-Copyright (c) 1985 Free Software Foundation, Inc; See end for conditions.
-You are looking at the Emacs tutorial.
+Emacs tutorial. See end for copying conditions.
Emacs commands generally involve the CONTROL key (sometimes labeled
CTRL or CTL) or the META key (sometimes labeled EDIT or ALT). Rather than
Important note: to end the Emacs session, type C-x C-c. (Two characters.)
The characters ">>" at the left margin indicate directions for you to
try using a command. For instance:
-<<Blank lines inserted here by startup of help-with-tutorial>>
+<<Blank lines inserted around following line by help-with-tutorial>>
+[Middle of page left blank for didactic purposes. Text continues below]
>> Now type C-v (View next screen) to move to the next screen.
- (go ahead, do it by holding down the control key while typing v).
+ (go ahead, do it by holding down the CONTROL key while typing v).
From now on, you should do this again whenever you finish
reading the screen.
C-l Clear screen and redisplay all the text,
moving the text around the cursor
to the center of the screen.
- (That's control-L, not control-1.)
+ (That's CONTROL-L, not CONTROL-1.)
>> Find the cursor, and note what text is near it.
Then type C-l.
Find the cursor again and notice that the same text
is near the cursor now.
+You can also use the PageUp and PageDn keys to move by screenfuls, if
+your terminal has them, but you can edit more efficiently if you use
+C-v and M-v.
+
* BASIC CURSOR CONTROL
----------------------
Moving from screenful to screenful is useful, but how do you
move to a specific place within the text on the screen?
-There are several ways you can do this. The most basic way is to use
-the commands C-p, C-b, C-f, and C-n. Each of these commands moves the
-cursor one row or column in a particular direction on the screen.
-Here is a table showing these four commands and the directions they
-move:
-
+There are several ways you can do this. You can use the arrow keys,
+but it's more efficient to keep your hands in the standard position
+and use the commands C-p, C-b, C-f, and C-n. These characters
+are equivalent to the four arrow keys, like this:
+
Previous line, C-p
:
:
using C-n or C-p. Then type C-l to see the whole diagram
centered in the screen.
-You'll probably find it easy to think of these by letter: P for
-previous, N for next, B for backward and F for forward. These are the
-basic cursor positioning commands, and you'll be using them ALL the
-time, so it would be of great benefit if you learn them now.
+You'll find it easy to remember these letters by words they stand for:
+P for previous, N for next, B for backward and F for forward. You
+will be using these basic cursor positioning commands all the time.
>> Do a few C-n's to bring the cursor down to this line.
>> Move into the line with C-f's and then up with C-p's.
See what C-p does when the cursor is in the middle of the line.
-Each of text line ends with a Newline character, which serves to
+Each line of text ends with a Newline character, which serves to
separate it from the following line. The last line in your file ought
to have a Newline at the end (but Emacs does not require it to have
one).
see what happens.
If moving by characters is too slow, you can move by words. M-f
-(Meta-f) moves forward a word and M-b moves back a word.
+(META-f) moves forward a word and M-b moves back a word.
>> Type a few M-f's and M-b's.
>> Try all of these commands now a few times for practice.
These are the most often used commands.
-Two other important cursor motion commands are M-< (Meta Less-than),
-which moves to the beginning of the whole text, and M-> (Meta
+Two other important cursor motion commands are M-< (META Less-than),
+which moves to the beginning of the whole text, and M-> (META
Greater-than), which moves to the end of the whole text.
On most terminals, the "<" is above the comma, so you must use the
because you type the argument before the command it applies to.
For instance, C-u 8 C-f moves forward eight characters.
-
+
>> Try using C-n or C-p with a numeric argument, to move the cursor
to a line near this one with just one command.
saying what the command was, and asking you whether you want to go
ahead and execute the command.
-If you really want to try the command, type Space in answer to the
-question. Normally, if you do not want to execute the disabled
-command, answer the question with "n".
+If you really want to try the command, type <SPC> (the Space bar) in
+answer to the question. Normally, if you do not want to execute the
+disabled command, answer the question with "n".
>> Type C-x C-l (which is a disabled command),
then type n to answer the question.
C-x 1 One window (i.e., kill all other windows).
-That is Control-x followed by the digit 1. C-x 1 expands the window
+That is CONTROL-x followed by the digit 1. C-x 1 expands the window
which contains the cursor, to occupy the full screen. It deletes all
other windows.
>> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l.
->> Type Control-h k Control-f.
+>> Type CONTROL-h k CONTROL-f.
See how this window shrinks, while a new one appears
- to display documentation on the Control-f command.
+ to display documentation on the CONTROL-f command.
>> Type C-x 1 and see the documentation listing window disappear.
This command is unlike the other commands you have learned in that it
-consists of two characters. It starts with the character Control-x.
-There is a whole series of commands that start with Control-x; many of
+consists of two characters. It starts with the character CONTROL-x.
+There is a whole series of commands that start with CONTROL-x; many of
them have to do with windows, files, buffers, and related things.
These commands are two, three or four characters long.
immediately. Type <Return> (the carriage-return key) to insert a
Newline character.
-You can delete the last character you typed by typing <Delete>.
-<Delete> is a key on the keyboard, which may be labeled "Del". In
-some cases, the "Backspace" key serves as <Delete>, but not always!
+You can delete the last character you typed by typing <Delback>.
+<Delback> is a key on the keyboard--the same one you normally use,
+outside Emacs, for deleting the last character you typed. It is
+normally a large key a couple of lines up from the <Return> key, and
+it is usually labeled "Delete", "Del" or "Backspace".
-More generally, <Delete> deletes the character immediately before the
+If the large key there is labeled "Backspace", then that's the one you
+use for <Delback>. There may also be another key labeled "Delete"
+somewhere else, but that's not <Delback>.
+
+More generally, <Delback> deletes the character immediately before the
current cursor position.
>> Do this now--type a few characters, then delete them
- by typing <Delete> a few times. Don't worry about this file
+ by typing <Delback> a few times. Don't worry about this file
being changed; you will not alter the master tutorial. This is
your personal copy of it.
When a line of text gets too big for one line on the screen, the line
of text is "continued" onto a second screen line. A backslash ("\")
-at the right margin indicates a line which has been continued.
+(or, if you're using a windowed display, a little curved arrow) at the
+right margin indicates a line which has been continued.
>> Insert text until you reach the right margin, and keep on inserting.
You'll see a continuation line appear.
->> Use <Delete>s to delete the text until the line fits on one screen
+>> Use <Delback>s to delete the text until the line fits on one screen
line again. The continuation line goes away.
You can delete a Newline character just like any other character.
one line. If the resulting combined line is too long to fit in the
screen width, it will be displayed with a continuation line.
->> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line and type <Delete>. This
+>> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line and type <Delback>. This
merges that line with the previous line.
>> Type <Return> to reinsert the Newline you deleted.
Emacs and correcting errors. You can delete by words or lines
as well. Here is a summary of the delete operations:
- <Delete> delete the character just before the cursor
- C-d delete the next character after the cursor
+ <Delback> Delete the character just before the cursor
+ C-d Delete the next character after the cursor
- M-<Delete> kill the word immediately before the cursor
- M-d kill the next word after the cursor
+ M-<Delback> Kill the word immediately before the cursor
+ M-d Kill the next word after the cursor
- C-k kill from the cursor position to end of line
- M-k kill to the end of the current sentence
+ C-k Kill from the cursor position to end of line
+ M-k Kill to the end of the current sentence
-Notice that <Delete> and C-d vs M-<Delete> and M-d extend the parallel
-started by C-f and M-f (well, <Delete> is not really a control
+Notice that <Delback> and C-d vs M-<Delback> and M-d extend the parallel
+started by C-f and M-f (well, <Delback> is not really a control
character, but let's not worry about that). C-k and M-k are like C-e
and M-e, sort of, in that lines are opposite sentences.
-You can also kill any part of the buffer with one uniform method.
-Move to one end of that part, and type C-@ or C-SPC (either one).
-(SPC is the Space bar.) Move to the other end of that part, and type
-C-w. That kills all the text between the two positions.
+You can also kill any part of the text with one uniform method. Move
+to one end of that part, and type C-@ or C-<SPC> (either one). (<SPC>
+is the Space bar.) Move to the other end of that part, and type C-w.
+That kills all the text between the two positions.
>> Move the cursor to the Y at the start of the previous paragraph.
->> Type C-SPC. Emacs should display a message "Mark set"
+>> Type C-<SPC>. Emacs should display a message "Mark set"
at the bottom of the screen.
>> Move the cursor to the n in "end", on the second line of the
paragraph.
>> Type C-w. This will kill the text starting from the Y,
and ending just before the n.
-When you delete more than one character at a time, Emacs saves the
-deleted text so that you can bring it back. Bringing back killed text
-is called "yanking". You can yank the killed text either at the same
-place where it was killed, or at some other place in the text. You
-can yank the text several times in order to make multiple copies of
-it. The command to yank is C-y.
-
-Note that the difference between "Killing" and "Deleting" something is
-that "Killed" things can be yanked back, and "Deleted" things cannot.
-Generally, the commands that can remove a lot of text save the text,
-while the commands that delete just one character, or just blank lines
-and spaces, do not save the deleted text.
+The difference between "killing" and "deleting" is that "killed" text
+can be reinserted, whereas "deleted" things cannot be reinserted.
+Reinsertion of killed text is called "yanking". Generally, the
+commands that can remove a lot of text kill the text (they set up so
+that you can yank the text), while the commands that remove just one
+character, or only remove blank lines and spaces, do deletion (so you
+cannot yank that text).
>> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line which is not empty.
Then type C-k to kill the text on that line.
their contents. This is not mere repetition. C-u 2 C-k kills two
lines and their newlines; typing C-k twice would not do that.
-To retrieve the last killed text and put it where the cursor currently
-is, type C-y.
+Bringing back killed text is called "yanking". (Think of it as
+yanking back, or pulling back, some text that was taken away.) You
+can yank the killed text either at the same place where it was killed,
+or at some other place in the text you are editing, or even in a
+different file. You can yank the same text several times; that makes
+multiple copies of it.
+
+The command for yanking is C-y. It reinserts the last killed text,
+at the current cursor position.
>> Try it; type C-y to yank the text back.
-Think of C-y as if you were yanking something back that someone took
-away from you. Notice that if you do several C-k's in a row, all of
-the killed text is saved together, so that one C-y will yank all of
-the lines.
+If you do several C-k's in a row, all of the killed text is saved
+together, so that one C-y will yank all of the lines at once.
>> Do this now, type C-k several times.
A numeric argument to C-_ or C-x u acts as a repeat count.
+You can undo deletion of text just as you can undo killing of text.
+The distinction between killing something and deleting it affects
+whether you can yank it with C-y; it makes no difference for undo.
+
* FILES
-------
not lost. The new name is made by adding "~" to the end of the
original file's name.
-When saving is finished, Emacs prints the name of the file written.
+When saving is finished, Emacs displays the name of the file written.
You should save fairly often, so that you will not lose very much
work if the system should crash.
>> Type C-x C-s, saving your copy of the tutorial.
- This should print "Wrote ...TUTORIAL" at the bottom of the screen.
+ This should show "Wrote ...TUTORIAL" at the bottom of the screen.
NOTE: On some systems, typing C-x C-s will freeze the screen and you
will see no further output from Emacs. This indicates that an
>> Try C-x C-b now.
-See how each buffer has a name, and it may also have a file name
-for the file whose contents it holds. Some buffers do not correspond
-to files. For example, the buffer named "*Buffer List*" does
-not have any file. It is the buffer which contains the buffer
-list that was made by C-x C-b. ANY text you see in an Emacs window
+See how each buffer has a name, and it may also have a file name for
+the file whose contents it holds. ANY text you see in an Emacs window
is always part of some buffer.
>> Type C-x 1 to get rid of the buffer list.
+When you have several buffers, only one of them is "current" at any
+time. That buffer is the one you edit. If you want to edit another
+buffer, you need to "switch" to it. If you want to switch to a buffer
+that corresponds to a file, you can do it by visiting the file again
+with C-x C-f. But there is an easier way: use the C-x b command.
+In that command, you have to type the buffer's name.
+
+>> Type C-x b foo <Return> to go back to the buffer "foo" which holds
+ the text of the file "foo". Then type C-x b TUTORIAL <Return>
+ to come back to this tutorial.
+
+Most of the time, the buffer's name is the same as the file name
+(without the file directory part). However, this is not always true.
+The buffer list you make with C-x C-b always shows you the name of
+every buffer.
+
+ANY text you see in an Emacs window is always part of some buffer.
+Some buffers do not correspond to files. For example, the buffer
+named "*Buffer List*" does not have any file. It is the buffer which
+contains the buffer list that you made with C-x C-b. The buffer named
+"*Messages*" also does not correspond to any file; it contains the
+messages that have appeared on the bottom line during your Emacs
+session.
+
+>> Type C-x b *Messages* <Return> to look at the buffer of messages.
+ Then type C-x b TUTORIAL <Return> to come back to this tutorial.
+
If you make changes to the text of one file, then find another file,
this does not save the first file. Its changes remain inside Emacs,
in that file's buffer. The creation or editing of the second file's
M-x Named command eXtend. Followed by a long name.
These are commands that are generally useful but used less than the
-commands you have already learned about. You have already seen two of
-them: the file commands C-x C-f to Find and C-x C-s to Save. Another
-example is the command to end the Emacs session--this is the command
-C-x C-c. (Do not worry about losing changes you have made; C-x C-c
-offers to save each changed file before it kills the Emacs.)
+commands you have already learned about. You have already seen a few
+of them: the file commands C-x C-f to Find and C-x C-s to Save, for
+example. Another example is the command to end the Emacs
+session--this is the command C-x C-c. (Do not worry about losing
+changes you have made; C-x C-c offers to save each changed file before
+it kills the Emacs.)
C-z is the command to exit Emacs *temporarily*--so that you can go
back to the same Emacs session afterward.
There are many C-x commands. Here is a list of the ones you have learned:
- C-x C-f Find file.
- C-x C-s Save file.
- C-x C-b List buffers.
- C-x C-c Quit Emacs.
- C-x 1 Delete all but one window.
- C-x u Undo.
+ C-x C-f Find file
+ C-x C-s Save file
+ C-x s Save some buffers
+ C-x C-b List buffers
+ C-x b Switch buffer
+ C-x C-c Quit Emacs
+ C-x 1 Delete all but one window
+ C-x u Undo
Named eXtended commands are commands which are used even less
frequently, or commands which are used only in certain modes. An
The line immediately above the echo area is called the "mode line".
The mode line says something like this:
---:** TUTORIAL (Fundamental)--L670--58%----------------
+--:** TUTORIAL 63% L749 (Fundamental)-----------------------
This line gives useful information about the status of Emacs and
the text you are editing.
You already know what the filename means--it is the file you have
-found. -NN%-- indicates your current position in the text; it means
-that NN percent of the text is above the top of the screen. If the
-top of the file is on the screen, it will say --Top-- instead of
---00%--. If the bottom of the text is on the screen, it will say
---Bot--. If you are looking at text so small that all of it fits on
-the screen, the mode line says --All--.
+found. NN% indicates your current position in the text; it means that
+NN percent of the text is above the top of the screen. If the top of
+the file is on the screen, it will say "Top" instead of " 0%". If the
+bottom of the text is on the screen, it will say "Bot". If you are
+looking at text so small that all of it fits on the screen, the mode
+line says "All".
The L and digits indicate position in another way: they give the
current line number of point.
The part of the mode line inside the parentheses is to tell you what
editing modes you are in. The default mode is Fundamental which is
-what you are using now. It is an example of a "major mode".
+what you are using now. It is an example of a "major mode".
Emacs has many different major modes. Some of them are meant for
editing different languages and/or kinds of text, such as Lisp mode,
switch to that mode. For example, M-x fundamental-mode is a command to
switch to Fundamental mode.
-If you are going to be editing English text, such as this file, you
+If you are going to be editing human-language text, such as this file, you
should probably use Text Mode.
+
>> Type M-x text mode<Return>.
Don't worry, none of the Emacs commands you have learned changes in
major mode. So you can use no minor modes, or one minor mode, or any
combination of several minor modes.
-One minor mode which is very useful, especially for editing English
-text, is Auto Fill mode. When this mode is on, Emacs breaks the line
-in between words automatically whenever you insert text and make a
-line that is too wide.
+One minor mode which is very useful, especially for editing
+human-language text, is Auto Fill mode. When this mode is on, Emacs
+breaks the line in between words automatically whenever you insert
+text and make a line that is too wide.
You can turn Auto Fill mode on by doing M-x auto fill mode<Return>.
When the mode is on, you can turn it off again by doing M-x
If you make changes in the middle of a paragraph, Auto Fill mode
does not re-fill it for you.
-To re-fill the paragraph, type M-q (Meta-q) with the cursor inside
+To re-fill the paragraph, type M-q (META-q) with the cursor inside
that paragraph.
>> Move the cursor into the previous paragraph and type M-q.
character to notice what happens to the cursor.
Now you have searched for "cursor", once.
>> Type C-s again, to search for the next occurrence of "cursor".
->> Now type <Delete> four times and see how the cursor moves.
+>> Now type <Delback> four times and see how the cursor moves.
>> Type <Return> to terminate the search.
Did you see what happened? Emacs, in an incremental search, tries to
Then see the section "Spontaneous Entry to Incremental Search" in the
Emacs manual for advice on dealing with this "feature".
-If you are in the middle of an incremental search and type <Delete>,
+If you are in the middle of an incremental search and type <Delback>,
you'll notice that the last character in the search string is erased
and the search backs up to the last place of the search. For
instance, suppose you have typed "c", to search for the first
occurrence of "c". Now if you type "u", the cursor will move
-to the first occurrence of "cu". Now type <Delete>. This erases
+to the first occurrence of "cu". Now type <Delback>. This erases
the "u" from the search string, and the cursor moves back to
the first occurrence of "c".
One of the nice features of Emacs is that you can display more than one
window on the screen at the same time.
->> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l (that's control-L, not
- control-1).
+>> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l (that's CONTROL-L, not
+ CONTROL-1).
>> Now type C-x 2 which splits the screen into two windows.
Both windows display this tutorial. The cursor stays in the top window.
>> Type C-M-v to scroll the bottom window.
- (If you do not have a real Meta key, type ESC C-v.)
+ (If you do not have a real META key, type <ESC> C-v.)
>> Type C-x o ("o" for "other") to move the cursor to the bottom window.
>> Use C-v and M-v in the bottom window to scroll it.
typing v. It does not matter whether CONTROL or META "comes first,"
because both of these keys act by modifying the characters you type.
-If you do not have a real META key, and you use ESC instead, the order
-does matter: you must type ESC followed by Control-v, because
-Control-ESC v will not work. This is because ESC is a character in
-its own right, not a modifier key.
+If you do not have a real META key, and you use <ESC> instead, the
+order does matter: you must type <ESC> followed by CONTROL-v, because
+CONTROL-<ESC> v will not work. This is because <ESC> is a character
+in its own right, not a modifier key.
>> Type C-x 1 (in the top window) to get rid of the bottom window.
surrounding the parentheses around the major mode name. For
example, you might see [(Fundamental)] instead of (Fundamental).
-To get out of the recursive editing level, type ESC ESC ESC. That is
-an all-purpose "get out" command. You can also use it for eliminating
-extra windows, and getting out of the minibuffer.
+To get out of the recursive editing level, type <ESC> <ESC> <ESC>.
+That is an all-purpose "get out" command. You can also use it for
+eliminating extra windows, and getting out of the minibuffer.
->> Type M-x to get into a minibuffer; then type ESC ESC ESC to get out.
+>> Type M-x to get into a minibuffer; then type <ESC> <ESC> <ESC> to
+ get out.
You cannot use C-g to get out of a recursive editing level. This is
because C-g is used for canceling commands and arguments WITHIN the
to learn more about Emacs since it has many other useful features.
Emacs provides commands for reading documentation about Emacs
commands. These "help" commands all start with the character
-Control-h, which is called "the Help character".
+CONTROL-h, which is called "the Help character".
To use the Help features, type the C-h character, and then a
character saying what kind of help you want. If you are REALLY lost,
description of the command.
>> Type C-h c C-p.
- The message should be something like
+
+The message should be something like this:
C-p runs the command previous-line
function.
>> Try typing C-h f previous-line<Return>.
- This prints all the information Emacs has about the
+ This displays all the information Emacs has about the
function which implements the C-p command.
+A similar command C-h v displays the documentation of variables whose
+values you can set to customize Emacs behavior. You need to type in
+the name of the variable when Emacs prompts for it.
+
C-h a Command Apropos. Type in a keyword and Emacs will list
all the commands whose names contain that keyword.
- These commands can all be invoked with Meta-x.
+ These commands can all be invoked with META-x.
For some commands, Command Apropos will also list a one
or two character sequence which runs the same command.
>> Type C-x 1 to delete the help window.
+ C-h i Read On-line Manuals (a.k.a. Info). This command puts
+ you into a special buffer called `*info*' where you
+ can read on-line manuals for the packages installed on
+ your system. Type m emacs <Return> to read the Emacs
+ manual. If you have never before used Info, type ?
+ and Emacs will take you on a guided tour of Info mode
+ facilities. Once you are through with this tutorial,
+ you should consult the Emacs Info manual as your
+ primary documentation.
+
+
+* MORE FEATURES
+---------------
+
+You can learn more about Emacs by reading its manual, either as a book
+or on-line in Info (use the Help menu or type F10 h r). Two features
+that you may like especially are completion, which saves typing, and
+dired, which simplifies file handling.
+
+Completion is a way to avoid unnecessary typing. For instance, if you
+want to switch to the *Messages* buffer, you can type C-x b *M<Tab>
+and Emacs will fill in the rest of the buffer name as far as it can
+determine from what you have already typed. Completion is described
+in Info in the Emacs manual in the node called "Completion".
+
+Dired enables you to list files in a directory (and optionally its
+subdirectories), move around that list, visit, rename, delete and
+otherwise operate on the files. Dired is described in Info in the
+Emacs manual in the node called "Dired".
+
+The manual also describes many other Emacs features.
+
* CONCLUSION
------------
This version of the tutorial, like GNU Emacs, is copyrighted, and
comes with permission to distribute copies on certain conditions:
-Copyright (c) 1985, 1996 Free Software Foundation
+Copyright (C) 1985, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,
+ 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
same spirit. Please read the file COPYING and then do give copies of
GNU Emacs to your friends. Help stamp out software obstructionism
("ownership") by using, writing, and sharing free software!
+
+;;; arch-tag: a0f84628-777f-4238-8865-451a73167f55