+@node Buttons
+@section Buttons
+@cindex buttons
+@cindex buttons in buffers
+@cindex clickable buttons in buffers
+
+ The @emph{button} package defines functions for inserting and
+manipulating clickable (with the mouse, or via keyboard commands)
+buttons in Emacs buffers, such as might be used for help hyper-links,
+etc. Emacs uses buttons for the hyper-links in help text and the like.
+
+A button is essentially a set of properties attached (via text
+properties or overlays) to a region of text in an Emacs buffer, which
+are called its button properties. @xref{Button Properties}.
+
+One of the these properties (@code{action}) is a function, which will
+be called when the user invokes it using the keyboard or the mouse.
+The invoked function may then examine the button and use its other
+properties as desired.
+
+In some ways the Emacs button package duplicates functionality offered
+by the widget package (@pxref{Top, , Introduction, widget, The Emacs
+Widget Library}), but the button package has the advantage that it is
+much faster, much smaller, and much simpler to use (for elisp
+programmers---for users, the result is about the same). The extra
+speed and space savings are useful mainly if you need to create many
+buttons in a buffer (for instance an @code{*Apropos*} buffer uses
+buttons to make entries clickable, and may contain many thousands of
+entries).
+
+@menu
+* Button Properties:: Button properties with special meanings.
+* Button Types:: Defining common properties for classes of buttons.
+* Making Buttons:: Adding buttons to Emacs buffers.
+* Manipulating Buttons:: Getting and setting properties of buttons.
+* Button Buffer Commands:: Buffer-wide commands and bindings for buttons.
+* Manipulating Button Types::
+@end menu
+
+@node Button Properties
+@subsection Button Properties
+@cindex button properties
+
+ Buttons have an associated list of properties defining their
+appearance and behavior, and other arbitrary properties may be used
+for application specific purposes.
+
+Some properties that have special meaning to the button package
+include:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item action
+@kindex action @r{(button property)}
+The function to call when the user invokes the button, which is passed
+the single argument @var{button}. By default this is @code{ignore},
+which does nothing.
+
+@item mouse-action
+@kindex mouse-action @r{(button property)}
+This is similar to @code{action}, and when present, will be used
+instead of @code{action} for button invocations resulting from
+mouse-clicks (instead of the user hitting @key{RET}). If not
+present, mouse-clicks use @code{action} instead.
+
+@item face
+@kindex face @r{(button property)}
+This is an Emacs face controlling how buttons of this type are
+displayed; by default this is the @code{button} face.
+
+@item mouse-face
+@kindex mouse-face @r{(button property)}
+This is an additional face which controls appearance during
+mouse-overs (merged with the usual button face); by default this is
+the usual Emacs @code{highlight} face.
+
+@item keymap
+@kindex keymap @r{(button property)}
+The button's keymap, defining bindings active within the button
+region. By default this is the usual button region keymap, stored
+in the variable @code{button-map}, which defines @key{RET},
+@key{mouse-1} (if @var{mouse-1-click-follows-link} is set),
+and @key{mouse-2} to invoke the button.
+
+@item type
+@kindex type @r{(button property)}
+The button-type of the button. When creating a button, this is
+usually specified using the @code{:type} keyword argument.
+@xref{Button Types}.
+
+@item help-echo
+@kindex help-index @r{(button property)}
+A string displayed by the Emacs tool-tip help system; by default,
+@code{"mouse-2, RET: Push this button"}.
+
+@item follow-link
+@kindex follow-link @r{(button property)}
+The follow-link property, defining how a @key{mouse-1} click behaves
+on this button, @xref{Enabling Mouse-1 to Follow Links}.
+@item button
+@kindex button @r{(button property)}
+All buttons have a non-@code{nil} @code{button} property, which may be useful
+in finding regions of text that comprise buttons (which is what the
+standard button functions do).
+@end table
+
+There are other properties defined for the regions of text in a
+button, but these are not generally interesting for typical uses.
+
+@node Button Types
+@subsection Button Types
+@cindex button types
+
+ Every button has a button @emph{type}, which defines default values
+for the button's properties. Button types are arranged in a
+hierarchy, with specialized types inheriting from more general types,
+so that it's easy to define special-purpose types of buttons for
+specific tasks.
+
+@defun define-button-type name &rest properties
+@tindex define-button-type
+Define a `button type' called @var{name}. The remaining arguments
+form a sequence of @var{property value} pairs, specifying default
+property values for buttons with this type (a button's type may be set
+by giving it a @code{type} property when creating the button, using
+the @code{:type} keyword argument).
+
+In addition, the keyword argument @code{:supertype} may be used to
+specify a button-type from which @var{name} inherits its default
+property values. Note that this inheritance happens only when
+@var{name} is defined; subsequent changes to a supertype are not
+reflected in its subtypes.
+@end defun
+
+Using @code{define-button-type} to define default properties for
+buttons is not necessary---buttons without any specified type use the
+built-in button-type @code{button}---but it is is encouraged, since
+doing so usually makes the resulting code clearer and more efficient.
+
+@node Making Buttons
+@subsection Making Buttons
+@cindex making buttons
+
+ Buttons are associated with a region of text, using an overlay or
+text-properties to hold button-specific information, all of which are
+initialized from the button's type (which defaults to the built-in
+button type @code{button}). Like all Emacs text, the appearance of
+the button is governed by the @code{face} property; by default (via
+the @code{face} property inherited from the @code{button} button-type)
+this is a simple underline, like a typical web-page link.
+
+For convenience, there are two sorts of button-creation functions,
+those that add button properties to an existing region of a buffer,
+called @code{make-...button}, and those also insert the button text,
+called @code{insert-...button}.
+
+The button-creation functions all take the @code{&rest} argument
+@var{properties}, which should be a sequence of @var{property value}
+pairs, specifying properties to add to the button; see @ref{Button
+Properties}. In addition, the keyword argument @code{:type} may be
+used to specify a button-type from which to inherit other properties;
+see @ref{Button Types}. Any properties not explicitly specified
+during creation will be inherited from the button's type (if the type
+defines such a property).
+
+The following functions add a button using an overlay
+(@pxref{Overlays}) to hold the button properties:
+
+@defun make-button beg end &rest properties
+@tindex make-button
+Make a button from @var{beg} to @var{end} in the current buffer.
+@end defun
+
+@defun insert-button label &rest properties
+@tindex insert-button
+Insert a button with the label @var{label}.
+@end defun
+
+The following functions are similar, but use Emacs text-properties
+(@pxref{Text Properties}) to hold the button properties, making the
+button actually part of the text instead of being a property of the
+buffer (using text-properties is usually faster than using overlays,
+so this may be preferable when creating large numbers of buttons):
+
+@defun make-text-button beg end &rest properties
+@tindex make-text-button
+Make a button from @var{beg} to @var{end} in the current buffer, using
+text-properties.
+@end defun
+
+@defun insert-text-button label &rest properties
+@tindex insert-text-button
+Insert a button with the label @var{label}, using text-properties.
+@end defun
+
+Buttons using text-properties retain no markers into the buffer are
+retained, which is important for speed in cases where there are
+extremely large numbers of buttons.
+
+@node Manipulating Buttons
+@subsection Manipulating Buttons
+@cindex manipulating buttons
+
+These are functions for getting and setting properties of buttons.
+Often these are used by a button's invocation function to determine
+what to do.
+
+Where a @var{button} parameter is specified, it means an object
+referring to a specific button, either an overlay (for overlay
+buttons), or a buffer-position or marker (for text property buttons).
+Such an object is passed as the first argument to a button's
+invocation function when it is invoked.
+
+@defun button-start button
+@tindex button-start
+Return the position at which @var{button} starts.
+@end defun
+
+@defun button-end button
+@tindex button-end
+Return the position at which @var{button} ends.
+@end defun
+
+@defun button-get button prop
+@tindex button-get
+Get the property of button @var{button} named @var{prop}.
+@end defun
+
+@defun button-put button prop val
+@tindex button-put
+Set @var{button}'s @var{prop} property to @var{val}.
+@end defun
+
+@defun button-activate button &optional use-mouse-action
+@tindex button-activate
+Call @var{button}'s @code{action} property (i.e., invoke it). If
+@var{use-mouse-action} is non-@code{nil}, try to invoke the button's
+@code{mouse-action} property instead of @code{action}; if the button
+has no @code{mouse-action} property, use @code{action} as normal.
+@end defun
+
+@defun button-label button
+@tindex button-label
+Return @var{button}'s text label.
+@end defun
+
+@defun button-type button
+@tindex button-type
+Return @var{button}'s button-type.
+@end defun
+
+@defun button-has-type-p button type
+@tindex button-has-type-p
+Return @code{t} if @var{button} has button-type @var{type}, or one of
+@var{type}'s subtypes.
+@end defun
+
+@defun button-at pos
+@tindex button-at
+Return the button at position @var{pos} in the current buffer, or @code{nil}.
+@end defun
+
+@node Button Buffer Commands
+@subsection Button Buffer Commands
+@cindex button buffer commands
+
+These are commands and functions for locating and operating on
+buttons in an Emacs buffer.
+
+@code{push-button} is the command that a user uses to actually `push'
+a button, and is bound by default in the button itself to @key{RET},
+to @key{mouse-1} (if @var{mouse-1-click-follows-link} is set),
+and to @key{mouse-2} using a region-specific keymap. Commands
+that are useful outside the buttons itself, such as
+@code{forward-button} and @code{backward-button} are additionally
+available in the keymap stored in @code{button-buffer-map}; a mode
+which uses buttons may want to use @code{button-buffer-map} as a
+parent keymap for its keymap.
+
+@deffn Command push-button &optional pos use-mouse-action
+@tindex push-button
+Perform the action specified by a button at location @var{pos}.
+@var{pos} may be either a buffer position or a mouse-event. If
+@var{use-mouse-action} is non-@code{nil}, or @var{pos} is a
+mouse-event (@pxref{Mouse Events}), try to invoke the button's
+@code{mouse-action} property instead of @code{action}; if the button
+has no @code{mouse-action} property, use @code{action} as normal.
+@var{pos} defaults to point, except when @code{push-button} is invoked
+interactively as the result of a mouse-event, in which case, the mouse
+event's position is used. If there's no button at @var{pos}, do
+nothing and return @code{nil}, otherwise return @code{t}.
+@end deffn
+
+@deffn Command forward-button n &optional wrap display-message
+@tindex forward-button
+Move to the @var{n}th next button, or @var{n}th previous button if
+@var{n} is negative. If @var{n} is zero, move to the start of any
+button at point. If @var{wrap} is non-@code{nil}, moving past either
+end of the buffer continues from the other end. If
+@var{display-message} is non-@code{nil}, the button's help-echo string
+is displayed. Any button with a non-@code{nil} @code{skip} property
+is skipped over. Returns the button found.
+@end deffn
+
+@deffn Command backward-button n &optional wrap display-message
+@tindex backward-button
+Move to the @var{n}th previous button, or @var{n}th next button if
+@var{n} is negative. If @var{n} is zero, move to the start of any
+button at point. If @var{wrap} is non-@code{nil}, moving past either
+end of the buffer continues from the other end. If
+@var{display-message} is non-@code{nil}, the button's help-echo string
+is displayed. Any button with a non-@code{nil} @code{skip} property
+is skipped over. Returns the button found.
+@end deffn
+
+@defun next-button pos &optional count-current
+@tindex next-button
+Return the next button after position @var{pos} in the current buffer.
+If @var{count-current} is non-@code{nil}, count any button at
+@var{pos} in the search, instead of starting at the next button.
+@end defun
+
+@defun previous-button pos &optional count-current
+@tindex previous-button
+Return the @var{n}th button before position @var{pos} in the current
+buffer. If @var{count-current} is non-@code{nil}, count any button at
+@var{pos} in the search, instead of starting at the next button.
+@end defun
+
+@node Manipulating Button Types
+@subsection Manipulating Button Types
+@cindex manipulating button types
+
+@defun button-type-put type prop val
+@tindex button-type-put
+Set the button-type @var{type}'s @var{prop} property to @var{val}.
+@end defun
+
+@defun button-type-get type prop
+@tindex button-type-get
+Get the property of button-type @var{type} named @var{prop}.
+@end defun
+
+@defun button-type-subtype-p type supertype
+@tindex button-type-subtype-p
+Return @code{t} if button-type @var{type} is a subtype of @var{supertype}.
+@end defun
+