will use that toolkit's scroll bar. Otherwise, when
5037 configured for Lucid and Athena widgets, it will use the Xaw3d scroll
5038 bar if Xaw3d is available. You can turn off the use of toolkit scroll
5039 bars by specifying `--with-toolkit-scroll-bars=no' when configuring
5042 When you encounter problems with the Xaw3d scroll bar, watch out how
5043 Xaw3d is compiled on your system. If the Makefile generated from
5044 Xaw3d's Imakefile contains a `-DNARROWPROTO' compiler option, and your
5045 Emacs system configuration file `s/your-system.h' does not contain a
5046 define for NARROWPROTO, you might consider adding it. Take
5047 `s/freebsd.h' as an example.
5049 Alternatively, if you don't have access to the Xaw3d source code, take
5050 a look at your system's imake configuration file, for example in the
5051 directory `/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/config' (paths are different on
5052 different systems). You will find files `*.cf' there. If your
5053 system's cf-file contains a line like `#define NeedWidePrototypes NO',
5054 add a `#define NARROWPROTO' to your Emacs system configuration file.
5056 The reason for this is that one Xaw3d function uses `double' or
5057 `float' function parameters depending on the setting of NARROWPROTO.
5058 This is not a problem when Imakefiles are used because each system's
5059 imake configuration file contains the necessary information. Since
5060 Emacs doesn't use imake, this has do be done manually.
5062 ** Tool bar support.
5064 Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. For details
5065 of how to define a tool bar, see the page describing Lisp-level
5066 changes. Tool-bar global minor mode controls whether or not it is
5067 displayed and is on by default. The appearance of the bar is improved
5068 if Emacs has been built with XPM image support. Otherwise monochrome
5071 To make the tool bar more useful, we need contributions of extra icons
5072 for specific modes (with copyright assignments).
5076 Tooltips are small X windows displaying a help string at the current
5077 mouse position. The Lisp package `tooltip' implements them. You can
5078 turn them off via the user option `tooltip-mode'.
5080 Tooltips also provides support for GUD debugging. If activated,
5081 variable values can be displayed in tooltips by pointing at them with
5082 the mouse in source buffers. You can customize various aspects of the
5083 tooltip display in the group `tooltip'.
5085 ** Automatic Hscrolling
5087 Horizontal scrolling now happens automatically if
5088 `automatic-hscrolling' is set (the default). This setting can be
5091 If a window is scrolled horizontally with set-window-hscroll, or
5092 scroll-left/scroll-right (C-x <, C-x >), this serves as a lower bound
5093 for automatic horizontal scrolling. Automatic scrolling will scroll
5094 the text more to the left if necessary, but won't scroll the text more
5095 to the right than the column set with set-window-hscroll etc.
5097 ** When using a windowing terminal, each Emacs window now has a cursor
5098 of its own. By default, when a window is selected, the cursor is
5099 solid; otherwise, it is hollow. The user-option
5100 `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' controls how to display the
5101 cursor in non-selected windows. If nil, no cursor is shown, if
5102 non-nil a hollow box cursor is shown.
5104 ** Fringes to the left and right of windows are used to display
5105 truncation marks, continuation marks, overlay arrows and alike. The
5106 foreground, background, and stipple of these areas can be changed by
5107 customizing face `fringe'.
5109 ** The mode line under X is now drawn with shadows by default.
5110 You can change its appearance by modifying the face `mode-line'.
5111 In particular, setting the `:box' attribute to nil turns off the 3D
5112 appearance of the mode line. (The 3D appearance makes the mode line
5113 occupy more space, and thus might cause the first or the last line of
5114 the window to be partially obscured.)
5116 The variable `mode-line-inverse-video', which was used in older
5117 versions of emacs to make the mode-line stand out, is now deprecated.
5118 However, setting it to nil will cause the `mode-line' face to be
5119 ignored, and mode-lines to be drawn using the default text face.
5121 ** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
5123 Different parts of the mode line have been made mouse-sensitive on all
5124 systems which support the mouse. Moving the mouse to a
5125 mouse-sensitive part in the mode line changes the appearance of the
5126 mouse pointer to an arrow, and help about available mouse actions is
5127 displayed either in the echo area, or in the tooltip window if you
5130 Currently, the following actions have been defined:
5132 - Mouse-1 on the buffer name in the mode line goes to the next buffer.
5134 - Mouse-3 on the buffer-name goes to the previous buffer.
5136 - Mouse-2 on the read-only or modified status in the mode line (`%' or
5137 `*') toggles the status.
5139 - Mouse-3 on the mode name displays a minor-mode menu.
5141 ** Hourglass pointer
5143 Emacs can optionally display an hourglass pointer under X. You can
5144 turn the display on or off by customizing group `cursor'.
5148 M-x blink-cursor-mode toggles a blinking cursor under X and on
5149 terminals having terminal capabilities `vi', `vs', and `ve'. Blinking
5150 and related parameters like frequency and delay can be customized in
5153 ** New font-lock support mode `jit-lock-mode'.
5155 This support mode is roughly equivalent to `lazy-lock' but is
5156 generally faster. It supports stealth and deferred fontification.
5157 See the documentation of the function `jit-lock-mode' for more
5160 Font-lock uses jit-lock-mode as default support mode, so you don't
5161 have to do anything to activate it.
5163 ** The default binding of the Delete key has changed.
5165 The new user-option `normal-erase-is-backspace' can be set to
5166 determine the effect of the Delete and Backspace function keys.
5168 On window systems, the default value of this option is chosen
5169 according to the keyboard used. If the keyboard has both a Backspace
5170 key and a Delete key, and both are mapped to their usual meanings, the
5171 option's default value is set to t, so that Backspace can be used to
5172 delete backward, and Delete can be used to delete forward. On
5173 keyboards which either have only one key (usually labeled DEL), or two
5174 keys DEL and BS which produce the same effect, the option's value is
5175 set to nil, and these keys delete backward.
5177 If not running under a window system, setting this option accomplishes
5178 a similar effect by mapping C-h, which is usually generated by the
5179 Backspace key, to DEL, and by mapping DEL to C-d via
5180 `keyboard-translate'. The former functionality of C-h is available on
5181 the F1 key. You should probably not use this setting on a text-only
5182 terminal if you don't have both Backspace, Delete and F1 keys.
5184 Programmatically, you can call function normal-erase-is-backspace-mode
5185 to toggle the behavior of the Delete and Backspace keys.
5187 ** The default for user-option `next-line-add-newlines' has been
5188 changed to nil, i.e. C-n will no longer add newlines at the end of a
5191 ** The <home> and <end> keys now move to the beginning or end of the
5192 current line, respectively. C-<home> and C-<end> move to the
5193 beginning and end of the buffer.
5195 ** Emacs now checks for recursive loads of Lisp files. If the
5196 recursion depth exceeds `recursive-load-depth-limit', an error is
5199 ** When an error is signaled during the loading of the user's init
5200 file, Emacs now pops up the *Messages* buffer.
5202 ** Emacs now refuses to load compiled Lisp files which weren't
5203 compiled with Emacs. Set `load-dangerous-libraries' to t to change
5206 The reason for this change is an incompatible change in XEmacs's byte
5207 compiler. Files compiled with XEmacs can contain byte codes that let
5210 ** Toggle buttons and radio buttons in menus.
5212 When compiled with LessTif (or Motif) support, Emacs uses toolkit
5213 widgets for radio and toggle buttons in menus. When configured for
5214 Lucid, Emacs draws radio buttons and toggle buttons similar to Motif.
5216 ** The menu bar configuration has changed. The new configuration is
5217 more CUA-compliant. The most significant change is that Options is
5218 now a separate menu-bar item, with Mule and Customize as its submenus.
5220 ** Item Save Options on the Options menu allows saving options set
5223 ** Highlighting of trailing whitespace.
5225 When `show-trailing-whitespace' is non-nil, Emacs displays trailing
5226 whitespace in the face `trailing-whitespace'. Trailing whitespace is
5227 defined as spaces or tabs at the end of a line. To avoid busy
5228 highlighting when entering new text, trailing whitespace is not
5229 displayed if point is at the end of the line containing the
5232 ** C-x 5 1 runs the new command delete-other-frames which deletes
5233 all frames except the selected one.
5235 ** The new user-option `confirm-kill-emacs' can be customized to
5236 let Emacs ask for confirmation before exiting.
5238 ** The header line in an Info buffer is now displayed as an emacs
5239 header-line (which is like a mode-line, but at the top of the window),
5240 so that it remains visible even when the buffer has been scrolled.
5241 This behavior may be disabled by customizing the option
5242 `Info-use-header-line'.
5244 ** Polish, Czech, German, and French translations of Emacs' reference card
5245 have been added. They are named `pl-refcard.tex', `cs-refcard.tex',
5246 `de-refcard.tex' and `fr-refcard.tex'. Postscript files are included.
5248 ** An `Emacs Survival Guide', etc/survival.tex, is available.
5250 ** A reference card for Dired has been added. Its name is
5251 `dired-ref.tex'. A French translation is available in
5254 ** C-down-mouse-3 is bound differently. Now if the menu bar is not
5255 displayed it pops up a menu containing the items which would be on the
5256 menu bar. If the menu bar is displayed, it pops up the major mode
5257 menu or the Edit menu if there is no major mode menu.
5259 ** Variable `load-path' is no longer customizable through Customize.
5261 You can no longer use `M-x customize-variable' to customize `load-path'
5262 because it now contains a version-dependent component. You can still
5263 use `add-to-list' and `setq' to customize this variable in your
5264 `~/.emacs' init file or to modify it from any Lisp program in general.
5266 ** C-u C-x = provides detailed information about the character at
5267 point in a pop-up window.
5269 ** Emacs can now support 'wheeled' mice (such as the MS IntelliMouse)
5270 under XFree86. To enable this, use the `mouse-wheel-mode' command, or
5271 customize the variable `mouse-wheel-mode'.
5273 The variables `mouse-wheel-follow-mouse' and `mouse-wheel-scroll-amount'
5274 determine where and by how much buffers are scrolled.
5276 ** Emacs' auto-save list files are now by default stored in a
5277 sub-directory `.emacs.d/auto-save-list/' of the user's home directory.
5278 (On MS-DOS, this subdirectory's name is `_emacs.d/auto-save.list/'.)
5279 You can customize `auto-save-list-file-prefix' to change this location.
5281 ** The function `getenv' is now callable interactively.
5283 ** The new user-option `even-window-heights' can be set to nil
5284 to prevent `display-buffer' from evening out window heights.
5286 ** The new command M-x delete-trailing-whitespace RET will delete the
5287 trailing whitespace within the current restriction. You can also add
5288 this function to `write-file-hooks' or `local-write-file-hooks'.
5290 ** When visiting a file with M-x find-file-literally, no newlines will
5291 be added to the end of the buffer even if `require-final-newline' is
5294 ** The new user-option `find-file-suppress-same-file-warnings' can be
5295 set to suppress warnings ``X and Y are the same file'' when visiting a
5296 file that is already visited under a different name.
5298 ** The new user-option `electric-help-shrink-window' can be set to
5299 nil to prevent adjusting the help window size to the buffer size.
5301 ** New command M-x describe-character-set reads a character set name
5302 and displays information about that.
5304 ** The new variable `auto-mode-interpreter-regexp' contains a regular
5305 expression matching interpreters, for file mode determination.
5307 This regular expression is matched against the first line of a file to
5308 determine the file's mode in `set-auto-mode' when Emacs can't deduce a
5309 mode from the file's name. If it matches, the file is assumed to be
5310 interpreted by the interpreter matched by the second group of the
5311 regular expression. The mode is then determined as the mode
5312 associated with that interpreter in `interpreter-mode-alist'.
5314 ** New function executable-make-buffer-file-executable-if-script-p is
5315 suitable as an after-save-hook as an alternative to `executable-chmod'.
5317 ** The most preferred coding-system is now used to save a buffer if
5318 buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and it is safe for the buffer
5319 contents. (The most preferred is set by set-language-environment or
5320 by M-x prefer-coding-system.) Thus if you visit an ASCII file and
5321 insert a non-ASCII character from your current language environment,
5322 the file will be saved silently with the appropriate coding.
5323 Previously you would be prompted for a safe coding system.
5325 ** The many obsolete language `setup-...-environment' commands have
5326 been removed -- use `set-language-environment'.
5328 ** The new Custom option `keyboard-coding-system' specifies a coding
5329 system for keyboard input.
5331 ** New variable `inhibit-iso-escape-detection' determines if Emacs'
5332 coding system detection algorithm should pay attention to ISO2022's
5333 escape sequences. If this variable is non-nil, the algorithm ignores
5334 such escape sequences. The default value is nil, and it is
5335 recommended not to change it except for the special case that you
5336 always want to read any escape code verbatim. If you just want to
5337 read a specific file without decoding escape codes, use C-x RET c
5338 (`universal-coding-system-argument'). For instance, C-x RET c latin-1
5339 RET C-x C-f filename RET.
5341 ** Variable `default-korean-keyboard' is initialized properly from the
5342 environment variable `HANGUL_KEYBOARD_TYPE'.
5344 ** New command M-x list-charset-chars reads a character set name and
5345 displays all characters in that character set.
5347 ** M-x set-terminal-coding-system (C-x RET t) now allows CCL-based
5348 coding systems such as cpXXX and cyrillic-koi8.
5350 ** Emacs now attempts to determine the initial language environment
5351 and preferred and locale coding systems systematically from the
5352 LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG environment variables during startup.
5354 ** New language environments `Polish', `Latin-8' and `Latin-9'.
5355 Latin-8 and Latin-9 correspond respectively to the ISO character sets
5356 8859-14 (Celtic) and 8859-15 (updated Latin-1, with the Euro sign).
5357 GNU Intlfonts doesn't support these yet but recent X releases have
5358 8859-15. See etc/INSTALL for information on obtaining extra fonts.
5359 There are new Leim input methods for Latin-8 and Latin-9 prefix (only)
5362 ** New language environments `Dutch' and `Spanish'.
5363 These new environments mainly select appropriate translations
5366 ** In Ethiopic language environment, special key bindings for
5367 function keys are changed as follows. This is to conform to "Emacs
5368 Lisp Coding Convention".
5370 new command old-binding
5371 --- ------- -----------
5372 f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-buffer f5
5373 S-f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-region f5
5374 C-f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-mail-or-marker f5
5376 f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-buffer unchanged
5377 S-f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-region unchanged
5378 C-f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-mail-or-marker unchanged
5380 S-f5 ethio-toggle-punctuation f3
5381 S-f6 ethio-modify-vowel f6
5382 S-f7 ethio-replace-space f7
5383 S-f8 ethio-input-special-character f8
5384 S-f9 ethio-replace-space unchanged
5385 C-f9 ethio-toggle-space f2
5387 ** There are new Leim input methods.
5388 New input methods "turkish-postfix", "turkish-alt-postfix",
5389 "greek-mizuochi", "TeX", and "greek-babel" are now part of the Leim
5392 ** The rule of input method "slovak" is slightly changed. Now the
5393 rules for translating "q" and "Q" to "`" (backquote) are deleted, thus
5394 typing them inserts "q" and "Q" respectively. Rules for translating
5395 "=q", "+q", "=Q", and "+Q" to "`" are also deleted. Now, to input
5396 "`", you must type "=q".
5398 ** When your terminal can't display characters from some of the ISO
5399 8859 character sets but can display Latin-1, you can display
5400 more-or-less mnemonic sequences of ASCII/Latin-1 characters instead of
5401 empty boxes (under a window system) or question marks (not under a
5402 window system). Customize the option `latin1-display' to turn this
5405 ** M-; now calls comment-dwim which tries to do something clever based
5406 on the context. M-x kill-comment is now an alias to comment-kill,
5407 defined in newcomment.el. You can choose different styles of region
5408 commenting with the variable `comment-style'.
5410 ** New user options `display-time-mail-face' and
5411 `display-time-use-mail-icon' control the appearance of mode-line mail
5412 indicator used by the display-time package. On a suitable display the
5413 indicator can be an icon and is mouse-sensitive.
5415 ** On window-systems, additional space can be put between text lines
5416 on the display using several methods
5418 - By setting frame parameter `line-spacing' to PIXELS. PIXELS must be
5419 a positive integer, and specifies that PIXELS number of pixels should
5420 be put below text lines on the affected frame or frames.
5422 - By setting X resource `lineSpacing', class `LineSpacing'. This is
5423 equivalent to specifying the frame parameter.
5425 - By specifying `--line-spacing=N' or `-lsp N' on the command line.
5427 - By setting buffer-local variable `line-spacing'. The meaning is
5428 the same, but applies to the a particular buffer only.
5430 ** The new command `clone-indirect-buffer' can be used to create
5431 an indirect buffer that is a twin copy of the current buffer. The
5432 command `clone-indirect-buffer-other-window', bound to C-x 4 c,
5433 does the same but displays the indirect buffer in another window.
5435 ** New user options `backup-directory-alist' and
5436 `make-backup-file-name-function' control the placement of backups,
5437 typically in a single directory or in an invisible sub-directory.
5439 ** New commands iso-iso2sgml and iso-sgml2iso convert between Latin-1
5440 characters and the corresponding SGML (HTML) entities.
5442 ** New X resources recognized
5444 *** The X resource `synchronous', class `Synchronous', specifies
5445 whether Emacs should run in synchronous mode. Synchronous mode
5446 is useful for debugging X problems.
5450 emacs.synchronous: true
5452 *** The X resource `visualClass, class `VisualClass', specifies the
5453 visual Emacs should use. The resource's value should be a string of
5454 the form `CLASS-DEPTH', where CLASS is the name of the visual class,
5455 and DEPTH is the requested color depth as a decimal number. Valid
5456 visual class names are
5465 Visual class names specified as X resource are case-insensitive, i.e.
5466 `pseudocolor', `Pseudocolor' and `PseudoColor' all have the same
5469 The program `xdpyinfo' can be used to list the visual classes
5470 supported on your display, and which depths they have. If
5471 `visualClass' is not specified, Emacs uses the display's default
5476 emacs.visualClass: TrueColor-8
5478 *** The X resource `privateColormap', class `PrivateColormap',
5479 specifies that Emacs should use a private colormap if it is using the
5480 default visual, and that visual is of class PseudoColor. Recognized
5481 resource values are `true' or `on'.
5485 emacs.privateColormap: true
5487 ** Faces and frame parameters.
5489 There are four new faces `scroll-bar', `border', `cursor' and `mouse'.
5490 Setting the frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
5491 `scroll-bar-background' sets foreground and background color of face
5492 `scroll-bar' and vice versa. Setting frame parameter `border-color'
5493 sets the background color of face `border' and vice versa. Likewise
5494 for frame parameters `cursor-color' and face `cursor', and frame
5495 parameter `mouse-color' and face `mouse'.
5497 Changing frame parameter `font' sets font-related attributes of the
5498 `default' face and vice versa. Setting frame parameters
5499 `foreground-color' or `background-color' sets the colors of the
5500 `default' face and vice versa.
5504 The face `menu' can be used to change colors and font of Emacs' menus.
5506 ** New frame parameter `screen-gamma' for gamma correction.
5508 The new frame parameter `screen-gamma' specifies gamma-correction for
5509 colors. Its value may be nil, the default, in which case no gamma
5510 correction occurs, or a number > 0, usually a float, that specifies
5511 the screen gamma of a frame's display.
5513 PC monitors usually have a screen gamma of 2.2. smaller values result
5514 in darker colors. You might want to try a screen gamma of 1.5 for LCD
5515 color displays. The viewing gamma Emacs uses is 0.4545. (1/2.2).
5517 The X resource name of this parameter is `screenGamma', class
5520 ** Tabs and variable-width text.
5522 Tabs are now displayed with stretch properties; the width of a tab is
5523 defined as a multiple of the normal character width of a frame, and is
5524 independent of the fonts used in the text where the tab appears.
5525 Thus, tabs can be used to line up text in different fonts.
5527 ** Enhancements of the Lucid menu bar
5529 *** The Lucid menu bar now supports the resource "margin".
5531 emacs.pane.menubar.margin: 5
5533 The default margin is 4 which makes the menu bar appear like the
5536 *** Arrows that indicate sub-menus are now drawn with shadows, as in
5539 ** A block cursor can be drawn as wide as the glyph under it under X.
5541 As an example: if a block cursor is over a tab character, it will be
5542 drawn as wide as that tab on the display. To do this, set
5543 `x-stretch-cursor' to a non-nil value.
5545 ** Empty display lines at the end of a buffer may be marked with a
5546 bitmap (this is similar to the tilde displayed by vi and Less).
5548 This behavior is activated by setting the buffer-local variable
5549 `indicate-empty-lines' to a non-nil value. The default value of this
5550 variable is found in `default-indicate-empty-lines'.
5552 ** There is a new "aggressive" scrolling method.
5554 When scrolling up because point is above the window start, if the
5555 value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-up-aggressively' is a
5556 number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
5557 fraction of the window's height from the top of the window.
5559 When scrolling down because point is below the window end, if the
5560 value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-down-aggressively' is a
5561 number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
5562 fraction of the window's height from the bottom of the window.
5564 ** You can now easily create new *Info* buffers using either
5565 M-x clone-buffer, C-u m <entry> RET or C-u g <entry> RET.
5566 M-x clone-buffer can also be used on *Help* and several other special
5569 ** The command `Info-search' now uses a search history.
5571 ** Listing buffers with M-x list-buffers (C-x C-b) now shows
5572 abbreviated file names. Abbreviations can be customized by changing
5573 `directory-abbrev-alist'.
5575 ** A new variable, backup-by-copying-when-privileged-mismatch, gives
5576 the highest file uid for which backup-by-copying-when-mismatch will be
5577 forced on. The assumption is that uids less than or equal to this
5578 value are special uids (root, bin, daemon, etc.--not real system
5579 users) and that files owned by these users should not change ownership,
5580 even if your system policy allows users other than root to edit them.
5582 The default is 200; set the variable to nil to disable the feature.
5584 ** The rectangle commands now avoid inserting undesirable spaces,
5585 notably at the end of lines.
5587 All these functions have been rewritten to avoid inserting unwanted
5588 spaces, and an optional prefix now allows them to behave the old way.
5590 ** The function `replace-rectangle' is an alias for `string-rectangle'.
5592 ** The new command M-x string-insert-rectangle is like `string-rectangle',
5593 but inserts text instead of replacing it.
5595 ** The new command M-x query-replace-regexp-eval acts like
5596 query-replace-regexp, but takes a Lisp expression which is evaluated
5597 after each match to get the replacement text.
5599 ** M-x query-replace recognizes a new command `e' (or `E') that lets
5600 you edit the replacement string.
5602 ** The new command mail-abbrev-complete-alias, bound to `M-TAB'
5603 (if you load the library `mailabbrev'), lets you complete mail aliases
5604 in the text, analogous to lisp-complete-symbol.
5606 ** The variable `echo-keystrokes' may now have a floating point value.
5608 ** If your init file is compiled (.emacs.elc), `user-init-file' is set
5609 to the source name (.emacs.el), if that exists, after loading it.
5611 ** The help string specified for a menu-item whose definition contains
5612 the property `:help HELP' is now displayed under X, on MS-Windows, and
5613 MS-DOS, either in the echo area or with tooltips. Many standard menus
5614 displayed by Emacs now have help strings.
5617 ** New user option `read-mail-command' specifies a command to use to
5618 read mail from the menu etc.
5620 ** The environment variable `EMACSLOCKDIR' is no longer used on MS-Windows.
5621 This environment variable was used when creating lock files. Emacs on
5622 MS-Windows does not use this variable anymore. This change was made
5623 before Emacs 21.1, but wasn't documented until now.
5625 ** Highlighting of mouse-sensitive regions is now supported in the
5626 MS-DOS version of Emacs.
5628 ** The new command `msdos-set-mouse-buttons' forces the MS-DOS version
5629 of Emacs to behave as if the mouse had a specified number of buttons.
5630 This comes handy with mice that don't report their number of buttons
5631 correctly. One example is the wheeled mice, which report 3 buttons,
5632 but clicks on the middle button are not passed to the MS-DOS version
5635 ** Customize changes
5637 *** Customize now supports comments about customized items. Use the
5638 `State' menu to add comments, or give a prefix argument to
5639 M-x customize-set-variable or M-x customize-set-value. Note that
5640 customization comments will cause the customizations to fail in
5641 earlier versions of Emacs.
5643 *** The new option `custom-buffer-done-function' says whether to kill
5644 Custom buffers when you've done with them or just bury them (the
5647 *** If Emacs was invoked with the `-q' or `--no-init-file' options, it
5648 does not allow you to save customizations in your `~/.emacs' init
5649 file. This is because saving customizations from such a session would
5650 wipe out all the other customizationss you might have on your init
5653 ** If Emacs was invoked with the `-q' or `--no-init-file' options, it
5654 does not save disabled and enabled commands for future sessions, to
5655 avoid overwriting existing customizations of this kind that are
5656 already in your init file.
5658 ** New features in evaluation commands
5660 *** The commands to evaluate Lisp expressions, such as C-M-x in Lisp
5661 modes, C-j in Lisp Interaction mode, and M-:, now bind the variables
5662 print-level, print-length, and debug-on-error based on the new
5663 customizable variables eval-expression-print-level,
5664 eval-expression-print-length, and eval-expression-debug-on-error.
5666 The default values for the first two of these variables are 12 and 4
5667 respectively, which means that `eval-expression' now prints at most
5668 the first 12 members of a list and at most 4 nesting levels deep (if
5669 the list is longer or deeper than that, an ellipsis `...' is
5672 <RET> or <mouse-2> on the printed text toggles between an abbreviated
5673 printed representation and an unabbreviated one.
5675 The default value of eval-expression-debug-on-error is t, so any error
5676 during evaluation produces a backtrace.
5678 *** The function `eval-defun' (C-M-x) now loads Edebug and instruments
5679 code when called with a prefix argument.
5683 Note: This release contains changes that might not be compatible with
5684 current user setups (although it's believed that these
5685 incompatibilities will only show in very uncommon circumstances).
5686 However, since the impact is uncertain, these changes may be rolled
5687 back depending on user feedback. Therefore there's no forward
5688 compatibility guarantee wrt the new features introduced in this
5691 *** The hardcoded switch to "java" style in Java mode is gone.
5692 CC Mode used to automatically set the style to "java" when Java mode
5693 is entered. This has now been removed since it caused too much
5696 However, to keep backward compatibility to a certain extent, the
5697 default value for c-default-style now specifies the "java" style for
5698 java-mode, but "gnu" for all other modes (as before). So you won't
5699 notice the change if you haven't touched that variable.
5701 *** New cleanups, space-before-funcall and compact-empty-funcall.
5702 Two new cleanups have been added to c-cleanup-list:
5704 space-before-funcall causes a space to be inserted before the opening
5705 parenthesis of a function call, which gives the style "foo (bar)".
5707 compact-empty-funcall causes any space before a function call opening
5708 parenthesis to be removed if there are no arguments to the function.
5709 It's typically useful together with space-before-funcall to get the
5710 style "foo (bar)" and "foo()".
5712 *** Some keywords now automatically trigger reindentation.
5713 Keywords like "else", "while", "catch" and "finally" have been made
5714 "electric" to make them reindent automatically when they continue an
5715 earlier statement. An example:
5717 for (i = 0; i < 17; i++)
5719 res += a[i]->offset;
5722 Here, the "else" should be indented like the preceding "if", since it
5723 continues that statement. CC Mode will automatically reindent it after
5724 the "else" has been typed in full, since it's not until then it's
5725 possible to decide whether it's a new statement or a continuation of
5728 CC Mode uses Abbrev mode to achieve this, which is therefore turned on
5731 *** M-a and M-e now moves by sentence in multiline strings.
5732 Previously these two keys only moved by sentence in comments, which
5733 meant that sentence movement didn't work in strings containing
5734 documentation or other natural language text.
5736 The reason it's only activated in multiline strings (i.e. strings that
5737 contain a newline, even when escaped by a '\') is to avoid stopping in
5738 the short strings that often reside inside statements. Multiline
5739 strings almost always contain text in a natural language, as opposed
5740 to other strings that typically contain format specifications,
5741 commands, etc. Also, it's not that bothersome that M-a and M-e misses
5742 sentences in single line strings, since they're short anyway.
5744 *** Support for autodoc comments in Pike mode.
5745 Autodoc comments for Pike are used to extract documentation from the
5746 source, like Javadoc in Java. Pike mode now recognize this markup in
5747 comment prefixes and paragraph starts.
5749 *** The comment prefix regexps on c-comment-prefix may be mode specific.
5750 When c-comment-prefix is an association list, it specifies the comment
5751 line prefix on a per-mode basis, like c-default-style does. This
5752 change came about to support the special autodoc comment prefix in
5755 *** Better handling of syntactic errors.
5756 The recovery after unbalanced parens earlier in the buffer has been
5757 improved; CC Mode now reports them by dinging and giving a message
5758 stating the offending line, but still recovers and indent the
5759 following lines in a sane way (most of the time). An "else" with no
5760 matching "if" is handled similarly. If an error is discovered while
5761 indenting a region, the whole region is still indented and the error
5762 is reported afterwards.
5764 *** Lineup functions may now return absolute columns.
5765 A lineup function can give an absolute column to indent the line to by
5766 returning a vector with the desired column as the first element.
5768 *** More robust and warning-free byte compilation.
5769 Although this is strictly not a user visible change (well, depending
5770 on the view of a user), it's still worth mentioning that CC Mode now
5771 can be compiled in the standard ways without causing trouble. Some
5772 code have also been moved between the subpackages to enhance the
5773 modularity somewhat. Thanks to Martin Buchholz for doing the
5776 *** c-style-variables-are-local-p now defaults to t.
5777 This is an incompatible change that has been made to make the behavior
5778 of the style system wrt global variable settings less confusing for
5779 non-advanced users. If you know what this variable does you might
5780 want to set it to nil in your .emacs, otherwise you probably don't
5783 Defaulting c-style-variables-are-local-p to t avoids the confusing
5784 situation that occurs when a user sets some style variables globally
5785 and edits both a Java and a non-Java file in the same Emacs session.
5786 If the style variables aren't buffer local in this case, loading of
5787 the second file will cause the default style (either "gnu" or "java"
5788 by default) to override the global settings made by the user.
5790 *** New initialization procedure for the style system.
5791 When the initial style for a buffer is determined by CC Mode (from the
5792 variable c-default-style), the global values of style variables now
5793 take precedence over the values specified by the chosen style. This
5794 is different than the old behavior: previously, the style-specific
5795 settings would override the global settings. This change makes it
5796 possible to do simple configuration in the intuitive way with
5797 Customize or with setq lines in one's .emacs file.
5799 By default, the global value of every style variable is the new
5800 special symbol set-from-style, which causes the value to be taken from
5801 the style system. This means that in effect, only an explicit setting
5802 of a style variable will cause the "overriding" behavior described
5805 Also note that global settings override style-specific settings *only*
5806 when the initial style of a buffer is chosen by a CC Mode major mode
5807 function. When a style is chosen in other ways --- for example, by a
5808 call like (c-set-style "gnu") in a hook, or via M-x c-set-style ---
5809 then the style-specific values take precedence over any global style
5810 values. In Lisp terms, global values override style-specific values
5811 only when the new second argument to c-set-style is non-nil; see the
5812 function documentation for more info.
5814 The purpose of these changes is to make it easier for users,
5815 especially novice users, to do simple customizations with Customize or
5816 with setq in their .emacs files. On the other hand, the new system is
5817 intended to be compatible with advanced users' customizations as well,
5818 such as those that choose styles in hooks or whatnot. This new system
5819 is believed to be almost entirely compatible with current
5820 configurations, in spite of the changed precedence between style and
5821 global variable settings when a buffer's default style is set.
5823 (Thanks to Eric Eide for clarifying this explanation a bit.)
5825 **** c-offsets-alist is now a customizable variable.
5826 This became possible as a result of the new initialization behavior.
5828 This variable is treated slightly differently from the other style
5829 variables; instead of using the symbol set-from-style, it will be
5830 completed with the syntactic symbols it doesn't already contain when
5831 the style is first initialized. This means it now defaults to the
5832 empty list to make all syntactic elements get their values from the
5835 **** Compatibility variable to restore the old behavior.
5836 In case your configuration doesn't work with this change, you can set
5837 c-old-style-variable-behavior to non-nil to get the old behavior back
5840 *** Improvements to line breaking and text filling.
5841 CC Mode now handles this more intelligently and seamlessly wrt the
5842 surrounding code, especially inside comments. For details see the new
5843 chapter about this in the manual.
5845 **** New variable to recognize comment line prefix decorations.
5846 The variable c-comment-prefix-regexp has been added to properly
5847 recognize the line prefix in both block and line comments. It's
5848 primarily used to initialize the various paragraph recognition and
5849 adaptive filling variables that the text handling functions uses.
5851 **** New variable c-block-comment-prefix.
5852 This is a generalization of the now obsolete variable
5853 c-comment-continuation-stars to handle arbitrary strings.
5855 **** CC Mode now uses adaptive fill mode.
5856 This to make it adapt better to the paragraph style inside comments.
5858 It's also possible to use other adaptive filling packages inside CC
5859 Mode, notably Kyle E. Jones' Filladapt mode (http://wonderworks.com/).
5860 A new convenience function c-setup-filladapt sets up Filladapt for use
5863 Note though that the 2.12 version of Filladapt lacks a feature that
5864 causes it to work suboptimally when c-comment-prefix-regexp can match
5865 the empty string (which it commonly does). A patch for that is
5866 available from the CC Mode web site (http://www.python.org/emacs/
5869 **** The variables `c-hanging-comment-starter-p' and
5870 `c-hanging-comment-ender-p', which controlled how comment starters and
5871 enders were filled, are not used anymore. The new version of the
5872 function `c-fill-paragraph' keeps the comment starters and enders as
5873 they were before the filling.
5875 **** It's now possible to selectively turn off auto filling.
5876 The variable c-ignore-auto-fill is used to ignore auto fill mode in
5877 specific contexts, e.g. in preprocessor directives and in string
5880 **** New context sensitive line break function c-context-line-break.
5881 It works like newline-and-indent in normal code, and adapts the line
5882 prefix according to the comment style when used inside comments. If
5883 you're normally using newline-and-indent, you might want to switch to
5886 *** Fixes to IDL mode.
5887 It now does a better job in recognizing only the constructs relevant
5888 to IDL. E.g. it no longer matches "class" as the beginning of a
5889 struct block, but it does match the CORBA 2.3 "valuetype" keyword.
5890 Thanks to Eric Eide.
5892 *** Improvements to the Whitesmith style.
5893 It now keeps the style consistently on all levels and both when
5894 opening braces hangs and when they don't.
5896 **** New lineup function c-lineup-whitesmith-in-block.
5898 *** New lineup functions c-lineup-template-args and c-indent-multi-line-block.
5899 See their docstrings for details. c-lineup-template-args does a
5900 better job of tracking the brackets used as parens in C++ templates,
5901 and is used by default to line up continued template arguments.
5903 *** c-lineup-comment now preserves alignment with a comment on the
5904 previous line. It used to instead preserve comments that started in
5905 the column specified by comment-column.
5907 *** c-lineup-C-comments handles "free form" text comments.
5908 In comments with a long delimiter line at the start, the indentation
5909 is kept unchanged for lines that start with an empty comment line
5910 prefix. This is intended for the type of large block comments that
5911 contain documentation with its own formatting. In these you normally
5912 don't want CC Mode to change the indentation.
5914 *** The `c' syntactic symbol is now relative to the comment start
5915 instead of the previous line, to make integers usable as lineup
5918 *** All lineup functions have gotten docstrings.
5920 *** More preprocessor directive movement functions.
5921 c-down-conditional does the reverse of c-up-conditional.
5922 c-up-conditional-with-else and c-down-conditional-with-else are
5923 variants of these that also stops at "#else" lines (suggested by Don
5926 *** Minor improvements to many movement functions in tricky situations.
5930 *** New variable `dired-recursive-deletes' determines if the delete
5931 command will delete non-empty directories recursively. The default
5932 is, delete only empty directories.
5934 *** New variable `dired-recursive-copies' determines if the copy
5935 command will copy directories recursively. The default is, do not
5936 copy directories recursively.
5938 *** In command `dired-do-shell-command' (usually bound to `!') a `?'
5939 in the shell command has a special meaning similar to `*', but with
5940 the difference that the command will be run on each file individually.
5942 *** The new command `dired-find-alternate-file' (usually bound to `a')
5943 replaces the Dired buffer with the buffer for an alternate file or
5946 *** The new command `dired-show-file-type' (usually bound to `y') shows
5947 a message in the echo area describing what type of file the point is on.
5948 This command invokes the external program `file' do its work, and so
5949 will only work on systems with that program, and will be only as
5950 accurate or inaccurate as it is.
5952 *** Dired now properly handles undo changes of adding/removing `-R'
5955 *** Dired commands that prompt for a destination file now allow the use
5956 of the `M-n' command in the minibuffer to insert the source filename,
5957 which the user can then edit. This only works if there is a single
5958 source file, not when operating on multiple marked files.
5962 The Gnus NEWS entries are short, but they reflect sweeping changes in
5963 four areas: Article display treatment, MIME treatment,
5964 internationalization and mail-fetching.
5966 *** The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
5967 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
5969 If you used procmail like in
5971 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
5972 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
5973 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
5974 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
5976 this now has changed to
5979 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
5982 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
5983 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
5985 *** Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
5986 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
5987 Separate MIME packages like RMIME, mime-compose etc., will probably no
5988 longer work; remove them and use the native facilities.
5990 The FLIM/SEMI package still works with Emacs 21, but if you want to
5991 use the native facilities, you must remove any mailcap.el[c] that was
5992 installed by FLIM/SEMI version 1.13 or earlier.
5994 *** Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too many
5995 parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables. There
5996 are built-in facilities equivalent to those of gnus-mule.el, which is
5997 now just a compatibility layer.
5999 *** gnus-mule.el is now just a compatibility layer over the built-in
6002 *** gnus-auto-select-first can now be a function to be
6003 called to position point.
6005 *** The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
6006 summary buffers and NOV files.
6008 *** `gnus-article-display-hook' has been removed. Instead, a number
6009 of variables starting with `gnus-treat-' have been added.
6011 *** The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now work in a
6012 subtly different manner.
6014 *** New web-based backends have been added: nnslashdot, nnwarchive
6015 and nnultimate. nnweb has been revamped, again, to keep up with
6016 ever-changing layouts.
6018 *** Gnus can now read IMAP mail via nnimap.
6020 *** There is image support of various kinds and some sound support.
6022 ** Changes in Texinfo mode.
6024 *** A couple of new key bindings have been added for inserting Texinfo
6028 -------------------------
6032 C-c C-c q @quotation
6034 C-c C-o @<block> ... @end <block>
6037 *** The " key now inserts either " or `` or '' depending on context.
6039 ** Changes in Outline mode.
6041 There is now support for Imenu to index headings. A new command
6042 `outline-headers-as-kill' copies the visible headings in the region to
6043 the kill ring, e.g. to produce a table of contents.
6045 ** Changes to Emacs Server
6047 *** The new option `server-kill-new-buffers' specifies what to do
6048 with buffers when done with them. If non-nil, the default, buffers
6049 are killed, unless they were already present before visiting them with
6050 Emacs Server. If nil, `server-temp-file-regexp' specifies which
6051 buffers to kill, as before.
6053 Please note that only buffers are killed that still have a client,
6054 i.e. buffers visited with `emacsclient --no-wait' are never killed in
6057 ** Both emacsclient and Emacs itself now accept command line options
6058 of the form +LINE:COLUMN in addition to +LINE.
6060 ** Changes to Show Paren mode.
6062 *** Overlays used by Show Paren mode now use a priority property.
6063 The new user option show-paren-priority specifies the priority to
6064 use. Default is 1000.
6066 ** New command M-x check-parens can be used to find unbalanced paren
6067 groups and strings in buffers in Lisp mode (or other modes).
6069 ** Changes to hideshow.el
6071 *** Generalized block selection and traversal
6073 A block is now recognized by its start and end regexps (both strings),
6074 and an integer specifying which sub-expression in the start regexp
6075 serves as the place where a `forward-sexp'-like function can operate.
6076 See the documentation of variable `hs-special-modes-alist'.
6078 *** During incremental search, if Hideshow minor mode is active,
6079 hidden blocks are temporarily shown. The variable `hs-headline' can
6080 be used in the mode line format to show the line at the beginning of
6083 *** User option `hs-hide-all-non-comment-function' specifies a
6084 function to be called at each top-level block beginning, instead of
6085 the normal block-hiding function.
6087 *** The command `hs-show-region' has been removed.
6089 *** The key bindings have changed to fit the Emacs conventions,
6090 roughly imitating those of Outline minor mode. Notably, the prefix
6091 for all bindings is now `C-c @'. For details, see the documentation
6092 for `hs-minor-mode'.
6094 *** The variable `hs-show-hidden-short-form' has been removed, and
6095 hideshow.el now always behaves as if this variable were set to t.
6097 ** Changes to Change Log mode and Add-Log functions
6099 *** If you invoke `add-change-log-entry' from a backup file, it makes
6100 an entry appropriate for the file's parent. This is useful for making
6101 log entries by comparing a version with deleted functions.
6103 **** New command M-x change-log-merge merges another log into the
6106 *** New command M-x change-log-redate fixes any old-style date entries
6109 *** Change Log mode now adds a file's version number to change log
6110 entries if user-option `change-log-version-info-enabled' is non-nil.
6111 Unless the file is under version control the search for a file's
6112 version number is performed based on regular expressions from
6113 `change-log-version-number-regexp-list' which can be customized.
6114 Version numbers are only found in the first 10 percent of a file.
6116 *** Change Log mode now defines its own faces for font-lock highlighting.
6118 ** Changes to cmuscheme
6120 *** The user-option `scheme-program-name' has been renamed
6121 `cmuscheme-program-name' due to conflicts with xscheme.el.
6123 ** Changes in Font Lock
6125 *** The new function `font-lock-remove-keywords' can be used to remove
6126 font-lock keywords from the current buffer or from a specific major mode.
6128 *** Multi-line patterns are now supported. Modes using this, should
6129 set font-lock-multiline to t in their font-lock-defaults.
6131 *** `font-lock-syntactic-face-function' allows major-modes to choose
6132 the face used for each string/comment.
6134 *** A new standard face `font-lock-doc-face'.
6135 Meant for Lisp docstrings, Javadoc comments and other "documentation in code".
6137 ** Changes to Shell mode
6139 *** The `shell' command now accepts an optional argument to specify the buffer
6140 to use, which defaults to "*shell*". When used interactively, a
6141 non-default buffer may be specified by giving the `shell' command a
6142 prefix argument (causing it to prompt for the buffer name).
6144 ** Comint (subshell) changes
6146 These changes generally affect all modes derived from comint mode, which
6147 include shell-mode, gdb-mode, scheme-interaction-mode, etc.
6149 *** Comint now by default interprets some carriage-control characters.
6150 Comint now removes CRs from CR LF sequences, and treats single CRs and
6151 BSs in the output in a way similar to a terminal (by deleting to the
6152 beginning of the line, or deleting the previous character,
6153 respectively). This is achieved by adding `comint-carriage-motion' to
6154 the `comint-output-filter-functions' hook by default.
6156 *** By default, comint no longer uses the variable `comint-prompt-regexp'
6157 to distinguish prompts from user-input. Instead, it notices which
6158 parts of the text were output by the process, and which entered by the
6159 user, and attaches `field' properties to allow emacs commands to use
6160 this information. Common movement commands, notably beginning-of-line,
6161 respect field boundaries in a fairly natural manner. To disable this
6162 feature, and use the old behavior, customize the user option
6163 `comint-use-prompt-regexp-instead-of-fields'.
6165 *** Comint now includes new features to send commands to running processes
6166 and redirect the output to a designated buffer or buffers.
6168 *** The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command reads a command and
6169 buffer name from the mini-buffer. The command is sent to the current
6170 buffer's process, and its output is inserted into the specified buffer.
6172 The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command-to-process acts like
6173 M-x comint-redirect-send-command but additionally reads the name of
6174 the buffer whose process should be used from the mini-buffer.
6176 *** Packages based on comint now highlight user input and program prompts,
6177 and support choosing previous input with mouse-2. To control these features,
6178 see the user-options `comint-highlight-input' and `comint-highlight-prompt'.
6180 *** The new command `comint-write-output' (usually bound to `C-c C-s')
6181 saves the output from the most recent command to a file. With a prefix
6182 argument, it appends to the file.
6184 *** The command `comint-kill-output' has been renamed `comint-delete-output'
6185 (usually bound to `C-c C-o'); the old name is aliased to it for
6188 *** The new function `comint-add-to-input-history' adds commands to the input
6191 *** The new variable `comint-input-history-ignore' is a regexp for
6192 identifying history lines that should be ignored, like tcsh time-stamp
6193 strings, starting with a `#'. The default value of this variable is "^#".
6195 ** Changes to Rmail mode
6197 *** The new user-option rmail-user-mail-address-regexp can be
6198 set to fine tune the identification of the correspondent when
6199 receiving new mail. If it matches the address of the sender, the
6200 recipient is taken as correspondent of a mail. If nil, the default,
6201 `user-login-name' and `user-mail-address' are used to exclude yourself
6204 Usually you don't have to set this variable, except if you collect
6205 mails sent by you under different user names. Then it should be a
6206 regexp matching your mail addresses.
6208 *** The new user-option rmail-confirm-expunge controls whether and how
6209 to ask for confirmation before expunging deleted messages from an
6210 Rmail file. You can choose between no confirmation, confirmation
6211 with y-or-n-p, or confirmation with yes-or-no-p. Default is to ask
6212 for confirmation with yes-or-no-p.
6214 *** RET is now bound in the Rmail summary to rmail-summary-goto-msg,
6217 *** There is a new user option `rmail-digest-end-regexps' that
6218 specifies the regular expressions to detect the line that ends a
6221 *** The new user option `rmail-automatic-folder-directives' specifies
6222 in which folder to put messages automatically.
6224 *** The new function `rmail-redecode-body' allows to fix a message
6225 with non-ASCII characters if Emacs happens to decode it incorrectly
6226 due to missing or malformed "charset=" header.
6228 ** The new user-option `mail-envelope-from' can be used to specify
6229 an envelope-from address different from user-mail-address.
6231 ** The variable mail-specify-envelope-from controls whether to
6232 use the -f option when sending mail.
6234 ** The Rmail command `o' (`rmail-output-to-rmail-file') now writes the
6235 current message in the internal `emacs-mule' encoding, rather than in
6236 the encoding taken from the variable `buffer-file-coding-system'.
6237 This allows to save messages whose characters cannot be safely encoded
6238 by the buffer's coding system, and makes sure the message will be
6239 displayed correctly when you later visit the target Rmail file.
6241 If you want your Rmail files be encoded in a specific coding system
6242 other than `emacs-mule', you can customize the variable
6243 `rmail-file-coding-system' to set its value to that coding system.
6245 ** Changes to TeX mode
6247 *** The default mode has been changed from `plain-tex-mode' to
6250 *** latex-mode now has a simple indentation algorithm.
6252 *** M-f and M-p jump around \begin...\end pairs.
6254 *** Added support for outline-minor-mode.
6256 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
6258 *** RefTeX has new support for index generation. Index entries can be
6259 created with `C-c <', with completion available on index keys.
6260 Pressing `C-c /' indexes the word at the cursor with a default
6261 macro. `C-c >' compiles all index entries into an alphabetically
6262 sorted *Index* buffer which looks like the final index. Entries
6263 can be edited from that buffer.
6265 *** Label and citation key selection now allow to select several
6266 items and reference them together (use `m' to mark items, `a' or
6267 `A' to use all marked entries).
6269 *** reftex.el has been split into a number of smaller files to reduce
6270 memory use when only a part of RefTeX is being used.
6272 *** a new command `reftex-view-crossref-from-bibtex' (bound to `C-c &'
6273 in BibTeX-mode) can be called in a BibTeX database buffer in order
6274 to show locations in LaTeX documents where a particular entry has
6277 ** Emacs Lisp mode now allows multiple levels of outline headings.
6278 The level of a heading is determined from the number of leading
6279 semicolons in a heading line. Toplevel forms starting with a `('
6280 in column 1 are always made leaves.
6282 ** The M-x time-stamp command (most commonly used on write-file-hooks)
6283 has the following new features:
6285 *** The patterns for finding the time stamp and for updating a pattern
6286 may match text spanning multiple lines. For example, some people like
6287 to have the filename and date on separate lines. The new variable
6288 time-stamp-inserts-lines controls the matching for multi-line patterns.
6290 *** More than one time stamp can be updated in the same file. This
6291 feature is useful if you need separate time stamps in a program source
6292 file to both include in formatted documentation and insert in the
6293 compiled binary. The same time-stamp will be written at each matching
6294 pattern. The variable time-stamp-count enables this new feature; it
6297 ** Partial Completion mode now completes environment variables in
6302 *** The command `ispell' now spell-checks a region if
6303 transient-mark-mode is on, and the mark is active. Otherwise it
6304 spell-checks the current buffer.
6306 *** Support for synchronous subprocesses - DOS/Windoze - has been
6309 *** An "alignment error" bug was fixed when a manual spelling
6310 correction is made and re-checked.
6312 *** Italian, Portuguese, and Slovak dictionary definitions have been added.
6314 *** Region skipping performance has been vastly improved in some
6317 *** Spell checking HTML buffers has been improved and isn't so strict
6320 *** The buffer-local words are now always placed on a new line at the
6323 *** Spell checking now works in the MS-DOS version of Emacs.
6325 ** Makefile mode changes
6327 *** The mode now uses the abbrev table `makefile-mode-abbrev-table'.
6329 *** Conditionals and include statements are now highlighted when
6330 Fontlock mode is active.
6334 *** Isearch now puts a call to `isearch-resume' in the command history,
6335 so that searches can be resumed.
6337 *** In Isearch mode, C-M-s and C-M-r are now bound like C-s and C-r,
6338 respectively, i.e. you can repeat a regexp isearch with the same keys
6339 that started the search.
6341 *** In Isearch mode, mouse-2 in the echo area now yanks the current
6342 selection into the search string rather than giving an error.
6344 *** There is a new lazy highlighting feature in incremental search.
6346 Lazy highlighting is switched on/off by customizing variable
6347 `isearch-lazy-highlight'. When active, all matches for the current
6348 search string are highlighted. The current match is highlighted as
6349 before using face `isearch' or `region'. All other matches are
6350 highlighted using face `isearch-lazy-highlight-face' which defaults to
6351 `secondary-selection'.
6353 The extra highlighting makes it easier to anticipate where the cursor
6354 will end up each time you press C-s or C-r to repeat a pending search.
6355 Highlighting of these additional matches happens in a deferred fashion
6356 using "idle timers," so the cycles needed do not rob isearch of its
6357 usual snappy response.
6359 If `isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup' is set to t, highlights for
6360 matches are automatically cleared when you end the search. If it is
6361 set to nil, you can remove the highlights manually with `M-x
6362 isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup'.
6366 VC has been overhauled internally. It is now modular, making it
6367 easier to plug-in arbitrary version control backends. (See Lisp
6368 Changes for details on the new structure.) As a result, the mechanism
6369 to enable and disable support for particular version systems has
6370 changed: everything is now controlled by the new variable
6371 `vc-handled-backends'. Its value is a list of symbols that identify
6372 version systems; the default is '(RCS CVS SCCS). When finding a file,
6373 each of the backends in that list is tried in order to see whether the
6374 file is registered in that backend.
6376 When registering a new file, VC first tries each of the listed
6377 backends to see if any of them considers itself "responsible" for the
6378 directory of the file (e.g. because a corresponding subdirectory for
6379 master files exists). If none of the backends is responsible, then
6380 the first backend in the list that could register the file is chosen.
6381 As a consequence, the variable `vc-default-back-end' is now obsolete.
6383 The old variable `vc-master-templates' is also obsolete, although VC
6384 still supports it for backward compatibility. To define templates for
6385 RCS or SCCS, you should rather use the new variables
6386 vc-{rcs,sccs}-master-templates. (There is no such feature under CVS
6387 where it doesn't make sense.)
6389 The variables `vc-ignore-vc-files' and `vc-handle-cvs' are also
6390 obsolete now, you must set `vc-handled-backends' to nil or exclude
6391 `CVS' from the list, respectively, to achieve their effect now.
6395 The variable `vc-checkout-carefully' is obsolete: the corresponding
6396 checks are always done now.
6398 VC Dired buffers are now kept up-to-date during all version control
6401 `vc-diff' output is now displayed in `diff-mode'.
6402 `vc-print-log' uses `log-view-mode'.
6403 `vc-log-mode' (used for *VC-Log*) has been replaced by `log-edit-mode'.
6405 The command C-x v m (vc-merge) now accepts an empty argument as the
6406 first revision number. This means that any recent changes on the
6407 current branch should be picked up from the repository and merged into
6408 the working file (``merge news'').
6410 The commands C-x v s (vc-create-snapshot) and C-x v r
6411 (vc-retrieve-snapshot) now ask for a directory name from which to work
6414 *** Multiple Backends
6416 VC now lets you register files in more than one backend. This is
6417 useful, for example, if you are working with a slow remote CVS
6418 repository. You can then use RCS for local editing, and occasionally
6419 commit your changes back to CVS, or pick up changes from CVS into your
6422 To make this work, the ``more local'' backend (RCS in our example)
6423 should come first in `vc-handled-backends', and the ``more remote''
6424 backend (CVS) should come later. (The default value of
6425 `vc-handled-backends' already has it that way.)
6427 You can then commit changes to another backend (say, RCS), by typing
6428 C-u C-x v v RCS RET (i.e. vc-next-action now accepts a backend name as
6429 a revision number). VC registers the file in the more local backend
6430 if that hasn't already happened, and commits to a branch based on the
6431 current revision number from the more remote backend.
6433 If a file is registered in multiple backends, you can switch to
6434 another one using C-x v b (vc-switch-backend). This does not change
6435 any files, it only changes VC's perspective on the file. Use this to
6436 pick up changes from CVS while working under RCS locally.
6438 After you are done with your local RCS editing, you can commit your
6439 changes back to CVS using C-u C-x v v CVS RET. In this case, the
6440 local RCS archive is removed after the commit, and the log entry
6441 buffer is initialized to contain the entire RCS change log of the file.
6445 There is a new user option, `vc-cvs-stay-local'. If it is `t' (the
6446 default), then VC avoids network queries for files registered in
6447 remote repositories. The state of such files is then only determined
6448 by heuristics and past information. `vc-cvs-stay-local' can also be a
6449 regexp to match against repository hostnames; only files from hosts
6450 that match it are treated locally. If the variable is nil, then VC
6451 queries the repository just as often as it does for local files.
6453 If `vc-cvs-stay-local' is on, then VC also makes local backups of
6454 repository versions. This means that ordinary diffs (C-x v =) and
6455 revert operations (C-x v u) can be done completely locally, without
6456 any repository interactions at all. The name of a local version
6457 backup of FILE is FILE.~REV.~, where REV is the repository version
6458 number. This format is similar to that used by C-x v ~
6459 (vc-version-other-window), except for the trailing dot. As a matter
6460 of fact, the two features can each use the files created by the other,
6461 the only difference being that files with a trailing `.' are deleted
6462 automatically after commit. (This feature doesn't work on MS-DOS,
6463 since DOS disallows more than a single dot in the trunk of a file
6466 If `vc-cvs-stay-local' is on, and there have been changes in the
6467 repository, VC notifies you about it when you actually try to commit.
6468 If you want to check for updates from the repository without trying to
6469 commit, you can either use C-x v m RET to perform an update on the
6470 current file, or you can use C-x v r RET to get an update for an
6471 entire directory tree.
6473 The new user option `vc-cvs-use-edit' indicates whether VC should call
6474 "cvs edit" to make files writeable; it defaults to `t'. (This option
6475 is only meaningful if the CVSREAD variable is set, or if files are
6476 "watched" by other developers.)
6478 The commands C-x v s (vc-create-snapshot) and C-x v r
6479 (vc-retrieve-snapshot) are now also implemented for CVS. If you give
6480 an empty snapshot name to the latter, that performs a `cvs update',
6481 starting at the given directory.
6483 *** Lisp Changes in VC
6485 VC has been restructured internally to make it modular. You can now
6486 add support for arbitrary version control backends by writing a
6487 library that provides a certain set of backend-specific functions, and
6488 then telling VC to use that library. For example, to add support for
6489 a version system named SYS, you write a library named vc-sys.el, which
6490 provides a number of functions vc-sys-... (see commentary at the top
6491 of vc.el for a detailed list of them). To make VC use that library,
6492 you need to put it somewhere into Emacs' load path and add the symbol
6493 `SYS' to the list `vc-handled-backends'.
6495 ** The customizable EDT emulation package now supports the EDT
6496 SUBS command and EDT scroll margins. It also works with more
6497 terminal/keyboard configurations and it now works under XEmacs.
6498 See etc/edt-user.doc for more information.
6500 ** New modes and packages
6502 *** The new global minor mode `minibuffer-electric-default-mode'
6503 automatically hides the `(default ...)' part of minibuffer prompts when
6504 the default is not applicable.
6506 *** Artist is an Emacs lisp package that allows you to draw lines,
6507 rectangles and ellipses by using your mouse and/or keyboard. The
6508 shapes are made up with the ascii characters |, -, / and \.
6512 - Intersecting: When a `|' intersects with a `-', a `+' is
6513 drawn, like this: | \ /
6517 - Rubber-banding: When drawing lines you can interactively see the
6518 result while holding the mouse button down and moving the mouse. If
6519 your machine is not fast enough (a 386 is a bit too slow, but a
6520 pentium is well enough), you can turn this feature off. You will
6521 then see 1's and 2's which mark the 1st and 2nd endpoint of the line
6524 - Arrows: After having drawn a (straight) line or a (straight)
6525 poly-line, you can set arrows on the line-ends by typing < or >.
6527 - Flood-filling: You can fill any area with a certain character by
6530 - Cut copy and paste: You can cut, copy and paste rectangular
6531 regions. Artist also interfaces with the rect package (this can be
6532 turned off if it causes you any trouble) so anything you cut in
6533 artist can be yanked with C-x r y and vice versa.
6535 - Drawing with keys: Everything you can do with the mouse, you can
6536 also do without the mouse.
6538 - Aspect-ratio: You can set the variable artist-aspect-ratio to
6539 reflect the height-width ratio for the font you are using. Squares
6540 and circles are then drawn square/round. Note, that once your
6541 ascii-file is shown with font with a different height-width ratio,
6542 the squares won't be square and the circles won't be round.
6544 - Drawing operations: The following drawing operations are implemented:
6546 lines straight-lines
6548 poly-lines straight poly-lines
6550 text (see-thru) text (overwrite)
6551 spray-can setting size for spraying
6552 vaporize line vaporize lines
6553 erase characters erase rectangles
6555 Straight lines are lines that go horizontally, vertically or
6556 diagonally. Plain lines go in any direction. The operations in
6557 the right column are accessed by holding down the shift key while
6560 It is possible to vaporize (erase) entire lines and connected lines
6561 (rectangles for example) as long as the lines being vaporized are
6562 straight and connected at their endpoints. Vaporizing is inspired
6563 by the drawrect package by Jari Aalto <jari.aalto@poboxes.com>.
6565 - Picture mode compatibility: Artist is picture mode compatible (this
6568 *** The new package Eshell is an operating system command shell
6569 implemented entirely in Emacs Lisp. Use `M-x eshell' to invoke it.
6570 It functions similarly to bash and zsh, and allows running of Lisp
6571 functions and external commands using the same syntax. It supports
6572 history lists, aliases, extended globbing, smart scrolling, etc. It
6573 will work on any platform Emacs has been ported to. And since most of
6574 the basic commands -- ls, rm, mv, cp, ln, du, cat, etc. -- have been
6575 rewritten in Lisp, it offers an operating-system independent shell,
6576 all within the scope of your Emacs process.
6578 *** The new package timeclock.el is a mode is for keeping track of time
6579 intervals. You can use it for whatever purpose you like, but the
6580 typical scenario is to keep track of how much time you spend working
6581 on certain projects.
6583 *** The new package hi-lock.el provides commands to highlight matches
6584 of interactively entered regexps. For example,
6586 M-x highlight-regexp RET clearly RET RET
6588 will highlight all occurrences of `clearly' using a yellow background
6589 face. New occurrences of `clearly' will be highlighted as they are
6590 typed. `M-x unhighlight-regexp RET' will remove the highlighting.
6591 Any existing face can be used for highlighting and a set of
6592 appropriate faces is provided. The regexps can be written into the
6593 current buffer in a form that will be recognized the next time the
6594 corresponding file is read. There are commands to highlight matches
6595 to phrases and to highlight entire lines containing a match.
6597 *** The new package zone.el plays games with Emacs' display when
6600 *** The new package tildify.el allows to add hard spaces or other text
6601 fragments in accordance with the current major mode.
6603 *** The new package xml.el provides a simple but generic XML
6604 parser. It doesn't parse the DTDs however.
6606 *** The comment operations are now provided by the newcomment.el
6607 package which allows different styles of comment-region and should
6608 be more robust while offering the same functionality.
6609 `comment-region' now doesn't always comment a-line-at-a-time, but only
6610 comments the region, breaking the line at point if necessary.
6612 *** The Ebrowse package implements a C++ class browser and tags
6613 facilities tailored for use with C++. It is documented in a
6614 separate Texinfo file.
6616 *** The PCL-CVS package available by either running M-x cvs-examine or
6617 by visiting a CVS administrative directory (with a prefix argument)
6618 provides an alternative interface to VC-dired for CVS. It comes with
6619 `log-view-mode' to view RCS and SCCS logs and `log-edit-mode' used to
6620 enter check-in log messages.
6622 *** The new package called `woman' allows to browse Unix man pages
6623 without invoking external programs.
6625 The command `M-x woman' formats manual pages entirely in Emacs Lisp
6626 and then displays them, like `M-x manual-entry' does. Unlike
6627 `manual-entry', `woman' does not invoke any external programs, so it
6628 is useful on systems such as MS-DOS/MS-Windows where the `man' and
6629 Groff or `troff' commands are not readily available.
6631 The command `M-x woman-find-file' asks for the file name of a man
6632 page, then formats and displays it like `M-x woman' does.
6634 *** The new command M-x re-builder offers a convenient interface for
6635 authoring regular expressions with immediate visual feedback.
6637 The buffer from which the command was called becomes the target for
6638 the regexp editor popping up in a separate window. Matching text in
6639 the target buffer is immediately color marked during the editing.
6640 Each sub-expression of the regexp will show up in a different face so
6641 even complex regexps can be edited and verified on target data in a
6644 On displays not supporting faces the matches instead blink like
6645 matching parens to make them stand out. On such a setup you will
6646 probably also want to use the sub-expression mode when the regexp
6647 contains such to get feedback about their respective limits.
6649 *** glasses-mode is a minor mode that makes
6650 unreadableIdentifiersLikeThis readable. It works as glasses, without
6651 actually modifying content of a buffer.
6653 *** The package ebnf2ps translates an EBNF to a syntactic chart in
6656 Currently accepts ad-hoc EBNF, ISO EBNF and Bison/Yacc.
6658 The ad-hoc default EBNF syntax has the following elements:
6660 ; comment (until end of line)
6664 $A default non-terminal
6665 $"C" default terminal
6666 $?C? default special
6667 A = B. production (A is the header and B the body)
6668 C D sequence (C occurs before D)
6669 C | D alternative (C or D occurs)
6670 A - B exception (A excluding B, B without any non-terminal)
6671 n * A repetition (A repeats n (integer) times)
6672 (C) group (expression C is grouped together)
6673 [C] optional (C may or not occurs)
6674 C+ one or more occurrences of C
6675 {C}+ one or more occurrences of C
6676 {C}* zero or more occurrences of C
6677 {C} zero or more occurrences of C
6678 C / D equivalent to: C {D C}*
6679 {C || D}+ equivalent to: C {D C}*
6680 {C || D}* equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
6681 {C || D} equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
6683 Please, see ebnf2ps documentation for EBNF syntax and how to use it.
6685 *** The package align.el will align columns within a region, using M-x
6686 align. Its mode-specific rules, based on regular expressions,
6687 determine where the columns should be split. In C and C++, for
6688 example, it will align variable names in declaration lists, or the
6689 equal signs of assignments.
6691 *** `paragraph-indent-minor-mode' is a new minor mode supporting
6692 paragraphs in the same style as `paragraph-indent-text-mode'.
6694 *** bs.el is a new package for buffer selection similar to
6695 list-buffers or electric-buffer-list. Use M-x bs-show to display a
6696 buffer menu with this package. See the Custom group `bs'.
6698 *** find-lisp.el is a package emulating the Unix find command in Lisp.
6700 *** calculator.el is a small calculator package that is intended to
6701 replace desktop calculators such as xcalc and calc.exe. Actually, it
6702 is not too small - it has more features than most desktop calculators,
6703 and can be customized easily to get many more functions. It should
6704 not be confused with "calc" which is a much bigger mathematical tool
6705 which answers different needs.
6707 *** The minor modes cwarn-mode and global-cwarn-mode highlights
6708 suspicious C and C++ constructions. Currently, assignments inside
6709 expressions, semicolon following `if', `for' and `while' (except, of
6710 course, after a `do .. while' statement), and C++ functions with
6711 reference parameters are recognized. The modes require font-lock mode
6714 *** smerge-mode.el provides `smerge-mode', a simple minor-mode for files
6715 containing diff3-style conflict markers, such as generated by RCS.
6717 *** 5x5.el is a simple puzzle game.
6719 *** hl-line.el provides `hl-line-mode', a minor mode to highlight the
6720 current line in the current buffer. It also provides
6721 `global-hl-line-mode' to provide the same behavior in all buffers.
6723 *** ansi-color.el translates ANSI terminal escapes into text-properties.
6725 Please note: if `ansi-color-for-comint-mode' and
6726 `global-font-lock-mode' are non-nil, loading ansi-color.el will
6727 disable font-lock and add `ansi-color-apply' to
6728 `comint-preoutput-filter-functions' for all shell-mode buffers. This
6729 displays the output of "ls --color=yes" using the correct foreground
6730 and background colors.
6732 *** delphi.el provides a major mode for editing the Delphi (Object
6735 *** quickurl.el provides a simple method of inserting a URL based on
6738 *** sql.el provides an interface to SQL data bases.
6740 *** fortune.el uses the fortune program to create mail/news signatures.
6742 *** whitespace.el is a package for warning about and cleaning bogus
6743 whitespace in a file.
6745 *** PostScript mode (ps-mode) is a new major mode for editing PostScript
6746 files. It offers: interaction with a PostScript interpreter, including
6747 (very basic) error handling; fontification, easily customizable for
6748 interpreter messages; auto-indentation; insertion of EPSF templates and
6749 often used code snippets; viewing of BoundingBox; commenting out /
6750 uncommenting regions; conversion of 8bit characters to PostScript octal
6751 codes. All functionality is accessible through a menu.
6753 *** delim-col helps to prettify columns in a text region or rectangle.
6755 Here is an example of columns:
6758 dog pineapple car EXTRA
6759 porcupine strawberry airplane
6761 Doing the following settings:
6763 (setq delimit-columns-str-before "[ ")
6764 (setq delimit-columns-str-after " ]")
6765 (setq delimit-columns-str-separator ", ")
6766 (setq delimit-columns-separator "\t")
6769 Selecting the lines above and typing:
6771 M-x delimit-columns-region
6775 [ horse , apple , bus , ]
6776 [ dog , pineapple , car , EXTRA ]
6777 [ porcupine, strawberry, airplane, ]
6779 delim-col has the following options:
6781 delimit-columns-str-before Specify a string to be inserted
6784 delimit-columns-str-separator Specify a string to be inserted
6785 between each column.
6787 delimit-columns-str-after Specify a string to be inserted
6790 delimit-columns-separator Specify a regexp which separates
6793 delim-col has the following commands:
6795 delimit-columns-region Prettify all columns in a text region.
6796 delimit-columns-rectangle Prettify all columns in a text rectangle.
6798 *** Recentf mode maintains a menu for visiting files that were
6799 operated on recently. User option recentf-menu-filter specifies a
6800 menu filter function to change the menu appearance. For example, the
6801 recent file list can be displayed:
6803 - organized by major modes, directories or user defined rules.
6804 - sorted by file paths, file names, ascending or descending.
6805 - showing paths relative to the current default-directory
6807 The `recentf-filter-changer' menu filter function allows to
6808 dynamically change the menu appearance.
6810 *** elide-head.el provides a mechanism for eliding boilerplate header
6813 *** footnote.el provides `footnote-mode', a minor mode supporting use
6814 of footnotes. It is intended for use with Message mode, but isn't
6815 specific to Message mode.
6817 *** diff-mode.el provides `diff-mode', a major mode for
6818 viewing/editing context diffs (patches). It is selected for files
6819 with extension `.diff', `.diffs', `.patch' and `.rej'.
6821 *** EUDC, the Emacs Unified Directory Client, provides a common user
6822 interface to access directory servers using different directory
6823 protocols. It has a separate manual.
6825 *** autoconf.el provides a major mode for editing configure.in files
6826 for Autoconf, selected automatically.
6828 *** windmove.el provides moving between windows.
6830 *** crm.el provides a facility to read multiple strings from the
6831 minibuffer with completion.
6833 *** todo-mode.el provides management of TODO lists and integration
6834 with the diary features.
6836 *** autoarg.el provides a feature reported from Twenex Emacs whereby
6837 numeric keys supply prefix args rather than self inserting.
6839 *** The function `turn-off-auto-fill' unconditionally turns off Auto
6842 *** pcomplete.el is a library that provides programmable completion
6843 facilities for Emacs, similar to what zsh and tcsh offer. The main
6844 difference is that completion functions are written in Lisp, meaning
6845 they can be profiled, debugged, etc.
6847 *** antlr-mode is a new major mode for editing ANTLR grammar files.
6848 It is automatically turned on for files whose names have the extension
6851 ** Changes in sort.el
6853 The function sort-numeric-fields interprets numbers starting with `0'
6854 as octal and numbers starting with `0x' or `0X' as hexadecimal. The
6855 new user-option sort-numeric-base can be used to specify a default
6858 ** Changes to Ange-ftp
6860 *** Ange-ftp allows you to specify of a port number in remote file
6861 names cleanly. It is appended to the host name, separated by a hash
6862 sign, e.g. `/foo@bar.org#666:mumble'. (This syntax comes from EFS.)
6864 *** If the new user-option `ange-ftp-try-passive-mode' is set, passive
6865 ftp mode will be used if the ftp client supports that.
6867 *** Ange-ftp handles the output of the w32-style clients which
6868 output ^M at the end of lines.
6870 ** The recommended way of using Iswitchb is via the new global minor
6871 mode `iswitchb-mode'.
6873 ** Just loading the msb package doesn't switch on Msb mode anymore.
6874 If you have `(require 'msb)' in your .emacs, please replace it with
6877 ** Flyspell mode has various new options. See the `flyspell' Custom
6880 ** The user option `backward-delete-char-untabify-method' controls the
6881 behavior of `backward-delete-char-untabify'. The following values
6884 `untabify' -- turn a tab to many spaces, then delete one space;
6885 `hungry' -- delete all whitespace, both tabs and spaces;
6886 `all' -- delete all whitespace, including tabs, spaces and newlines;
6887 nil -- just delete one character.
6889 Default value is `untabify'.
6891 [This change was made in Emacs 20.3 but not mentioned then.]
6893 ** In Cperl mode `cperl-invalid-face' should now be a normal face
6894 symbol, not double-quoted.
6896 ** Some packages are declared obsolete, to be removed in a future
6897 version. They are: auto-show, c-mode, hilit19, hscroll, ooutline,
6898 profile, rnews, rnewspost, and sc. Their implementations have been
6899 moved to lisp/obsolete.
6901 ** auto-compression mode is no longer enabled just by loading jka-compr.el.
6902 To control it, set `auto-compression-mode' via Custom or use the
6903 `auto-compression-mode' command.
6905 ** `browse-url-gnome-moz' is a new option for
6906 `browse-url-browser-function', invoking Mozilla in GNOME, and
6907 `browse-url-kde' can be chosen for invoking the KDE browser.
6909 ** The user-option `browse-url-new-window-p' has been renamed to
6910 `browse-url-new-window-flag'.
6912 ** The functions `keep-lines', `flush-lines' and `how-many' now
6913 operate on the active region in Transient Mark mode.
6915 ** `gnus-user-agent' is a new possibility for `mail-user-agent'. It
6916 is like `message-user-agent', but with all the Gnus paraphernalia.
6918 ** The Strokes package has been updated. If your Emacs has XPM
6919 support, you can use it for pictographic editing. In Strokes mode,
6920 use C-mouse-2 to compose a complex stoke and insert it into the
6921 buffer. You can encode or decode a strokes buffer with new commands
6922 M-x strokes-encode-buffer and M-x strokes-decode-buffer. There is a
6923 new command M-x strokes-list-strokes.
6925 ** Hexl contains a new command `hexl-insert-hex-string' which inserts
6926 a string of hexadecimal numbers read from the mini-buffer.
6928 ** Hexl mode allows to insert non-ASCII characters.
6930 The non-ASCII characters are encoded using the same encoding as the
6931 file you are visiting in Hexl mode.
6933 ** Shell script mode changes.
6935 Shell script mode (sh-script) can now indent scripts for shells
6936 derived from sh and rc. The indentation style is customizable, and
6937 sh-script can attempt to "learn" the current buffer's style.
6941 *** In DOS, etags looks for file.cgz if it cannot find file.c.
6943 *** New option --ignore-case-regex is an alternative to --regex. It is now
6944 possible to bind a regexp to a language, by prepending the regexp with
6945 {lang}, where lang is one of the languages that `etags --help' prints out.
6946 This feature is useful especially for regex files, where each line contains
6947 a regular expression. The manual contains details.
6949 *** In C and derived languages, etags creates tags for function
6950 declarations when given the --declarations option.
6952 *** In C++, tags are created for "operator". The tags have the form
6953 "operator+", without spaces between the keyword and the operator.
6955 *** You shouldn't generally need any more the -C or -c++ option: etags
6956 automatically switches to C++ parsing when it meets the `class' or
6957 `template' keywords.
6959 *** Etags now is able to delve at arbitrary deeps into nested structures in
6960 C-like languages. Previously, it was limited to one or two brace levels.
6962 *** New language Ada: tags are functions, procedures, packages, tasks, and
6965 *** In Fortran, `procedure' is not tagged.
6967 *** In Java, tags are created for "interface".
6969 *** In Lisp, "(defstruct (foo", "(defun (operator" and similar constructs
6972 *** In makefiles, tags the targets.
6974 *** In Perl, the --globals option tags global variables. my and local
6975 variables are tagged.
6977 *** New language Python: def and class at the beginning of a line are tags.
6979 *** .ss files are Scheme files, .pdb is Postscript with C syntax, .psw is
6982 ** Changes in etags.el
6984 *** The new user-option tags-case-fold-search can be used to make
6985 tags operations case-sensitive or case-insensitive. The default
6986 is to use the same setting as case-fold-search.
6988 *** You can display additional output with M-x tags-apropos by setting
6989 the new variable tags-apropos-additional-actions.
6991 If non-nil, the variable's value should be a list of triples (TITLE
6992 FUNCTION TO-SEARCH). For each triple, M-x tags-apropos processes
6993 TO-SEARCH and lists tags from it. TO-SEARCH should be an alist,
6994 obarray, or symbol. If it is a symbol, the symbol's value is used.
6996 TITLE is a string to use to label the list of tags from TO-SEARCH.
6998 FUNCTION is a function to call when an entry is selected in the Tags
6999 List buffer. It is called with one argument, the selected symbol.
7001 A useful example value for this variable might be something like:
7003 '(("Emacs Lisp" Info-goto-emacs-command-node obarray)
7004 ("Common Lisp" common-lisp-hyperspec common-lisp-hyperspec-obarray)
7005 ("SCWM" scwm-documentation scwm-obarray))
7007 *** The face tags-tag-face can be used to customize the appearance
7008 of tags in the output of M-x tags-apropos.
7010 *** Setting tags-apropos-verbose to a non-nil value displays the
7011 names of tags files in the *Tags List* buffer.
7013 *** You can now search for tags that are part of the filename itself.
7014 If you have tagged the files topfile.c subdir/subfile.c
7015 /tmp/tempfile.c, you can now search for tags "topfile.c", "subfile.c",
7016 "dir/sub", "tempfile", "tempfile.c". If the tag matches the file name,
7017 point will go to the beginning of the file.
7019 *** Compressed files are now transparently supported if
7020 auto-compression-mode is active. You can tag (with Etags) and search
7021 (with find-tag) both compressed and uncompressed files.
7023 *** Tags commands like M-x tags-search no longer change point
7024 in buffers where no match is found. In buffers where a match is
7025 found, the original value of point is pushed on the marker ring.
7027 ** Fortran mode has a new command `fortran-strip-sequence-nos' to
7028 remove text past column 72. The syntax class of `\' in Fortran is now
7029 appropriate for C-style escape sequences in strings.
7031 ** SGML mode's default `sgml-validate-command' is now `nsgmls'.
7033 ** A new command `view-emacs-problems' (C-h P) displays the PROBLEMS file.
7035 ** The Dabbrev package has a new user-option `dabbrev-ignored-regexps'
7036 containing a list of regular expressions. Buffers matching a regular
7037 expression from that list, are not checked.
7039 ** Emacs can now figure out modification times of remote files.
7040 When you do C-x C-f /user@host:/path/file RET and edit the file,
7041 and someone else modifies the file, you will be prompted to revert
7042 the buffer, just like for the local files.
7044 ** The buffer menu (C-x C-b) no longer lists the *Buffer List* buffer.
7046 ** When invoked with a prefix argument, the command `list-abbrevs' now
7047 displays local abbrevs, only.
7049 ** Refill minor mode provides preliminary support for keeping
7050 paragraphs filled as you modify them.
7052 ** The variable `double-click-fuzz' specifies how much the mouse
7053 may be moved between clicks that are recognized as a pair. Its value
7054 is measured in pixels.
7056 ** The new global minor mode `auto-image-file-mode' allows image files
7057 to be visited as images.
7059 ** Two new user-options `grep-command' and `grep-find-command'
7060 were added to compile.el.
7062 ** Withdrawn packages
7064 *** mldrag.el has been removed. mouse.el provides the same
7065 functionality with aliases for the mldrag functions.
7067 *** eval-reg.el has been obsoleted by changes to edebug.el and removed.
7069 *** ph.el has been obsoleted by EUDC and removed.
7072 * Incompatible Lisp changes
7074 There are a few Lisp changes which are not backwards-compatible and
7075 may require changes to existing code. Here is a list for reference.
7076 See the sections below for details.
7078 ** Since `format' preserves text properties, the idiom
7079 `(format "%s" foo)' no longer works to copy and remove properties.
7080 Use `copy-sequence' to copy the string, then use `set-text-properties'
7081 to remove the properties of the copy.
7083 ** Since the `keymap' text property now has significance, some code
7084 which uses both `local-map' and `keymap' properties (for portability)
7085 may, for instance, give rise to duplicate menus when the keymaps from
7086 these properties are active.
7088 ** The change in the treatment of non-ASCII characters in search
7089 ranges may affect some code.
7091 ** A non-nil value for the LOCAL arg of add-hook makes the hook
7092 buffer-local even if `make-local-hook' hasn't been called, which might
7093 make a difference to some code.
7095 ** The new treatment of the minibuffer prompt might affect code which
7096 operates on the minibuffer.
7098 ** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
7099 cause `no-conversion' and `emacs-mule-unix' coding systems to produce
7100 different results when reading files with non-ASCII characters
7101 (previously, both coding systems would produce the same results).
7102 Specifically, `no-conversion' interprets each 8-bit byte as a separate
7103 character. This makes `no-conversion' inappropriate for reading
7104 multibyte text, e.g. buffers written to disk in their internal MULE
7105 encoding (auto-saving does that, for example). If a Lisp program
7106 reads such files with `no-conversion', each byte of the multibyte
7107 sequence, including the MULE leading codes such as \201, is treated as
7108 a separate character, which prevents them from being interpreted in
7109 the buffer as multibyte characters.
7111 Therefore, Lisp programs that read files which contain the internal
7112 MULE encoding should use `emacs-mule-unix'. `no-conversion' is only
7113 appropriate for reading truly binary files.
7115 ** Code that relies on the obsolete `before-change-function' and
7116 `after-change-function' to detect buffer changes will now fail. Use
7117 `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions' instead.
7119 ** Code that uses `concat' with integer args now gets an error, as
7120 long promised. So does any code that uses derivatives of `concat',
7121 such as `mapconcat'.
7123 ** The function base64-decode-string now always returns a unibyte
7126 ** Not a Lisp incompatibility as such but, with the introduction of
7127 extra private charsets, there is now only one slot free for a new
7128 dimension-2 private charset. User code which tries to add more than
7129 one extra will fail unless you rebuild Emacs with some standard
7130 charset(s) removed; that is probably inadvisable because it changes
7131 the emacs-mule encoding. Also, files stored in the emacs-mule
7132 encoding using Emacs 20 with additional private charsets defined will
7133 probably not be read correctly by Emacs 21.
7135 ** The variable `directory-sep-char' is slated for removal.
7136 Not really a change (yet), but a projected one that you should be
7137 aware of: The variable `directory-sep-char' is deprecated, and should
7138 not be used. It was always ignored on GNU/Linux and Unix systems and
7139 on MS-DOS, but the MS-Windows port tried to support it by adapting the
7140 behavior of certain primitives to the value of this variable. It
7141 turned out that such support cannot be reliable, so it was decided to
7142 remove this variable in the near future. Lisp programs are well
7143 advised not to set it to anything but '/', because any different value
7144 will not have any effect when support for this variable is removed.
7147 * Lisp changes made after edition 2.6 of the Emacs Lisp Manual,
7148 (Display-related features are described in a page of their own below.)
7150 ** Function assq-delete-all replaces function assoc-delete-all.
7152 ** The new function animate-string, from lisp/play/animate.el
7153 allows the animated display of strings.
7155 ** The new function `interactive-form' can be used to obtain the
7156 interactive form of a function.
7158 ** The keyword :set-after in defcustom allows to specify dependencies
7159 between custom options. Example:
7161 (defcustom default-input-method nil
7162 "*Default input method for multilingual text (a string).
7163 This is the input method activated automatically by the command
7164 `toggle-input-method' (\\[toggle-input-method])."
7166 :type '(choice (const nil) string)
7167 :set-after '(current-language-environment))
7169 This specifies that default-input-method should be set after
7170 current-language-environment even if default-input-method appears
7171 first in a custom-set-variables statement.
7173 ** The new hook `kbd-macro-termination-hook' is run at the end of
7174 function execute-kbd-macro. Functions on this hook are called with no
7175 args. The hook is run independent of how the macro was terminated
7176 (signal or normal termination).
7178 ** Functions `butlast' and `nbutlast' for removing trailing elements
7179 from a list are now available without requiring the CL package.
7181 ** The new user-option `even-window-heights' can be set to nil
7182 to prevent `display-buffer' from evening out window heights.
7184 ** The user-option `face-font-registry-alternatives' specifies
7185 alternative font registry names to try when looking for a font.
7187 ** Function `md5' calculates the MD5 "message digest"/"checksum".
7189 ** Function `delete-frame' runs `delete-frame-hook' before actually
7190 deleting the frame. The hook is called with one arg, the frame
7193 ** `add-hook' now makes the hook local if called with a non-nil LOCAL arg.
7195 ** The treatment of non-ASCII characters in search ranges has changed.
7196 If a range in a regular expression or the arg of
7197 skip-chars-forward/backward starts with a unibyte character C and ends
7198 with a multibyte character C2, the range is divided into two: one is
7199 C..?\377, the other is C1..C2, where C1 is the first character of C2's
7202 ** The new function `display-message-or-buffer' displays a message in
7203 the echo area or pops up a buffer, depending on the length of the
7206 ** The new macro `with-auto-compression-mode' allows evaluating an
7207 expression with auto-compression-mode enabled.
7209 ** In image specifications, `:heuristic-mask' has been replaced
7210 with the more general `:mask' property.
7212 ** Image specifications accept more `:conversion's.
7214 ** A `?' can be used in a symbol name without escaping it with a
7217 ** Reading from the mini-buffer now reads from standard input if Emacs
7218 is running in batch mode. For example,
7220 (message "%s" (read t))
7222 will read a Lisp expression from standard input and print the result
7225 ** The argument of `down-list', `backward-up-list', `up-list',
7226 `kill-sexp', `backward-kill-sexp' and `mark-sexp' is now optional.
7228 ** If `display-buffer-reuse-frames' is set, function `display-buffer'
7229 will raise frames displaying a buffer, instead of creating a new
7232 ** Two new functions for removing elements from lists/sequences
7235 - Function: remove ELT SEQ
7237 Return a copy of SEQ with all occurrences of ELT removed. SEQ must be
7238 a list, vector, or string. The comparison is done with `equal'.
7240 - Function: remq ELT LIST
7242 Return a copy of LIST with all occurrences of ELT removed. The
7243 comparison is done with `eq'.
7245 ** The function `delete' now also works with vectors and strings.
7247 ** The meaning of the `:weakness WEAK' argument of make-hash-table
7248 has been changed: WEAK can now have new values `key-or-value' and
7249 `key-and-value', in addition to `nil', `key', `value', and `t'.
7251 ** Function `aset' stores any multibyte character in any string
7252 without signaling "Attempt to change char length of a string". It may
7253 convert a unibyte string to multibyte if necessary.
7255 ** The value of the `help-echo' text property is called as a function
7256 or evaluated, if it is not a string already, to obtain a help string.
7258 ** Function `make-obsolete' now has an optional arg to say when the
7259 function was declared obsolete.
7261 ** Function `plist-member' is renamed from `widget-plist-member' (which is
7262 retained as an alias).
7264 ** Easy-menu's :filter now takes the unconverted form of the menu and
7265 the result is automatically converted to Emacs' form.
7267 ** The new function `window-list' has been defined
7269 - Function: window-list &optional FRAME WINDOW MINIBUF
7271 Return a list of windows on FRAME, starting with WINDOW. FRAME nil or
7272 omitted means use the selected frame. WINDOW nil or omitted means use
7273 the selected window. MINIBUF t means include the minibuffer window,
7274 even if it isn't active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means include the
7275 minibuffer window only if it's active. MINIBUF neither nil nor t
7276 means never include the minibuffer window.
7278 ** There's a new function `get-window-with-predicate' defined as follows
7280 - Function: get-window-with-predicate PREDICATE &optional MINIBUF ALL-FRAMES DEFAULT
7282 Return a window satisfying PREDICATE.
7284 This function cycles through all visible windows using `walk-windows',
7285 calling PREDICATE on each one. PREDICATE is called with a window as
7286 argument. The first window for which PREDICATE returns a non-nil
7287 value is returned. If no window satisfies PREDICATE, DEFAULT is
7290 Optional second arg MINIBUF t means count the minibuffer window even
7291 if not active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means count the minibuffer iff
7292 it is active. MINIBUF neither t nor nil means not to count the
7293 minibuffer even if it is active.
7295 Several frames may share a single minibuffer; if the minibuffer
7296 counts, all windows on all frames that share that minibuffer count
7297 too. Therefore, if you are using a separate minibuffer frame
7298 and the minibuffer is active and MINIBUF says it counts,
7299 `walk-windows' includes the windows in the frame from which you
7300 entered the minibuffer, as well as the minibuffer window.
7302 ALL-FRAMES is the optional third argument.
7303 ALL-FRAMES nil or omitted means cycle within the frames as specified above.
7304 ALL-FRAMES = `visible' means include windows on all visible frames.
7305 ALL-FRAMES = 0 means include windows on all visible and iconified frames.
7306 ALL-FRAMES = t means include windows on all frames including invisible frames.
7307 If ALL-FRAMES is a frame, it means include windows on that frame.
7308 Anything else means restrict to the selected frame.
7310 ** The function `single-key-description' now encloses function key and
7311 event names in angle brackets. When called with a second optional
7312 argument non-nil, angle brackets won't be printed.
7314 ** If the variable `message-truncate-lines' is bound to t around a
7315 call to `message', the echo area will not be resized to display that
7316 message; it will be truncated instead, as it was done in 20.x.
7317 Default value is nil.
7319 ** The user option `line-number-display-limit' can now be set to nil,
7322 ** The new user option `line-number-display-limit-width' controls
7323 the maximum width of lines in a buffer for which Emacs displays line
7324 numbers in the mode line. The default is 200.
7326 ** `select-safe-coding-system' now also checks the most preferred
7327 coding-system if buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and
7328 DEFAULT-CODING-SYSTEM is not specified,
7330 ** The function `subr-arity' provides information about the argument
7331 list of a primitive.
7333 ** `where-is-internal' now also accepts a list of keymaps.
7335 ** The text property `keymap' specifies a key map which overrides the
7336 buffer's local map and the map specified by the `local-map' property.
7337 This is probably what most current uses of `local-map' want, rather
7338 than replacing the local map.
7340 ** The obsolete variables `before-change-function' and
7341 `after-change-function' are no longer acted upon and have been
7342 removed. Use `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions'
7345 ** The function `apropos-mode' runs the hook `apropos-mode-hook'.
7347 ** `concat' no longer accepts individual integer arguments,
7348 as promised long ago.
7350 ** The new function `float-time' returns the current time as a float.
7352 ** The new variable auto-coding-regexp-alist specifies coding systems
7353 for reading specific files, analogous to auto-coding-alist, but
7354 patterns are checked against file contents instead of file names.
7357 * Lisp changes in Emacs 21.1 (see following page for display-related features)
7359 ** The new package rx.el provides an alternative sexp notation for
7360 regular expressions.
7362 - Function: rx-to-string SEXP
7364 Translate SEXP into a regular expression in string notation.
7368 Translate SEXP into a regular expression in string notation.
7370 The following are valid subforms of regular expressions in sexp
7374 matches string STRING literally.
7377 matches character CHAR literally.
7380 matches any character except a newline.
7383 matches any character
7386 matches any character in SET. SET may be a character or string.
7387 Ranges of characters can be specified as `A-Z' in strings.
7393 matches any character not in SET
7396 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of a line
7397 in the text being matched
7400 is similar to `line-start' but matches only at the end of a line
7403 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of the
7404 string being matched against.
7407 matches the empty string, but only at the end of the
7408 string being matched against.
7411 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of the
7412 buffer being matched against.
7415 matches the empty string, but only at the end of the
7416 buffer being matched against.
7419 matches the empty string, but only at point.
7422 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or end of a
7426 matches the empty string, but only at the end of a word.
7429 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or end of a
7432 `(not word-boundary)'
7433 matches the empty string, but not at the beginning or end of a
7437 matches 0 through 9.
7440 matches ASCII control characters.
7443 matches 0 through 9, a through f and A through F.
7446 matches space and tab only.
7449 matches graphic characters--everything except ASCII control chars,
7453 matches printing characters--everything except ASCII control chars
7457 matches letters and digits. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
7458 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
7461 matches letters. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
7462 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
7465 matches ASCII (unibyte) characters.
7468 matches non-ASCII (multibyte) characters.
7471 matches anything lower-case.
7474 matches anything upper-case.
7477 matches punctuation. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
7478 it matches anything that has non-word syntax.)
7481 matches anything that has whitespace syntax.
7484 matches anything that has word syntax.
7487 matches a character with syntax SYNTAX. SYNTAX must be one
7488 of the following symbols.
7490 `whitespace' (\\s- in string notation)
7491 `punctuation' (\\s.)
7494 `open-parenthesis' (\\s()
7495 `close-parenthesis' (\\s))
7496 `expression-prefix' (\\s')
7497 `string-quote' (\\s\")
7498 `paired-delimiter' (\\s$)
7500 `character-quote' (\\s/)
7501 `comment-start' (\\s<)
7502 `comment-end' (\\s>)
7504 `(not (syntax SYNTAX))'
7505 matches a character that has not syntax SYNTAX.
7507 `(category CATEGORY)'
7508 matches a character with category CATEGORY. CATEGORY must be
7509 either a character to use for C, or one of the following symbols.
7511 `consonant' (\\c0 in string notation)
7513 `upper-diacritical-mark' (\\c2)
7514 `lower-diacritical-mark' (\\c3)
7518 `vowel-modifying-diacritical-mark' (\\c7)
7520 `semivowel-lower' (\\c9)
7521 `not-at-end-of-line' (\\c<)
7522 `not-at-beginning-of-line' (\\c>)
7523 `alpha-numeric-two-byte' (\\cA)
7524 `chinse-two-byte' (\\cC)
7525 `greek-two-byte' (\\cG)
7526 `japanese-hiragana-two-byte' (\\cH)
7527 `indian-two-byte' (\\cI)
7528 `japanese-katakana-two-byte' (\\cK)
7529 `korean-hangul-two-byte' (\\cN)
7530 `cyrillic-two-byte' (\\cY)
7539 `japanese-katakana' (\\ck)
7543 `japanese-roman' (\\cr)
7550 `(not (category CATEGORY))'
7551 matches a character that has not category CATEGORY.
7553 `(and SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
7554 matches what SEXP1 matches, followed by what SEXP2 matches, etc.
7556 `(submatch SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
7557 like `and', but makes the match accessible with `match-end',
7558 `match-beginning', and `match-string'.
7560 `(group SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
7561 another name for `submatch'.
7563 `(or SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
7564 matches anything that matches SEXP1 or SEXP2, etc. If all
7565 args are strings, use `regexp-opt' to optimize the resulting
7568 `(minimal-match SEXP)'
7569 produce a non-greedy regexp for SEXP. Normally, regexps matching
7570 zero or more occurrences of something are \"greedy\" in that they
7571 match as much as they can, as long as the overall regexp can
7572 still match. A non-greedy regexp matches as little as possible.
7574 `(maximal-match SEXP)'
7575 produce a greedy regexp for SEXP. This is the default.
7577 `(zero-or-more SEXP)'
7578 matches zero or more occurrences of what SEXP matches.
7581 like `zero-or-more'.
7584 like `zero-or-more', but always produces a greedy regexp.
7587 like `zero-or-more', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
7589 `(one-or-more SEXP)'
7590 matches one or more occurrences of A.
7596 like `one-or-more', but always produces a greedy regexp.
7599 like `one-or-more', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
7601 `(zero-or-one SEXP)'
7602 matches zero or one occurrences of A.
7608 like `zero-or-one', but always produces a greedy regexp.
7611 like `zero-or-one', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
7614 matches N occurrences of what SEXP matches.
7617 matches N to M occurrences of what SEXP matches.
7620 evaluate FORM and insert result. If result is a string,
7624 include REGEXP in string notation in the result.
7626 *** The features `md5' and `overlay' are now provided by default.
7628 *** The special form `save-restriction' now works correctly even if the
7629 buffer is widened inside the save-restriction and changes made outside
7630 the original restriction. Previously, doing this would cause the saved
7631 restriction to be restored incorrectly.
7633 *** The functions `find-charset-region' and `find-charset-string' include
7634 `eight-bit-control' and/or `eight-bit-graphic' in the returned list
7635 when they find 8-bit characters. Previously, they included `ascii' in a
7636 multibyte buffer and `unknown' in a unibyte buffer.
7638 *** The functions `set-buffer-multibyte', `string-as-multibyte' and
7639 `string-as-unibyte' change the byte sequence of a buffer or a string
7640 if it contains a character from the `eight-bit-control' character set.
7642 *** The handling of multibyte sequences in a multibyte buffer is
7643 changed. Previously, a byte sequence matching the pattern
7644 [\200-\237][\240-\377]+ was interpreted as a single character
7645 regardless of the length of the trailing bytes [\240-\377]+. Thus, if
7646 the sequence was longer than what the leading byte indicated, the
7647 extra trailing bytes were ignored by Lisp functions. Now such extra
7648 bytes are independent 8-bit characters belonging to the charset
7651 ** Fontsets are now implemented using char-tables.
7653 A fontset can now be specified for each independent character, for
7654 a group of characters or for a character set rather than just for a
7655 character set as previously.
7657 *** The arguments of the function `set-fontset-font' are changed.
7658 They are NAME, CHARACTER, FONTNAME, and optional FRAME. The function
7659 modifies fontset NAME to use FONTNAME for CHARACTER.
7661 CHARACTER may be a cons (FROM . TO), where FROM and TO are non-generic
7662 characters. In that case FONTNAME is used for all characters in the
7663 range FROM and TO (inclusive). CHARACTER may be a charset. In that
7664 case FONTNAME is used for all character in the charset.
7666 FONTNAME may be a cons (FAMILY . REGISTRY), where FAMILY is the family
7667 name of a font and REGISTRY is a registry name of a font.
7669 *** Variable x-charset-registry has been deleted. The default charset
7670 registries of character sets are set in the default fontset
7673 *** The function `create-fontset-from-fontset-spec' ignores the second
7674 argument STYLE-VARIANT. It never creates style-variant fontsets.
7676 ** The method of composing characters is changed. Now character
7677 composition is done by a special text property `composition' in
7678 buffers and strings.
7680 *** Charset composition is deleted. Emacs never creates a `composite
7681 character' which is an independent character with a unique character
7682 code. Thus the following functions handling `composite characters'
7683 have been deleted: composite-char-component,
7684 composite-char-component-count, composite-char-composition-rule,
7685 composite-char-composition-rule and decompose-composite-char delete.
7686 The variables leading-code-composition and min-composite-char have
7689 *** Three more glyph reference points are added. They can be used to
7690 specify a composition rule. See the documentation of the variable
7691 `reference-point-alist' for more detail.
7693 *** The function `compose-region' takes new arguments COMPONENTS and
7694 MODIFICATION-FUNC. With COMPONENTS, you can specify not only a
7695 composition rule but also characters to be composed. Such characters
7696 may differ between buffer and string text.
7698 *** The function `compose-string' takes new arguments START, END,
7699 COMPONENTS, and MODIFICATION-FUNC.
7701 *** The function `compose-string' puts text property `composition'
7702 directly on the argument STRING instead of returning a new string.
7703 Likewise, the function `decompose-string' just removes text property
7704 `composition' from STRING.
7706 *** The new function `find-composition' returns information about
7707 a composition at a specified position in a buffer or a string.
7709 *** The function `decompose-composite-char' is now labeled as
7712 ** The new coding system `mac-roman' is primarily intended for use on
7713 the Macintosh but may be used generally for Macintosh-encoded text.
7715 ** The new character sets `mule-unicode-0100-24ff',
7716 `mule-unicode-2500-33ff', and `mule-unicode-e000-ffff' have been
7717 introduced for Unicode characters in the range U+0100..U+24FF,
7718 U+2500..U+33FF, U+E000..U+FFFF respectively.
7720 Note that the character sets are not yet unified in Emacs, so
7721 characters which belong to charsets such as Latin-2, Greek, Hebrew,
7722 etc. and the same characters in the `mule-unicode-*' charsets are
7723 different characters, as far as Emacs is concerned. For example, text
7724 which includes Unicode characters from the Latin-2 locale cannot be
7725 encoded by Emacs with ISO 8859-2 coding system.
7727 ** The new coding system `mule-utf-8' has been added.
7728 It provides limited support for decoding/encoding UTF-8 text. For
7729 details, please see the documentation string of this coding system.
7731 ** The new character sets `japanese-jisx0213-1' and
7732 `japanese-jisx0213-2' have been introduced for the new Japanese
7733 standard JIS X 0213 Plane 1 and Plane 2.
7735 ** The new character sets `latin-iso8859-14' and `latin-iso8859-15'
7736 have been introduced.
7738 ** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
7739 have been introduced for 8-bit characters in the ranges 0x80..0x9F and
7740 0xA0..0xFF respectively. Note that the multibyte representation of
7741 eight-bit-control is never exposed; this leads to an exception in the
7742 emacs-mule coding system, which encodes everything else to the
7743 buffer/string internal representation. Note that to search for
7744 eight-bit-graphic characters in a multibyte buffer, the search string
7745 must be multibyte, otherwise such characters will be converted to
7746 their multibyte equivalent.
7748 ** If the APPEND argument of `write-region' is an integer, it seeks to
7749 that offset in the file before writing.
7751 ** The function `add-minor-mode' has been added for convenience and
7752 compatibility with XEmacs (and is used internally by define-minor-mode).
7754 ** The function `shell-command' now sets the default directory of the
7755 `*Shell Command Output*' buffer to the default directory of the buffer
7756 from which the command was issued.
7758 ** The functions `query-replace', `query-replace-regexp',
7759 `query-replace-regexp-eval' `map-query-replace-regexp',
7760 `replace-string', `replace-regexp', and `perform-replace' take two
7761 additional optional arguments START and END that specify the region to
7764 ** The new function `count-screen-lines' is a more flexible alternative
7765 to `window-buffer-height'.
7767 - Function: count-screen-lines &optional BEG END COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE WINDOW
7769 Return the number of screen lines in the region between BEG and END.
7770 The number of screen lines may be different from the number of actual
7771 lines, due to line breaking, display table, etc.
7773 Optional arguments BEG and END default to `point-min' and `point-max'
7776 If region ends with a newline, ignore it unless optional third argument
7777 COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE is non-nil.
7779 The optional fourth argument WINDOW specifies the window used for
7780 obtaining parameters such as width, horizontal scrolling, and so
7781 on. The default is to use the selected window's parameters.
7783 Like `vertical-motion', `count-screen-lines' always uses the current
7784 buffer, regardless of which buffer is displayed in WINDOW. This makes
7785 possible to use `count-screen-lines' in any buffer, whether or not it
7786 is currently displayed in some window.
7788 ** The new function `mapc' is like `mapcar' but doesn't collect the
7789 argument function's results.
7791 ** The functions base64-decode-region and base64-decode-string now
7792 signal an error instead of returning nil if decoding fails. Also,
7793 `base64-decode-string' now always returns a unibyte string (in Emacs
7794 20, it returned a multibyte string when the result was a valid multibyte
7797 ** The function sendmail-user-agent-compose now recognizes a `body'
7798 header in the list of headers passed to it.
7800 ** The new function member-ignore-case works like `member', but
7801 ignores differences in case and text representation.
7803 ** The buffer-local variable cursor-type can be used to specify the
7804 cursor to use in windows displaying a buffer. Values are interpreted
7807 t use the cursor specified for the frame (default)
7808 nil don't display a cursor
7809 `bar' display a bar cursor with default width
7810 (bar . WIDTH) display a bar cursor with width WIDTH
7811 others display a box cursor.
7813 ** The variable open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start controls whether
7814 an open parenthesis in column 0 is considered to be the start of a
7815 defun. If set, the default, it is considered a defun start. If not
7816 set, an open parenthesis in column 0 has no special meaning.
7818 ** The new function `string-to-syntax' can be used to translate syntax
7819 specifications in string form as accepted by `modify-syntax-entry' to
7820 the cons-cell form that is used for the values of the `syntax-table'
7821 text property, and in `font-lock-syntactic-keywords'.
7825 (string-to-syntax "()")
7828 ** Emacs' reader supports CL read syntax for integers in bases
7831 *** `#BINTEGER' or `#bINTEGER' reads INTEGER in binary (radix 2).
7832 INTEGER optionally contains a sign.
7839 *** `#OINTEGER' or `#oINTEGER' reads INTEGER in octal (radix 8).
7844 *** `#XINTEGER' or `#xINTEGER' reads INTEGER in hexadecimal (radix 16).
7849 *** `#RADIXrINTEGER' reads INTEGER in radix RADIX, 2 <= RADIX <= 36.
7856 ** The function `documentation-property' now evaluates the value of
7857 the given property to obtain a string if it doesn't refer to etc/DOC
7860 ** If called for a symbol, the function `documentation' now looks for
7861 a `function-documentation' property of that symbol. If it has a non-nil
7862 value, the documentation is taken from that value. If the value is
7863 not a string, it is evaluated to obtain a string.
7865 ** The last argument of `define-key-after' defaults to t for convenience.
7867 ** The new function `replace-regexp-in-string' replaces all matches
7868 for a regexp in a string.
7870 ** `mouse-position' now runs the abnormal hook
7871 `mouse-position-function'.
7873 ** The function string-to-number now returns a float for numbers
7874 that don't fit into a Lisp integer.
7876 ** The variable keyword-symbols-constants-flag has been removed.
7877 Keywords are now always considered constants.
7879 ** The new function `delete-and-extract-region' deletes text and
7882 ** The function `clear-this-command-keys' now also clears the vector
7883 returned by function `recent-keys'.
7885 ** Variables `beginning-of-defun-function' and `end-of-defun-function'
7886 can be used to define handlers for the functions that find defuns.
7887 Major modes can define these locally instead of rebinding C-M-a
7888 etc. if the normal conventions for defuns are not appropriate for the
7891 ** easy-mmode-define-minor-mode now takes an additional BODY argument
7892 and is renamed `define-minor-mode'.
7894 ** If an abbrev has a hook function which is a symbol, and that symbol
7895 has a non-nil `no-self-insert' property, the return value of the hook
7896 function specifies whether an expansion has been done or not. If it
7897 returns nil, abbrev-expand also returns nil, meaning "no expansion has
7900 When abbrev expansion is done by typing a self-inserting character,
7901 and the abbrev has a hook with the `no-self-insert' property, and the
7902 hook function returns non-nil meaning expansion has been done,
7903 then the self-inserting character is not inserted.
7905 ** The function `intern-soft' now accepts a symbol as first argument.
7906 In this case, that exact symbol is looked up in the specified obarray,
7907 and the function's value is nil if it is not found.
7909 ** The new macro `with-syntax-table' can be used to evaluate forms
7910 with the syntax table of the current buffer temporarily set to a
7913 (with-syntax-table TABLE &rest BODY)
7915 Evaluate BODY with syntax table of current buffer set to a copy of
7916 TABLE. The current syntax table is saved, BODY is evaluated, and the
7917 saved table is restored, even in case of an abnormal exit. Value is
7920 ** Regular expressions now support intervals \{n,m\} as well as
7921 Perl's shy-groups \(?:...\) and non-greedy *? +? and ?? operators.
7922 Also back-references like \2 are now considered as an error if the
7923 corresponding subgroup does not exist (or is not closed yet).
7924 Previously it would have been silently turned into `2' (ignoring the `\').
7926 ** The optional argument BUFFER of function file-local-copy has been
7927 removed since it wasn't used by anything.
7929 ** The file name argument of function `file-locked-p' is now required
7930 instead of being optional.
7932 ** The new built-in error `text-read-only' is signaled when trying to
7933 modify read-only text.
7935 ** New functions and variables for locales.
7937 The new variable `locale-coding-system' specifies how to encode and
7938 decode strings passed to low-level message functions like strerror and
7939 time functions like strftime. The new variables
7940 `system-messages-locale' and `system-time-locale' give the system
7941 locales to be used when invoking these two types of functions.
7943 The new function `set-locale-environment' sets the language
7944 environment, preferred coding system, and locale coding system from
7945 the system locale as specified by the LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG
7946 environment variables. Normally, it is invoked during startup and need
7947 not be invoked thereafter. It uses the new variables
7948 `locale-language-names', `locale-charset-language-names', and
7949 `locale-preferred-coding-systems' to make its decisions.
7951 ** syntax tables now understand nested comments.
7952 To declare a comment syntax as allowing nesting, just add an `n'
7953 modifier to either of the characters of the comment end and the comment
7956 ** The function `pixmap-spec-p' has been renamed `bitmap-spec-p'
7957 because `bitmap' is more in line with the usual X terminology.
7959 ** New function `propertize'
7961 The new function `propertize' can be used to conveniently construct
7962 strings with text properties.
7964 - Function: propertize STRING &rest PROPERTIES
7966 Value is a copy of STRING with text properties assigned as specified
7967 by PROPERTIES. PROPERTIES is a sequence of pairs PROPERTY VALUE, with
7968 PROPERTY being the name of a text property and VALUE being the
7969 specified value of that property. Example:
7971 (propertize "foo" 'face 'bold 'read-only t)
7973 ** push and pop macros.
7975 Simple versions of the push and pop macros of Common Lisp
7976 are now defined in Emacs Lisp. These macros allow only symbols
7977 as the place that holds the list to be changed.
7979 (push NEWELT LISTNAME) add NEWELT to the front of LISTNAME's value.
7980 (pop LISTNAME) return first elt of LISTNAME, and remove it
7981 (thus altering the value of LISTNAME).
7983 ** New dolist and dotimes macros.
7985 Simple versions of the dolist and dotimes macros of Common Lisp
7986 are now defined in Emacs Lisp.
7988 (dolist (VAR LIST [RESULT]) BODY...)
7989 Execute body once for each element of LIST,
7990 using the variable VAR to hold the current element.
7991 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
7993 (dotimes (VAR COUNT [RESULT]) BODY...)
7994 Execute BODY with VAR bound to successive integers running from 0,
7995 inclusive, to COUNT, exclusive.
7996 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
7998 ** Regular expressions now support Posix character classes such as
7999 [:alpha:], [:space:] and so on. These must be used within a character
8000 class--for instance, [-[:digit:].+] matches digits or a period
8003 [:digit:] matches 0 through 9
8004 [:cntrl:] matches ASCII control characters
8005 [:xdigit:] matches 0 through 9, a through f and A through F.
8006 [:blank:] matches space and tab only
8007 [:graph:] matches graphic characters--everything except ASCII control chars,
8009 [:print:] matches printing characters--everything except ASCII control chars
8011 [:alnum:] matches letters and digits.
8012 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
8013 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
8014 [:alpha:] matches letters.
8015 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
8016 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
8017 [:ascii:] matches ASCII (unibyte) characters.
8018 [:nonascii:] matches non-ASCII (multibyte) characters.
8019 [:lower:] matches anything lower-case.
8020 [:punct:] matches punctuation.
8021 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
8022 it matches anything that has non-word syntax.)
8023 [:space:] matches anything that has whitespace syntax.
8024 [:upper:] matches anything upper-case.
8025 [:word:] matches anything that has word syntax.
8027 ** Emacs now has built-in hash tables.
8029 The following functions are defined for hash tables:
8031 - Function: make-hash-table ARGS
8033 The argument list ARGS consists of keyword/argument pairs. All arguments
8034 are optional. The following arguments are defined:
8038 TEST must be a symbol specifying how to compare keys. Default is `eql'.
8039 Predefined are `eq', `eql' and `equal'. If TEST is not predefined,
8040 it must have been defined with `define-hash-table-test'.
8044 SIZE must be an integer > 0 giving a hint to the implementation how
8045 many elements will be put in the hash table. Default size is 65.
8047 :rehash-size REHASH-SIZE
8049 REHASH-SIZE specifies by how much to grow a hash table once it becomes
8050 full. If REHASH-SIZE is an integer, add that to the hash table's old
8051 size to get the new size. Otherwise, REHASH-SIZE must be a float >
8052 1.0, and the new size is computed by multiplying REHASH-SIZE with the
8053 old size. Default rehash size is 1.5.
8055 :rehash-threshold THRESHOLD
8057 THRESHOLD must be a float > 0 and <= 1.0 specifying when to resize the
8058 hash table. It is resized when the ratio of (number of entries) /
8059 (size of hash table) is >= THRESHOLD. Default threshold is 0.8.
8063 WEAK must be either nil, one of the symbols `key, `value',
8064 `key-or-value', `key-and-value', or t, meaning the same as
8065 `key-and-value'. Entries are removed from weak tables during garbage
8066 collection if their key and/or value are not referenced elsewhere
8067 outside of the hash table. Default are non-weak hash tables.
8069 - Function: makehash &optional TEST
8071 Similar to make-hash-table, but only TEST can be specified.
8073 - Function: hash-table-p TABLE
8075 Returns non-nil if TABLE is a hash table object.
8077 - Function: copy-hash-table TABLE
8079 Returns a copy of TABLE. Only the table itself is copied, keys and
8082 - Function: hash-table-count TABLE
8084 Returns the number of entries in TABLE.
8086 - Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
8088 Returns the rehash size of TABLE.
8090 - Function: hash-table-rehash-threshold TABLE
8092 Returns the rehash threshold of TABLE.
8094 - Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
8096 Returns the size of TABLE.
8098 - Function: hash-table-test TABLE
8100 Returns the test TABLE uses to compare keys.
8102 - Function: hash-table-weakness TABLE
8104 Returns the weakness specified for TABLE.
8106 - Function: clrhash TABLE
8110 - Function: gethash KEY TABLE &optional DEFAULT
8112 Look up KEY in TABLE and return its associated VALUE or DEFAULT if
8115 - Function: puthash KEY VALUE TABLE
8117 Associate KEY with VALUE in TABLE. If KEY is already associated with
8118 another value, replace the old value with VALUE.
8120 - Function: remhash KEY TABLE
8122 Remove KEY from TABLE if it is there.
8124 - Function: maphash FUNCTION TABLE
8126 Call FUNCTION for all elements in TABLE. FUNCTION must take two
8127 arguments KEY and VALUE.
8129 - Function: sxhash OBJ
8131 Return a hash code for Lisp object OBJ.
8133 - Function: define-hash-table-test NAME TEST-FN HASH-FN
8135 Define a new hash table test named NAME. If NAME is specified as
8136 a test in `make-hash-table', the table created will use TEST-FN for
8137 comparing keys, and HASH-FN to compute hash codes for keys. Test
8138 and hash function are stored as symbol property `hash-table-test'
8139 of NAME with a value of (TEST-FN HASH-FN).
8141 TEST-FN must take two arguments and return non-nil if they are the same.
8143 HASH-FN must take one argument and return an integer that is the hash
8144 code of the argument. The function should use the whole range of
8145 integer values for hash code computation, including negative integers.
8147 Example: The following creates a hash table whose keys are supposed to
8148 be strings that are compared case-insensitively.
8150 (defun case-fold-string= (a b)
8151 (compare-strings a nil nil b nil nil t))
8153 (defun case-fold-string-hash (a)
8154 (sxhash (upcase a)))
8156 (define-hash-table-test 'case-fold 'case-fold-string=
8157 'case-fold-string-hash))
8159 (make-hash-table :test 'case-fold)
8161 ** The Lisp reader handles circular structure.
8163 It now works to use the #N= and #N# constructs to represent
8164 circular structures. For example, #1=(a . #1#) represents
8165 a cons cell which is its own cdr.
8167 ** The Lisp printer handles circular structure.
8169 If you bind print-circle to a non-nil value, the Lisp printer outputs
8170 #N= and #N# constructs to represent circular and shared structure.
8172 ** If the second argument to `move-to-column' is anything but nil or
8173 t, that means replace a tab with spaces if necessary to reach the
8174 specified column, but do not add spaces at the end of the line if it
8175 is too short to reach that column.
8177 ** perform-replace has a new feature: the REPLACEMENTS argument may
8178 now be a cons cell (FUNCTION . DATA). This means to call FUNCTION
8179 after each match to get the replacement text. FUNCTION is called with
8180 two arguments: DATA, and the number of replacements already made.
8182 If the FROM-STRING contains any upper-case letters,
8183 perform-replace also turns off `case-fold-search' temporarily
8184 and inserts the replacement text without altering case in it.
8186 ** The function buffer-size now accepts an optional argument
8187 to specify which buffer to return the size of.
8189 ** The calendar motion commands now run the normal hook
8190 calendar-move-hook after moving point.
8192 ** The new variable small-temporary-file-directory specifies a
8193 directory to use for creating temporary files that are likely to be
8194 small. (Certain Emacs features use this directory.) If
8195 small-temporary-file-directory is nil, they use
8196 temporary-file-directory instead.
8198 ** The variable `inhibit-modification-hooks', if non-nil, inhibits all
8199 the hooks that track changes in the buffer. This affects
8200 `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions', as well as
8201 hooks attached to text properties and overlay properties.
8203 ** assq-delete-all is a new function that deletes all the
8204 elements of an alist which have a car `eq' to a particular value.
8206 ** make-temp-file provides a more reliable way to create a temporary file.
8208 make-temp-file is used like make-temp-name, except that it actually
8209 creates the file before it returns. This prevents a timing error,
8210 ensuring that no other job can use the same name for a temporary file.
8212 ** New exclusive-open feature in `write-region'
8214 The optional seventh arg is now called MUSTBENEW. If non-nil, it insists
8215 on a check for an existing file with the same name. If MUSTBENEW
8216 is `excl', that means to get an error if the file already exists;
8217 never overwrite. If MUSTBENEW is neither nil nor `excl', that means
8218 ask for confirmation before overwriting, but do go ahead and
8219 overwrite the file if the user gives confirmation.
8221 If the MUSTBENEW argument in `write-region' is `excl',
8222 that means to use a special feature in the `open' system call
8223 to get an error if the file exists at that time.
8224 The error reported is `file-already-exists'.
8226 ** Function `format' now handles text properties.
8228 Text properties of the format string are applied to the result string.
8229 If the result string is longer than the format string, text properties
8230 ending at the end of the format string are extended to the end of the
8233 Text properties from string arguments are applied to the result
8234 string where arguments appear in the result string.
8238 (let ((s1 "hello, %s")
8240 (put-text-property 0 (length s1) 'face 'bold s1)
8241 (put-text-property 0 (length s2) 'face 'italic s2)
8244 results in a bold-face string with an italic `world' at the end.
8246 ** Messages can now be displayed with text properties.
8248 Text properties are handled as described above for function `format'.
8249 The following example displays a bold-face message with an italic
8252 (let ((msg "hello, %s!")
8254 (put-text-property 0 (length msg) 'face 'bold msg)
8255 (put-text-property 0 (length arg) 'face 'italic arg)
8260 Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and the free BSDs
8261 (Voxware driver and native BSD driver, aka as Luigi's driver).
8263 Currently supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio
8264 (*.au). You must configure Emacs with the option `--with-sound=yes'
8265 to enable sound support.
8267 Sound files can be played by calling (play-sound SOUND). SOUND is a
8268 list of the form `(sound PROPERTY...)'. The function is only defined
8269 when sound support is present for the system on which Emacs runs. The
8270 functions runs `play-sound-functions' with one argument which is the
8271 sound to play, before playing the sound.
8273 The following sound properties are supported:
8277 FILE is a file name. If FILE isn't an absolute name, it will be
8278 searched relative to `data-directory'.
8282 DATA is a string containing sound data. Either :file or :data
8283 may be present, but not both.
8287 VOLUME must be an integer in the range 0..100 or a float in the range
8288 0..1. This property is optional.
8292 DEVICE is a string specifying the system device on which to play the
8293 sound. The default device is system-dependent.
8295 Other properties are ignored.
8297 An alternative interface is called as
8298 (play-sound-file FILE &optional VOLUME DEVICE).
8300 ** `multimedia' is a new Finder keyword and Custom group.
8302 ** keywordp is a new predicate to test efficiently for an object being
8305 ** Changes to garbage collection
8307 *** The function garbage-collect now additionally returns the number
8308 of live and free strings.
8310 *** There is a new variable `strings-consed' holding the number of
8311 strings that have been consed so far.
8314 * Lisp-level Display features added after release 2.6 of the Emacs
8317 ** The user-option `resize-mini-windows' controls how Emacs resizes
8320 ** The function `pos-visible-in-window-p' now has a third optional
8321 argument, PARTIALLY. If a character is only partially visible, nil is
8322 returned, unless PARTIALLY is non-nil.
8324 ** On window systems, `glyph-table' is no longer used.
8326 ** Help strings in menu items are now used to provide `help-echo' text.
8328 ** The function `image-size' can be used to determine the size of an
8331 - Function: image-size SPEC &optional PIXELS FRAME
8333 Return the size of an image as a pair (WIDTH . HEIGHT).
8335 SPEC is an image specification. PIXELS non-nil means return sizes
8336 measured in pixels, otherwise return sizes measured in canonical
8337 character units (fractions of the width/height of the frame's default
8338 font). FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed.
8339 FRAME nil or omitted means use the selected frame.
8341 ** The function `image-mask-p' can be used to determine if an image
8344 - Function: image-mask-p SPEC &optional FRAME
8346 Return t if image SPEC has a mask bitmap.
8347 FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed. FRAME nil
8348 or omitted means use the selected frame.
8350 ** The function `find-image' can be used to find a usable image
8351 satisfying one of a list of specifications.
8353 ** The STRING argument of `put-image' and `insert-image' is now
8356 ** Image specifications may contain the property `:ascent center' (see
8360 * New Lisp-level Display features in Emacs 21.1
8362 ** The function tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors can be used
8363 to make Emacs avoid displaying text with bold black foreground on TTYs.
8365 Some terminals, notably PC consoles, emulate bold text by displaying
8366 text in brighter colors. On such a console, a bold black foreground
8367 is displayed in a gray color. If this turns out to be hard to read on
8368 your monitor---the problem occurred with the mode line on
8369 laptops---you can instruct Emacs to ignore the text's boldness, and to
8370 just display it black instead.
8372 This situation can't be detected automatically. You will have to put
8375 (tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors t)
8379 ** New face implementation.
8381 Emacs faces have been reimplemented from scratch. They don't use XLFD
8382 font names anymore and face merging now works as expected.
8386 Each face can specify the following display attributes:
8388 1. Font family or fontset alias name.
8390 2. Relative proportionate width, aka character set width or set
8391 width (swidth), e.g. `semi-compressed'.
8393 3. Font height in 1/10pt
8395 4. Font weight, e.g. `bold'.
8397 5. Font slant, e.g. `italic'.
8399 6. Foreground color.
8401 7. Background color.
8403 8. Whether or not characters should be underlined, and in what color.
8405 9. Whether or not characters should be displayed in inverse video.
8407 10. A background stipple, a bitmap.
8409 11. Whether or not characters should be overlined, and in what color.
8411 12. Whether or not characters should be strike-through, and in what
8414 13. Whether or not a box should be drawn around characters, its
8415 color, the width of the box lines, and 3D appearance.
8417 Faces are frame-local by nature because Emacs allows to define the
8418 same named face (face names are symbols) differently for different
8419 frames. Each frame has an alist of face definitions for all named
8420 faces. The value of a named face in such an alist is a Lisp vector
8421 with the symbol `face' in slot 0, and a slot for each of the face
8422 attributes mentioned above.
8424 There is also a global face alist `face-new-frame-defaults'. Face
8425 definitions from this list are used to initialize faces of newly
8428 A face doesn't have to specify all attributes. Those not specified
8429 have a nil value. Faces specifying all attributes are called
8434 The display style of a given character in the text is determined by
8435 combining several faces. This process is called `face merging'. Any
8436 aspect of the display style that isn't specified by overlays or text
8437 properties is taken from the `default' face. Since it is made sure
8438 that the default face is always fully-specified, face merging always
8439 results in a fully-specified face.
8441 *** Face realization.
8443 After all face attributes for a character have been determined by
8444 merging faces of that character, that face is `realized'. The
8445 realization process maps face attributes to what is physically
8446 available on the system where Emacs runs. The result is a `realized
8447 face' in form of an internal structure which is stored in the face
8448 cache of the frame on which it was realized.
8450 Face realization is done in the context of the charset of the
8451 character to display because different fonts and encodings are used
8452 for different charsets. In other words, for characters of different
8453 charsets, different realized faces are needed to display them.
8455 Except for composite characters, faces are always realized for a
8456 specific character set and contain a specific font, even if the face
8457 being realized specifies a fontset. The reason is that the result of
8458 the new font selection stage is better than what can be done with
8459 statically defined font name patterns in fontsets.
8461 In unibyte text, Emacs' charsets aren't applicable; function
8462 `char-charset' reports ASCII for all characters, including those >
8463 0x7f. The X registry and encoding of fonts to use is determined from
8464 the variable `face-default-registry' in this case. The variable is
8465 initialized at Emacs startup time from the font the user specified for
8468 Currently all unibyte text, i.e. all buffers with
8469 `enable-multibyte-characters' nil are displayed with fonts of the same
8470 registry and encoding `face-default-registry'. This is consistent
8471 with the fact that languages can also be set globally, only.
8473 **** Clearing face caches.
8475 The Lisp function `clear-face-cache' can be called to clear face caches
8476 on all frames. If called with a non-nil argument, it will also unload
8481 Font selection tries to find the best available matching font for a
8482 given (charset, face) combination. This is done slightly differently
8483 for faces specifying a fontset, or a font family name.
8485 If the face specifies a fontset name, that fontset determines a
8486 pattern for fonts of the given charset. If the face specifies a font
8487 family, a font pattern is constructed. Charset symbols have a
8488 property `x-charset-registry' for that purpose that maps a charset to
8489 an XLFD registry and encoding in the font pattern constructed.
8491 Available fonts on the system on which Emacs runs are then matched
8492 against the font pattern. The result of font selection is the best
8493 match for the given face attributes in this font list.
8495 Font selection can be influenced by the user.
8497 The user can specify the relative importance he gives the face
8498 attributes width, height, weight, and slant by setting
8499 face-font-selection-order (faces.el) to a list of face attribute
8500 names. The default is (:width :height :weight :slant), and means
8501 that font selection first tries to find a good match for the font
8502 width specified by a face, then---within fonts with that width---tries
8503 to find a best match for the specified font height, etc.
8505 Setting `face-font-family-alternatives' allows the user to specify
8506 alternative font families to try if a family specified by a face
8509 Setting `face-font-registry-alternatives' allows the user to specify
8510 all alternative font registry names to try for a face specifying a
8513 Please note that the interpretations of the above two variables are
8516 Setting face-ignored-fonts allows the user to ignore specific fonts.
8521 Emacs can make use of scalable fonts but doesn't do so by default,
8522 since the use of too many or too big scalable fonts may crash XFree86
8525 To enable scalable font use, set the variable
8526 `scalable-fonts-allowed'. A value of nil, the default, means never use
8527 scalable fonts. A value of t means any scalable font may be used.
8528 Otherwise, the value must be a list of regular expressions. A
8529 scalable font may then be used if it matches a regular expression from
8532 (setq scalable-fonts-allowed '("muleindian-2$"))
8534 allows the use of scalable fonts with registry `muleindian-2'.
8536 *** Functions and variables related to font selection.
8538 - Function: x-family-fonts &optional FAMILY FRAME
8540 Return a list of available fonts of family FAMILY on FRAME. If FAMILY
8541 is omitted or nil, list all families. Otherwise, FAMILY must be a
8542 string, possibly containing wildcards `?' and `*'.
8544 If FRAME is omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Each element of
8545 the result is a vector [FAMILY WIDTH POINT-SIZE WEIGHT SLANT FIXED-P
8546 FULL REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING]. FAMILY is the font family name.
8547 POINT-SIZE is the size of the font in 1/10 pt. WIDTH, WEIGHT, and
8548 SLANT are symbols describing the width, weight and slant of the font.
8549 These symbols are the same as for face attributes. FIXED-P is non-nil
8550 if the font is fixed-pitch. FULL is the full name of the font, and
8551 REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING is a string giving the registry and encoding of
8552 the font. The result list is sorted according to the current setting
8553 of the face font sort order.
8555 - Function: x-font-family-list
8557 Return a list of available font families on FRAME. If FRAME is
8558 omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Value is a list of conses
8559 (FAMILY . FIXED-P) where FAMILY is a font family, and FIXED-P is
8560 non-nil if fonts of that family are fixed-pitch.
8562 - Variable: font-list-limit
8564 Limit for font matching. If an integer > 0, font matching functions
8565 won't load more than that number of fonts when searching for a
8566 matching font. The default is currently 100.
8568 *** Setting face attributes.
8570 For the most part, the new face implementation is interface-compatible
8571 with the old one. Old face attribute related functions are now
8572 implemented in terms of the new functions `set-face-attribute' and
8575 Face attributes are identified by their names which are keyword
8576 symbols. All attributes can be set to `unspecified'.
8578 The following attributes are recognized:
8582 VALUE must be a string specifying the font family, e.g. ``courier'',
8583 or a fontset alias name. If a font family is specified, wild-cards `*'
8584 and `?' are allowed.
8588 VALUE specifies the relative proportionate width of the font to use.
8589 It must be one of the symbols `ultra-condensed', `extra-condensed',
8590 `condensed', `semi-condensed', `normal', `semi-expanded', `expanded',
8591 `extra-expanded', or `ultra-expanded'.
8595 VALUE must be either an integer specifying the height of the font to use
8596 in 1/10 pt, a floating point number specifying the amount by which to
8597 scale any underlying face, or a function, which is called with the old
8598 height (from the underlying face), and should return the new height.
8602 VALUE specifies the weight of the font to use. It must be one of the
8603 symbols `ultra-bold', `extra-bold', `bold', `semi-bold', `normal',
8604 `semi-light', `light', `extra-light', `ultra-light'.
8608 VALUE specifies the slant of the font to use. It must be one of the
8609 symbols `italic', `oblique', `normal', `reverse-italic', or
8612 `:foreground', `:background'
8614 VALUE must be a color name, a string.
8618 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be underlined. If
8619 VALUE is t, underline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is
8620 a string, underline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly
8625 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be overlined. If
8626 VALUE is t, overline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is a
8627 string, overline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't
8632 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be drawn with a line
8633 striking through them. If VALUE is t, use the foreground color of the
8634 face. If VALUE is a string, strike-through with that color. If VALUE
8635 is nil, explicitly don't strike through.
8639 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should have a box drawn
8640 around them. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't draw boxes. If
8641 VALUE is t, draw a box with lines of width 1 in the foreground color
8642 of the face. If VALUE is a string, the string must be a color name,
8643 and the box is drawn in that color with a line width of 1. Otherwise,
8644 VALUE must be a property list of the form `(:line-width WIDTH
8645 :color COLOR :style STYLE)'. If a keyword/value pair is missing from
8646 the property list, a default value will be used for the value, as
8647 specified below. WIDTH specifies the width of the lines to draw; it
8648 defaults to 1. COLOR is the name of the color to draw in, default is
8649 the foreground color of the face for simple boxes, and the background
8650 color of the face for 3D boxes. STYLE specifies whether a 3D box
8651 should be draw. If STYLE is `released-button', draw a box looking
8652 like a released 3D button. If STYLE is `pressed-button' draw a box
8653 that appears like a pressed button. If STYLE is nil, the default if
8654 the property list doesn't contain a style specification, draw a 2D
8659 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be displayed in
8660 inverse video. VALUE must be one of t or nil.
8664 If VALUE is a string, it must be the name of a file of pixmap data.
8665 The directories listed in the `x-bitmap-file-path' variable are
8666 searched. Alternatively, VALUE may be a list of the form (WIDTH
8667 HEIGHT DATA) where WIDTH and HEIGHT are the size in pixels, and DATA
8668 is a string containing the raw bits of the bitmap. VALUE nil means
8669 explicitly don't use a stipple pattern.
8671 For convenience, attributes `:family', `:width', `:height', `:weight',
8672 and `:slant' may also be set in one step from an X font name:
8676 Set font-related face attributes from VALUE. VALUE must be a valid
8677 XLFD font name. If it is a font name pattern, the first matching font
8678 is used--this is for compatibility with the behavior of previous
8681 For compatibility with Emacs 20, keywords `:bold' and `:italic' can
8682 be used to specify that a bold or italic font should be used. VALUE
8683 must be t or nil in that case. A value of `unspecified' is not allowed."
8685 Please see also the documentation of `set-face-attribute' and
8690 VALUE is the name of a face from which to inherit attributes, or a list
8691 of face names. Attributes from inherited faces are merged into the face
8692 like an underlying face would be, with higher priority than underlying faces.
8694 *** Face attributes and X resources
8696 The following X resource names can be used to set face attributes
8699 Face attribute X resource class
8700 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
8701 :family attributeFamily . Face.AttributeFamily
8702 :width attributeWidth Face.AttributeWidth
8703 :height attributeHeight Face.AttributeHeight
8704 :weight attributeWeight Face.AttributeWeight
8705 :slant attributeSlant Face.AttributeSlant
8706 foreground attributeForeground Face.AttributeForeground
8707 :background attributeBackground . Face.AttributeBackground
8708 :overline attributeOverline Face.AttributeOverline
8709 :strike-through attributeStrikeThrough Face.AttributeStrikeThrough
8710 :box attributeBox Face.AttributeBox
8711 :underline attributeUnderline Face.AttributeUnderline
8712 :inverse-video attributeInverse Face.AttributeInverse
8713 :stipple attributeStipple Face.AttributeStipple
8714 or attributeBackgroundPixmap
8715 Face.AttributeBackgroundPixmap
8716 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
8717 :bold attributeBold Face.AttributeBold
8718 :italic attributeItalic . Face.AttributeItalic
8719 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
8721 *** Text property `face'.
8723 The value of the `face' text property can now be a single face
8724 specification or a list of such specifications. Each face
8725 specification can be
8727 1. A symbol or string naming a Lisp face.
8729 2. A property list of the form (KEYWORD VALUE ...) where each
8730 KEYWORD is a face attribute name, and VALUE is an appropriate value
8731 for that attribute. Please see the doc string of `set-face-attribute'
8732 for face attribute names.
8734 3. Conses of the form (FOREGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) or
8735 (BACKGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) where COLOR is a color name. This is
8736 for compatibility with previous Emacs versions.
8738 ** Support functions for colors on text-only terminals.
8740 The function `tty-color-define' can be used to define colors for use
8741 on TTY and MSDOS frames. It maps a color name to a color number on
8742 the terminal. Emacs defines a couple of common color mappings by
8743 default. You can get defined colors with a call to
8744 `defined-colors'. The function `tty-color-clear' can be
8745 used to clear the mapping table.
8747 ** Unified support for colors independent of frame type.
8749 The new functions `defined-colors', `color-defined-p', `color-values',
8750 and `display-color-p' work for any type of frame. On frames whose
8751 type is neither x nor w32, these functions transparently map X-style
8752 color specifications to the closest colors supported by the frame
8753 display. Lisp programs should use these new functions instead of the
8754 old `x-defined-colors', `x-color-defined-p', `x-color-values', and
8755 `x-display-color-p'. (The old function names are still available for
8756 compatibility; they are now aliases of the new names.) Lisp programs
8757 should no more look at the value of the variable window-system to
8758 modify their color-related behavior.
8760 The primitives `color-gray-p' and `color-supported-p' also work for
8763 ** Platform-independent functions to describe display capabilities.
8765 The new functions `display-mouse-p', `display-popup-menus-p',
8766 `display-graphic-p', `display-selections-p', `display-screens',
8767 `display-pixel-width', `display-pixel-height', `display-mm-width',
8768 `display-mm-height', `display-backing-store', `display-save-under',
8769 `display-planes', `display-color-cells', `display-visual-class', and
8770 `display-grayscale-p' describe the basic capabilities of a particular
8771 display. Lisp programs should call these functions instead of testing
8772 the value of the variables `window-system' or `system-type', or calling
8773 platform-specific functions such as `x-display-pixel-width'.
8775 The new function `display-images-p' returns non-nil if a particular
8776 display can display image files.
8778 ** The minibuffer prompt is now actually inserted in the minibuffer.
8780 This makes it possible to scroll through the prompt, if you want to.
8781 To disallow this completely (like previous versions of emacs), customize
8782 the variable `minibuffer-prompt-properties', and turn on the
8783 `Inviolable' option.
8785 The function `minibuffer-prompt-end' returns the current position of the
8786 end of the minibuffer prompt, if the minibuffer is current.
8787 Otherwise, it returns `(point-min)'.
8789 ** New `field' abstraction in buffers.
8791 There is now code to support an abstraction called `fields' in emacs
8792 buffers. A field is a contiguous region of text with the same `field'
8793 property (which can be a text property or an overlay).
8795 Many emacs functions, such as forward-word, forward-sentence,
8796 forward-paragraph, beginning-of-line, etc., stop moving when they come
8797 to the boundary between fields; beginning-of-line and end-of-line will
8798 not let the point move past the field boundary, but other movement
8799 commands continue into the next field if repeated. Stopping at field
8800 boundaries can be suppressed programmatically by binding
8801 `inhibit-field-text-motion' to a non-nil value around calls to these
8804 Now that the minibuffer prompt is inserted into the minibuffer, it is in
8805 a separate field from the user-input part of the buffer, so that common
8806 editing commands treat the user's text separately from the prompt.
8808 The following functions are defined for operating on fields:
8810 - Function: constrain-to-field NEW-POS OLD-POS &optional ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE ONLY-IN-LINE INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY
8812 Return the position closest to NEW-POS that is in the same field as OLD-POS.
8814 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
8815 If NEW-POS is nil, then the current point is used instead, and set to the
8816 constrained position if that is different.
8818 If OLD-POS is at the boundary of two fields, then the allowable
8819 positions for NEW-POS depends on the value of the optional argument
8820 ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE: If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is nil, then NEW-POS is
8821 constrained to the field that has the same `field' char-property
8822 as any new characters inserted at OLD-POS, whereas if ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
8823 is non-nil, NEW-POS is constrained to the union of the two adjacent
8824 fields. Additionally, if two fields are separated by another field with
8825 the special value `boundary', then any point within this special field is
8826 also considered to be `on the boundary'.
8828 If the optional argument ONLY-IN-LINE is non-nil and constraining
8829 NEW-POS would move it to a different line, NEW-POS is returned
8830 unconstrained. This useful for commands that move by line, like
8831 C-n or C-a, which should generally respect field boundaries
8832 only in the case where they can still move to the right line.
8834 If the optional argument INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY is non-nil, and OLD-POS has
8835 a non-nil property of that name, then any field boundaries are ignored.
8837 Field boundaries are not noticed if `inhibit-field-text-motion' is non-nil.
8839 - Function: delete-field &optional POS
8841 Delete the field surrounding POS.
8842 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
8843 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
8845 - Function: field-beginning &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
8847 Return the beginning of the field surrounding POS.
8848 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
8849 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
8850 If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the beginning of its
8851 field, then the beginning of the *previous* field is returned.
8853 - Function: field-end &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
8855 Return the end of the field surrounding POS.
8856 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
8857 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
8858 If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the end of its field,
8859 then the end of the *following* field is returned.
8861 - Function: field-string &optional POS
8863 Return the contents of the field surrounding POS as a string.
8864 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
8865 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
8867 - Function: field-string-no-properties &optional POS
8869 Return the contents of the field around POS, without text-properties.
8870 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
8871 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
8875 Emacs can now display images. Images are inserted into text by giving
8876 strings or buffer text a `display' text property containing one of
8877 (AREA IMAGE) or IMAGE. The display of the `display' property value
8878 replaces the display of the characters having that property.
8880 If the property value has the form (AREA IMAGE), AREA must be one of
8881 `(margin left-margin)', `(margin right-margin)' or `(margin nil)'. If
8882 AREA is `(margin nil)', IMAGE will be displayed in the text area of a
8883 window, otherwise it will be displayed in the left or right marginal
8886 IMAGE is an image specification.
8888 *** Image specifications
8890 Image specifications are lists of the form `(image PROPS)' where PROPS
8891 is a property list whose keys are keyword symbols. Each
8892 specifications must contain a property `:type TYPE' with TYPE being a
8893 symbol specifying the image type, e.g. `xbm'. Properties not
8894 described below are ignored.
8896 The following is a list of properties all image types share.
8900 ASCENT must be a number in the range 0..100, or the symbol `center'.
8901 If it is a number, it specifies the percentage of the image's height
8902 to use for its ascent.
8904 If not specified, ASCENT defaults to the value 50 which means that the
8905 image will be centered with the base line of the row it appears in.
8907 If ASCENT is `center' the image is vertically centered around a
8908 centerline which is the vertical center of text drawn at the position
8909 of the image, in the manner specified by the text properties and
8910 overlays that apply to the image.
8914 MARGIN must be either a number >= 0 specifying how many pixels to put
8915 as margin around the image, or a pair (X . Y) with X specifying the
8916 horizontal margin and Y specifying the vertical margin. Default is 0.
8920 RELIEF is analogous to the `:relief' attribute of faces. Puts a relief
8925 Apply an image algorithm to the image before displaying it.
8927 ALGO `laplace' or `emboss' means apply a Laplace or ``emboss''
8928 edge-detection algorithm to the image.
8930 ALGO `(edge-detection :matrix MATRIX :color-adjust ADJUST)' means
8931 apply a general edge-detection algorithm. MATRIX must be either a
8932 nine-element list or a nine-element vector of numbers. A pixel at
8933 position x/y in the transformed image is computed from original pixels
8934 around that position. MATRIX specifies, for each pixel in the
8935 neighborhood of x/y, a factor with which that pixel will influence the
8936 transformed pixel; element 0 specifies the factor for the pixel at
8937 x-1/y-1, element 1 the factor for the pixel at x/y-1 etc. as shown
8940 (x-1/y-1 x/y-1 x+1/y-1
8942 x-1/y+1 x/y+1 x+1/y+1)
8944 The resulting pixel is computed from the color intensity of the color
8945 resulting from summing up the RGB values of surrounding pixels,
8946 multiplied by the specified factors, and dividing that sum by the sum
8947 of the factors' absolute values.
8949 Laplace edge-detection currently uses a matrix of
8955 Emboss edge-detection uses a matrix of
8961 ALGO `disabled' means transform the image so that it looks
8966 If MASK is `heuristic' or `(heuristic BG)', build a clipping mask for
8967 the image, so that the background of a frame is visible behind the
8968 image. If BG is not specified, or if BG is t, determine the
8969 background color of the image by looking at the 4 corners of the
8970 image, assuming the most frequently occurring color from the corners is
8971 the background color of the image. Otherwise, BG must be a list `(RED
8972 GREEN BLUE)' specifying the color to assume for the background of the
8975 If MASK is nil, remove a mask from the image, if it has one. Images
8976 in some formats include a mask which can be removed by specifying
8981 Load image from FILE. If FILE is not absolute after expanding it,
8982 search for the image in `data-directory'. Some image types support
8983 building images from data. When this is done, no `:file' property
8984 may be present in the image specification.
8988 Get image data from DATA. (As of this writing, this is not yet
8989 supported for image type `postscript'). Either :file or :data may be
8990 present in an image specification, but not both. All image types
8991 support strings as DATA, some types allow additional types of DATA.
8993 *** Supported image types
8995 **** XBM, image type `xbm'.
8997 XBM images don't require an external library. Additional image
8998 properties supported are:
9002 FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color, or nil
9003 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's foreground color.
9007 BG must be a string specifying the image background color, or nil
9008 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's background color.
9010 XBM images can be constructed from data instead of file. In this
9011 case, the image specification must contain the following properties
9012 instead of a `:file' property.
9016 WIDTH specifies the width of the image in pixels.
9020 HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pixels.
9026 1. a string large enough to hold the bitmap data, i.e. it must
9027 have a size >= (WIDTH + 7) / 8 * HEIGHT
9029 2. a bool-vector of size >= WIDTH * HEIGHT
9031 3. a vector of strings or bool-vectors, one for each line of the
9034 4. a string that's an in-memory XBM file. Neither width nor
9035 height may be specified in this case because these are defined
9038 **** XPM, image type `xpm'
9040 XPM images require the external library `libXpm', package
9041 `xpm-3.4k.tar.gz', version 3.4k or later. Make sure the library is
9042 found when Emacs is configured by supplying appropriate paths via
9043 `--x-includes' and `--x-libraries'.
9045 Additional image properties supported are:
9047 `:color-symbols SYMBOLS'
9049 SYMBOLS must be a list of pairs (NAME . COLOR), with NAME being the
9050 name of color as it appears in an XPM file, and COLOR being an X color
9053 XPM images can be built from memory instead of files. In that case,
9054 add a `:data' property instead of a `:file' property.
9056 The XPM library uses libz in its implementation so that it is able
9057 to display compressed images.
9059 **** PBM, image type `pbm'
9061 PBM images don't require an external library. Color, gray-scale and
9062 mono images are supported. Additional image properties supported for
9067 FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color, or nil
9068 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's foreground color.
9072 BG must be a string specifying the image background color, or nil
9073 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's background color.
9075 **** JPEG, image type `jpeg'
9077 Support for JPEG images requires the external library `libjpeg',
9078 package `jpegsrc.v6a.tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
9081 **** TIFF, image type `tiff'
9083 Support for TIFF images requires the external library `libtiff',
9084 package `tiff-v3.4-tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
9087 **** GIF, image type `gif'
9089 Support for GIF images requires the external library `libungif', package
9090 `libungif-4.1.0', or later.
9092 Additional image properties supported are:
9096 INDEX must be an integer >= 0. Load image number INDEX from a
9097 multi-image GIF file. If INDEX is too large, the image displays
9100 This could be used to implement limited support for animated GIFs.
9101 For example, the following function displays a multi-image GIF file
9102 at point-min in the current buffer, switching between sub-images
9105 (defun show-anim (file max)
9106 "Display multi-image GIF file FILE which contains MAX subimages."
9107 (display-anim (current-buffer) file 0 max t))
9109 (defun display-anim (buffer file idx max first-time)
9112 (let ((img (create-image file nil nil :index idx)))
9115 (goto-char (point-min))
9116 (unless first-time (delete-char 1))
9117 (insert-image img "x"))
9118 (run-with-timer 0.1 nil 'display-anim buffer file (1+ idx) max nil)))
9120 **** PNG, image type `png'
9122 Support for PNG images requires the external library `libpng',
9123 package `libpng-1.0.2.tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
9126 **** Ghostscript, image type `postscript'.
9128 Additional image properties supported are:
9132 WIDTH is width of the image in pt (1/72 inch). WIDTH must be an
9133 integer. This is a required property.
9137 HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pt (1/72 inch). HEIGHT
9138 must be a integer. This is an required property.
9142 BOX must be a list or vector of 4 integers giving the bounding box of
9143 the PS image, analogous to the `BoundingBox' comment found in PS
9144 files. This is an required property.
9146 Part of the Ghostscript interface is implemented in Lisp. See
9151 The variable `image-types' contains a list of those image types
9152 which are supported in the current configuration.
9154 Images are stored in an image cache and removed from the cache when
9155 they haven't been displayed for `image-cache-eviction-delay seconds.
9156 The function `clear-image-cache' can be used to clear the image cache
9157 manually. Images in the cache are compared with `equal', i.e. all
9158 images with `equal' specifications share the same image.
9160 *** Simplified image API, image.el
9162 The new Lisp package image.el contains functions that simplify image
9163 creation and putting images into text. The function `create-image'
9164 can be used to create images. The macro `defimage' can be used to
9165 define an image based on available image types. The functions
9166 `put-image' and `insert-image' can be used to insert an image into a
9171 Windows can now have margins which are used for special text
9174 To give a window margins, either set the buffer-local variables
9175 `left-margin-width' and `right-margin-width', or call
9176 `set-window-margins'. The function `window-margins' can be used to
9177 obtain the current settings. To make `left-margin-width' and
9178 `right-margin-width' take effect, you must set them before displaying
9179 the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force an update
9180 of the display margins.
9182 You can put text in margins by giving it a `display' text property
9183 containing a pair of the form `(LOCATION . VALUE)', where LOCATION is
9184 one of `left-margin' or `right-margin' or nil. VALUE can be either a
9185 string, an image specification or a stretch specification (see later
9190 Emacs displays short help messages in the echo area, when the mouse
9191 moves over a tool-bar item or a piece of text that has a text property
9192 `help-echo'. This feature also applies to strings in the mode line
9193 that have a `help-echo' property.
9195 If the value of the `help-echo' property is a function, that function
9196 is called with three arguments WINDOW, OBJECT and POSITION. WINDOW is
9197 the window in which the help was found.
9199 If OBJECT is a buffer, POS is the position in the buffer where the
9200 `help-echo' text property was found.
9202 If OBJECT is an overlay, that overlay has a `help-echo' property, and
9203 POS is the position in the overlay's buffer under the mouse.
9205 If OBJECT is a string (an overlay string or a string displayed with
9206 the `display' property), POS is the position in that string under the
9209 If the value of the `help-echo' property is neither a function nor a
9210 string, it is evaluated to obtain a help string.
9212 For tool-bar and menu-bar items, their key definition is used to
9213 determine the help to display. If their definition contains a
9214 property `:help FORM', FORM is evaluated to determine the help string.
9215 For tool-bar items without a help form, the caption of the item is
9216 used as help string.
9218 The hook `show-help-function' can be set to a function that displays
9219 the help string differently. For example, enabling a tooltip window
9220 causes the help display to appear there instead of in the echo area.
9222 ** Vertical fractional scrolling.
9224 The display of text in windows can be scrolled smoothly in pixels.
9225 This is useful, for example, for making parts of large images visible.
9227 The function `window-vscroll' returns the current value of vertical
9228 scrolling, a non-negative fraction of the canonical character height.
9229 The function `set-window-vscroll' can be used to set the vertical
9230 scrolling value. Here is an example of how these function might be
9233 (global-set-key [A-down]
9236 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
9237 (+ 0.5 (window-vscroll)))))
9238 (global-set-key [A-up]
9241 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
9242 (- (window-vscroll) 0.5)))))
9244 ** New hook `fontification-functions'.
9246 Functions from `fontification-functions' are called from redisplay
9247 when it encounters a region of text that is not yet fontified. This
9248 variable automatically becomes buffer-local when set. Each function
9249 is called with one argument, POS.
9251 At least one of the hook functions should fontify one or more
9252 characters starting at POS in the current buffer. It should mark them
9253 as fontified by giving them a non-nil value of the `fontified' text
9254 property. It may be reasonable for these functions to check for the
9255 `fontified' property and not put it back on, but they do not have to.
9257 ** Tool bar support.
9259 Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. The frame
9260 parameter `tool-bar-lines' (X resource "toolBar", class "ToolBar")
9261 controls how may lines to reserve for the tool bar. A zero value
9262 suppresses the tool bar. If the value is non-zero and
9263 `auto-resize-tool-bars' is non-nil the tool bar's size will be changed
9264 automatically so that all tool bar items are visible.
9266 *** Tool bar item definitions
9268 Tool bar items are defined using `define-key' with a prefix-key
9269 `tool-bar'. For example `(define-key global-map [tool-bar item1] ITEM)'
9270 where ITEM is a list `(menu-item CAPTION BINDING PROPS...)'.
9272 CAPTION is the caption of the item, If it's not a string, it is
9273 evaluated to get a string. The caption is currently not displayed in
9274 the tool bar, but it is displayed if the item doesn't have a `:help'
9275 property (see below).
9277 BINDING is the tool bar item's binding. Tool bar items with keymaps as
9278 binding are currently ignored.
9280 The following properties are recognized:
9284 FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is enabled
9289 FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is displayed.
9293 FUNCTION is called with one parameter, the same list BINDING in which
9294 FUNCTION is specified as the filter. The value FUNCTION returns is
9295 used instead of BINDING to display this item.
9297 `:button (TYPE SELECTED)'
9299 TYPE must be one of `:radio' or `:toggle'. SELECTED is evaluated
9300 and specifies whether the button is selected (pressed) or not.
9304 IMAGES is either a single image specification or a vector of four
9305 image specifications. If it is a vector, this table lists the
9306 meaning of each of the four elements:
9308 Index Use when item is
9309 ----------------------------------------
9310 0 enabled and selected
9311 1 enabled and deselected
9312 2 disabled and selected
9313 3 disabled and deselected
9315 If IMAGE is a single image specification, a Laplace edge-detection
9316 algorithm is used on that image to draw the image in disabled state.
9318 `:help HELP-STRING'.
9320 Gives a help string to display for the tool bar item. This help
9321 is displayed when the mouse is moved over the item.
9323 The function `toolbar-add-item' is a convenience function for adding
9324 toolbar items generally, and `tool-bar-add-item-from-menu' can be used
9325 to define a toolbar item with a binding copied from an item on the
9328 The default bindings use a menu-item :filter to derive the tool-bar
9329 dynamically from variable `tool-bar-map' which may be set
9330 buffer-locally to override the global map.
9332 *** Tool-bar-related variables.
9334 If `auto-resize-tool-bar' is non-nil, the tool bar will automatically
9335 resize to show all defined tool bar items. It will never grow larger
9336 than 1/4 of the frame's size.
9338 If `auto-raise-tool-bar-buttons' is non-nil, tool bar buttons will be
9339 raised when the mouse moves over them.
9341 You can add extra space between tool bar items by setting
9342 `tool-bar-button-margin' to a positive integer specifying a number of
9343 pixels, or a pair of integers (X . Y) specifying horizontal and
9344 vertical margins . Default is 1.
9346 You can change the shadow thickness of tool bar buttons by setting
9347 `tool-bar-button-relief' to an integer. Default is 3.
9349 *** Tool-bar clicks with modifiers.
9351 You can bind commands to clicks with control, shift, meta etc. on
9354 (define-key global-map [tool-bar shell]
9355 '(menu-item "Shell" shell
9356 :image (image :type xpm :file "shell.xpm")))
9358 is the original tool bar item definition, then
9360 (define-key global-map [tool-bar S-shell] 'some-command)
9362 makes a binding to run `some-command' for a shifted click on the same
9365 ** Mode line changes.
9367 *** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
9369 The mode line can be made mouse-sensitive by displaying strings there
9370 that have a `local-map' text property. There are three ways to display
9371 a string with a `local-map' property in the mode line.
9373 1. The mode line spec contains a variable whose string value has
9374 a `local-map' text property.
9376 2. The mode line spec contains a format specifier (e.g. `%12b'), and
9377 that format specifier has a `local-map' property.
9379 3. The mode line spec contains a list containing `:eval FORM'. FORM
9380 is evaluated. If the result is a string, and that string has a
9381 `local-map' property.
9383 The same mechanism is used to determine the `face' and `help-echo'
9384 properties of strings in the mode line. See `bindings.el' for an
9387 *** If a mode line element has the form `(:eval FORM)', FORM is
9388 evaluated and the result is used as mode line element.
9390 *** You can suppress mode-line display by setting the buffer-local
9391 variable mode-line-format to nil.
9393 *** A headerline can now be displayed at the top of a window.
9395 This mode line's contents are controlled by the new variable
9396 `header-line-format' and `default-header-line-format' which are
9397 completely analogous to `mode-line-format' and
9398 `default-mode-line-format'. A value of nil means don't display a top
9401 The appearance of top mode lines is controlled by the face
9404 The function `coordinates-in-window-p' returns `header-line' for a
9405 position in the header-line.
9407 ** Text property `display'
9409 The `display' text property is used to insert images into text,
9410 replace text with other text, display text in marginal area, and it is
9411 also used to control other aspects of how text displays. The value of
9412 the `display' property should be a display specification, as described
9413 below, or a list or vector containing display specifications.
9415 *** Replacing text, displaying text in marginal areas
9417 To replace the text having the `display' property with some other
9418 text, use a display specification of the form `(LOCATION STRING)'.
9420 If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)', STRING is displayed in the left
9421 marginal area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in
9422 the right marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' STRING
9423 is displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
9424 simpler form STRING as property value.
9426 *** Variable width and height spaces
9428 To display a space of fractional width or height, use a display
9429 specification of the form `(LOCATION STRECH)'. If LOCATION is
9430 `(margin left-margin)', the space is displayed in the left marginal
9431 area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in the right
9432 marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the space is
9433 displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
9434 simpler form STRETCH as property value.
9436 The stretch specification STRETCH itself is a list of the form `(space
9437 PROPS)', where PROPS is a property list which can contain the
9438 properties described below.
9440 The display of the fractional space replaces the display of the
9441 characters having the `display' property.
9445 Specifies that the space width should be WIDTH times the normal
9446 character width. WIDTH can be an integer or floating point number.
9448 - :relative-width FACTOR
9450 Specifies that the width of the stretch should be computed from the
9451 first character in a group of consecutive characters that have the
9452 same `display' property. The computation is done by multiplying the
9453 width of that character by FACTOR.
9457 Specifies that the space should be wide enough to reach HPOS. The
9458 value HPOS is measured in units of the normal character width.
9460 Exactly one of the above properties should be used.
9464 Specifies the height of the space, as HEIGHT, measured in terms of the
9467 - :relative-height FACTOR
9469 The height of the space is computed as the product of the height
9470 of the text having the `display' property and FACTOR.
9474 Specifies that ASCENT percent of the height of the stretch should be
9475 used for the ascent of the stretch, i.e. for the part above the
9476 baseline. The value of ASCENT must be a non-negative number less or
9479 You should not use both `:height' and `:relative-height' together.
9483 A display specification for an image has the form `(LOCATION
9484 . IMAGE)', where IMAGE is an image specification. The image replaces,
9485 in the display, the characters having this display specification in
9486 their `display' text property. If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)',
9487 the image will be displayed in the left marginal area, if it is
9488 `(margin right-margin)' it will be displayed in the right marginal
9489 area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the image will be displayed in
9490 the text. In the latter case you can also use the simpler form IMAGE
9491 as display specification.
9493 *** Other display properties
9495 - (space-width FACTOR)
9497 Specifies that space characters in the text having that property
9498 should be displayed FACTOR times as wide as normal; FACTOR must be an
9503 Display text having this property in a font that is smaller or larger.
9505 If HEIGHT is a list of the form `(+ N)', where N is an integer, that
9506 means to use a font that is N steps larger. If HEIGHT is a list of
9507 the form `(- N)', that means to use a font that is N steps smaller. A
9508 ``step'' is defined by the set of available fonts; each size for which
9509 a font is available counts as a step.
9511 If HEIGHT is a number, that means to use a font that is HEIGHT times
9512 as tall as the frame's default font.
9514 If HEIGHT is a symbol, it is called as a function with the current
9515 height as argument. The function should return the new height to use.
9517 Otherwise, HEIGHT is evaluated to get the new height, with the symbol
9518 `height' bound to the current specified font height.
9522 FACTOR must be a number, specifying a multiple of the current
9523 font's height. If it is positive, that means to display the characters
9524 raised. If it is negative, that means to display them lower down. The
9525 amount of raising or lowering is computed without taking account of the
9526 `height' subproperty.
9528 *** Conditional display properties
9530 All display specifications can be conditionalized. If a specification
9531 has the form `(when CONDITION . SPEC)', the specification SPEC applies
9532 only when CONDITION yields a non-nil value when evaluated. During the
9533 evaluation, `object' is bound to the string or buffer having the
9534 conditional display property; `position' and `buffer-position' are
9535 bound to the position within `object' and the buffer position where
9536 the display property was found, respectively. Both positions can be
9537 different when object is a string.
9539 The normal specification consisting of SPEC only is equivalent to
9542 ** New menu separator types.
9544 Emacs now supports more than one menu separator type. Menu items with
9545 item names consisting of dashes only (including zero dashes) are
9546 treated like before. In addition, the following item names are used
9547 to specify other menu separator types.
9549 - `--no-line' or `--space', or `--:space', or `--:noLine'
9551 No separator lines are drawn, but a small space is inserted where the
9554 - `--single-line' or `--:singleLine'
9556 A single line in the menu's foreground color.
9558 - `--double-line' or `--:doubleLine'
9560 A double line in the menu's foreground color.
9562 - `--single-dashed-line' or `--:singleDashedLine'
9564 A single dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
9566 - `--double-dashed-line' or `--:doubleDashedLine'
9568 A double dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
9570 - `--shadow-etched-in' or `--:shadowEtchedIn'
9572 A single line with 3D sunken appearance. This is the form
9573 displayed for item names consisting of dashes only.
9575 - `--shadow-etched-out' or `--:shadowEtchedOut'
9577 A single line with 3D raised appearance.
9579 - `--shadow-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedInDash'
9581 A single dashed line with 3D sunken appearance.
9583 - `--shadow-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedOutDash'
9585 A single dashed line with 3D raise appearance.
9587 - `--shadow-double-etched-in' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedIn'
9589 Two lines with 3D sunken appearance.
9591 - `--shadow-double-etched-out' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOut'
9593 Two lines with 3D raised appearance.
9595 - `--shadow-double-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedInDash'
9597 Two dashed lines with 3D sunken appearance.
9599 - `--shadow-double-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOutDash'
9601 Two dashed lines with 3D raised appearance.
9603 Under LessTif/Motif, the last four separator types are displayed like
9604 the corresponding single-line separators.
9606 ** New frame parameters for scroll bar colors.
9608 The new frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
9609 `scroll-bar-background' can be used to change scroll bar colors.
9610 Their value must be either a color name, a string, or nil to specify
9611 that scroll bars should use a default color. For toolkit scroll bars,
9612 default colors are toolkit specific. For non-toolkit scroll bars, the
9613 default background is the background color of the frame, and the
9614 default foreground is black.
9616 The X resource name of these parameters are `scrollBarForeground'
9617 (class ScrollBarForeground) and `scrollBarBackground' (class
9618 `ScrollBarBackground').
9620 Setting these parameters overrides toolkit specific X resource
9621 settings for scroll bar colors.
9623 ** You can set `redisplay-dont-pause' to a non-nil value to prevent
9624 display updates from being interrupted when input is pending.
9626 ** Changing a window's width may now change its window start if it
9627 starts on a continuation line. The new window start is computed based
9628 on the window's new width, starting from the start of the continued
9629 line as the start of the screen line with the minimum distance from
9630 the original window start.
9632 ** The variable `hscroll-step' and the functions
9633 `hscroll-point-visible' and `hscroll-window-column' have been removed
9634 now that proper horizontal scrolling is implemented.
9636 ** Windows can now be made fixed-width and/or fixed-height.
9638 A window is fixed-size if its buffer has a buffer-local variable
9639 `window-size-fixed' whose value is not nil. A value of `height' makes
9640 windows fixed-height, a value of `width' makes them fixed-width, any
9641 other non-nil value makes them both fixed-width and fixed-height.
9643 The following code makes all windows displaying the current buffer
9644 fixed-width and fixed-height.
9646 (set (make-local-variable 'window-size-fixed) t)
9648 A call to enlarge-window on a window gives an error if that window is
9649 fixed-width and it is tried to change the window's width, or if the
9650 window is fixed-height, and it is tried to change its height. To
9651 change the size of a fixed-size window, bind `window-size-fixed'
9652 temporarily to nil, for example
9654 (let ((window-size-fixed nil))
9655 (enlarge-window 10))
9657 Likewise, an attempt to split a fixed-height window vertically,
9658 or a fixed-width window horizontally results in a error.
9660 ** The cursor-type frame parameter is now supported on MS-DOS
9661 terminals. When Emacs starts, it by default changes the cursor shape
9662 to a solid box, as it does on Unix. The `cursor-type' frame parameter
9663 overrides this as it does on Unix, except that the bar cursor is
9664 horizontal rather than vertical (since the MS-DOS display doesn't
9665 support a vertical-bar cursor).
9669 * Emacs 20.7 is a bug-fix release with few user-visible changes
9671 ** It is now possible to use CCL-based coding systems for keyboard
9674 ** ange-ftp now handles FTP security extensions, like Kerberos.
9676 ** Rmail has been extended to recognize more forms of digest messages.
9678 ** Now, most coding systems set in keyboard coding system work not
9679 only for character input, but also in incremental search. The
9680 exceptions are such coding systems that handle 2-byte character sets
9681 (e.g euc-kr, euc-jp) and that use ISO's escape sequence
9682 (e.g. iso-2022-jp). They are ignored in incremental search.
9684 ** Support for Macintosh PowerPC-based machines running GNU/Linux has
9688 * Emacs 20.6 is a bug-fix release with one user-visible change
9690 ** Support for ARM-based non-RISCiX machines has been added.
9694 * Emacs 20.5 is a bug-fix release with no user-visible changes.
9696 ** Not new, but not mentioned before:
9697 M-w when Transient Mark mode is enabled disables the mark.
9699 * Changes in Emacs 20.4
9701 ** Init file may be called .emacs.el.
9703 You can now call the Emacs init file `.emacs.el'.
9704 Formerly the name had to be `.emacs'. If you use the name
9705 `.emacs.el', you can byte-compile the file in the usual way.
9707 If both `.emacs' and `.emacs.el' exist, the latter file
9708 is the one that is used.
9710 ** shell-command, and shell-command-on-region, now return
9711 the exit code of the command (unless it is asynchronous).
9712 Also, you can specify a place to put the error output,
9713 separate from the command's regular output.
9714 Interactively, the variable shell-command-default-error-buffer
9715 says where to put error output; set it to a buffer name.
9716 In calls from Lisp, an optional argument ERROR-BUFFER specifies
9719 When you specify a non-nil error buffer (or buffer name), any error
9720 output is inserted before point in that buffer, with \f\n to separate
9721 it from the previous batch of error output. The error buffer is not
9722 cleared, so error output from successive commands accumulates there.
9724 ** Setting the default value of enable-multibyte-characters to nil in
9725 the .emacs file, either explicitly using setq-default, or via Custom,
9726 is now essentially equivalent to using --unibyte: all buffers
9727 created during startup will be made unibyte after loading .emacs.
9729 ** C-x C-f now handles the wildcards * and ? in file names. For
9730 example, typing C-x C-f c*.c RET visits all the files whose names
9731 match c*.c. To visit a file whose name contains * or ?, add the
9732 quoting sequence /: to the beginning of the file name.
9734 ** The M-x commands keep-lines, flush-lines and count-matches
9735 now have the same feature as occur and query-replace:
9736 if the pattern contains any upper case letters, then
9737 they never ignore case.
9739 ** The end-of-line format conversion feature previously mentioned
9740 under `* Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows' actually
9741 applies to all operating systems. Emacs recognizes from the contents
9742 of a file what convention it uses to separate lines--newline, CRLF, or
9743 just CR--and automatically converts the contents to the normal Emacs
9744 convention (using newline to separate lines) for editing. This is a
9745 part of the general feature of coding system conversion.
9747 If you subsequently save the buffer, Emacs converts the text back to
9748 the same format that was used in the file before.
9750 You can turn off end-of-line conversion by setting the variable
9751 `inhibit-eol-conversion' to non-nil, e.g. with Custom in the MULE group.
9753 ** The character set property `prefered-coding-system' has been
9754 renamed to `preferred-coding-system', for the sake of correct spelling.
9755 This is a fairly internal feature, so few programs should be affected.
9757 ** Mode-line display of end-of-line format is changed.
9758 The indication of the end-of-line format of the file visited by a
9759 buffer is now more explicit when that format is not the usual one for
9760 your operating system. For example, the DOS-style end-of-line format
9761 is displayed as "(DOS)" on Unix and GNU/Linux systems. The usual
9762 end-of-line format is still displayed as a single character (colon for
9763 Unix, backslash for DOS and Windows, and forward slash for the Mac).
9765 The values of the variables eol-mnemonic-unix, eol-mnemonic-dos,
9766 eol-mnemonic-mac, and eol-mnemonic-undecided, which are strings,
9767 control what is displayed in the mode line for each end-of-line
9768 format. You can now customize these variables.
9770 ** In the previous version of Emacs, tar-mode didn't work well if a
9771 filename contained non-ASCII characters. Now this is fixed. Such a
9772 filename is decoded by file-name-coding-system if the default value of
9773 enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil.
9775 ** The command temp-buffer-resize-mode toggles a minor mode
9776 in which temporary buffers (such as help buffers) are given
9777 windows just big enough to hold the whole contents.
9779 ** If you use completion.el, you must now run the function
9780 dynamic-completion-mode to enable it. Just loading the file
9781 doesn't have any effect.
9783 ** In Flyspell mode, the default is now to make just one Ispell process,
9786 ** If you use iswitchb but do not call (iswitchb-default-keybindings) to
9787 use the default keybindings, you will need to add the following line:
9788 (add-hook 'minibuffer-setup-hook 'iswitchb-minibuffer-setup)
9790 ** Auto-show mode is no longer enabled just by loading auto-show.el.
9791 To control it, set `auto-show-mode' via Custom or use the
9792 `auto-show-mode' command.
9794 ** Handling of X fonts' ascent/descent parameters has been changed to
9795 avoid redisplay problems. As a consequence, compared with previous
9796 versions the line spacing and frame size now differ with some font
9797 choices, typically increasing by a pixel per line. This change
9798 occurred in version 20.3 but was not documented then.
9800 ** If you select the bar cursor style, it uses the frame's
9801 cursor-color, rather than the cursor foreground pixel.
9803 ** In multibyte mode, Rmail decodes incoming MIME messages using the
9804 character set specified in the message. If you want to disable this
9805 feature, set the variable rmail-decode-mime-charset to nil.
9807 ** Not new, but not mentioned previously in NEWS: when you use #! at
9808 the beginning of a file to make it executable and specify an
9809 interpreter program, Emacs looks on the second line for the -*- mode
9810 and variable specification, as well as on the first line.
9812 ** Support for IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters.
9814 The new command M-x codepage-setup creates a special coding system
9815 that can be used to convert text between a specific IBM codepage and
9816 one of the character sets built into Emacs which matches that
9817 codepage. For example, codepage 850 corresponds to Latin-1 character
9818 set, codepage 855 corresponds to Cyrillic-ISO character set, etc.
9820 Windows codepages 1250, 1251 and some others, where Windows deviates
9821 from the corresponding ISO character set, are also supported.
9823 IBM box-drawing characters and other glyphs which don't have
9824 equivalents in the corresponding ISO character set, are converted to
9825 a character defined by dos-unsupported-char-glyph on MS-DOS, and to
9826 `?' on other systems.
9828 IBM codepages are widely used on MS-DOS and MS-Windows, so this
9829 feature is most useful on those platforms, but it can also be used on
9832 Emacs compiled for MS-DOS automatically loads the support for the
9833 current codepage when it starts.
9837 *** When mail is sent using compose-mail (C-x m), and if
9838 `mail-send-nonascii' is set to the new default value `mime',
9839 appropriate MIME headers are added. The headers are added only if
9840 non-ASCII characters are present in the body of the mail, and no other
9841 MIME headers are already present. For example, the following three
9842 headers are added if the coding system used in the *mail* buffer is
9846 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
9847 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
9849 *** The new variable default-sendmail-coding-system specifies the
9850 default way to encode outgoing mail. This has higher priority than
9851 default-buffer-file-coding-system but has lower priority than
9852 sendmail-coding-system and the local value of
9853 buffer-file-coding-system.
9855 You should not set this variable manually. Instead, set
9856 sendmail-coding-system to specify a fixed encoding for all outgoing
9859 *** When you try to send a message that contains non-ASCII characters,
9860 if the coding system specified by those variables doesn't handle them,
9861 Emacs will ask you to select a suitable coding system while showing a
9862 list of possible coding systems.
9866 *** c-default-style can now take an association list that maps major
9867 modes to style names. When this variable is an alist, Java mode no
9868 longer hardcodes a setting to "java" style. See the variable's
9869 docstring for details.
9871 *** It's now possible to put a list as the offset on a syntactic
9872 symbol. The list is evaluated recursively until a non-nil offset is
9873 found. This is useful to combine several lineup functions to act in a
9874 prioritized order on a single line. However, none of the supplied
9875 lineup functions use this feature currently.
9877 *** New syntactic symbol catch-clause, which is used on the "catch" and
9878 "finally" lines in try-catch constructs in C++ and Java.
9880 *** New cleanup brace-catch-brace on c-cleanup-list, which does for
9881 "catch" lines what brace-elseif-brace does for "else if" lines.
9883 *** The braces of Java anonymous inner classes are treated separately
9884 from the braces of other classes in auto-newline mode. Two new
9885 symbols inexpr-class-open and inexpr-class-close may be used on
9886 c-hanging-braces-alist to control the automatic newlines used for
9889 *** Support for the Pike language added, along with new Pike specific
9890 syntactic symbols: inlambda, lambda-intro-cont
9892 *** Support for Java anonymous classes via new syntactic symbol
9893 inexpr-class. New syntactic symbol inexpr-statement for Pike
9894 support and gcc-style statements inside expressions. New lineup
9895 function c-lineup-inexpr-block.
9897 *** New syntactic symbol brace-entry-open which is used in brace lists
9898 (i.e. static initializers) when a list entry starts with an open
9899 brace. These used to be recognized as brace-list-entry's.
9900 c-electric-brace also recognizes brace-entry-open braces
9901 (brace-list-entry's can no longer be electrified).
9903 *** New command c-indent-line-or-region, not bound by default.
9905 *** `#' is only electric when typed in the indentation of a line.
9907 *** Parentheses are now electric (via the new command c-electric-paren)
9908 for auto-reindenting lines when parens are typed.
9910 *** In "gnu" style, inline-open offset is now set to zero.
9912 *** Uniform handling of the inclass syntactic symbol. The indentation
9913 associated with it is now always relative to the class opening brace.
9914 This means that the indentation behavior has changed in some
9915 circumstances, but only if you've put anything besides 0 on the
9916 class-open syntactic symbol (none of the default styles do that).
9920 *** New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
9921 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See the
9922 Gnus manual for the full story.
9924 *** The nndraft backend has returned, but works differently than
9925 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the nndraft
9926 group, which is created automatically.
9928 *** `gnus-alter-header-function' can now be used to alter header
9931 *** `gnus-summary-goto-article' now accept Message-ID's.
9933 *** A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
9934 outside the region: `C-c C-v'.
9936 *** You can now post to component group in nnvirtual groups with
9939 *** `nntp-rlogin-program' -- new variable to ease customization.
9941 *** `C-u C-c C-c' in `gnus-article-edit-mode' will now inhibit
9942 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
9944 *** New element in `gnus-boring-article-headers' -- `long-to'.
9946 *** `M-i' symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
9947 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
9949 *** `L' and `I' in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
9950 `a' to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
9952 *** `gnus-simplify-subject-functions' variable to allow greater
9953 control over simplification.
9955 *** `A T' -- new command for fetching the current thread.
9957 *** `/ T' -- new command for including the current thread in the
9960 *** `M-RET' is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
9962 *** \\1-expressions are now valid in `nnmail-split-methods'.
9964 *** The `custom-face-lookup' function has been removed.
9965 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
9966 rewrite them to use `face-spec-set' instead.
9968 *** Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
9969 `a' forces normal posting method.
9971 *** New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper text
9974 *** For easier debugging of nntp, you can set `nntp-record-commands'
9977 *** nntp now uses ~/.authinfo, a .netrc-like file, for controlling
9978 where and how to send AUTHINFO to NNTP servers.
9980 *** A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
9983 *** A history of where mails have been split is available.
9985 *** A new article date command has been added -- `article-date-iso8601'.
9987 *** Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
9988 `gnus-score-thread-simplify'.
9990 *** A new function for citing in Message has been added --
9991 `message-cite-original-without-signature'.
9993 *** `article-strip-all-blank-lines' -- new article command.
9995 *** A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
9998 *** A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
9999 `gnus-adaptive-word-minimum' variable.
10001 *** The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
10002 updated by the `gnus-start-date-timer' command.
10004 *** Web listserv archives can be read with the nnlistserv backend.
10006 *** Old dejanews archives can now be read by nnweb.
10008 *** `gnus-posting-styles' has been re-activated.
10010 ** Changes to TeX and LaTeX mode
10012 *** The new variable `tex-start-options-string' can be used to give
10013 options for the TeX run. The default value causes TeX to run in
10014 nonstopmode. For an interactive TeX run set it to nil or "".
10016 *** The command `tex-feed-input' sends input to the Tex Shell. In a
10017 TeX buffer it is bound to the keys C-RET, C-c RET, and C-c C-m (some
10018 of these keys may not work on all systems). For instance, if you run
10019 TeX interactively and if the TeX run stops because of an error, you
10020 can continue it without leaving the TeX buffer by typing C-RET.
10022 *** The Tex Shell Buffer is now in `compilation-shell-minor-mode'.
10023 All error-parsing commands of the Compilation major mode are available
10024 but bound to keys that don't collide with the shell. Thus you can use
10025 the Tex Shell for command line executions like a usual shell.
10027 *** The commands `tex-validate-region' and `tex-validate-buffer' check
10028 the matching of braces and $'s. The errors are listed in a *Occur*
10029 buffer and you can use C-c C-c or mouse-2 to go to a particular
10032 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
10034 *** The table of contents buffer can now also display labels and
10035 file boundaries in addition to sections. Use `l', `i', and `c' keys.
10037 *** Labels derived from context (the section heading) are now
10038 lowercase by default. To make the label legal in LaTeX, latin-1
10039 characters will lose their accent. All Mule characters will be
10040 removed from the label.
10042 *** The automatic display of cross reference information can also use
10043 a window instead of the echo area. See variable `reftex-auto-view-crossref'.
10045 *** kpsewhich can be used by RefTeX to find TeX and BibTeX files. See the
10046 customization group `reftex-finding-files'.
10048 *** The option `reftex-bibfile-ignore-list' has been renamed to
10049 `reftex-bibfile-ignore-regexps' and indeed can be fed with regular
10052 *** Multiple Selection buffers are now hidden buffers.
10054 ** New/deleted modes and packages
10056 *** The package snmp-mode.el provides major modes for editing SNMP and
10057 SNMPv2 MIBs. It has entries on `auto-mode-alist'.
10059 *** The package sql.el provides a major mode, M-x sql-mode, for
10060 editing SQL files, and M-x sql-interactive-mode for interacting with
10061 SQL interpreters. It has an entry on `auto-mode-alist'.
10063 *** M-x highlight-changes-mode provides a minor mode displaying buffer
10064 changes with a special face.
10066 *** ispell4.el has been deleted. It got in the way of ispell.el and
10067 this was hard to fix reliably. It has long been obsolete -- use
10068 Ispell 3.1 and ispell.el.
10070 * MS-DOS changes in Emacs 20.4
10072 ** Emacs compiled for MS-DOS now supports MULE features better.
10073 This includes support for display of all ISO 8859-N character sets,
10074 conversion to and from IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters,
10075 and automatic setup of the MULE environment at startup. For details,
10076 check out the section `MS-DOS and MULE' in the manual.
10078 The MS-DOS installation procedure automatically configures and builds
10079 Emacs with input method support if it finds an unpacked Leim
10080 distribution when the config.bat script is run.
10082 ** Formerly, the value of lpr-command did not affect printing on
10083 MS-DOS unless print-region-function was set to nil, but now it
10084 controls whether an external program is invoked or output is written
10085 directly to a printer port. Similarly, in the previous version of
10086 Emacs, the value of ps-lpr-command did not affect PostScript printing
10087 on MS-DOS unless ps-printer-name was set to something other than a
10088 string (eg. t or `pipe'), but now it controls whether an external
10089 program is used. (These changes were made so that configuration of
10090 printing variables would be almost identical across all platforms.)
10092 ** In the previous version of Emacs, PostScript and non-PostScript
10093 output was piped to external programs, but because most print programs
10094 available for MS-DOS and MS-Windows cannot read data from their standard
10095 input, on those systems the data to be output is now written to a
10096 temporary file whose name is passed as the last argument to the external
10099 An exception is made for `print', a standard program on Windows NT,
10100 and `nprint', a standard program on Novell Netware. For both of these
10101 programs, the command line is constructed in the appropriate syntax
10102 automatically, using only the value of printer-name or ps-printer-name
10103 as appropriate--the value of the relevant `-switches' variable is
10104 ignored, as both programs have no useful switches.
10106 ** The value of the variable dos-printer (cf. dos-ps-printer), if it has
10107 a value, overrides the value of printer-name (cf. ps-printer-name), on
10108 MS-DOS and MS-Windows only. This has been true since version 20.3, but
10109 was not documented clearly before.
10111 ** All the Emacs games now work on MS-DOS terminals.
10112 This includes Tetris and Snake.
10114 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.4
10116 ** New functions line-beginning-position and line-end-position
10117 return the position of the beginning or end of the current line.
10118 They both accept an optional argument, which has the same
10119 meaning as the argument to beginning-of-line or end-of-line.
10121 ** find-file and allied functions now have an optional argument
10122 WILDCARD. If this is non-nil, they do wildcard processing,
10123 and visit all files that match the wildcard pattern.
10125 ** Changes in the file-attributes function.
10127 *** The file size returned by file-attributes may be an integer or a float.
10128 It is an integer if the size fits in a Lisp integer, float otherwise.
10130 *** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
10131 the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a cons cell containing two
10134 ** The new function directory-files-and-attributes returns a list of
10135 files in a directory and their attributes. It accepts the same
10136 arguments as directory-files and has similar semantics, except that
10137 file names and attributes are returned.
10139 ** The new function file-attributes-lessp is a helper function for
10140 sorting the list generated by directory-files-and-attributes. It
10141 accepts two arguments, each a list of a file name and its attributes.
10142 It compares the file names of each according to string-lessp and
10143 returns the result.
10145 ** The new function file-expand-wildcards expands a wildcard-pattern
10146 to produce a list of existing files that match the pattern.
10148 ** New functions for base64 conversion:
10150 The function base64-encode-region converts a part of the buffer
10151 into the base64 code used in MIME. base64-decode-region
10152 performs the opposite conversion. Line-breaking is supported
10155 Functions base64-encode-string and base64-decode-string do a similar
10156 job on the text in a string. They return the value as a new string.
10159 The new function process-running-child-p
10160 will tell you if a subprocess has given control of its
10161 terminal to its own child process.
10163 ** interrupt-process and such functions have a new feature:
10164 when the second argument is `lambda', they send a signal
10165 to the running child of the subshell, if any, but if the shell
10166 itself owns its terminal, no signal is sent.
10168 ** There are new widget types `plist' and `alist' which can
10169 be used for customizing variables whose values are plists or alists.
10171 ** easymenu.el now understands `:key-sequence' and `:style button'.
10172 :included is an alias for :visible.
10174 easy-menu-add-item now understands the values returned by
10175 easy-menu-remove-item and easy-menu-item-present-p. This can be used
10176 to move or copy menu entries.
10178 ** Multibyte editing changes
10180 *** The definitions of sref and char-bytes are changed. Now, sref is
10181 an alias of aref and char-bytes always returns 1. This change is to
10182 make some Emacs Lisp code which works on 20.2 and earlier also
10183 work on the latest Emacs. Such code uses a combination of sref and
10184 char-bytes in a loop typically as below:
10185 (setq char (sref str idx)
10186 idx (+ idx (char-bytes idx)))
10187 The byte-compiler now warns that this is obsolete.
10189 If you want to know how many bytes a specific multibyte character
10190 (say, CH) occupies in a multibyte buffer, use this code:
10191 (charset-bytes (char-charset ch))
10193 *** In multibyte mode, when you narrow a buffer to some region, and the
10194 region is preceded or followed by non-ASCII codes, inserting or
10195 deleting at the head or the end of the region may signal this error:
10197 Byte combining across boundary of accessible buffer text inhibited
10199 This is to avoid some bytes being combined together into a character
10200 across the boundary.
10202 *** The functions find-charset-region and find-charset-string include
10203 `unknown' in the returned list in the following cases:
10204 o The current buffer or the target string is unibyte and
10205 contains 8-bit characters.
10206 o The current buffer or the target string is multibyte and
10207 contains invalid characters.
10209 *** The functions decode-coding-region and encode-coding-region remove
10210 text properties of the target region. Ideally, they should correctly
10211 preserve text properties, but for the moment, it's hard. Removing
10212 text properties is better than preserving them in a less-than-correct
10215 *** prefer-coding-system sets EOL conversion of default coding systems.
10216 If the argument to prefer-coding-system specifies a certain type of
10217 end of line conversion, the default coding systems set by
10218 prefer-coding-system will specify that conversion type for end of line.
10220 *** The new function thai-compose-string can be used to properly
10221 compose Thai characters in a string.
10223 ** The primitive `define-prefix-command' now takes an optional third
10224 argument NAME, which should be a string. It supplies the menu name
10225 for the created keymap. Keymaps created in order to be displayed as
10226 menus should always use the third argument.
10228 ** The meanings of optional second arguments for read-char,
10229 read-event, and read-char-exclusive are flipped. Now the second
10230 arguments are INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. These functions use the current
10231 input method (if any) if and only if INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD is non-nil.
10233 ** The new function clear-this-command-keys empties out the contents
10234 of the vector that (this-command-keys) returns. This is useful in
10235 programs that read passwords, to prevent the passwords from echoing
10236 inadvertently as part of the next command in certain cases.
10238 ** The new macro `with-temp-message' displays a temporary message in
10239 the echo area, while executing some Lisp code. Like `progn', it
10240 returns the value of the last form, but it also restores the previous
10241 echo area contents.
10243 (with-temp-message MESSAGE &rest BODY)
10245 ** The function `require' now takes an optional third argument
10246 NOERROR. If it is non-nil, then there is no error if the
10247 requested feature cannot be loaded.
10249 ** In the function modify-face, an argument of (nil) for the
10250 foreground color, background color or stipple pattern
10251 means to clear out that attribute.
10253 ** The `outer-window-id' frame property of an X frame
10254 gives the window number of the outermost X window for the frame.
10256 ** Temporary buffers made with with-output-to-temp-buffer are now
10257 read-only by default, and normally use the major mode Help mode
10258 unless you put them in some other non-Fundamental mode before the
10259 end of with-output-to-temp-buffer.
10261 ** The new functions gap-position and gap-size return information on
10262 the gap of the current buffer.
10264 ** The new functions position-bytes and byte-to-position provide a way
10265 to convert between character positions and byte positions in the
10268 ** vc.el defines two new macros, `edit-vc-file' and `with-vc-file', to
10269 facilitate working with version-controlled files from Lisp programs.
10270 These macros check out a given file automatically if needed, and check
10271 it back in after any modifications have been made.
10273 * Installation Changes in Emacs 20.3
10275 ** The default value of load-path now includes most subdirectories of
10276 the site-specific directories /usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp and
10277 /usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp, in addition to those
10278 directories themselves. Both immediate subdirectories and
10279 subdirectories multiple levels down are added to load-path.
10281 Not all subdirectories are included, though. Subdirectories whose
10282 names do not start with a letter or digit are excluded.
10283 Subdirectories named RCS or CVS are excluded. Also, a subdirectory
10284 which contains a file named `.nosearch' is excluded. You can use
10285 these methods to prevent certain subdirectories from being searched.
10287 Emacs finds these subdirectories and adds them to load-path when it
10288 starts up. While it would be cleaner to find the subdirectories each
10289 time Emacs loads a file, that would be much slower.
10291 This feature is an incompatible change. If you have stored some Emacs
10292 Lisp files in a subdirectory of the site-lisp directory specifically
10293 to prevent them from being used, you will need to rename the
10294 subdirectory to start with a non-alphanumeric character, or create a
10295 `.nosearch' file in it, in order to continue to achieve the desired
10298 ** Emacs no longer includes an old version of the C preprocessor from
10299 GCC. This was formerly used to help compile Emacs with C compilers
10300 that had limits on the significant length of an identifier, but in
10301 fact we stopped supporting such compilers some time ago.
10303 * Changes in Emacs 20.3
10305 ** The new command C-x z (repeat) repeats the previous command
10306 including its argument. If you repeat the z afterward,
10307 it repeats the command additional times; thus, you can
10308 perform many repetitions with one keystroke per repetition.
10310 ** Emacs now supports "selective undo" which undoes only within a
10311 specified region. To do this, set point and mark around the desired
10312 region and type C-u C-x u (or C-u C-_). You can then continue undoing
10313 further, within the same region, by repeating the ordinary undo
10314 command C-x u or C-_. This will keep undoing changes that were made
10315 within the region you originally specified, until either all of them
10316 are undone, or it encounters a change which crosses the edge of that
10319 In Transient Mark mode, undoing when a region is active requests
10322 ** If you specify --unibyte when starting Emacs, then all buffers are
10323 unibyte, except when a Lisp program specifically creates a multibyte
10324 buffer. Setting the environment variable EMACS_UNIBYTE has the same
10325 effect. The --no-unibyte option overrides EMACS_UNIBYTE and directs
10326 Emacs to run normally in multibyte mode.
10328 The option --unibyte does not affect the reading of Emacs Lisp files,
10329 though. If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode, use
10330 -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line. That will force Emacs to
10331 load that file in unibyte mode, regardless of how Emacs was started.
10333 ** toggle-enable-multibyte-characters no longer has a key binding and
10334 no longer appears in the menu bar. We've realized that changing the
10335 enable-multibyte-characters variable in an existing buffer is
10336 something that most users not do.
10338 ** You can specify a coding system to use for the next cut or paste
10339 operations through the window system with the command C-x RET X.
10340 The coding system can make a difference for communication with other
10343 C-x RET x specifies a coding system for all subsequent cutting and
10344 pasting operations.
10346 ** You can specify the printer to use for commands that do printing by
10347 setting the variable `printer-name'. Just what a printer name looks
10348 like depends on your operating system. You can specify a different
10349 printer for the Postscript printing commands by setting
10352 ** Emacs now supports on-the-fly spell checking by the means of a
10353 minor mode. It is called M-x flyspell-mode. You don't have to remember
10354 any other special commands to use it, and you will hardly notice it
10355 except when you make a spelling error. Flyspell works by highlighting
10356 incorrect words as soon as they are completed or as soon as the cursor
10359 Flyspell mode works with whichever dictionary you have selected for
10360 Ispell in Emacs. In TeX mode, it understands TeX syntax so as not
10361 to be confused by TeX commands.
10363 You can correct a misspelled word by editing it into something
10364 correct. You can also correct it, or accept it as correct, by
10365 clicking on the word with Mouse-2; that gives you a pop-up menu
10366 of various alternative replacements and actions.
10368 Flyspell mode also proposes "automatic" corrections. M-TAB replaces
10369 the current misspelled word with a possible correction. If several
10370 corrections are made possible, M-TAB cycles through them in
10371 alphabetical order, or in order of decreasing likelihood if
10372 flyspell-sort-corrections is nil.
10374 Flyspell mode also flags an error when a word is repeated, if
10375 flyspell-mark-duplications-flag is non-nil.
10377 ** Changes in input method usage.
10379 Now you can use arrow keys (right, left, down, up) for selecting among
10380 the alternatives just the same way as you do by C-f, C-b, C-n, and C-p
10383 You can use the ENTER key to accept the current conversion.
10385 If you type TAB to display a list of alternatives, you can select one
10386 of the alternatives with Mouse-2.
10388 The meaning of the variable `input-method-verbose-flag' is changed so
10389 that you can set it to t, nil, `default', or `complex-only'.
10391 If the value is nil, extra guidance is never given.
10393 If the value is t, extra guidance is always given.
10395 If the value is `complex-only', extra guidance is always given only
10396 when you are using complex input methods such as chinese-py.
10398 If the value is `default' (this is the default), extra guidance is
10399 given in the following case:
10400 o When you are using a complex input method.
10401 o When you are using a simple input method but not in the minibuffer.
10403 If you are using Emacs through a very slow line, setting
10404 input-method-verbose-flag to nil or to complex-only is a good choice,
10405 and if you are using an input method you are not familiar with,
10406 setting it to t is helpful.
10408 The old command select-input-method is now called set-input-method.
10410 In the language environment "Korean", you can use the following
10412 Shift-SPC toggle-korean-input-method
10413 C-F9 quail-hangul-switch-symbol-ksc
10414 F9 quail-hangul-switch-hanja
10415 These key bindings are canceled when you switch to another language
10418 ** The minibuffer history of file names now records the specified file
10419 names, not the entire minibuffer input. For example, if the
10420 minibuffer starts out with /usr/foo/, you might type in /etc/passwd to
10423 /usr/foo//etc/passwd
10425 which stands for the file /etc/passwd.
10427 Formerly, this used to put /usr/foo//etc/passwd in the history list.
10428 Now this puts just /etc/passwd in the history list.
10430 ** If you are root, Emacs sets backup-by-copying-when-mismatch to t
10431 at startup, so that saving a file will be sure to preserve
10432 its owner and group.
10434 ** find-func.el can now also find the place of definition of Emacs
10435 Lisp variables in user-loaded libraries.
10437 ** C-x r t (string-rectangle) now deletes the existing rectangle
10438 contents before inserting the specified string on each line.
10440 ** There is a new command delete-whitespace-rectangle
10441 which deletes whitespace starting from a particular column
10442 in all the lines on a rectangle. The column is specified
10443 by the left edge of the rectangle.
10445 ** You can now store a number into a register with C-u NUMBER C-x r n REG,
10446 increment it by INC with C-u INC C-x r + REG (to increment by one, omit
10447 C-u INC), and insert it in the buffer with C-x r g REG. This is useful
10448 for writing keyboard macros.
10450 ** The new command M-x speedbar displays a frame in which directories,
10451 files, and tags can be displayed, manipulated, and jumped to. The
10452 frame defaults to 20 characters in width, and is the same height as
10453 the frame that it was started from. Some major modes define
10454 additional commands for the speedbar, including Rmail, GUD/GDB, and
10457 ** query-replace-regexp is now bound to C-M-%.
10459 ** In Transient Mark mode, when the region is active, M-x
10460 query-replace and the other replace commands now operate on the region
10463 ** M-x write-region, when used interactively, now asks for
10464 confirmation before overwriting an existing file. When you call
10465 the function from a Lisp program, a new optional argument CONFIRM
10466 says whether to ask for confirmation in this case.
10468 ** If you use find-file-literally and the file is already visited
10469 non-literally, the command asks you whether to revisit the file
10470 literally. If you say no, it signals an error.
10472 ** Major modes defined with the "derived mode" feature
10473 now use the proper name for the mode hook: WHATEVER-mode-hook.
10474 Formerly they used the name WHATEVER-mode-hooks, but that is
10475 inconsistent with Emacs conventions.
10477 ** shell-command-on-region (and shell-command) reports success or
10478 failure if the command produces no output.
10480 ** Set focus-follows-mouse to nil if your window system or window
10481 manager does not transfer focus to another window when you just move
10484 ** mouse-menu-buffer-maxlen has been renamed to
10485 mouse-buffer-menu-maxlen to be consistent with the other related
10486 function and variable names.
10488 ** The new variable auto-coding-alist specifies coding systems for
10489 reading specific files. This has higher priority than
10490 file-coding-system-alist.
10492 ** If you set the variable unibyte-display-via-language-environment to
10493 t, then Emacs displays non-ASCII characters are displayed by
10494 converting them to the equivalent multibyte characters according to
10495 the current language environment. As a result, they are displayed
10496 according to the current fontset.
10498 ** C-q's handling of codes in the range 0200 through 0377 is changed.
10500 The codes in the range 0200 through 0237 are inserted as one byte of
10501 that code regardless of the values of nonascii-translation-table and
10502 nonascii-insert-offset.
10504 For the codes in the range 0240 through 0377, if
10505 enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil and nonascii-translation-table
10506 nor nonascii-insert-offset can't convert them to valid multibyte
10507 characters, they are converted to Latin-1 characters.
10509 ** If you try to find a file that is not read-accessible, you now get
10510 an error, rather than an empty buffer and a warning.
10512 ** In the minibuffer history commands M-r and M-s, an upper case
10513 letter in the regular expression forces case-sensitive search.
10515 ** In the *Help* buffer, cross-references to commands and variables
10516 are inferred and hyperlinked. Use C-h m in Help mode for the relevant
10519 ** M-x apropos-command, with a prefix argument, no longer looks for
10520 user option variables--instead it looks for noninteractive functions.
10522 Meanwhile, the command apropos-variable normally searches for
10523 user option variables; with a prefix argument, it looks at
10524 all variables that have documentation.
10526 ** When you type a long line in the minibuffer, and the minibuffer
10527 shows just one line, automatically scrolling works in a special way
10528 that shows you overlap with the previous line of text. The variable
10529 minibuffer-scroll-overlap controls how many characters of overlap
10530 it should show; the default is 20.
10532 Meanwhile, Resize Minibuffer mode is still available; in that mode,
10533 the minibuffer grows taller (up to a point) as needed to show the whole
10536 ** The new command M-x customize-changed-options lets you customize
10537 all the options whose meanings or default values have changed in
10538 recent Emacs versions. You specify a previous Emacs version number as
10539 argument, and the command creates a customization buffer showing all
10540 the customizable options which were changed since that version.
10541 Newly added options are included as well.
10543 If you don't specify a particular version number argument,
10544 then the customization buffer shows all the customizable options
10545 for which Emacs versions of changes are recorded.
10547 This function is also bound to the Changed Options entry in the
10550 ** When you run M-x grep with a prefix argument, it figures out
10551 the tag around point and puts that into the default grep command.
10553 ** The new command M-* (pop-tag-mark) pops back through a history of
10554 buffer positions from which M-. or other tag-finding commands were
10557 ** The new variable comment-padding specifies the number of spaces
10558 that `comment-region' will insert before the actual text of the comment.
10561 ** In Fortran mode the characters `.', `_' and `$' now have symbol
10562 syntax, not word syntax. Fortran mode now supports `imenu' and has
10563 new commands fortran-join-line (M-^) and fortran-narrow-to-subprogram
10564 (C-x n d). M-q can be used to fill a statement or comment block
10567 ** GUD now supports jdb, the Java debugger, and pdb, the Python debugger.
10569 ** If you set the variable add-log-keep-changes-together to a non-nil
10570 value, the command `C-x 4 a' will automatically notice when you make
10571 two entries in one day for one file, and combine them.
10573 ** You can use the command M-x diary-mail-entries to mail yourself a
10574 reminder about upcoming diary entries. See the documentation string
10575 for a sample shell script for calling this function automatically
10580 *** All you need to do to enable use of the Desktop package, is to set
10581 the variable desktop-enable to t with Custom.
10583 *** Minor modes are now restored. Which minor modes are restored
10584 and how modes are restored is controlled by `desktop-minor-mode-table'.
10586 ** There is no need to do anything special, now, to enable Gnus to
10587 read and post multi-lingual articles.
10589 ** Outline mode has now support for showing hidden outlines when
10590 doing an isearch. In order for this to happen search-invisible should
10591 be set to open (the default). If an isearch match is inside a hidden
10592 outline the outline is made visible. If you continue pressing C-s and
10593 the match moves outside the formerly invisible outline, the outline is
10594 made invisible again.
10596 ** Mail reading and sending changes
10598 *** The Rmail e command now switches to displaying the whole header of
10599 the message before it lets you edit the message. This is so that any
10600 changes you make in the header will not be lost if you subsequently
10603 *** The w command in Rmail, which writes the message body into a file,
10604 now works in the summary buffer as well. (The command to delete the
10605 summary buffer is now Q.) The default file name for the w command, if
10606 the message has no subject, is stored in the variable
10607 rmail-default-body-file.
10609 *** Most of the commands and modes that operate on mail and netnews no
10610 longer depend on the value of mail-header-separator. Instead, they
10611 handle whatever separator the buffer happens to use.
10613 *** If you set mail-signature to a value which is not t, nil, or a string,
10614 it should be an expression. When you send a message, this expression
10615 is evaluated to insert the signature.
10617 *** The new Lisp library feedmail.el (version 8) enhances processing of
10618 outbound email messages. It works in coordination with other email
10619 handling packages (e.g., rmail, VM, gnus) and is responsible for
10620 putting final touches on messages and actually submitting them for
10621 transmission. Users of the emacs program "fakemail" might be
10622 especially interested in trying feedmail.
10624 feedmail is not enabled by default. See comments at the top of
10625 feedmail.el for set-up instructions. Among the bigger features
10626 provided by feedmail are:
10628 **** you can park outgoing messages into a disk-based queue and
10629 stimulate sending some or all of them later (handy for laptop users);
10630 there is also a queue for draft messages
10632 **** you can get one last look at the prepped outbound message and
10633 be prompted for confirmation
10635 **** does smart filling of address headers
10637 **** can generate a MESSAGE-ID: line and a DATE: line; the date can be
10638 the time the message was written or the time it is being sent; this
10639 can make FCC copies more closely resemble copies that recipients get
10641 **** you can specify an arbitrary function for actually transmitting
10642 the message; included in feedmail are interfaces for /bin/[r]mail,
10643 /usr/lib/sendmail, and elisp smtpmail; it's easy to write a new
10644 function for something else (10-20 lines of elisp)
10648 *** The Dired function dired-do-toggle, which toggles marked and unmarked
10649 files, is now bound to "t" instead of "T".
10651 *** dired-at-point has been added to ffap.el. It allows one to easily
10652 run Dired on the directory name at point.
10654 *** Dired has a new command: %g. It searches the contents of
10655 files in the directory and marks each file that contains a match
10656 for a specified regexp.
10660 *** New option vc-ignore-vc-files lets you turn off version control
10663 *** VC Dired has been completely rewritten. It is now much
10664 faster, especially for CVS, and works very similar to ordinary
10667 VC Dired is invoked by typing C-x v d and entering the name of the
10668 directory to display. By default, VC Dired gives you a recursive
10669 listing of all files at or below the given directory which are
10670 currently locked (for CVS, all files not up-to-date are shown).
10672 You can change the listing format by setting vc-dired-recurse to nil,
10673 then it shows only the given directory, and you may also set
10674 vc-dired-terse-display to nil, then it shows all files under version
10675 control plus the names of any subdirectories, so that you can type `i'
10676 on such lines to insert them manually, as in ordinary Dired.
10678 All Dired commands operate normally in VC Dired, except for `v', which
10679 is redefined as the version control prefix. That means you may type
10680 `v l', `v =' etc. to invoke `vc-print-log', `vc-diff' and the like on
10681 the file named in the current Dired buffer line. `v v' invokes
10682 `vc-next-action' on this file, or on all files currently marked.
10684 The new command `v t' (vc-dired-toggle-terse-mode) allows you to
10685 toggle between terse display (only locked files) and full display (all
10686 VC files plus subdirectories). There is also a special command,
10687 `* l', to mark all files currently locked.
10689 Giving a prefix argument to C-x v d now does the same thing as in
10690 ordinary Dired: it allows you to supply additional options for the ls
10691 command in the minibuffer, to fine-tune VC Dired's output.
10693 *** Under CVS, if you merge changes from the repository into a working
10694 file, and CVS detects conflicts, VC now offers to start an ediff
10695 session to resolve them.
10697 Alternatively, you can use the new command `vc-resolve-conflicts' to
10698 resolve conflicts in a file at any time. It works in any buffer that
10699 contains conflict markers as generated by rcsmerge (which is what CVS
10702 *** You can now transfer changes between branches, using the new
10703 command vc-merge (C-x v m). It is implemented for RCS and CVS. When
10704 you invoke it in a buffer under version-control, you can specify
10705 either an entire branch or a pair of versions, and the changes on that
10706 branch or between the two versions are merged into the working file.
10707 If this results in any conflicts, they may be resolved interactively,
10710 ** Changes in Font Lock
10712 *** The face and variable previously known as font-lock-reference-face
10713 are now called font-lock-constant-face to better reflect their typical
10714 use for highlighting constants and labels. (Its face properties are
10715 unchanged.) The variable font-lock-reference-face remains for now for
10716 compatibility reasons, but its value is font-lock-constant-face.
10718 ** Frame name display changes
10720 *** The command set-frame-name lets you set the name of the current
10721 frame. You can use the new command select-frame-by-name to select and
10722 raise a frame; this is mostly useful on character-only terminals, or
10723 when many frames are invisible or iconified.
10725 *** On character-only terminal (not a window system), changing the
10726 frame name is now reflected on the mode line and in the Buffers/Frames
10729 ** Comint (subshell) changes
10731 *** In Comint modes, the commands to kill, stop or interrupt a
10732 subjob now also kill pending input. This is for compatibility
10733 with ordinary shells, where the signal characters do this.
10735 *** There are new commands in Comint mode.
10737 C-c C-x fetches the "next" line from the input history;
10738 that is, the line after the last line you got.
10739 You can use this command to fetch successive lines, one by one.
10741 C-c SPC accumulates lines of input. More precisely, it arranges to
10742 send the current line together with the following line, when you send
10743 the following line.
10745 C-c C-a if repeated twice consecutively now moves to the process mark,
10746 which separates the pending input from the subprocess output and the
10747 previously sent input.
10749 C-c M-r now runs comint-previous-matching-input-from-input;
10750 it searches for a previous command, using the current pending input
10751 as the search string.
10753 *** New option compilation-scroll-output can be set to scroll
10754 automatically in compilation-mode windows.
10758 *** Multiline macros are now handled, both as they affect indentation,
10759 and as recognized syntax. New syntactic symbol cpp-macro-cont is
10760 assigned to second and subsequent lines of a multiline macro
10763 *** A new style "user" which captures all non-hook-ified
10764 (i.e. top-level) .emacs file variable settings and customizations.
10765 Style "cc-mode" is an alias for "user" and is deprecated. "gnu"
10766 style is still the default however.
10768 *** "java" style now conforms to Sun's JDK coding style.
10770 *** There are new commands c-beginning-of-defun, c-end-of-defun which
10771 are alternatives which you could bind to C-M-a and C-M-e if you prefer
10772 them. They do not have key bindings by default.
10774 *** New and improved implementations of M-a (c-beginning-of-statement)
10775 and M-e (c-end-of-statement).
10777 *** C++ namespace blocks are supported, with new syntactic symbols
10778 namespace-open, namespace-close, and innamespace.
10780 *** File local variable settings of c-file-style and c-file-offsets
10781 makes the style variables local to that buffer only.
10783 *** New indentation functions c-lineup-close-paren,
10784 c-indent-one-line-block, c-lineup-dont-change.
10786 *** Improvements (hopefully!) to the way CC Mode is loaded. You
10787 should now be able to do a (require 'cc-mode) to get the entire
10788 package loaded properly for customization in your .emacs file. A new
10789 variable c-initialize-on-load controls this and is t by default.
10791 ** Changes to hippie-expand.
10793 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-skip-space'. If
10794 non-nil, trailing spaces may be included in the abbreviation to search for,
10795 which then gives the same behavior as the original `dabbrev-expand'.
10797 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-as-symbol'. If
10798 non-nil, characters of syntax '_' is considered part of the word when
10799 expanding dynamically.
10801 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-no-restriction'. If
10802 non-nil, narrowed buffers are widened before they are searched.
10804 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-only-buffers'. If
10805 non-empty, buffers searched are restricted to the types specified in
10806 this list. Useful for example when constructing new special-purpose
10807 expansion functions with `make-hippie-expand-function'.
10809 *** Text properties of the expansion are no longer copied.
10811 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
10813 *** Any titleword matching a regexp in the new variable
10814 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore (case sensitive) is ignored during
10815 automatic key generation. This replaces variable
10816 bibtex-autokey-titleword-first-ignore, which only checked for matches
10817 against the first word in the title.
10819 *** Autokey generation now uses all words from the title, not just
10820 capitalized words. To avoid conflicts with existing customizations,
10821 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore is set up such that words starting with
10822 lowerkey characters will still be ignored. Thus, if you want to use
10823 lowercase words from the title, you will have to overwrite the
10824 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore standard setting.
10826 *** Case conversion of names and title words for automatic key
10827 generation is more flexible. Variable bibtex-autokey-preserve-case is
10828 replaced by bibtex-autokey-titleword-case-convert and
10829 bibtex-autokey-name-case-convert.
10831 ** Changes in vcursor.el.
10833 *** Support for character terminals is available: there is a new keymap
10834 and the vcursor will appear as an arrow between buffer text. A
10835 variable `vcursor-interpret-input' allows input from the vcursor to be
10836 entered exactly as if typed. Numerous functions, including
10837 `vcursor-compare-windows', have been rewritten to improve consistency
10838 in the selection of windows and corresponding keymaps.
10840 *** vcursor options can now be altered with M-x customize under the
10841 Editing group once the package is loaded.
10843 *** Loading vcursor now does not define keys by default, as this is
10844 generally a bad side effect. Use M-x customize to set
10845 vcursor-key-bindings to t to restore the old behavior.
10847 *** vcursor-auto-disable can be `copy', which turns off copying from the
10848 vcursor, but doesn't disable it, after any non-vcursor command.
10852 *** You can now spell check comments and strings in the current
10853 buffer with M-x ispell-comments-and-strings. Comments and strings
10854 are identified by syntax tables in effect.
10856 *** Generic region skipping implemented.
10857 A single buffer can be broken into a number of regions where text will
10858 and will not be checked. The definitions of the regions can be user
10859 defined. New applications and improvements made available by this
10862 o URLs are automatically skipped
10863 o EMail message checking is vastly improved.
10865 *** Ispell can highlight the erroneous word even on non-window terminals.
10867 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
10869 RefTeX has been updated in order to make it more usable with very
10870 large projects (like a several volume math book). The parser has been
10871 re-written from scratch. To get maximum speed from RefTeX, check the
10872 section `Optimizations' in the manual.
10874 *** New recursive parser.
10876 The old version of RefTeX created a single large buffer containing the
10877 entire multifile document in order to parse the document. The new
10878 recursive parser scans the individual files.
10880 *** Parsing only part of a document.
10882 Reparsing of changed document parts can now be made faster by enabling
10883 partial scans. To use this feature, read the documentation string of
10884 the variable `reftex-enable-partial-scans' and set the variable to t.
10886 (setq reftex-enable-partial-scans t)
10888 *** Storing parsing information in a file.
10890 This can improve startup times considerably. To turn it on, use
10892 (setq reftex-save-parse-info t)
10894 *** Using multiple selection buffers
10896 If the creation of label selection buffers is too slow (this happens
10897 for large documents), you can reuse these buffers by setting
10899 (setq reftex-use-multiple-selection-buffers t)
10901 *** References to external documents.
10903 The LaTeX package `xr' allows to cross-reference labels in external
10904 documents. RefTeX can provide information about the external
10905 documents as well. To use this feature, set up the \externaldocument
10906 macros required by the `xr' package and rescan the document with
10907 RefTeX. The external labels can then be accessed with the `x' key in
10908 the selection buffer provided by `reftex-reference' (bound to `C-c )').
10909 The `x' key also works in the table of contents buffer.
10911 *** Many more labeled LaTeX environments are recognized by default.
10913 The built-in command list now covers all the standard LaTeX commands,
10914 and all of the major packages included in the LaTeX distribution.
10916 Also, RefTeX now understands the \appendix macro and changes
10917 the enumeration of sections in the *toc* buffer accordingly.
10919 *** Mouse support for selection and *toc* buffers
10921 The mouse can now be used to select items in the selection and *toc*
10922 buffers. See also the new option `reftex-highlight-selection'.
10924 *** New keymaps for selection and table of contents modes.
10926 The selection processes for labels and citation keys, and the table of
10927 contents buffer now have their own keymaps: `reftex-select-label-map',
10928 `reftex-select-bib-map', `reftex-toc-map'. The selection processes
10929 have a number of new keys predefined. In particular, TAB lets you
10930 enter a label with completion. Check the on-the-fly help (press `?'
10931 at the selection prompt) or read the Info documentation to find out
10934 *** Support for the varioref package
10936 The `v' key in the label selection buffer toggles \ref versus \vref.
10940 Three new hooks can be used to redefine the way labels, references,
10941 and citations are created. These hooks are
10942 `reftex-format-label-function', `reftex-format-ref-function',
10943 `reftex-format-cite-function'.
10945 *** Citations outside LaTeX
10947 The command `reftex-citation' may also be used outside LaTeX (e.g. in
10948 a mail buffer). See the Info documentation for details.
10950 *** Short context is no longer fontified.
10952 The short context in the label menu no longer copies the
10953 fontification from the text in the buffer. If you prefer it to be
10956 (setq reftex-refontify-context t)
10958 ** file-cache-minibuffer-complete now accepts a prefix argument.
10959 With a prefix argument, it does not try to do completion of
10960 the file name within its directory; it only checks for other
10961 directories that contain the same file name.
10963 Thus, given the file name Makefile, and assuming that a file
10964 Makefile.in exists in the same directory, ordinary
10965 file-cache-minibuffer-complete will try to complete Makefile to
10966 Makefile.in and will therefore never look for other directories that
10967 have Makefile. A prefix argument tells it not to look for longer
10968 names such as Makefile.in, so that instead it will look for other
10969 directories--just as if the name were already complete in its present
10972 ** New modes and packages
10974 *** There is a new alternative major mode for Perl, Cperl mode.
10975 It has many more features than Perl mode, and some people prefer
10976 it, but some do not.
10978 *** There is a new major mode, M-x vhdl-mode, for editing files of VHDL
10981 *** M-x which-function-mode enables a minor mode that displays the
10982 current function name continuously in the mode line, as you move
10983 around in a buffer.
10985 Which Function mode is effective in major modes which support Imenu.
10987 *** Gametree is a major mode for editing game analysis trees. The author
10988 uses it for keeping notes about his postal Chess games, but it should
10989 be helpful for other two-player games as well, as long as they have an
10990 established system of notation similar to Chess.
10992 *** The new minor mode checkdoc-minor-mode provides Emacs Lisp
10993 documentation string checking for style and spelling. The style
10994 guidelines are found in the Emacs Lisp programming manual.
10996 *** The net-utils package makes some common networking features
10997 available in Emacs. Some of these functions are wrappers around
10998 system utilities (ping, nslookup, etc); others are implementations of
10999 simple protocols (finger, whois) in Emacs Lisp. There are also
11000 functions to make simple connections to TCP/IP ports for debugging and
11003 *** highlight-changes-mode is a minor mode that uses colors to
11004 identify recently changed parts of the buffer text.
11006 *** The new package `midnight' lets you specify things to be done
11007 within Emacs at midnight--by default, kill buffers that you have not
11008 used in a considerable time. To use this feature, customize
11009 the user option `midnight-mode' to t.
11011 *** The file generic-x.el defines a number of simple major modes.
11013 apache-generic-mode: For Apache and NCSA httpd configuration files
11014 samba-generic-mode: Samba configuration files
11015 fvwm-generic-mode: For fvwm initialization files
11016 x-resource-generic-mode: For X resource files
11017 hosts-generic-mode: For hosts files (.rhosts, /etc/hosts, etc)
11018 mailagent-rules-generic-mode: For mailagent .rules files
11019 javascript-generic-mode: For JavaScript files
11020 vrml-generic-mode: For VRML files
11021 java-manifest-generic-mode: For Java MANIFEST files
11022 java-properties-generic-mode: For Java property files
11023 mailrc-generic-mode: For .mailrc files
11025 Platform-specific modes:
11027 prototype-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V prototype files
11028 pkginfo-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V pkginfo files
11029 alias-generic-mode: For C shell alias files
11030 inf-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INF files
11031 ini-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INI files
11032 reg-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Registry files
11033 bat-generic-mode: For MS-Windows BAT scripts
11034 rc-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Resource files
11035 rul-generic-mode: For InstallShield scripts
11037 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 since the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
11039 ** If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode,
11040 use -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line.
11041 That will force Emacs to read that file in unibyte mode.
11042 Otherwise, the file will be loaded and byte-compiled in multibyte mode.
11044 Thus, each lisp file is read in a consistent way regardless of whether
11045 you started Emacs with --unibyte, so that a Lisp program gives
11046 consistent results regardless of how Emacs was started.
11048 ** The new function assoc-default is useful for searching an alist,
11049 and using a default value if the key is not found there. You can
11050 specify a comparison predicate, so this function is useful for
11051 searching comparing a string against an alist of regular expressions.
11053 ** The functions unibyte-char-to-multibyte and
11054 multibyte-char-to-unibyte convert between unibyte and multibyte
11055 character codes, in a way that is appropriate for the current language
11058 ** The functions read-event, read-char and read-char-exclusive now
11059 take two optional arguments. PROMPT, if non-nil, specifies a prompt
11060 string. SUPPRESS-INPUT-METHOD, if non-nil, says to disable the
11061 current input method for reading this one event.
11063 ** Two new variables print-escape-nonascii and print-escape-multibyte
11064 now control whether to output certain characters as
11065 backslash-sequences. print-escape-nonascii applies to single-byte
11066 non-ASCII characters; print-escape-multibyte applies to multibyte
11067 characters. Both of these variables are used only when printing
11068 in readable fashion (prin1 uses them, princ does not).
11070 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 before the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
11072 ** Compiled Emacs Lisp files made with the modified "MBSK" version
11073 of Emacs 20.2 do not work in Emacs 20.3.
11075 ** Buffer positions are now measured in characters, as they were
11076 in Emacs 19 and before. This means that (forward-char 1)
11077 always increases point by 1.
11079 The function chars-in-region now just subtracts its arguments. It is
11080 considered obsolete. The function char-boundary-p has been deleted.
11082 See below for additional changes relating to multibyte characters.
11084 ** defcustom, defface and defgroup now accept the keyword `:version'.
11085 Use this to specify in which version of Emacs a certain variable's
11086 default value changed. For example,
11088 (defcustom foo-max 34 "*Maximum number of foo's allowed."
11093 (defgroup foo-group nil "The foo group."
11096 If an entire new group is added or the variables in it have the
11097 default values changed, then just add a `:version' to that group. It
11098 is recommended that new packages added to the distribution contain a
11099 `:version' in the top level group.
11101 This information is used to control the customize-changed-options command.
11103 ** It is now an error to change the value of a symbol whose name
11104 starts with a colon--if it is interned in the standard obarray.
11106 However, setting such a symbol to its proper value, which is that
11107 symbol itself, is not an error. This is for the sake of programs that
11108 support previous Emacs versions by explicitly setting these variables
11111 If you set the variable keyword-symbols-constant-flag to nil,
11112 this error is suppressed, and you can set these symbols to any
11115 ** There is a new debugger command, R.
11116 It evaluates an expression like e, but saves the result
11117 in the buffer *Debugger-record*.
11119 ** Frame-local variables.
11121 You can now make a variable local to various frames. To do this, call
11122 the function make-variable-frame-local; this enables frames to have
11123 local bindings for that variable.
11125 These frame-local bindings are actually frame parameters: you create a
11126 frame-local binding in a specific frame by calling
11127 modify-frame-parameters and specifying the variable name as the
11130 Buffer-local bindings take precedence over frame-local bindings.
11131 Thus, if the current buffer has a buffer-local binding, that binding is
11132 active; otherwise, if the selected frame has a frame-local binding,
11133 that binding is active; otherwise, the default binding is active.
11135 It would not be hard to implement window-local bindings, but it is not
11136 clear that this would be very useful; windows tend to come and go in a
11137 very transitory fashion, so that trying to produce any specific effect
11138 through a window-local binding would not be very robust.
11140 ** `sregexq' and `sregex' are two new functions for constructing
11141 "symbolic regular expressions." These are Lisp expressions that, when
11142 evaluated, yield conventional string-based regexps. The symbolic form
11143 makes it easier to construct, read, and maintain complex patterns.
11144 See the documentation in sregex.el.
11146 ** parse-partial-sexp's return value has an additional element which
11147 is used to pass information along if you pass it to another call to
11148 parse-partial-sexp, starting its scan where the first call ended.
11149 The contents of this field are not yet finalized.
11151 ** eval-region now accepts a fourth optional argument READ-FUNCTION.
11152 If it is non-nil, that function is used instead of `read'.
11154 ** unload-feature by default removes the feature's functions from
11155 known hooks to avoid trouble, but a package providing FEATURE can
11156 define a hook FEATURE-unload-hook to be run by unload-feature instead.
11158 ** read-from-minibuffer no longer returns the argument DEFAULT-VALUE
11159 when the user enters empty input. It now returns the null string, as
11160 it did in Emacs 19. The default value is made available in the
11161 history via M-n, but it is not applied here as a default.
11163 The other, more specialized minibuffer-reading functions continue to
11164 return the default value (not the null string) when the user enters
11167 ** The new variable read-buffer-function controls which routine to use
11168 for selecting buffers. For example, if you set this variable to
11169 `iswitchb-read-buffer', iswitchb will be used to read buffer names.
11170 Other functions can also be used if they accept the same arguments as
11171 `read-buffer' and return the selected buffer name as a string.
11173 ** The new function read-passwd reads a password from the terminal,
11174 echoing a period for each character typed. It takes three arguments:
11175 a prompt string, a flag which says "read it twice to make sure", and a
11176 default password to use if the user enters nothing.
11178 ** The variable fill-nobreak-predicate gives major modes a way to
11179 specify not to break a line at certain places. Its value is a
11180 function which is called with no arguments, with point located at the
11181 place where a break is being considered. If the function returns
11182 non-nil, then the line won't be broken there.
11184 ** window-end now takes an optional second argument, UPDATE.
11185 If this is non-nil, then the function always returns an accurate
11186 up-to-date value for the buffer position corresponding to the
11187 end of the window, even if this requires computation.
11189 ** other-buffer now takes an optional argument FRAME
11190 which specifies which frame's buffer list to use.
11191 If it is nil, that means use the selected frame's buffer list.
11193 ** The new variable buffer-display-time, always local in every buffer,
11194 holds the value of (current-time) as of the last time that a window
11195 was directed to display this buffer.
11197 ** It is now meaningful to compare two window-configuration objects
11198 with `equal'. Two window-configuration objects are equal if they
11199 describe equivalent arrangements of windows, in the same frame--in
11200 other words, if they would give the same results if passed to
11201 set-window-configuration.
11203 ** compare-window-configurations is a new function that compares two
11204 window configurations loosely. It ignores differences in saved buffer
11205 positions and scrolling, and considers only the structure and sizes of
11206 windows and the choice of buffers to display.
11208 ** The variable minor-mode-overriding-map-alist allows major modes to
11209 override the key bindings of a minor mode. The elements of this alist
11210 look like the elements of minor-mode-map-alist: (VARIABLE . KEYMAP).
11212 If the VARIABLE in an element of minor-mode-overriding-map-alist has a
11213 non-nil value, the paired KEYMAP is active, and totally overrides the
11214 map (if any) specified for the same variable in minor-mode-map-alist.
11216 minor-mode-overriding-map-alist is automatically local in all buffers,
11217 and it is meant to be set by major modes.
11219 ** The function match-string-no-properties is like match-string
11220 except that it discards all text properties from the result.
11222 ** The function load-average now accepts an optional argument
11223 USE-FLOATS. If it is non-nil, the load average values are returned as
11224 floating point numbers, rather than as integers to be divided by 100.
11226 ** The new variable temporary-file-directory specifies the directory
11227 to use for creating temporary files. The default value is determined
11228 in a reasonable way for your operating system; on GNU and Unix systems
11229 it is based on the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables.
11233 *** easymenu.el now uses the new menu item format and supports the
11234 keywords :visible and :filter. The existing keyword :keys is now
11237 The variable `easy-menu-precalculate-equivalent-keybindings' controls
11238 a new feature which calculates keyboard equivalents for the menu when
11239 you define the menu. The default is t. If you rarely use menus, you
11240 can set the variable to nil to disable this precalculation feature;
11241 then the calculation is done only if you use the menu bar.
11243 *** A new format for menu items is supported.
11245 In a keymap, a key binding that has the format
11246 (STRING . REAL-BINDING) or (STRING HELP-STRING . REAL-BINDING)
11247 defines a menu item. Now a menu item definition may also be a list that
11248 starts with the symbol `menu-item'.
11251 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) or
11252 (menu-item ITEM-NAME REAL-BINDING . ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST)
11253 where ITEM-NAME is an expression which evaluates to the menu item
11254 string, and ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST has the form of a property list.
11255 The supported properties include
11257 :enable FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
11259 :visible FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
11260 item should appear in the menu.
11262 FILTER-FN is a function of one argument,
11263 which will be REAL-BINDING.
11264 It should return a binding to use instead.
11266 DESCRIPTION is a string that describes an equivalent keyboard
11267 binding for REAL-BINDING. DESCRIPTION is expanded with
11268 `substitute-command-keys' before it is used.
11269 :key-sequence KEY-SEQUENCE
11270 KEY-SEQUENCE is a key-sequence for an equivalent
11273 This means that the command normally has no
11274 keyboard equivalent.
11275 :help HELP HELP is the extra help string (not currently used).
11276 :button (TYPE . SELECTED)
11277 TYPE is :toggle or :radio.
11278 SELECTED is a form, to be evaluated, and its
11279 value says whether this button is currently selected.
11281 Buttons are at the moment only simulated by prefixes in the menu.
11282 Eventually ordinary X-buttons may be supported.
11284 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) defines unselectable item.
11288 *** The new event type `mouse-wheel' is generated by a wheel on a
11289 mouse (such as the MS Intellimouse). The event contains a delta that
11290 corresponds to the amount and direction that the wheel is rotated,
11291 which is typically used to implement a scroll or zoom. The format is:
11293 (mouse-wheel POSITION DELTA)
11295 where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
11296 same format as a mouse-click event, and DELTA is a signed number
11297 indicating the number of increments by which the wheel was rotated. A
11298 negative DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated backwards, towards
11299 the user, and a positive DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated
11300 forward, away from the user.
11302 As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
11304 *** The new event type `drag-n-drop' is generated when a group of
11305 files is selected in an application outside of Emacs, and then dragged
11306 and dropped onto an Emacs frame. The event contains a list of
11307 filenames that were dragged and dropped, which are then typically
11308 loaded into Emacs. The format is:
11310 (drag-n-drop POSITION FILES)
11312 where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
11313 same format as a mouse-click event, and FILES is the list of filenames
11314 that were dragged and dropped.
11316 As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
11318 ** Changes relating to multibyte characters.
11320 *** The variable enable-multibyte-characters is now read-only;
11321 any attempt to set it directly signals an error. The only way
11322 to change this value in an existing buffer is with set-buffer-multibyte.
11324 *** In a string constant, `\ ' now stands for "nothing at all". You
11325 can use it to terminate a hex escape which is followed by a character
11326 that could otherwise be read as part of the hex escape.
11328 *** String indices are now measured in characters, as they were
11329 in Emacs 19 and before.
11331 The function chars-in-string has been deleted.
11332 The function concat-chars has been renamed to `string'.
11334 *** The function set-buffer-multibyte sets the flag in the current
11335 buffer that says whether the buffer uses multibyte representation or
11336 unibyte representation. If the argument is nil, it selects unibyte
11337 representation. Otherwise it selects multibyte representation.
11339 This function does not change the contents of the buffer, viewed
11340 as a sequence of bytes. However, it does change the contents
11341 viewed as characters; a sequence of two bytes which is treated as
11342 one character when the buffer uses multibyte representation
11343 will count as two characters using unibyte representation.
11345 This function sets enable-multibyte-characters to record which
11346 representation is in use. It also adjusts various data in the buffer
11347 (including its markers, overlays and text properties) so that they are
11348 consistent with the new representation.
11350 *** string-make-multibyte takes a string and converts it to multibyte
11351 representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care
11352 about the representation, because Emacs converts when necessary;
11353 however, it makes a difference when you compare strings.
11355 The conversion of non-ASCII characters works by adding the value of
11356 nonascii-insert-offset to each character, or by translating them
11357 using the table nonascii-translation-table.
11359 *** string-make-unibyte takes a string and converts it to unibyte
11360 representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care about the
11361 representation, but it makes a difference when you compare strings.
11363 The conversion from multibyte to unibyte representation
11364 loses information; the only time Emacs performs it automatically
11365 is when inserting a multibyte string into a unibyte buffer.
11367 *** string-as-multibyte takes a string, and returns another string
11368 which contains the same bytes, but treats them as multibyte.
11370 *** string-as-unibyte takes a string, and returns another string
11371 which contains the same bytes, but treats them as unibyte.
11373 *** The new function compare-strings lets you compare
11374 portions of two strings. Unibyte strings are converted to multibyte,
11375 so that a unibyte string can match a multibyte string.
11376 You can specify whether to ignore case or not.
11378 *** assoc-ignore-case now uses compare-strings so that
11379 it can treat unibyte and multibyte strings as equal.
11381 *** Regular expression operations and buffer string searches now
11382 convert the search pattern to multibyte or unibyte to accord with the
11383 buffer or string being searched.
11385 One consequence is that you cannot always use \200-\377 inside of
11386 [...] to match all non-ASCII characters. This does still work when
11387 searching or matching a unibyte buffer or string, but not when
11388 searching or matching a multibyte string. Unfortunately, there is no
11389 obvious choice of syntax to use within [...] for that job. But, what
11390 you want is just to match all non-ASCII characters, the regular
11391 expression [^\0-\177] works for it.
11393 *** Structure of coding system changed.
11395 All coding systems (including aliases and subsidiaries) are named
11396 by symbols; the symbol's `coding-system' property is a vector
11397 which defines the coding system. Aliases share the same vector
11398 as the principal name, so that altering the contents of this
11399 vector affects the principal name and its aliases. You can define
11400 your own alias name of a coding system by the function
11401 define-coding-system-alias.
11403 The coding system definition includes a property list of its own. Use
11404 the new functions `coding-system-get' and `coding-system-put' to
11405 access such coding system properties as post-read-conversion,
11406 pre-write-conversion, character-translation-table-for-decode,
11407 character-translation-table-for-encode, mime-charset, and
11408 safe-charsets. For instance, (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1
11409 'mime-charset) gives the corresponding MIME-charset parameter
11412 Among the coding system properties listed above, safe-charsets is new.
11413 The value of this property is a list of character sets which this
11414 coding system can correctly encode and decode. For instance:
11415 (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1 'safe-charsets) => (ascii latin-iso8859-1)
11417 Here, "correctly encode" means that the encoded character sets can
11418 also be handled safely by systems other than Emacs as far as they
11419 are capable of that coding system. Though, Emacs itself can encode
11420 the other character sets and read it back correctly.
11422 *** The new function select-safe-coding-system can be used to find a
11423 proper coding system for encoding the specified region or string.
11424 This function requires a user interaction.
11426 *** The new functions find-coding-systems-region and
11427 find-coding-systems-string are helper functions used by
11428 select-safe-coding-system. They return a list of all proper coding
11429 systems to encode a text in some region or string. If you don't want
11430 a user interaction, use one of these functions instead of
11431 select-safe-coding-system.
11433 *** The explicit encoding and decoding functions, such as
11434 decode-coding-region and encode-coding-string, now set
11435 last-coding-system-used to reflect the actual way encoding or decoding
11438 *** The new function detect-coding-with-language-environment can be
11439 used to detect a coding system of text according to priorities of
11440 coding systems used by some specific language environment.
11442 *** The functions detect-coding-region and detect-coding-string always
11443 return a list if the arg HIGHEST is nil. Thus, if only ASCII
11444 characters are found, they now return a list of single element
11445 `undecided' or its subsidiaries.
11447 *** The new functions coding-system-change-eol-conversion and
11448 coding-system-change-text-conversion can be used to get a different
11449 coding system than what specified only in how end-of-line or text is
11452 *** The new function set-selection-coding-system can be used to set a
11453 coding system for communicating with other X clients.
11455 *** The function `map-char-table' now passes as argument only valid
11456 character codes, plus generic characters that stand for entire
11457 character sets or entire subrows of a character set. In other words,
11458 each time `map-char-table' calls its FUNCTION argument, the key value
11459 either will be a valid individual character code, or will stand for a
11460 range of characters.
11462 *** The new function `char-valid-p' can be used for checking whether a
11463 Lisp object is a valid character code or not.
11465 *** The new function `charset-after' returns a charset of a character
11466 in the current buffer at position POS.
11468 *** Input methods are now implemented using the variable
11469 input-method-function. If this is non-nil, its value should be a
11470 function; then, whenever Emacs reads an input event that is a printing
11471 character with no modifier bits, it calls that function, passing the
11472 event as an argument. Often this function will read more input, first
11473 binding input-method-function to nil.
11475 The return value should be a list of the events resulting from input
11476 method processing. These events will be processed sequentially as
11477 input, before resorting to unread-command-events. Events returned by
11478 the input method function are not passed to the input method function,
11479 not even if they are printing characters with no modifier bits.
11481 The input method function is not called when reading the second and
11482 subsequent events of a key sequence.
11484 *** You can customize any language environment by using
11485 set-language-environment-hook and exit-language-environment-hook.
11487 The hook `exit-language-environment-hook' should be used to undo
11488 customizations that you made with set-language-environment-hook. For
11489 instance, if you set up a special key binding for a specific language
11490 environment by set-language-environment-hook, you should set up
11491 exit-language-environment-hook to restore the normal key binding.
11493 * Changes in Emacs 20.1
11495 ** Emacs has a new facility for customization of its many user
11496 options. It is called M-x customize. With this facility you can look
11497 at the many user options in an organized way; they are grouped into a
11500 M-x customize also knows what sorts of values are legitimate for each
11501 user option and ensures that you don't use invalid values.
11503 With M-x customize, you can set options either for the present Emacs
11504 session or permanently. (Permanent settings are stored automatically
11505 in your .emacs file.)
11507 ** Scroll bars are now on the left side of the window.
11508 You can change this with M-x customize-option scroll-bar-mode.
11510 ** The mode line no longer includes the string `Emacs'.
11511 This makes more space in the mode line for other information.
11513 ** When you select a region with the mouse, it is highlighted
11514 immediately afterward. At that time, if you type the DELETE key, it
11517 The BACKSPACE key, and the ASCII character DEL, do not do this; they
11518 delete the character before point, as usual.
11520 ** In an incremental search the whole current match is highlighted
11521 on terminals which support this. (You can disable this feature
11522 by setting search-highlight to nil.)
11524 ** In the minibuffer, in some cases, you can now use M-n to
11525 insert the default value into the minibuffer as text. In effect,
11526 the default value (if the minibuffer routines know it) is tacked
11527 onto the history "in the future". (The more normal use of the
11528 history list is to use M-p to insert minibuffer input used in the
11531 ** In Text mode, now only blank lines separate paragraphs.
11532 This makes it possible to get the full benefit of Adaptive Fill mode
11533 in Text mode, and other modes derived from it (such as Mail mode).
11534 TAB in Text mode now runs the command indent-relative; this
11535 makes a practical difference only when you use indented paragraphs.
11537 As a result, the old Indented Text mode is now identical to Text mode,
11538 and is an alias for it.
11540 If you want spaces at the beginning of a line to start a paragraph,
11541 use the new mode, Paragraph Indent Text mode.
11543 ** Scrolling changes
11545 *** Scroll commands to scroll a whole screen now preserve the screen
11546 position of the cursor, if scroll-preserve-screen-position is non-nil.
11548 In this mode, if you scroll several screens back and forth, finishing
11549 on the same screen where you started, the cursor goes back to the line
11552 *** If you set scroll-conservatively to a small number, then when you
11553 move point a short distance off the screen, Emacs will scroll the
11554 screen just far enough to bring point back on screen, provided that
11555 does not exceed `scroll-conservatively' lines.
11557 *** The new variable scroll-margin says how close point can come to the
11558 top or bottom of a window. It is a number of screen lines; if point
11559 comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of the window, Emacs
11560 recenters the window.
11562 ** International character set support (MULE)
11564 Emacs now supports a wide variety of international character sets,
11565 including European variants of the Latin alphabet, as well as Chinese,
11566 Devanagari (Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopian, Greek, IPA, Japanese,
11567 Korean, Lao, Russian, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. These
11568 features have been merged from the modified version of Emacs known as
11569 MULE (for "MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs")
11571 Users of these scripts have established many more-or-less standard
11572 coding systems for storing files. Emacs uses a single multibyte
11573 character encoding within Emacs buffers; it can translate from a wide
11574 variety of coding systems when reading a file and can translate back
11575 into any of these coding systems when saving a file.
11577 Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used,
11578 generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs
11579 supports various "input methods", typically one for each script or
11580 language, to make it possible to type them.
11582 The Emacs internal multibyte encoding represents a non-ASCII
11583 character as a sequence of bytes in the range 0200 through 0377.
11585 The new prefix key C-x RET is used for commands that pertain
11586 to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods.
11588 You can disable multibyte character support as follows:
11590 (setq-default enable-multibyte-characters nil)
11592 Calling the function standard-display-european turns off multibyte
11593 characters, unless you specify a non-nil value for the second
11594 argument, AUTO. This provides compatibility for people who are
11595 already using standard-display-european to continue using unibyte
11596 characters for their work until they want to change.
11600 An input method is a kind of character conversion which is designed
11601 specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language
11602 has its own input method (though sometimes several languages which use
11603 the same characters can share one input method). Some languages
11604 support several input methods.
11606 The simplest kind of input method works by mapping ASCII letters into
11607 another alphabet. This is how the Greek and Russian input methods
11610 A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of
11611 characters into one letter. Many European input methods use
11612 composition to produce a single non-ASCII letter from a sequence which
11613 consists of a letter followed by diacritics. For example, a' is one
11614 sequence of two characters that might be converted into a single
11617 The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed
11618 by conversion. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way.
11619 First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone
11620 marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are
11621 mapped into one syllable sign--most often a "composite character".
11623 None of these methods works very well for Chinese and Japanese, so
11624 they are handled specially. First you input a whole word using
11625 phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs
11626 converts it into one or more characters using a large dictionary.
11628 Since there is more than one way to represent a phonetically spelled
11629 word using Chinese characters, Emacs can only guess which one to use;
11630 typically these input methods give you a way to say "guess again" if
11631 the first guess is wrong.
11633 *** The command C-x RET m (toggle-enable-multibyte-characters)
11634 turns multibyte character support on or off for the current buffer.
11636 If multibyte character support is turned off in a buffer, then each
11637 byte is a single character, even codes 0200 through 0377--exactly as
11638 they did in Emacs 19.34. This includes the features for support for
11639 the European characters, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2.
11641 However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to
11642 use ISO Latin-1 or ISO Latin-2; the Emacs multibyte character set
11643 includes all the characters in these character sets, and Emacs can
11644 translate automatically to and from either one.
11646 *** Visiting a file in unibyte mode.
11648 Turning off multibyte character support in the buffer after visiting a
11649 file with multibyte code conversion will display the multibyte
11650 sequences already in the buffer, byte by byte. This is probably not
11653 If you want to edit a file of unibyte characters (Latin-1, for
11654 example), you can do it by specifying `no-conversion' as the coding
11655 system when reading the file. This coding system also turns off
11656 multibyte characters in that buffer.
11658 If you turn off multibyte character support entirely, this turns off
11659 character conversion as well.
11661 *** Displaying international characters on X Windows.
11663 A font for X typically displays just one alphabet or script.
11664 Therefore, displaying the entire range of characters Emacs supports
11665 requires using many fonts.
11667 Therefore, Emacs now supports "fontsets". Each fontset is a
11668 collection of fonts, each assigned to a range of character codes.
11670 A fontset has a name, like a font. Individual fonts are defined by
11671 the X server; fontsets are defined within Emacs itself. But once you
11672 have defined a fontset, you can use it in a face or a frame just as
11673 you would use a font.
11675 If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it
11676 specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot
11677 display that character. It will display an empty box instead.
11679 The fontset height and width are determined by the ASCII characters
11680 (that is, by the font in the fontset which is used for ASCII
11683 *** Defining fontsets.
11685 Emacs does not use any fontset by default. Its default font is still
11686 chosen as in previous versions. You can tell Emacs to use a fontset
11687 with the `-fn' option or the `Font' X resource.
11689 Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value
11690 of standard-fontset-spec. This fontset's short name is
11691 `fontset-standard'. Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the
11692 standard fontset are created automatically.
11694 If you specify a default ASCII font with the `Font' resource or `-fn'
11695 argument, a fontset is generated from it. This works by replacing the
11696 FOUNDARY, FAMILY, ADD_STYLE, and AVERAGE_WIDTH fields of the font name
11697 with `*' then using this to specify a fontset. This fontset's short
11698 name is `fontset-startup'.
11700 Emacs checks resources of the form Fontset-N where N is 0, 1, 2...
11701 The resource value should have this form:
11702 FONTSET-NAME, [CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME]...
11703 FONTSET-NAME should have the form of a standard X font name, except:
11704 * most fields should be just the wild card "*".
11705 * the CHARSET_REGISTRY field should be "fontset"
11706 * the CHARSET_ENCODING field can be any nickname of the fontset.
11707 The construct CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME can be repeated any number
11708 of times; each time specifies the font for one character set.
11709 CHARSET-NAME should be the name of a character set, and FONT-NAME
11710 should specify an actual font to use for that character set.
11712 Each of these fontsets has an alias which is made from the
11713 last two font name fields, CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING.
11714 You can refer to the fontset by that alias or by its full name.
11716 For any character sets that you don't mention, Emacs tries to choose a
11717 font by substituting into FONTSET-NAME. For instance, with the
11718 following resource,
11719 Emacs*Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24
11720 the font for ASCII is generated as below:
11721 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1
11722 Here is the substitution rule:
11723 Change CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING to that of the charset
11724 defined in the variable x-charset-registries. For instance, ASCII has
11725 the entry (ascii . "ISO8859-1") in this variable. Then, reduce
11726 sequences of wild cards -*-...-*- with a single wildcard -*-.
11727 (This is to prevent use of auto-scaled fonts.)
11729 The function which processes the fontset resource value to create the
11730 fontset is called create-fontset-from-fontset-spec. You can also call
11731 that function explicitly to create a fontset.
11733 With the X resource Emacs.Font, you can specify a fontset name just
11734 like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset
11735 name in a wildcard resource like Emacs*Font--that tries to specify the
11736 fontset for other purposes including menus, and they cannot handle
11739 *** The command M-x set-language-environment sets certain global Emacs
11740 defaults for a particular choice of language.
11742 Selecting a language environment typically specifies a default input
11743 method and which coding systems to recognize automatically when
11744 visiting files. However, it does not try to reread files you have
11745 already visited; the text in those buffers is not affected. The
11746 language environment may also specify a default choice of coding
11747 system for new files that you create.
11749 It makes no difference which buffer is current when you use
11750 set-language-environment, because these defaults apply globally to the
11751 whole Emacs session.
11753 For example, M-x set-language-environment RET Latin-1 RET
11754 chooses the Latin-1 character set. In the .emacs file, you can do this
11755 with (set-language-environment "Latin-1").
11757 *** The command C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system)
11758 specifies the file coding system for the current buffer. This
11759 specifies what sort of character code translation to do when saving
11760 the file. As an argument, you must specify the name of one of the
11761 coding systems that Emacs supports.
11763 *** The command C-x RET c (universal-coding-system-argument)
11764 lets you specify a coding system when you read or write a file.
11765 This command uses the minibuffer to read a coding system name.
11766 After you exit the minibuffer, the specified coding system
11767 is used for *the immediately following command*.
11769 So if the immediately following command is a command to read or
11770 write a file, it uses the specified coding system for that file.
11772 If the immediately following command does not use the coding system,
11773 then C-x RET c ultimately has no effect.
11775 For example, C-x RET c iso-8859-1 RET C-x C-f temp RET
11776 visits the file `temp' treating it as ISO Latin-1.
11778 *** You can specify the coding system for a file using the -*-
11779 construct. Include `coding: CODINGSYSTEM;' inside the -*-...-*-
11780 to specify use of coding system CODINGSYSTEM. You can also
11781 specify the coding system in a local variable list at the end
11784 *** The command C-x RET t (set-terminal-coding-system) specifies
11785 the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a character
11786 code for terminal output, all characters output to the terminal are
11787 translated into that character code.
11789 This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built in
11790 various countries to support the languages of those countries.
11792 By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all.
11794 *** The command C-x RET k (set-keyboard-coding-system) specifies
11795 the coding system for keyboard input.
11797 Character code translation of keyboard input is useful for terminals
11798 with keys that send non-ASCII graphic characters--for example,
11799 some terminals designed for ISO Latin-1 or subsets of it.
11801 By default, keyboard input is not translated at all.
11803 Character code translation of keyboard input is similar to using an
11804 input method, in that both define sequences of keyboard input that
11805 translate into single characters. However, input methods are designed
11806 to be convenient for interactive use, while the code translations are
11807 designed to work with terminals.
11809 *** The command C-x RET p (set-buffer-process-coding-system)
11810 specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess.
11811 This command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess
11812 has its own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify
11813 translation to and from a particular subprocess by giving the command
11814 in the corresponding buffer.
11816 By default, process input and output are not translated at all.
11818 *** The variable file-name-coding-system specifies the coding system
11819 to use for encoding file names before operating on them.
11820 It is also used for decoding file names obtained from the system.
11822 *** The command C-\ (toggle-input-method) activates or deactivates
11823 an input method. If no input method has been selected before, the
11824 command prompts for you to specify the language and input method you
11827 C-u C-\ (select-input-method) lets you switch to a different input
11828 method. C-h C-\ (or C-h I) describes the current input method.
11830 *** Some input methods remap the keyboard to emulate various keyboard
11831 layouts commonly used for particular scripts. How to do this
11832 remapping properly depends on your actual keyboard layout. To specify
11833 which layout your keyboard has, use M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout.
11835 *** The command C-h C (describe-coding-system) displays
11836 the coding systems currently selected for various purposes, plus
11837 related information.
11839 *** The command C-h h (view-hello-file) displays a file called
11840 HELLO, which has examples of text in many languages, using various
11843 *** The command C-h L (describe-language-support) displays
11844 information about the support for a particular language.
11845 You specify the language as an argument.
11847 *** The mode line now contains a letter or character that identifies
11848 the coding system used in the visited file. It normally follows the
11851 A dash indicates the default state of affairs: no code conversion
11852 (except CRLF => newline if appropriate). `=' means no conversion
11853 whatsoever. The ISO 8859 coding systems are represented by digits
11854 1 through 9. Other coding systems are represented by letters:
11856 A alternativnyj (Russian)
11858 C cn-gb-2312 (Chinese)
11859 C iso-2022-cn (Chinese)
11860 D in-is13194-devanagari (Indian languages)
11861 E euc-japan (Japanese)
11862 I iso-2022-cjk or iso-2022-ss2 (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
11863 J junet (iso-2022-7) or old-jis (iso-2022-jp-1978-irv) (Japanese)
11864 K euc-korea (Korean)
11867 S shift_jis (Japanese)
11870 V viscii or vscii (Vietnamese)
11871 i iso-2022-lock (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
11872 k iso-2022-kr (Korean)
11873 v viqr (Vietnamese)
11876 When you are using a character-only terminal (not a window system),
11877 two additional characters appear in between the dash and the file
11878 coding system. These two characters describe the coding system for
11879 keyboard input, and the coding system for terminal output.
11881 *** The new variable rmail-file-coding-system specifies the code
11882 conversion to use for RMAIL files. The default value is nil.
11884 When you read mail with Rmail, each message is decoded automatically
11885 into Emacs' internal format. This has nothing to do with
11886 rmail-file-coding-system. That variable controls reading and writing
11887 Rmail files themselves.
11889 *** The new variable sendmail-coding-system specifies the code
11890 conversion for outgoing mail. The default value is nil.
11892 Actually, there are three different ways of specifying the coding system
11895 - If you use C-x RET f in the mail buffer, that takes priority.
11896 - Otherwise, if you set sendmail-coding-system non-nil, that specifies it.
11897 - Otherwise, the default coding system for new files is used,
11898 if that is non-nil. That comes from your language environment.
11899 - Otherwise, Latin-1 is used.
11901 *** The command C-h t (help-with-tutorial) accepts a prefix argument
11902 to specify the language for the tutorial file. Currently, English,
11903 Japanese, Korean and Thai are supported. We welcome additional
11906 ** An easy new way to visit a file with no code or format conversion
11907 of any kind: Use M-x find-file-literally. There is also a command
11908 insert-file-literally which inserts a file into the current buffer
11909 without any conversion.
11911 ** C-q's handling of octal character codes is changed.
11912 You can now specify any number of octal digits.
11913 RET terminates the digits and is discarded;
11914 any other non-digit terminates the digits and is then used as input.
11916 ** There are new commands for looking up Info documentation for
11917 functions, variables and file names used in your programs.
11919 Type M-x info-lookup-symbol to look up a symbol in the buffer at point.
11920 Type M-x info-lookup-file to look up a file in the buffer at point.
11922 Precisely which Info files are used to look it up depends on the major
11923 mode. For example, in C mode, the GNU libc manual is used.
11925 ** M-TAB in most programming language modes now runs the command
11926 complete-symbol. This command performs completion on the symbol name
11927 in the buffer before point.
11929 With a numeric argument, it performs completion based on the set of
11930 symbols documented in the Info files for the programming language that
11933 With no argument, it does completion based on the current tags tables,
11934 just like the old binding of M-TAB (complete-tag).
11936 ** File locking works with NFS now.
11938 The lock file for FILENAME is now a symbolic link named .#FILENAME,
11939 in the same directory as FILENAME.
11941 This means that collision detection between two different machines now
11942 works reasonably well; it also means that no file server or directory
11943 can become a bottleneck.
11945 The new method does have drawbacks. It means that collision detection
11946 does not operate when you edit a file in a directory where you cannot
11947 create new files. Collision detection also doesn't operate when the
11948 file server does not support symbolic links. But these conditions are
11949 rare, and the ability to have collision detection while using NFS is
11950 so useful that the change is worth while.
11952 When Emacs or a system crashes, this may leave behind lock files which
11953 are stale. So you may occasionally get warnings about spurious
11954 collisions. When you determine that the collision is spurious, just
11955 tell Emacs to go ahead anyway.
11957 ** If you wish to use Show Paren mode to display matching parentheses,
11958 it is no longer sufficient to load paren.el. Instead you must call
11961 ** If you wish to use Delete Selection mode to replace a highlighted
11962 selection when you insert new text, it is no longer sufficient to load
11963 delsel.el. Instead you must call the function delete-selection-mode.
11965 ** If you wish to use Partial Completion mode to complete partial words
11966 within symbols or filenames, it is no longer sufficient to load
11967 complete.el. Instead you must call the function partial-completion-mode.
11969 ** If you wish to use uniquify to rename buffers for you,
11970 it is no longer sufficient to load uniquify.el. You must also
11971 set uniquify-buffer-name-style to one of the non-nil legitimate values.
11973 ** Changes in View mode.
11975 *** Several new commands are available in View mode.
11976 Do H in view mode for a list of commands.
11978 *** There are two new commands for entering View mode:
11979 view-file-other-frame and view-buffer-other-frame.
11981 *** Exiting View mode does a better job of restoring windows to their
11984 *** New customization variable view-scroll-auto-exit. If non-nil,
11985 scrolling past end of buffer makes view mode exit.
11987 *** New customization variable view-exits-all-viewing-windows. If
11988 non-nil, view-mode will at exit restore all windows viewing buffer,
11989 not just the selected window.
11991 *** New customization variable view-read-only. If non-nil, visiting a
11992 read-only file automatically enters View mode, and toggle-read-only
11993 turns View mode on or off.
11995 *** New customization variable view-remove-frame-by-deleting controls
11996 how to remove a not needed frame at view mode exit. If non-nil,
11997 delete the frame, if nil make an icon of it.
11999 ** C-x v l, the command to print a file's version control log,
12000 now positions point at the entry for the file's current branch version.
12002 ** C-x v =, the command to compare a file with the last checked-in version,
12003 has a new feature. If the file is currently not locked, so that it is
12004 presumably identical to the last checked-in version, the command now asks
12005 which version to compare with.
12007 ** When using hideshow.el, incremental search can temporarily show hidden
12008 blocks if a match is inside the block.
12010 The block is hidden again if the search is continued and the next match
12011 is outside the block. By customizing the variable
12012 isearch-hide-immediately you can choose to hide all the temporarily
12013 shown blocks only when exiting from incremental search.
12015 By customizing the variable hs-isearch-open you can choose what kind
12016 of blocks to temporarily show during isearch: comment blocks, code
12017 blocks, all of them or none.
12019 ** The new command C-x 4 0 (kill-buffer-and-window) kills the
12020 current buffer and deletes the selected window. It asks for
12021 confirmation first.
12023 ** C-x C-w, which saves the buffer into a specified file name,
12024 now changes the major mode according to that file name.
12025 However, the mode will not be changed if
12026 (1) a local variables list or the `-*-' line specifies a major mode, or
12027 (2) the current major mode is a "special" mode,
12028 not suitable for ordinary files, or
12029 (3) the new file name does not particularly specify any mode.
12031 This applies to M-x set-visited-file-name as well.
12033 However, if you set change-major-mode-with-file-name to nil, then
12034 these commands do not change the major mode.
12036 ** M-x occur changes.
12038 *** If the argument to M-x occur contains upper case letters,
12039 it performs a case-sensitive search.
12041 *** In the *Occur* buffer made by M-x occur,
12042 if you type g or M-x revert-buffer, this repeats the search
12043 using the same regular expression and the same buffer as before.
12045 ** In Transient Mark mode, the region in any one buffer is highlighted
12046 in just one window at a time. At first, it is highlighted in the
12047 window where you set the mark. The buffer's highlighting remains in
12048 that window unless you select to another window which shows the same
12049 buffer--then the highlighting moves to that window.
12051 ** The feature to suggest key bindings when you use M-x now operates
12052 after the command finishes. The message suggesting key bindings
12053 appears temporarily in the echo area. The previous echo area contents
12054 come back after a few seconds, in case they contain useful information.
12056 ** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
12057 selected buffers, so that the default for C-x b is now based on the
12058 buffers recently selected in the selected frame.
12060 ** Outline mode changes.
12062 *** Outline mode now uses overlays (this is the former noutline.el).
12064 *** Incremental searches skip over invisible text in Outline mode.
12066 ** When a minibuffer window is active but not the selected window, if
12067 you try to use the minibuffer, you used to get a nested minibuffer.
12068 Now, this not only gives an error, it also cancels the minibuffer that
12069 was already active.
12071 The motive for this change is so that beginning users do not
12072 unknowingly move away from minibuffers, leaving them active, and then
12073 get confused by it.
12075 If you want to be able to have recursive minibuffers, you must
12076 set enable-recursive-minibuffers to non-nil.
12078 ** Changes in dynamic abbrevs.
12080 *** Expanding dynamic abbrevs with M-/ is now smarter about case
12081 conversion. If the expansion has mixed case not counting the first
12082 character, and the abbreviation matches the beginning of the expansion
12083 including case, then the expansion is copied verbatim.
12085 The expansion is also copied verbatim if the abbreviation itself has
12086 mixed case. And using SPC M-/ to copy an additional word always
12087 copies it verbatim except when the previous copied word is all caps.
12089 *** The values of `dabbrev-case-replace' and `dabbrev-case-fold-search'
12090 are no longer Lisp expressions. They have simply three possible
12093 `dabbrev-case-replace' has these three values: nil (don't preserve
12094 case), t (do), or `case-replace' (do like M-x query-replace).
12095 `dabbrev-case-fold-search' has these three values: nil (don't ignore
12096 case), t (do), or `case-fold-search' (do like search).
12098 ** Minibuffer history lists are truncated automatically now to a
12099 certain length. The variable history-length specifies how long they
12100 can be. The default value is 30.
12102 ** Changes in Mail mode.
12104 *** The key C-x m no longer runs the `mail' command directly.
12105 Instead, it runs the command `compose-mail', which invokes the mail
12106 composition mechanism you have selected with the variable
12107 `mail-user-agent'. The default choice of user agent is
12108 `sendmail-user-agent', which gives behavior compatible with the old
12111 C-x 4 m now runs compose-mail-other-window, and C-x 5 m runs
12112 compose-mail-other-frame.
12114 *** While composing a reply to a mail message, from Rmail, you can use
12115 the command C-c C-r to cite just the region from the message you are
12116 replying to. This copies the text which is the selected region in the
12117 buffer that shows the original message.
12119 *** The command C-c C-i inserts a file at the end of the message,
12120 with separator lines around the contents.
12122 *** The command M-x expand-mail-aliases expands all mail aliases
12123 in suitable mail headers. Emacs automatically extracts mail alias
12124 definitions from your mail alias file (e.g., ~/.mailrc). You do not
12125 need to expand mail aliases yourself before sending mail.
12127 *** New features in the mail-complete command.
12129 **** The mail-complete command now inserts the user's full name,
12130 for local users or if that is known. The variable mail-complete-style
12131 controls the style to use, and whether to do this at all.
12132 Its values are like those of mail-from-style.
12134 **** The variable mail-passwd-command lets you specify a shell command
12135 to run to fetch a set of password-entries that add to the ones in
12138 **** The variable mail-passwd-file now specifies a list of files to read
12139 to get the list of user ids. By default, one file is used:
12142 ** You can "quote" a file name to inhibit special significance of
12143 special syntax, by adding `/:' to the beginning. Thus, if you have a
12144 directory named `/foo:', you can prevent it from being treated as a
12145 reference to a remote host named `foo' by writing it as `/:/foo:'.
12147 Emacs uses this new construct automatically when necessary, such as
12148 when you start it with a working directory whose name might otherwise
12149 be taken to be magic.
12151 ** There is a new command M-x grep-find which uses find to select
12152 files to search through, and grep to scan them. The output is
12153 available in a Compile mode buffer, as with M-x grep.
12155 M-x grep now uses the -e option if the grep program supports that.
12156 (-e prevents problems if the search pattern starts with a dash.)
12158 ** In Dired, the & command now flags for deletion the files whose names
12159 suggest they are probably not needed in the long run.
12161 In Dired, * is now a prefix key for mark-related commands.
12163 new key dired.el binding old key
12164 ------- ---------------- -------
12165 * c dired-change-marks c
12167 * * dired-mark-executables * (binding deleted)
12168 * / dired-mark-directories / (binding deleted)
12169 * @ dired-mark-symlinks @ (binding deleted)
12171 * DEL dired-unmark-backward DEL
12172 * ? dired-unmark-all-files C-M-?
12173 * ! dired-unmark-all-marks
12174 * % dired-mark-files-regexp % m
12175 * C-n dired-next-marked-file M-}
12176 * C-p dired-prev-marked-file M-{
12180 *** When Rmail cannot convert your incoming mail into Babyl format, it
12181 saves the new mail in the file RMAILOSE.n, where n is an integer
12182 chosen to make a unique name. This way, Rmail will not keep crashing
12183 each time you run it.
12185 *** In Rmail, the variable rmail-summary-line-count-flag now controls
12186 whether to include the line count in the summary. Non-nil means yes.
12188 *** In Rmail summary buffers, d and C-d (the commands to delete
12189 messages) now take repeat counts as arguments. A negative argument
12190 means to move in the opposite direction.
12192 *** In Rmail, the t command now takes an optional argument which lets
12193 you specify whether to show the message headers in full or pruned.
12195 *** In Rmail, the new command w (rmail-output-body-to-file) writes
12196 just the body of the current message into a file, without the headers.
12197 It takes the file name from the message subject, by default, but you
12198 can edit that file name in the minibuffer before it is actually used
12203 *** nntp.el has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
12205 *** Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
12208 *** Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like
12209 `and', `or', `not', and parent redirection.
12211 *** Article washing status can be displayed in the
12214 *** gnus.el has been split into many smaller files.
12216 *** Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID.
12218 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
12220 *** New variables for specifying what score and adapt files
12221 are to be considered home score and adapt files. See
12222 `gnus-home-score-file' and `gnus-home-adapt-files'.
12224 *** Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics.
12226 *** Article editing has been revamped and is now usable.
12228 *** Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions.
12229 See `gnus-signature-separator' and `gnus-signature-limit'.
12231 *** Summary pick mode has been made to look more nn-like.
12232 Line numbers are displayed and the `.' command can be
12233 used to pick articles.
12235 *** Commands for moving the .newsrc.eld from one server to
12236 another have been added.
12238 `M-x gnus-change-server'
12240 *** A way to specify that "uninteresting" fields be suppressed when
12241 generating lines in buffers.
12243 *** Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with
12246 *** Scoring can be done on words using the new score type `w'.
12248 *** Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis:
12250 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
12252 *** Scores can be decayed.
12254 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
12256 *** Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The
12257 Date is normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first.
12259 *** A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
12262 `M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups'
12264 *** A new command for reading collections of documents
12265 (nndoc with nnvirtual on top) has been added -- `C-M-d'.
12267 *** Process mark sets can be pushed and popped.
12269 *** A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post
12270 even when the NNTP server doesn't allow posting.
12272 *** A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
12273 (DejaNews, Alta Vista, InReference) has been added.
12275 Use the `G w' command in the group buffer to create such
12278 *** Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard
12279 sorting functions, and each topic can be sorted independently.
12281 See the commands under the `T S' submap.
12283 *** Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently.
12285 See the commands under the `G P' submap.
12287 *** Cached articles can be pulled into the groups.
12289 Use the `Y c' command.
12291 *** Score files are now applied in a more reliable order.
12293 *** Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated.
12295 `M-x nnmail-split-history'
12297 *** More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk
12298 from incoming mail before saving the mail.
12300 See `nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook'.
12302 *** The nnml mail backend now understands compressed article files.
12304 *** To enable Gnus to read/post multi-lingual articles, you must execute
12305 the following code, for instance, in your .emacs.
12307 (add-hook 'gnus-startup-hook 'gnus-mule-initialize)
12309 Then, when you start Gnus, it will decode non-ASCII text automatically
12310 and show appropriate characters. (Note: if you are using gnus-mime
12311 from the SEMI package, formerly known as TM, you should NOT add this
12312 hook to gnus-startup-hook; gnus-mime has its own method of handling
12315 Since it is impossible to distinguish all coding systems
12316 automatically, you may need to specify a choice of coding system for a
12317 particular news group. This can be done by:
12319 (gnus-mule-add-group NEWSGROUP 'CODING-SYSTEM)
12321 Here NEWSGROUP should be a string which names a newsgroup or a tree
12322 of newsgroups. If NEWSGROUP is "XXX.YYY", all news groups under
12323 "XXX.YYY" (including "XXX.YYY.ZZZ") will use the specified coding
12324 system. CODING-SYSTEM specifies which coding system to use (for both
12325 for reading and posting).
12327 CODING-SYSTEM can also be a cons cell of the form
12328 (READ-CODING-SYSTEM . POST-CODING-SYSTEM)
12329 Then READ-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you read messages from the
12330 newsgroups, while POST-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you post messages
12333 Emacs knows the right coding systems for certain newsgroups by
12334 default. Here are some of these default settings:
12336 (gnus-mule-add-group "fj" 'iso-2022-7)
12337 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text" 'hz-gb-2312)
12338 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.hk" 'hz-gb-2312)
12339 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text.big5" 'cn-big5)
12340 (gnus-mule-add-group "soc.culture.vietnamese" '(nil . viqr))
12342 When you reply by mail to an article, these settings are ignored;
12343 the mail is encoded according to sendmail-coding-system, as usual.
12345 ** CC mode changes.
12347 *** If you edit primarily one style of C (or C++, Objective-C, Java)
12348 code, you may want to make the CC Mode style variables have global
12349 values so that you can set them directly in your .emacs file. To do
12350 this, set c-style-variables-are-local-p to nil in your .emacs file.
12351 Note that this only takes effect if you do it *before* cc-mode.el is
12354 If you typically edit more than one style of C (or C++, Objective-C,
12355 Java) code in a single Emacs session, you may want to make the CC Mode
12356 style variables have buffer local values. By default, all buffers
12357 share the same style variable settings; to make them buffer local, set
12358 c-style-variables-are-local-p to t in your .emacs file. Note that you
12359 must do this *before* CC Mode is loaded.
12361 *** The new variable c-indentation-style holds the C style name
12362 of the current buffer.
12364 *** The variable c-block-comments-indent-p has been deleted, because
12365 it is no longer necessary. C mode now handles all the supported styles
12366 of block comments, with no need to say which one you will use.
12368 *** There is a new indentation style "python", which specifies the C
12369 style that the Python developers like.
12371 *** There is a new c-cleanup-list option: brace-elseif-brace.
12372 This says to put ...} else if (...) {... on one line,
12373 just as brace-else-brace says to put ...} else {... on one line.
12375 ** VC Changes [new]
12377 *** In vc-retrieve-snapshot (C-x v r), if you don't specify a snapshot
12378 name, it retrieves the *latest* versions of all files in the current
12379 directory and its subdirectories (aside from files already locked).
12381 This feature is useful if your RCS directory is a link to a common
12382 master directory, and you want to pick up changes made by other
12385 You can do the same thing for an individual file by typing C-u C-x C-q
12386 RET in a buffer visiting that file.
12388 *** VC can now handle files under CVS that are being "watched" by
12389 other developers. Such files are made read-only by CVS. To get a
12390 writable copy, type C-x C-q in a buffer visiting such a file. VC then
12391 calls "cvs edit", which notifies the other developers of it.
12393 *** vc-version-diff (C-u C-x v =) now suggests reasonable defaults for
12394 version numbers, based on the current state of the file.
12396 ** Calendar changes.
12398 *** A new function, list-holidays, allows you list holidays or
12399 subclasses of holidays for ranges of years. Related menu items allow
12400 you do this for the year of the selected date, or the
12401 following/previous years.
12403 *** There is now support for the Baha'i calendar system. Use `pb' in
12404 the *Calendar* buffer to display the current Baha'i date. The Baha'i
12405 calendar, or "Badi calendar" is a system of 19 months with 19 days
12406 each, and 4 intercalary days (5 during a Gregorian leap year). The
12407 calendar begins May 23, 1844, with each of the months named after a
12408 supposed attribute of God.
12410 ** ps-print changes
12412 There are some new user variables and subgroups for customizing the page
12415 *** Headers & Footers (subgroup)
12417 Some printer systems print a header page and force the first page to
12418 be printed on the back of the header page when using duplex. If your
12419 printer system has this behavior, set variable
12420 `ps-banner-page-when-duplexing' to t.
12422 If variable `ps-banner-page-when-duplexing' is non-nil, it prints a
12423 blank page as the very first printed page. So, it behaves as if the
12424 very first character of buffer (or region) were a form feed ^L (\014).
12426 The variable `ps-spool-config' specifies who is responsible for
12427 setting duplex mode and page size. Valid values are:
12429 lpr-switches duplex and page size are configured by `ps-lpr-switches'.
12430 Don't forget to set `ps-lpr-switches' to select duplex
12431 printing for your printer.
12433 setpagedevice duplex and page size are configured by ps-print using the
12434 setpagedevice PostScript operator.
12436 nil duplex and page size are configured by ps-print *not* using
12437 the setpagedevice PostScript operator.
12439 The variable `ps-spool-tumble' specifies how the page images on
12440 opposite sides of a sheet are oriented with respect to each other. If
12441 `ps-spool-tumble' is nil, ps-print produces output suitable for
12442 bindings on the left or right. If `ps-spool-tumble' is non-nil,
12443 ps-print produces output suitable for bindings at the top or bottom.
12444 This variable takes effect only if `ps-spool-duplex' is non-nil.
12445 The default value is nil.
12447 The variable `ps-header-frame-alist' specifies a header frame
12448 properties alist. Valid frame properties are:
12450 fore-color Specify the foreground frame color.
12451 Value should be a float number between 0.0 (black
12452 color) and 1.0 (white color), or a string which is a
12453 color name, or a list of 3 float numbers which
12454 correspond to the Red Green Blue color scale, each
12455 float number between 0.0 (dark color) and 1.0 (bright
12456 color). The default is 0 ("black").
12458 back-color Specify the background frame color (similar to fore-color).
12459 The default is 0.9 ("gray90").
12461 shadow-color Specify the shadow color (similar to fore-color).
12462 The default is 0 ("black").
12464 border-color Specify the border color (similar to fore-color).
12465 The default is 0 ("black").
12467 border-width Specify the border width.
12468 The default is 0.4.
12470 Any other property is ignored.
12472 Don't change this alist directly; instead use Custom, or the
12473 `ps-value', `ps-get', `ps-put' and `ps-del' functions (see there for
12476 Ps-print can also print footers. The footer variables are:
12477 `ps-print-footer', `ps-footer-offset', `ps-print-footer-frame',
12478 `ps-footer-font-family', `ps-footer-font-size', `ps-footer-line-pad',
12479 `ps-footer-lines', `ps-left-footer', `ps-right-footer' and
12480 `ps-footer-frame-alist'. These variables are similar to those
12481 controlling headers.
12483 *** Color management (subgroup)
12485 If `ps-print-color-p' is non-nil, the buffer's text will be printed in
12488 *** Face Management (subgroup)
12490 If you need to print without worrying about face background colors,
12491 set the variable `ps-use-face-background' which specifies if face
12492 background should be used. Valid values are:
12494 t always use face background color.
12495 nil never use face background color.
12496 (face...) list of faces whose background color will be used.
12498 *** N-up printing (subgroup)
12500 The variable `ps-n-up-printing' specifies the number of pages per
12503 The variable `ps-n-up-margin' specifies the margin in points (pt)
12504 between the sheet border and the n-up printing.
12506 If variable `ps-n-up-border-p' is non-nil, a border is drawn around
12509 The variable `ps-n-up-filling' specifies how the page matrix is filled
12510 on each sheet of paper. Following are the valid values for
12511 `ps-n-up-filling' with a filling example using a 3x4 page matrix:
12513 `left-top' 1 2 3 4 `left-bottom' 9 10 11 12
12517 `right-top' 4 3 2 1 `right-bottom' 12 11 10 9
12521 `top-left' 1 4 7 10 `bottom-left' 3 6 9 12
12525 `top-right' 10 7 4 1 `bottom-right' 12 9 6 3
12529 Any other value is treated as `left-top'.
12531 *** Zebra stripes (subgroup)
12533 The variable `ps-zebra-color' controls the zebra stripes grayscale or
12536 The variable `ps-zebra-stripe-follow' specifies how zebra stripes
12537 continue on next page. Visually, valid values are (the character `+'
12538 to the right of each column indicates that a line is printed):
12540 `nil' `follow' `full' `full-follow'
12541 Current Page -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
12542 1 XXXXX + 1 XXXXXXXX + 1 XXXXXX + 1 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
12543 2 XXXXX + 2 XXXXXXXX + 2 XXXXXX + 2 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
12544 3 XXXXX + 3 XXXXXXXX + 3 XXXXXX + 3 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
12548 7 XXXXX + 7 XXXXXXXX + 7 XXXXXX + 7 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
12549 8 XXXXX + 8 XXXXXXXX + 8 XXXXXX + 8 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
12550 9 XXXXX + 9 XXXXXXXX + 9 XXXXXX + 9 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
12553 -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
12554 Next Page -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
12555 12 XXXXX + 12 + 10 XXXXXX + 10 +
12556 13 XXXXX + 13 XXXXXXXX + 11 XXXXXX + 11 +
12557 14 XXXXX + 14 XXXXXXXX + 12 XXXXXX + 12 +
12558 15 + 15 XXXXXXXX + 13 + 13 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
12559 16 + 16 + 14 + 14 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
12560 17 + 17 + 15 + 15 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
12561 18 XXXXX + 18 + 16 XXXXXX + 16 +
12562 19 XXXXX + 19 XXXXXXXX + 17 XXXXXX + 17 +
12563 20 XXXXX + 20 XXXXXXXX + 18 XXXXXX + 18 +
12566 -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
12568 Any other value is treated as `nil'.
12571 *** Printer management (subgroup)
12573 The variable `ps-printer-name-option' determines the option used by
12574 some utilities to indicate the printer name; it's used only when
12575 `ps-printer-name' is a non-empty string. If you're using the lpr
12576 utility to print, for example, `ps-printer-name-option' should be set
12579 The variable `ps-manual-feed' indicates if the printer requires manual
12580 paper feeding. If it's nil, automatic feeding takes place. If it's
12581 non-nil, manual feeding takes place.
12583 The variable `ps-end-with-control-d' specifies whether C-d (\x04)
12584 should be inserted at end of the generated PostScript. Non-nil means
12587 *** Page settings (subgroup)
12589 If variable `ps-warn-paper-type' is nil, it's *not* treated as an
12590 error if the PostScript printer doesn't have a paper with the size
12591 indicated by `ps-paper-type'; the default paper size will be used
12592 instead. If `ps-warn-paper-type' is non-nil, an error is signaled if
12593 the PostScript printer doesn't support a paper with the size indicated
12594 by `ps-paper-type'. This is used when `ps-spool-config' is set to
12597 The variable `ps-print-upside-down' determines the orientation for
12598 printing pages: nil means `normal' printing, non-nil means
12599 `upside-down' printing (that is, the page is rotated by 180 degrees).
12601 The variable `ps-selected-pages' specifies which pages to print. If
12602 it's nil, all pages are printed. If it's a list, list elements may be
12603 integers specifying a single page to print, or cons cells (FROM . TO)
12604 specifying to print from page FROM to TO. Invalid list elements, that
12605 is integers smaller than one, or elements whose FROM is greater than
12606 its TO, are ignored.
12608 The variable `ps-even-or-odd-pages' specifies how to print even/odd
12609 pages. Valid values are:
12611 nil print all pages.
12613 `even-page' print only even pages.
12615 `odd-page' print only odd pages.
12617 `even-sheet' print only even sheets.
12618 That is, if `ps-n-up-printing' is 1, it behaves like
12619 `even-page', but for values greater than 1, it'll
12620 print only the even sheet of paper.
12622 `odd-sheet' print only odd sheets.
12623 That is, if `ps-n-up-printing' is 1, it behaves like
12624 `odd-page'; but for values greater than 1, it'll print
12625 only the odd sheet of paper.
12627 Any other value is treated as nil.
12629 If you set `ps-selected-pages' (see there for documentation), pages
12630 are filtered by `ps-selected-pages', and then by
12631 `ps-even-or-odd-pages'. For example, if we have:
12633 (setq ps-selected-pages '(1 4 (6 . 10) (12 . 16) 20))
12635 and we combine this with `ps-even-or-odd-pages' and
12636 `ps-n-up-printing', we get:
12638 `ps-n-up-printing' = 1:
12639 `ps-even-or-odd-pages' PAGES PRINTED
12640 nil 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20
12641 even-page 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20
12642 odd-page 1, 7, 9, 13, 15
12643 even-sheet 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20
12644 odd-sheet 1, 7, 9, 13, 15
12646 `ps-n-up-printing' = 2:
12647 `ps-even-or-odd-pages' PAGES PRINTED
12648 nil 1/4, 6/7, 8/9, 10/12, 13/14, 15/16, 20
12649 even-page 4/6, 8/10, 12/14, 16/20
12650 odd-page 1/7, 9/13, 15
12651 even-sheet 6/7, 10/12, 15/16
12652 odd-sheet 1/4, 8/9, 13/14, 20
12654 *** Miscellany (subgroup)
12656 The variable `ps-error-handler-message' specifies where error handler
12657 messages should be sent.
12659 It is also possible to add a user-defined PostScript prologue code in
12660 front of all generated prologue code by setting the variable
12661 `ps-user-defined-prologue'.
12663 The variable `ps-line-number-font' specifies the font for line numbers.
12665 The variable `ps-line-number-font-size' specifies the font size in
12666 points for line numbers.
12668 The variable `ps-line-number-color' specifies the color for line
12669 numbers. See `ps-zebra-color' for documentation.
12671 The variable `ps-line-number-step' specifies the interval in which
12672 line numbers are printed. For example, if `ps-line-number-step' is set
12673 to 2, the printing will look like:
12685 integer an integer specifying the interval in which line numbers are
12686 printed. If it's smaller than or equal to zero, 1
12689 `zebra' specifies that only the line number of the first line in a
12690 zebra stripe is to be printed.
12692 Any other value is treated as `zebra'.
12694 The variable `ps-line-number-start' specifies the starting point in
12695 the interval given by `ps-line-number-step'. For example, if
12696 `ps-line-number-step' is set to 3, and `ps-line-number-start' is set to
12697 3, the output will look like:
12711 The variable `ps-postscript-code-directory' specifies the directory
12712 where the PostScript prologue file used by ps-print is found.
12714 The variable `ps-line-spacing' determines the line spacing in points,
12715 for ordinary text, when generating PostScript (similar to
12718 The variable `ps-paragraph-spacing' determines the paragraph spacing,
12719 in points, for ordinary text, when generating PostScript (similar to
12722 The variable `ps-paragraph-regexp' specifies the paragraph delimiter.
12724 The variable `ps-begin-cut-regexp' and `ps-end-cut-regexp' specify the
12725 start and end of a region to cut out when printing.
12727 ** hideshow changes.
12729 *** now supports hiding of blocks of single line comments (like // for
12732 *** Support for java-mode added.
12734 *** When doing `hs-hide-all' it is now possible to also hide the comments
12735 in the file if `hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all' is set.
12737 *** The new function `hs-hide-initial-comment' hides the comments at
12738 the beginning of the files. Finally those huge RCS logs don't stay in your
12739 way! This is run by default when entering the `hs-minor-mode'.
12741 *** Now uses overlays instead of `selective-display', so is more
12742 robust and a lot faster.
12744 *** A block beginning can span multiple lines.
12746 *** The new variable `hs-show-hidden-short-form' if t, directs hideshow
12747 to show only the beginning of a block when it is hidden. See the
12748 documentation for more details.
12750 ** Changes in Enriched mode.
12752 *** When you visit a file in enriched-mode, Emacs will make sure it is
12753 filled to the current fill-column. This behavior is now independent
12754 of the size of the window. When you save the file, the fill-column in
12755 use is stored as well, so that the whole buffer need not be refilled
12756 the next time unless the fill-column is different.
12758 *** use-hard-newlines is now a minor mode. When it is enabled, Emacs
12759 distinguishes between hard and soft newlines, and treats hard newlines
12760 as paragraph boundaries. Otherwise all newlines inserted are marked
12761 as soft, and paragraph boundaries are determined solely from the text.
12767 The variables font-lock-face-attributes, font-lock-display-type and
12768 font-lock-background-mode are now obsolete; the recommended way to specify the
12769 faces to use for Font Lock mode is with M-x customize-group on the new custom
12770 group font-lock-highlighting-faces. If you set font-lock-face-attributes in
12771 your ~/.emacs file, Font Lock mode will respect its value. However, you should
12772 consider converting from setting that variable to using M-x customize.
12774 You can still use X resources to specify Font Lock face appearances.
12776 *** Maximum decoration
12778 Fontification now uses the maximum level of decoration supported by
12779 default. Previously, fontification used a mode-specific default level
12780 of decoration, which is typically the minimum level of decoration
12781 supported. You can set font-lock-maximum-decoration to nil
12782 to get the old behavior.
12786 Support is now provided for Java, Objective-C, AWK and SIMULA modes.
12788 Note that Font Lock mode can be turned on without knowing exactly what modes
12789 support Font Lock mode, via the command global-font-lock-mode.
12791 *** Configurable support
12793 Support for C, C++, Objective-C and Java can be more easily configured for
12794 additional types and classes via the new variables c-font-lock-extra-types,
12795 c++-font-lock-extra-types, objc-font-lock-extra-types and, you guessed it,
12796 java-font-lock-extra-types. These value of each of these variables should be a
12797 list of regexps matching the extra type names. For example, the default value
12798 of c-font-lock-extra-types is ("\\sw+_t") which means fontification follows the
12799 convention that C type names end in _t. This results in slower fontification.
12801 Of course, you can change the variables that specify fontification in whatever
12802 way you wish, typically by adding regexps. However, these new variables make
12803 it easier to make specific and common changes for the fontification of types.
12805 *** Adding highlighting patterns to existing support
12807 You can use the new function font-lock-add-keywords to add your own
12808 highlighting patterns, such as for project-local or user-specific constructs,
12811 For example, to highlight `FIXME:' words in C comments, put:
12813 (font-lock-add-keywords 'c-mode '(("\\<FIXME:" 0 font-lock-warning-face t)))
12819 Font Lock now defines two new faces, font-lock-builtin-face and
12820 font-lock-warning-face. These are intended to highlight builtin keywords,
12821 distinct from a language's normal keywords, and objects that should be brought
12822 to user attention, respectively. Various modes now use these new faces.
12824 *** Changes to fast-lock support mode
12826 The fast-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now process
12827 cache files silently. You can use the new variable fast-lock-verbose, in the
12828 same way as font-lock-verbose, to control this feature.
12830 *** Changes to lazy-lock support mode
12832 The lazy-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now fontify
12833 according to the true syntactic context relative to other lines. You can use
12834 the new variable lazy-lock-defer-contextually to control this feature. If
12835 non-nil, changes to the buffer will cause subsequent lines in the buffer to be
12836 refontified after lazy-lock-defer-time seconds of idle time. If nil, then only
12837 the modified lines will be refontified; this is the same as the previous Lazy
12838 Lock mode behavior and the behavior of Font Lock mode.
12840 This feature is useful in modes where strings or comments can span lines.
12841 For example, if a string or comment terminating character is deleted, then if
12842 this feature is enabled subsequent lines in the buffer will be correctly
12843 refontified to reflect their new syntactic context. Previously, only the line
12844 containing the deleted character would be refontified and you would have to use
12845 the command M-o M-o (font-lock-fontify-block) to refontify some lines.
12847 As a consequence of this new feature, two other variables have changed:
12849 Variable `lazy-lock-defer-driven' is renamed `lazy-lock-defer-on-scrolling'.
12850 Variable `lazy-lock-defer-time' can now only be a time, i.e., a number.
12851 Buffer modes for which on-the-fly deferral applies can be specified via the
12852 new variable `lazy-lock-defer-on-the-fly'.
12854 If you set these variables in your ~/.emacs, then you may have to change those
12857 ** Ada mode changes.
12859 *** There is now better support for using find-file.el with Ada mode.
12860 If you switch between spec and body, the cursor stays in the same
12861 procedure (modulo overloading). If a spec has no body file yet, but
12862 you try to switch to its body file, Ada mode now generates procedure
12865 *** There are two new commands:
12866 - `ada-make-local' : invokes gnatmake on the current buffer
12867 - `ada-check-syntax' : check syntax of current buffer.
12869 The user options `ada-compiler-make', `ada-make-options',
12870 `ada-language-version', `ada-compiler-syntax-check', and
12871 `ada-compile-options' are used within these commands.
12873 *** Ada mode can now work with Outline minor mode. The outline level
12874 is calculated from the indenting, not from syntactic constructs.
12875 Outlining does not work if your code is not correctly indented.
12877 *** The new function `ada-gnat-style' converts the buffer to the style of
12878 formatting used in GNAT. It places two blanks after a comment start,
12879 places one blank between a word end and an opening '(', and puts one
12880 space between a comma and the beginning of a word.
12882 ** Scheme mode changes.
12884 *** Scheme mode indentation now uses many of the facilities of Lisp
12885 mode; therefore, the variables to customize it are the variables used
12886 for Lisp mode which have names starting with `lisp-'. The variables
12887 with names starting with `scheme-' which used to do this no longer
12890 If you want to use different indentation for Scheme and Lisp, this is
12891 still possible, but now you must do it by adding a hook to
12892 scheme-mode-hook, which could work by setting the `lisp-' indentation
12893 variables as buffer-local variables.
12895 *** DSSSL mode is a variant of Scheme mode, for editing DSSSL scripts.
12896 Use M-x dsssl-mode.
12898 ** Changes to the emacsclient program
12900 *** If a socket can't be found, and environment variables LOGNAME or
12901 USER are set, emacsclient now looks for a socket based on the UID
12902 associated with the name. That is an emacsclient running as root
12903 can connect to an Emacs server started by a non-root user.
12905 *** The emacsclient program now accepts an option --no-wait which tells
12906 it to return immediately without waiting for you to "finish" the
12909 *** The new option --alternate-editor allows to specify an editor to
12910 use if Emacs is not running. The environment variable
12911 ALTERNATE_EDITOR can be used for the same effect; the command line
12912 option takes precedence.
12914 ** M-x eldoc-mode enables a minor mode in which the echo area
12915 constantly shows the parameter list for function being called at point
12916 (in Emacs Lisp and Lisp Interaction modes only).
12918 ** C-x n d now runs the new command narrow-to-defun,
12919 which narrows the accessible parts of the buffer to just
12922 ** Emacs now handles the `--' argument in the standard way; all
12923 following arguments are treated as ordinary file names.
12925 ** On MSDOS and Windows, the bookmark file is now called _emacs.bmk,
12926 and the saved desktop file is now called _emacs.desktop (truncated if
12929 ** When you kill a buffer that visits a file,
12930 if there are any registers that save positions in the file,
12931 these register values no longer become completely useless.
12932 If you try to go to such a register with C-x j, then you are
12933 asked whether to visit the file again. If you say yes,
12934 it visits the file and then goes to the same position.
12936 ** When you visit a file that changes frequently outside Emacs--for
12937 example, a log of output from a process that continues to run--it may
12938 be useful for Emacs to revert the file without querying you whenever
12939 you visit the file afresh with C-x C-f.
12941 You can request this behavior for certain files by setting the
12942 variable revert-without-query to a list of regular expressions. If a
12943 file's name matches any of these regular expressions, find-file and
12944 revert-buffer revert the buffer without asking for permission--but
12945 only if you have not edited the buffer text yourself.
12947 ** set-default-font has been renamed to set-frame-font
12948 since it applies only to the current frame.
12950 ** In TeX mode, you can use the variable tex-main-file to specify the
12951 file for tex-file to run TeX on. (By default, tex-main-file is nil,
12952 and tex-file runs TeX on the current visited file.)
12954 This is useful when you are editing a document that consists of
12955 multiple files. In each of the included files, you can set up a local
12956 variable list which specifies the top-level file of your document for
12957 tex-main-file. Then tex-file will run TeX on the whole document
12958 instead of just the file you are editing.
12962 RefTeX mode is a new minor mode with special support for \label, \ref
12963 and \cite macros in LaTeX documents. RefTeX distinguishes labels of
12964 different environments (equation, figure, ...) and has full support for
12965 multifile documents. To use it, select a buffer with a LaTeX document and
12966 turn the mode on with M-x reftex-mode. Here are the main user commands:
12969 Creates a label semi-automatically. RefTeX is context sensitive and
12970 knows which kind of label is needed.
12972 C-c ) reftex-reference
12973 Offers in a menu all labels in the document, along with context of the
12974 label definition. The selected label is referenced as \ref{LABEL}.
12976 C-c [ reftex-citation
12977 Prompts for a regular expression and displays a list of matching BibTeX
12978 database entries. The selected entry is cited with a \cite{KEY} macro.
12980 C-c & reftex-view-crossref
12981 Views the cross reference of a \ref or \cite command near point.
12984 Shows a table of contents of the (multifile) document. From there you
12985 can quickly jump to every section.
12987 Under X, RefTeX installs a "Ref" menu in the menu bar, with additional
12988 commands. Press `?' to get help when a prompt mentions this feature.
12989 Full documentation and customization examples are in the file
12990 reftex.el. You can use the finder to view the file documentation:
12991 C-h p --> tex --> reftex.el
12993 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
12995 *** Info documentation is now available.
12997 *** Don't allow parentheses in string constants anymore. This confused
12998 both the BibTeX program and Emacs BibTeX mode.
13000 *** Renamed variable bibtex-mode-user-optional-fields to
13001 bibtex-user-optional-fields.
13003 *** Removed variable bibtex-include-OPTannote
13004 (use bibtex-user-optional-fields instead).
13006 *** New interactive functions to copy and kill fields and complete
13007 entries to the BibTeX kill ring, from where they can be yanked back by
13008 appropriate functions.
13010 *** New interactive functions for repositioning and marking of
13011 entries. They are bound by default to C-M-l and C-M-h.
13013 *** New hook bibtex-clean-entry-hook. It is called after entry has
13016 *** New variable bibtex-field-delimiters, which replaces variables
13017 bibtex-field-{left|right}-delimiter.
13019 *** New variable bibtex-entry-delimiters to determine how entries
13020 shall be delimited.
13022 *** Allow preinitialization of fields. See documentation of
13023 bibtex-user-optional-fields, bibtex-entry-field-alist, and
13024 bibtex-include-OPTkey for details.
13026 *** Book and InBook entries require either an author or an editor
13027 field. This is now supported by bibtex.el. Alternative fields are
13028 prefixed with `ALT'.
13030 *** New variable bibtex-entry-format, which replaces variable
13031 bibtex-clean-entry-zap-empty-opts and allows specification of many
13032 formatting options performed on cleaning an entry (see variable
13035 *** Even more control on how automatic keys are generated. See
13036 documentation of bibtex-generate-autokey for details. Transcriptions
13037 for foreign languages other than German are now handled, too.
13039 *** New boolean user option bibtex-comma-after-last-field to decide if
13040 comma should be inserted at end of last field.
13042 *** New boolean user option bibtex-align-at-equal-sign to determine if
13043 alignment should be made at left side of field contents or at equal
13044 signs. New user options to control entry layout (e.g. indentation).
13046 *** New function bibtex-fill-entry to realign entries.
13048 *** New function bibtex-reformat to reformat region or buffer.
13050 *** New function bibtex-convert-alien to convert a BibTeX database
13051 from alien sources.
13053 *** New function bibtex-complete-key (similar to bibtex-complete-string)
13054 to complete prefix to a key defined in buffer. Mainly useful in
13057 *** New function bibtex-count-entries to count entries in buffer or
13060 *** Added support for imenu.
13062 *** The function `bibtex-validate' now checks current region instead
13063 of buffer if mark is active. Now it shows all errors of buffer in a
13064 `compilation mode' buffer. You can use the normal commands (e.g.
13065 `next-error') for compilation modes to jump to errors.
13067 *** New variable `bibtex-string-file-path' to determine where the files
13068 from `bibtex-string-files' are searched.
13070 ** Iso Accents mode now supports Latin-3 as an alternative.
13072 ** The command next-error now opens blocks hidden by hideshow.
13074 ** The function using-unix-filesystems has been replaced by the
13075 functions add-untranslated-filesystem and remove-untranslated-filesystem.
13076 Each of these functions takes the name of a drive letter or directory
13079 When a filesystem is added as untranslated, all files on it are read
13080 and written in binary mode (no cr/lf translation is performed).
13082 ** browse-url changes
13084 *** New methods for: Grail (browse-url-generic), MMM (browse-url-mmm),
13085 Lynx in a separate xterm (browse-url-lynx-xterm) or in an Emacs window
13086 (browse-url-lynx-emacs), remote W3 (browse-url-w3-gnudoit), generic
13087 non-remote-controlled browsers (browse-url-generic) and associated
13088 customization variables.
13090 *** New commands `browse-url-of-region' and `browse-url'.
13092 *** URLs marked up with <URL:...> (RFC1738) work if broken across
13093 lines. Browsing methods can be associated with URL regexps
13094 (e.g. mailto: URLs) via `browse-url-browser-function'.
13096 ** Changes in Ediff
13098 *** Clicking Mouse-2 on a brief command description in Ediff control panel
13099 pops up the Info file for this command.
13101 *** There is now a variable, ediff-autostore-merges, which controls whether
13102 the result of a merge is saved in a file. By default, this is done only when
13103 merge is done from a session group (eg, when merging files in two different
13106 *** Since Emacs 19.31 (this hasn't been announced before), Ediff can compare
13107 and merge groups of files residing in different directories, or revisions of
13108 files in the same directory.
13110 *** Since Emacs 19.31, Ediff can apply multi-file patches interactively.
13111 The patches must be in the context format or GNU unified format. (The bug
13112 related to the GNU format has now been fixed.)
13114 ** Changes in Viper
13116 *** The startup file is now .viper instead of .vip
13117 *** All variable/function names have been changed to start with viper-
13119 *** C-\ now simulates the meta-key in all Viper states.
13120 *** C-z in Insert state now escapes to Vi for the duration of the next
13121 Viper command. In Vi and Insert states, C-z behaves as before.
13122 *** C-c \ escapes to Vi for one command if Viper is in Insert or Emacs states.
13123 *** _ is no longer the meta-key in Vi state.
13124 *** The variable viper-insert-state-cursor-color can be used to change cursor
13125 color when Viper is in insert state.
13126 *** If search lands the cursor near the top or the bottom of the window,
13127 Viper pulls the window up or down to expose more context. The variable
13128 viper-adjust-window-after-search controls this behavior.
13132 *** In C, C++, Objective C and Java, Etags tags global variables by
13133 default. The resulting tags files are inflated by 30% on average.
13134 Use --no-globals to turn this feature off. Etags can also tag
13135 variables which are members of structure-like constructs, but it does
13136 not by default. Use --members to turn this feature on.
13138 *** C++ member functions are now recognized as tags.
13140 *** Java is tagged like C++. In addition, "extends" and "implements"
13141 constructs are tagged. Files are recognised by the extension .java.
13143 *** Etags can now handle programs written in Postscript. Files are
13144 recognised by the extensions .ps and .pdb (Postscript with C syntax).
13145 In Postscript, tags are lines that start with a slash.
13147 *** Etags now handles Objective C and Objective C++ code. The usual C and
13148 C++ tags are recognized in these languages; in addition, etags
13149 recognizes special Objective C syntax for classes, class categories,
13150 methods and protocols.
13152 *** Etags also handles Cobol. Files are recognised by the extension
13153 .cobol. The tagged lines are those containing a word that begins in
13154 column 8 and ends in a full stop, i.e. anything that could be a
13157 *** Regexps in Etags now support intervals, as in ed or grep. The syntax of
13158 an interval is \{M,N\}, and it means to match the preceding expression
13159 at least M times and as many as N times.
13161 ** The format for specifying a custom format for time-stamp to insert
13162 in files has changed slightly.
13164 With the new enhancements to the functionality of format-time-string,
13165 time-stamp-format will change to be eventually compatible with it.
13166 This conversion is being done in two steps to maintain compatibility
13167 with old time-stamp-format values.
13169 In the new scheme, alternate case is signified by the number-sign
13170 (`#') modifier, rather than changing the case of the format character.
13171 This feature is as yet incompletely implemented for compatibility
13174 In the old time-stamp-format, all numeric fields defaulted to their
13175 natural width. (With format-time-string, each format has a
13176 fixed-width default.) In this version, you can specify the colon
13177 (`:') modifier to a numeric conversion to mean "give me the historical
13178 time-stamp-format width default." Do not use colon if you are
13179 specifying an explicit width, as in "%02d".
13181 Numbers are no longer truncated to the requested width, except in the
13182 case of "%02y", which continues to give a two-digit year. Digit
13183 truncation probably wasn't being used for anything else anyway.
13185 The new formats will work with old versions of Emacs. New formats are
13186 being recommended now to allow time-stamp-format to change in the
13187 future to be compatible with format-time-string. The new forms being
13188 recommended now will continue to work then.
13190 See the documentation string for the variable time-stamp-format for
13193 ** There are some additional major modes:
13195 dcl-mode, for editing VMS DCL files.
13196 m4-mode, for editing files of m4 input.
13197 meta-mode, for editing MetaFont and MetaPost source files.
13199 ** In Shell mode, the command shell-copy-environment-variable lets you
13200 copy the value of a specified environment variable from the subshell
13203 ** New Lisp packages include:
13205 *** battery.el displays battery status for laptops.
13207 *** M-x bruce (named after Lenny Bruce) is a program that might
13208 be used for adding some indecent words to your email.
13210 *** M-x crisp-mode enables an emulation for the CRiSP editor.
13212 *** M-x dirtrack arranges for better tracking of directory changes
13215 *** The new library elint.el provides for linting of Emacs Lisp code.
13216 See the documentation for `elint-initialize', `elint-current-buffer'
13219 *** M-x expand-add-abbrevs defines a special kind of abbrev which is
13220 meant for programming constructs. These abbrevs expand like ordinary
13221 ones, when you type SPC, but only at the end of a line and not within
13222 strings or comments.
13224 These abbrevs can act as templates: you can define places within an
13225 abbrev for insertion of additional text. Once you expand the abbrev,
13226 you can then use C-x a p and C-x a n to move back and forth to these
13227 insertion points. Thus you can conveniently insert additional text
13230 *** filecache.el remembers the location of files so that you
13231 can visit them by short forms of their names.
13233 *** find-func.el lets you find the definition of the user-loaded
13234 Emacs Lisp function at point.
13236 *** M-x handwrite converts text to a "handwritten" picture.
13238 *** M-x iswitchb-buffer is a command for switching to a buffer, much like
13239 switch-buffer, but it reads the argument in a more helpful way.
13241 *** M-x landmark implements a neural network for landmark learning.
13243 *** M-x locate provides a convenient interface to the `locate' program.
13245 *** M4 mode is a new mode for editing files of m4 input.
13247 *** mantemp.el creates C++ manual template instantiations
13248 from the GCC error messages which indicate which instantiations are needed.
13250 *** mouse-copy.el provides a one-click copy and move feature.
13251 You can drag a region with M-mouse-1, and it is automatically
13252 inserted at point. M-Shift-mouse-1 deletes the text from its
13253 original place after inserting the copy.
13255 *** mouse-drag.el lets you do scrolling by dragging Mouse-2
13258 You click the mouse and move; that distance either translates into the
13259 velocity to scroll (with mouse-drag-throw) or the distance to scroll
13260 (with mouse-drag-drag). Horizontal scrolling is enabled when needed.
13262 Enable mouse-drag with:
13263 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-throw)
13265 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-drag)
13267 *** mspools.el is useful for determining which mail folders have
13268 mail waiting to be read in them. It works with procmail.
13270 *** Octave mode is a major mode for editing files of input for Octave.
13271 It comes with a facility for communicating with an Octave subprocess.
13275 The ogonek package provides functions for changing the coding of
13276 Polish diacritic characters in buffers. Codings known from various
13277 platforms are supported such as ISO8859-2, Mazovia, IBM Latin2, and
13278 TeX. For example, you can change the coding from Mazovia to
13279 ISO8859-2. Another example is a change of coding from ISO8859-2 to
13280 prefix notation (in which `/a' stands for the aogonek character, for
13281 instance) and vice versa.
13283 To use this package load it using
13284 M-x load-library [enter] ogonek
13285 Then, you may get an explanation by calling one of
13286 M-x ogonek-jak -- in Polish
13287 M-x ogonek-how -- in English
13288 The info specifies the commands and variables provided as well as the
13289 ways of customization in `.emacs'.
13291 *** Interface to ph.
13293 Emacs provides a client interface to CCSO Nameservers (ph/qi)
13295 The CCSO nameserver is used in many universities to provide directory
13296 services about people. ph.el provides a convenient Emacs interface to
13299 *** uce.el is useful for replying to unsolicited commercial email.
13301 *** vcursor.el implements a "virtual cursor" feature.
13302 You can move the virtual cursor with special commands
13303 while the real cursor does not move.
13305 *** webjump.el is a "hot list" package which you can set up
13306 for visiting your favorite web sites.
13308 *** M-x winner-mode is a minor mode which saves window configurations,
13309 so you can move back to other configurations that you have recently used.
13313 Movemail no longer needs to be installed setuid root in order for POP
13314 mail retrieval to function properly. This is because it no longer
13315 supports the RPOP (reserved-port POP) protocol; instead, it uses the
13316 user's POP password to authenticate to the mail server.
13318 This change was made earlier, but not reported in NEWS before.
13320 * Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows.
13322 ** Changes in handling MS-DOS/MS-Windows text files.
13324 Emacs handles three different conventions for representing
13325 end-of-line: CRLF for MSDOS, LF for Unix and GNU, and CR (used on the
13326 Macintosh). Emacs determines which convention is used in a specific
13327 file based on the contents of that file (except for certain special
13328 file names), and when it saves the file, it uses the same convention.
13330 To save the file and change the end-of-line convention, you can use
13331 C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system) to specify a different
13332 coding system for the buffer. Then, when you save the file, the newly
13333 specified coding system will take effect. For example, to save with
13334 LF, specify undecided-unix (or some other ...-unix coding system); to
13335 save with CRLF, specify undecided-dos.
13337 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 20.1
13339 ** Byte-compiled files made with Emacs 20 will, in general, work in
13340 Emacs 19 as well, as long as the source code runs in Emacs 19. And
13341 vice versa: byte-compiled files made with Emacs 19 should also run in
13342 Emacs 20, as long as the program itself works in Emacs 20.
13344 ** Windows-specific functions and variables have been renamed
13345 to start with w32- instead of win32-.
13347 In hacker language, calling something a "win" is a form of praise. We
13348 don't want to praise a non-free Microsoft system, so we don't call it
13351 ** Basic Lisp changes
13353 *** A symbol whose name starts with a colon now automatically
13354 evaluates to itself. Therefore such a symbol can be used as a constant.
13356 *** The defined purpose of `defconst' has been changed. It should now
13357 be used only for values that should not be changed whether by a program
13360 The actual behavior of defconst has not been changed.
13362 *** There are new macros `when' and `unless'
13364 (when CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION (progn BODY...))
13365 (unless CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION nil BODY...)
13367 *** Emacs now defines functions caar, cadr, cdar and cddr with their
13368 usual Lisp meanings. For example, caar returns the car of the car of
13371 *** equal, when comparing strings, now ignores their text properties.
13373 *** The new function `functionp' tests whether an object is a function.
13375 *** arrayp now returns t for char-tables and bool-vectors.
13377 *** Certain primitives which use characters (as integers) now get an
13378 error if the integer is not a valid character code. These primitives
13379 include insert-char, char-to-string, and the %c construct in the
13382 *** The `require' function now insists on adding a suffix, either .el
13383 or .elc, to the file name. Thus, (require 'foo) will not use a file
13384 whose name is just foo. It insists on foo.el or foo.elc.
13386 *** The `autoload' function, when the file name does not contain
13387 either a directory name or the suffix .el or .elc, insists on
13388 adding one of these suffixes.
13390 *** string-to-number now takes an optional second argument BASE
13391 which specifies the base to use when converting an integer.
13392 If BASE is omitted, base 10 is used.
13394 We have not implemented other radices for floating point numbers,
13395 because that would be much more work and does not seem useful.
13397 *** substring now handles vectors as well as strings.
13399 *** The Common Lisp function eql is no longer defined normally.
13400 You must load the `cl' library to define it.
13402 *** The new macro `with-current-buffer' lets you evaluate an expression
13403 conveniently with a different current buffer. It looks like this:
13405 (with-current-buffer BUFFER BODY-FORMS...)
13407 BUFFER is the expression that says which buffer to use.
13408 BODY-FORMS say what to do in that buffer.
13410 *** The new primitive `save-current-buffer' saves and restores the
13411 choice of current buffer, like `save-excursion', but without saving or
13412 restoring the value of point or the mark. `with-current-buffer'
13413 works using `save-current-buffer'.
13415 *** The new macro `with-temp-file' lets you do some work in a new buffer and
13416 write the output to a specified file. Like `progn', it returns the value
13419 *** The new macro `with-temp-buffer' lets you do some work in a new buffer,
13420 which is discarded after use. Like `progn', it returns the value of the
13421 last form. If you wish to return the buffer contents, use (buffer-string)
13424 *** The new function split-string takes a string, splits it at certain
13425 characters, and returns a list of the substrings in between the
13428 For example, (split-string "foo bar lose" " +") returns ("foo" "bar" "lose").
13430 *** The new macro with-output-to-string executes some Lisp expressions
13431 with standard-output set up so that all output feeds into a string.
13432 Then it returns that string.
13434 For example, if the current buffer name is `foo',
13436 (with-output-to-string
13437 (princ "The buffer is ")
13438 (princ (buffer-name)))
13440 returns "The buffer is foo".
13442 ** Non-ASCII characters are now supported, if enable-multibyte-characters
13445 These characters have character codes above 256. When inserted in the
13446 buffer or stored in a string, they are represented as multibyte
13447 characters that occupy several buffer positions each.
13449 *** When enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, a single character in
13450 a buffer or string can be two or more bytes (as many as four).
13452 Buffers and strings are still made up of unibyte elements;
13453 character positions and string indices are always measured in bytes.
13454 Therefore, moving forward one character can increase the buffer
13455 position by 2, 3 or 4. The function forward-char moves by whole
13456 characters, and therefore is no longer equivalent to
13457 (lambda (n) (goto-char (+ (point) n))).
13459 ASCII characters (codes 0 through 127) are still single bytes, always.
13460 Sequences of byte values 128 through 255 are used to represent
13461 non-ASCII characters. These sequences are called "multibyte
13464 The first byte of a multibyte character is always in the range 128
13465 through 159 (octal 0200 through 0237). These values are called
13466 "leading codes". The second and subsequent bytes are always in the
13467 range 160 through 255 (octal 0240 through 0377). The first byte, the
13468 leading code, determines how many bytes long the sequence is.
13470 *** The function forward-char moves over characters, and therefore
13471 (forward-char 1) may increase point by more than 1 if it moves over a
13472 multibyte character. Likewise, delete-char always deletes a
13473 character, which may be more than one buffer position.
13475 This means that some Lisp programs, which assume that a character is
13476 always one buffer position, need to be changed.
13478 However, all ASCII characters are always one buffer position.
13480 *** The regexp [\200-\377] no longer matches all non-ASCII characters,
13481 because when enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, these characters
13482 have codes that are not in the range octal 200 to octal 377. However,
13483 the regexp [^\000-\177] does match all non-ASCII characters,
13486 *** The function char-boundary-p returns non-nil if position POS is
13487 between two characters in the buffer (not in the middle of a
13490 When the value is non-nil, it says what kind of character follows POS:
13492 0 if POS is at an ASCII character or at the end of range,
13493 1 if POS is before a 2-byte length multi-byte form,
13494 2 if POS is at a head of 3-byte length multi-byte form,
13495 3 if POS is at a head of 4-byte length multi-byte form,
13496 4 if POS is at a head of multi-byte form of a composite character.
13498 *** The function char-bytes returns how many bytes the character CHAR uses.
13500 *** Strings can contain multibyte characters. The function
13501 `length' returns the string length counting bytes, which may be
13502 more than the number of characters.
13504 You can include a multibyte character in a string constant by writing
13505 it literally. You can also represent it with a hex escape,
13506 \xNNNNNNN..., using as many digits as necessary. Any character which
13507 is not a valid hex digit terminates this construct. If you want to
13508 follow it with a character that is a hex digit, write backslash and
13509 newline in between; that will terminate the hex escape.
13511 *** The function concat-chars takes arguments which are characters
13512 and returns a string containing those characters.
13514 *** The function sref access a multibyte character in a string.
13515 (sref STRING INDX) returns the character in STRING at INDEX. INDEX
13516 counts from zero. If INDEX is at a position in the middle of a
13517 character, sref signals an error.
13519 *** The function chars-in-string returns the number of characters
13520 in a string. This is less than the length of the string, if the
13521 string contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
13523 *** The function chars-in-region returns the number of characters
13524 in a region from BEG to END. This is less than (- END BEG) if the
13525 region contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
13527 *** The function string-to-list converts a string to a list of
13528 the characters in it. string-to-vector converts a string
13529 to a vector of the characters in it.
13531 *** The function store-substring alters part of the contents
13532 of a string. You call it as follows:
13534 (store-substring STRING IDX OBJ)
13536 This says to alter STRING, by storing OBJ starting at index IDX in
13537 STRING. OBJ may be either a character or a (smaller) string.
13538 This function really does alter the contents of STRING.
13539 Since it is impossible to change the length of an existing string,
13540 it is an error if OBJ doesn't fit within STRING's actual length.
13542 *** char-width returns the width (in columns) of the character CHAR,
13543 if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
13545 *** string-width returns the width (in columns) of the text in STRING,
13546 if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
13548 *** truncate-string-to-width shortens a string, if necessary,
13549 to fit within a certain number of columns. (Of course, it does
13550 not alter the string that you give it; it returns a new string
13551 which contains all or just part of the existing string.)
13553 (truncate-string-to-width STR END-COLUMN &optional START-COLUMN PADDING)
13555 This returns the part of STR up to column END-COLUMN.
13557 The optional argument START-COLUMN specifies the starting column.
13558 If this is non-nil, then the first START-COLUMN columns of the string
13559 are not included in the resulting value.
13561 The optional argument PADDING, if non-nil, is a padding character to be added
13562 at the beginning and end the resulting string, to extend it to exactly
13563 WIDTH columns. If PADDING is nil, that means do not pad; then, if STRING
13564 is narrower than WIDTH, the value is equal to STRING.
13566 If PADDING and START-COLUMN are both non-nil, and if there is no clean
13567 place in STRING that corresponds to START-COLUMN (because one
13568 character extends across that column), then the padding character
13569 PADDING is added one or more times at the beginning of the result
13570 string, so that its columns line up as if it really did start at
13571 column START-COLUMN.
13573 *** When the functions in the list after-change-functions are called,
13574 the third argument is the number of bytes in the pre-change text, not
13575 necessarily the number of characters. It is, in effect, the
13576 difference in buffer position between the beginning and the end of the
13577 changed text, before the change.
13579 *** The characters Emacs uses are classified in various character
13580 sets, each of which has a name which is a symbol. In general there is
13581 one character set for each script, not for each language.
13583 **** The function charsetp tests whether an object is a character set name.
13585 **** The variable charset-list holds a list of character set names.
13587 **** char-charset, given a character code, returns the name of the character
13588 set that the character belongs to. (The value is a symbol.)
13590 **** split-char, given a character code, returns a list containing the
13591 name of the character set, followed by one or two byte-values
13592 which identify the character within that character set.
13594 **** make-char, given a character set name and one or two subsequent
13595 byte-values, constructs a character code. This is roughly the
13596 opposite of split-char.
13598 **** find-charset-region returns a list of the character sets
13599 of all the characters between BEG and END.
13601 **** find-charset-string returns a list of the character sets
13602 of all the characters in a string.
13604 *** Here are the Lisp facilities for working with coding systems
13605 and specifying coding systems.
13607 **** The function coding-system-list returns a list of all coding
13608 system names (symbols). With optional argument t, it returns a list
13609 of all distinct base coding systems, not including variants.
13610 (Variant coding systems are those like latin-1-dos, latin-1-unix
13611 and latin-1-mac which specify the end-of-line conversion as well
13612 as what to do about code conversion.)
13614 **** coding-system-p tests a symbol to see if it is a coding system
13615 name. It returns t if so, nil if not.
13617 **** file-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
13618 for certain file names. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
13619 except that the PATTERN is matched against the file name.
13621 Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
13622 which file names the element applies to. PATTERN should be a regexp
13623 to match against a file name.
13625 VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
13626 a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
13627 decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
13628 to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
13629 systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
13630 specifies the coding system for encoding.
13632 If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
13633 or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
13635 **** The variable network-coding-system-alist specifies
13636 the coding system to use for network sockets.
13638 Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
13639 which network sockets the element applies to. PATTERN should be
13640 either a port number or a regular expression matching some network
13643 VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
13644 a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
13645 decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
13646 to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
13647 systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
13648 specifies the coding system for encoding.
13650 If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
13651 or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
13653 **** process-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
13654 for certain subprocess. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
13655 except that the PATTERN is matched against the program name used to
13656 start the subprocess.
13658 **** The variable default-process-coding-system specifies the coding
13659 systems to use for subprocess (and net connection) input and output,
13660 when nothing else specifies what to do. The value is a cons cell
13661 (OUTPUT-CODING . INPUT-CODING). OUTPUT-CODING applies to output
13662 to the subprocess, and INPUT-CODING applies to input from it.
13664 **** The variable coding-system-for-write, if non-nil, specifies the
13665 coding system to use for writing a file, or for output to a synchronous
13668 It also applies to any asynchronous subprocess or network connection,
13669 but in a different way: the value of coding-system-for-write when you
13670 start the subprocess or connection affects that subprocess or
13671 connection permanently or until overridden.
13673 The variable coding-system-for-write takes precedence over
13674 file-coding-system-alist, process-coding-system-alist and
13675 network-coding-system-alist, and all other methods of specifying a
13676 coding system for output. But most of the time this variable is nil.
13677 It exists so that Lisp programs can bind it to a specific coding
13678 system for one operation at a time.
13680 **** coding-system-for-read applies similarly to input from
13681 files, subprocesses or network connections.
13683 **** The function process-coding-system tells you what
13684 coding systems(s) an existing subprocess is using.
13685 The value is a cons cell,
13686 (DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM . ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM)
13687 where DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for decoding output from
13688 the subprocess, and ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for encoding
13689 input to the subprocess.
13691 **** The function set-process-coding-system can be used to
13692 change the coding systems in use for an existing subprocess.
13694 ** Emacs has a new facility to help users manage the many
13695 customization options. To make a Lisp program work with this facility,
13696 you need to use the new macros defgroup and defcustom.
13698 You use defcustom instead of defvar, for defining a user option
13699 variable. The difference is that you specify two additional pieces of
13700 information (usually): the "type" which says what values are
13701 legitimate, and the "group" which specifies the hierarchy for
13704 Thus, instead of writing
13706 (defvar foo-blurgoze nil
13707 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely.")
13709 you would now write this:
13711 (defcustom foo-blurgoze nil
13712 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely."
13716 The type `boolean' means that this variable has only
13717 two meaningful states: nil and non-nil. Other type values
13718 describe other possibilities; see the manual for Custom
13719 for a description of them.
13721 The "group" argument is used to specify a group which the option
13722 should belong to. You define a new group like this:
13724 (defgroup ispell nil
13725 "Spell checking using Ispell."
13728 The "group" argument in defgroup specifies the parent group. The root
13729 group is called `emacs'; it should not contain any variables itself,
13730 but only other groups. The immediate subgroups of `emacs' correspond
13731 to the keywords used by C-h p. Under these subgroups come
13732 second-level subgroups that belong to individual packages.
13734 Each Emacs package should have its own set of groups. A simple
13735 package should have just one group; a more complex package should
13736 have a hierarchy of its own groups. The sole or root group of a
13737 package should be a subgroup of one or more of the "keyword"
13738 first-level subgroups.
13740 ** New `widget' library for inserting UI components in buffers.
13742 This library, used by the new custom library, is documented in a
13743 separate manual that accompanies Emacs.
13747 The easy-mmode package provides macros and functions that make
13748 developing minor modes easier. Roughly, the programmer has to code
13749 only the functionality of the minor mode. All the rest--toggles,
13750 predicate, and documentation--can be done in one call to the macro
13751 `easy-mmode-define-minor-mode' (see the documentation). See also
13752 `easy-mmode-define-keymap'.
13754 ** Text property changes
13756 *** The `intangible' property now works on overlays as well as on a
13759 *** The new functions next-char-property-change and
13760 previous-char-property-change scan through the buffer looking for a
13761 place where either a text property or an overlay might change. The
13762 functions take two arguments, POSITION and LIMIT. POSITION is the
13763 starting position for the scan. LIMIT says where to stop the scan.
13765 If no property change is found before LIMIT, the value is LIMIT. If
13766 LIMIT is nil, scan goes to the beginning or end of the accessible part
13767 of the buffer. If no property change is found, the value is the
13768 position of the beginning or end of the buffer.
13770 *** In the `local-map' text property or overlay property, the property
13771 value can now be a symbol whose function definition is a keymap. This
13772 is an alternative to using the keymap itself.
13774 ** Changes in invisibility features
13776 *** Isearch can now temporarily show parts of the buffer which are
13777 hidden by an overlay with a invisible property, when the search match
13778 is inside that portion of the buffer. To enable this the overlay
13779 should have a isearch-open-invisible property which is a function that
13780 would be called having the overlay as an argument, the function should
13781 make the overlay visible.
13783 During incremental search the overlays are shown by modifying the
13784 invisible and intangible properties, if beside this more actions are
13785 needed the overlay should have a isearch-open-invisible-temporary
13786 which is a function. The function is called with 2 arguments: one is
13787 the overlay and the second is nil when it should show the overlay and
13788 t when it should hide it.
13790 *** add-to-invisibility-spec, remove-from-invisibility-spec
13792 Modes that use overlays to hide portions of a buffer should set the
13793 invisible property of the overlay to the mode's name (or another symbol)
13794 and modify the `buffer-invisibility-spec' to include that symbol.
13795 Use `add-to-invisibility-spec' and `remove-from-invisibility-spec' to
13796 manipulate the `buffer-invisibility-spec'.
13797 Here is an example of how to do this:
13799 ;; If we want to display an ellipsis:
13800 (add-to-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
13801 ;; If you don't want ellipsis:
13802 (add-to-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
13805 (overlay-put (make-overlay beginning end) 'invisible 'my-symbol)
13808 ;; When done with the overlays:
13809 (remove-from-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
13810 ;; Or respectively:
13811 (remove-from-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
13813 ** Changes in syntax parsing.
13815 *** The syntax-directed buffer-scan functions (such as
13816 `parse-partial-sexp', `forward-word' and similar functions) can now
13817 obey syntax information specified by text properties, if the variable
13818 `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil.
13820 If the value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is nil, the behavior
13821 is as before: the syntax-table of the current buffer is always
13822 used to determine the syntax of the character at the position.
13824 When `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil, the syntax of a
13825 character in the buffer is calculated thus:
13827 a) if the `syntax-table' text-property of that character
13828 is a cons, this cons becomes the syntax-type;
13830 Valid values of `syntax-table' text-property are: nil, a valid
13831 syntax-table, and a valid syntax-table element, i.e.,
13832 a cons cell of the form (SYNTAX-CODE . MATCHING-CHAR).
13834 b) if the character's `syntax-table' text-property
13835 is a syntax table, this syntax table is used
13836 (instead of the syntax-table of the current buffer) to
13837 determine the syntax type of the character.
13839 c) otherwise the syntax-type is determined by the syntax-table
13840 of the current buffer.
13842 *** The meaning of \s in regular expressions is also affected by the
13843 value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties'. The details are the same as
13844 for the syntax-directed buffer-scan functions.
13846 *** There are two new syntax-codes, `!' and `|' (numeric values 14
13847 and 15). A character with a code `!' starts a comment which is ended
13848 only by another character with the same code (unless quoted). A
13849 character with a code `|' starts a string which is ended only by
13850 another character with the same code (unless quoted).
13852 These codes are mainly meant for use as values of the `syntax-table'
13855 *** The function `parse-partial-sexp' has new semantics for the sixth
13856 arg COMMENTSTOP. If it is `syntax-table', parse stops after the start
13857 of a comment or a string, or after end of a comment or a string.
13859 *** The state-list which the return value from `parse-partial-sexp'
13860 (and can also be used as an argument) now has an optional ninth
13861 element: the character address of the start of last comment or string;
13862 nil if none. The fourth and eighth elements have special values if the
13863 string/comment is started by a "!" or "|" syntax-code.
13865 *** Since new features of `parse-partial-sexp' allow a complete
13866 syntactic parsing, `font-lock' no longer supports
13867 `font-lock-comment-start-regexp'.
13869 ** Changes in face features
13871 *** The face functions are now unconditionally defined in Emacs, even
13872 if it does not support displaying on a device that supports faces.
13874 *** The function face-documentation returns the documentation string
13875 of a face (or nil if it doesn't have one).
13877 *** The function face-bold-p returns t if a face should be bold.
13878 set-face-bold-p sets that flag.
13880 *** The function face-italic-p returns t if a face should be italic.
13881 set-face-italic-p sets that flag.
13883 *** You can now specify foreground and background colors for text
13884 by adding elements of the form (foreground-color . COLOR-NAME)
13885 and (background-color . COLOR-NAME) to the list of faces in
13886 the `face' property (either the character's text property or an
13889 This means that you no longer need to create named faces to use
13890 arbitrary colors in a Lisp package.
13892 ** Changes in file-handling functions
13894 *** File-access primitive functions no longer discard an extra redundant
13895 directory name from the beginning of the file name. In other words,
13896 they no longer do anything special with // or /~. That conversion
13897 is now done only in substitute-in-file-name.
13899 This makes it possible for a Lisp program to open a file whose name
13902 *** If copy-file is unable to set the date of the output file,
13903 it now signals an error with the condition file-date-error.
13905 *** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
13906 the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a list of integers.
13908 *** insert-file-contents can now read from a special file,
13909 as long as the arguments VISIT and REPLACE are nil.
13911 *** The RAWFILE arg to find-file-noselect, if non-nil, now suppresses
13912 character code conversion as well as other things.
13914 Meanwhile, this feature does work with remote file names
13915 (formerly it did not).
13917 *** Lisp packages which create temporary files should use the TMPDIR
13918 environment variable to decide which directory to put them in.
13920 *** interpreter-mode-alist elements now specify regexps
13921 instead of constant strings.
13923 *** expand-file-name no longer treats `//' or `/~' specially. It used
13924 to delete all the text of a file name up through the first slash of
13925 any `//' or `/~' sequence. Now it passes them straight through.
13927 substitute-in-file-name continues to treat those sequences specially,
13928 in the same way as before.
13930 *** The variable `format-alist' is more general now.
13931 The FROM-FN and TO-FN in a format definition can now be strings
13932 which specify shell commands to use as filters to perform conversion.
13934 *** The new function access-file tries to open a file, and signals an
13935 error if that fails. If the open succeeds, access-file does nothing
13936 else, and returns nil.
13938 *** The function insert-directory now signals an error if the specified
13939 directory cannot be listed.
13941 ** Changes in minibuffer input
13943 *** The functions read-buffer, read-variable, read-command, read-string
13944 read-file-name, read-from-minibuffer and completing-read now take an
13945 additional argument which specifies the default value. If this
13946 argument is non-nil, it should be a string; that string is used in two
13949 It is returned if the user enters empty input.
13950 It is available through the history command M-n.
13952 *** The functions read-string, read-from-minibuffer,
13953 read-no-blanks-input and completing-read now take an additional
13954 argument INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. If this is non-nil, then the
13955 minibuffer inherits the current input method and the setting of
13956 enable-multibyte-characters from the previously current buffer.
13958 In an interactive spec, you can use M instead of s to read an
13959 argument in this way.
13961 *** All minibuffer input functions discard text properties
13962 from the text you enter in the minibuffer, unless the variable
13963 minibuffer-allow-text-properties is non-nil.
13965 ** Echo area features
13967 *** Clearing the echo area now runs the normal hook
13968 echo-area-clear-hook. Note that the echo area can be used while the
13969 minibuffer is active; in that case, the minibuffer is still active
13970 after the echo area is cleared.
13972 *** The function current-message returns the message currently displayed
13973 in the echo area, or nil if there is none.
13975 ** Keyboard input features
13977 *** tty-erase-char is a new variable that reports which character was
13978 set up as the terminal's erase character when time Emacs was started.
13980 *** num-nonmacro-input-events is the total number of input events
13981 received so far from the terminal. It does not count those generated
13982 by keyboard macros.
13984 ** Frame-related changes
13986 *** make-frame runs the normal hook before-make-frame-hook just before
13987 creating a frame, and just after creating a frame it runs the abnormal
13988 hook after-make-frame-functions with the new frame as arg.
13990 *** The new hook window-configuration-change-hook is now run every time
13991 the window configuration has changed. The frame whose configuration
13992 has changed is the selected frame when the hook is run.
13994 *** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
13995 selected buffers, in its buffer-list frame parameter, so that the
13996 value of other-buffer is now based on the buffers recently displayed
13997 in the selected frame.
13999 *** The value of the frame parameter vertical-scroll-bars
14000 is now `left', `right' or nil. A non-nil value specifies
14001 which side of the window to put the scroll bars on.
14003 ** X Windows features
14005 *** You can examine X resources for other applications by binding
14006 x-resource-class around a call to x-get-resource. The usual value of
14007 x-resource-class is "Emacs", which is the correct value for Emacs.
14009 *** In menus, checkboxes and radio buttons now actually work.
14010 The menu displays the current status of the box or button.
14012 *** The function x-list-fonts now takes an optional fourth argument
14013 MAXIMUM which sets a limit on how many matching fonts to return.
14014 A smaller value of MAXIMUM makes the function faster.
14016 If the only question is whether *any* font matches the pattern,
14017 it is good to supply 1 for this argument.
14019 ** Subprocess features
14021 *** A reminder: it is no longer necessary for subprocess filter
14022 functions and sentinels to do save-match-data, because Emacs does this
14025 *** The new function shell-command-to-string executes a shell command
14026 and returns the output from the command as a string.
14028 *** The new function process-contact returns t for a child process,
14029 and (HOSTNAME SERVICE) for a net connection.
14031 ** An error in running pre-command-hook or post-command-hook
14032 does clear the variable to nil. The documentation was wrong before.
14034 ** In define-key-after, if AFTER is t, the new binding now always goes
14035 at the end of the keymap. If the keymap is a menu, this means it
14036 goes after the other menu items.
14038 ** If you have a program that makes several changes in the same area
14039 of the buffer, you can use the macro combine-after-change-calls
14040 around that Lisp code to make it faster when after-change hooks
14043 The macro arranges to call the after-change functions just once for a
14044 series of several changes--if that seems safe.
14046 Don't alter the variables after-change-functions and
14047 after-change-function within the body of a combine-after-change-calls
14050 ** If you define an abbrev (with define-abbrev) whose EXPANSION
14051 is not a string, then the abbrev does not expand in the usual sense,
14052 but its hook is still run.
14054 ** Normally, the Lisp debugger is not used (even if you have enabled it)
14055 for errors that are handled by condition-case.
14057 If you set debug-on-signal to a non-nil value, then the debugger is called
14058 regardless of whether there is a handler for the condition. This is
14059 useful for debugging problems that happen inside of a condition-case.
14061 This mode of operation seems to be unreliable in other ways. Errors that
14062 are normal and ought to be handled, perhaps in timers or process
14063 filters, will instead invoke the debugger. So don't say you weren't
14066 ** The new variable ring-bell-function lets you specify your own
14067 way for Emacs to "ring the bell".
14069 ** If run-at-time's TIME argument is t, the action is repeated at
14070 integral multiples of REPEAT from the epoch; this is useful for
14071 functions like display-time.
14073 ** You can use the function locate-library to find the precise file
14074 name of a Lisp library. This isn't new, but wasn't documented before.
14076 ** Commands for entering view mode have new optional arguments that
14077 can be used from Lisp. Low-level entrance to and exit from view mode
14078 is done by functions view-mode-enter and view-mode-exit.
14080 ** batch-byte-compile-file now makes Emacs return a nonzero status code
14081 if there is an error in compilation.
14083 ** pop-to-buffer, switch-to-buffer-other-window and
14084 switch-to-buffer-other-frame now accept an additional optional
14085 argument NORECORD, much like switch-to-buffer. If it is non-nil,
14086 they don't put the buffer at the front of the buffer list.
14088 ** If your .emacs file leaves the *scratch* buffer non-empty,
14089 Emacs does not display the startup message, so as to avoid changing
14090 the *scratch* buffer.
14092 ** The new function regexp-opt returns an efficient regexp to match a string.
14093 The arguments are STRINGS and (optionally) PAREN. This function can be used
14094 where regexp matching or searching is intensively used and speed is important,
14095 e.g., in Font Lock mode.
14097 ** The variable buffer-display-count is local to each buffer,
14098 and is incremented each time the buffer is displayed in a window.
14099 It starts at 0 when the buffer is created.
14101 ** The new function compose-mail starts composing a mail message
14102 using the user's chosen mail composition agent (specified with the
14103 variable mail-user-agent). It has variants compose-mail-other-window
14104 and compose-mail-other-frame.
14106 ** The `user-full-name' function now takes an optional parameter which
14107 can either be a number (the UID) or a string (the login name). The
14108 full name of the specified user will be returned.
14110 ** Lisp packages that load files of customizations, or any other sort
14111 of user profile, should obey the variable init-file-user in deciding
14112 where to find it. They should load the profile of the user name found
14113 in that variable. If init-file-user is nil, meaning that the -q
14114 option was used, then Lisp packages should not load the customization
14117 ** format-time-string now allows you to specify the field width
14118 and type of padding. This works as in printf: you write the field
14119 width as digits in the middle of a %-construct. If you start
14120 the field width with 0, it means to pad with zeros.
14122 For example, %S normally specifies the number of seconds since the
14123 minute; %03S means to pad this with zeros to 3 positions, %_3S to pad
14124 with spaces to 3 positions. Plain %3S pads with zeros, because that
14125 is how %S normally pads to two positions.
14127 ** thing-at-point now supports a new kind of "thing": url.
14129 ** imenu.el changes.
14131 You can now specify a function to be run when selecting an
14132 item from menu created by imenu.
14134 An example of using this feature: if we define imenu items for the
14135 #include directives in a C file, we can open the included file when we
14136 select one of those items.
14138 * For older news, see the file ONEWS
14140 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
14141 Copyright information:
14143 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
14145 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
14146 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
14147 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
14148 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
14150 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
14151 of this document, or of portions of it,
14152 under the above conditions, provided also that they
14153 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
14157 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"
14160 arch-tag: 1aca9dfa-2ac4-4d14-bebf-0007cee12793