@dfn{Info format}, which you read using an @dfn{Info reader}. You are
probably using an Info reader to read this now.
+There are two primary Info readers: @code{info}, a stand-alone program
+designed just to read Info files, and the @code{info} package in GNU
+Emacs, a general-purpose editor. At present, only the Emacs reader
+supports using a mouse.
+
@ifinfo
If you are new to the Info reader and want to learn how to use it,
type the command @kbd{h} now. It brings you to a programmed
@comment node-name, next, previous, up
@chapter Getting Started
-This first part of the Info manual describes how to get around inside
+This first part of this Info manual describes how to get around inside
of Info. The second part of the manual describes various advanced
Info commands, and how to write an Info as distinct from a Texinfo
file. The third part briefly explains how to generate Info files from
@item
Type @code{emacs} at the command line; then type @kbd{C-h i}
(@kbd{Control-h}, followed by @kbd{i}). This approach uses the Info
-mode of the Emacs program, an editor with many other capabilities.
+mode of the Emacs editor.
@end enumerate
In either case, then type @kbd{mInfo} (just the letters), followed by
@end ifnotinfo
@menu
-* Help-Small-Screen:: Starting Info on a Small Screen
-* Help:: How to use Info
-* Help-P:: Returning to the Previous node
+* Help-Small-Screen:: Starting Info on a Small Screen.
+* Help:: How to use Info.
+* Help-P:: Returning to the Previous node.
* Help-^L:: The Space, DEL, B and ^L commands.
* Help-Inv:: Invisible text in Emacs Info.
-* Help-M:: Menus
-* Help-Xref:: Following cross-references
-* Help-Int:: Some intermediate Info commands
-* Help-Q:: Quitting Info
+* Help-M:: Menus.
+* Help-Xref:: Following cross-references.
+* Help-Int:: Some intermediate Info commands.
+* Help-Q:: Quitting Info.
@end menu
@node Help-Small-Screen
If you have managed to get here, go back to the beginning with
@kbd{DEL} (or @key{BACKSPACE}), and come back here again, then you
understand the about the @samp{Space} and @samp{Backspace} keys. So
-now type an @kbd{n} ---just one character; don't type the quotes and
-don't type the Return key afterward--- to get to the normal start of
+now type an @kbd{n}---just one character; don't type the quotes and
+don't type the Return key afterward---to get to the normal start of
the course.
@end ifinfo
and the duplicate remains at the top of the window all the time even
if you scroll through the node.
- Besides a @samp{Next}, a node can have a @samp{Previous} or an
-@samp{Up} links, or both. As you can see, this node has all of these
+ Besides a @samp{Next}, a node can have a @samp{Previous} link, or an
+@samp{Up} link, or both. As you can see, this node has all of these
links.
@kindex n @r{(Info mode)}
node, @samp{Help-^L}.
@format
->> But do not type @kbd{n} yet. First, try the @kbd{p} command,
- or click the middle mouse button on the @samp{Prev} link. That
- takes you to the @samp{Previous} node. Then use @kbd{n} to return here.
+>> But do not type @kbd{n} yet. First, try the @kbd{p} command, or
+ (in Emacs) click the middle mouse button on the @samp{Prev} link.
+ That takes you to the @samp{Previous} node. Then use @kbd{n} to
+ return here.
@end format
If you read this in Emacs, you will see an @samp{Info} item in the
coming up.
@format
->> Now do an @kbd{n}, or click the middle mouse button on the @samp{Next}
- link, to get to the node @samp{Help-^L} and learn more.
+>> Now do an @kbd{n}, or (in Emacs) click the middle mouse button on
+ the @samp{Next} link, to get to the node @samp{Help-^L} and learn more.
@end format
@node Help-^L, Help-Inv, Help-P, Getting Started
@kindex C-l @r{(Info mode)}
If your screen is ever garbaged, you can tell Info to display it
-again by typing @kbd{C-l} (@kbd{Control-L}, that is---hold down
+again by typing @kbd{C-l} (@kbd{Control-L}---that is, hold down
@key{CTRL} and type @kbd{L} or @kbd{l}).
@format
(If you are using the stand-alone Info reader, type @kbd{C-x 0} to
return here, that is---press and hold @key{CTRL}, type an @kbd{x},
-then release @key{CTRL} and @kbd{x}, and press @kbd{0}---a zero, not
-the letter ``o''.)
+then release @key{CTRL} and @kbd{x}, and press @kbd{0}; that's a zero,
+not the letter ``o''.)
From now on, you will encounter large nodes without warning, and
will be expected to know how to use @key{SPC} and @key{BACKSPACE} to
Here are some more Info commands that make it easier to move around.
-@unnumberedsubsec @kbd{g} goes to a node by name
+@subheading @kbd{g} goes to a node by name
@kindex g @r{(Info mode)}
@findex Info-goto-node
all of the current file by typing @kbd{g*@key{RET}} or all of any
other file with @kbd{g(@var{filename})@key{RET}}.
-@unnumberedsubsec @kbd{1} -- @kbd{9} choose a menu subtopic by its number
+@subheading @kbd{1}--@kbd{9} choose a menu subtopic by its number
@kindex 1 @r{through} 9 @r{(Info mode)}
@findex Info-nth-menu-item
this is so you need not count how many entries are there. In Emacs,
the digit keys run the command @code{Info-nth-menu-item}.
- If your display supports multiple fonts, and you are using Emacs'
-Info mode to read Info files, the @samp{*} for the fifth menu item
-stands out, either in color or in some other attribute, such as
-underline, and so is the @samp{*} for the ninth item; this makes it
-easy to see at a glance which number to use for an item.
+ If your display supports multiple fonts, colors or underlining, and
+you are using Emacs' Info mode to read Info files, the third, sixth
+and ninth menu items have a @samp{*} that stands out, either in color
+or in some other attribute, such as underline; this makes it easy to
+see at a glance which number to use for an item.
- Some terminals don't support colors or underlining. If you need to
-actually count items, it is better to use @kbd{m} instead, and specify
-the name, or use @key{TAB} to quickly move between menu items.
+ Some terminals don't support either multiple fonts, colors or
+underlining. If you need to actually count items, it is better to use
+@kbd{m} instead, and specify the name, or use @key{TAB} to quickly
+move between menu items.
-@unnumberedsubsec @kbd{e} makes Info document editable
+@subheading @kbd{e} makes Info document editable
@kindex e @r{(Info mode)}
@findex Info-edit
edit the Info file, so typing @kbd{e} there goes to the end of the
current node.
+@subheading @kbd{M-n} creates a new independent Info buffer in Emacs
+
+@kindex M-n @r{(Info mode)}
+@findex clone-buffer
+@cindex multiple Info buffers
+ If you are reading Info in Emacs, you can select a new independent
+Info buffer in another window by typing @kbd{M-n}. The new buffer
+starts out as an exact copy of the old one, but you will be able to
+move independently between nodes in the two buffers. (In Info mode,
+@kbd{M-n} runs the Emacs command @code{clone-buffer}.)
+
+ In Emacs Info, you can also produce new Info buffers by giving a
+numeric prefix argument to the @kbd{m} and @kbd{g} commands. @kbd{C-u
+m} and @kbd{C-u g} go to a new node in exactly the same way that
+@kbd{m} and @kbd{g} do, but they do so in a new Info buffer which they
+select in another window.
+
@node Info Search, Add, Advanced, Expert Info
@comment node-name, next, previous, up
@section How to search Info documents for specific subjects
echo area the full index entry it found. Often, the text of the full
index entry already gives you enough information to decide whether it
is relevant to what you are looking for, so we recommend that you read
-what Emacs shows in the echo area before looking at the node it
+what Info shows in the echo area before looking at the node it
displays.
Since @kbd{i} looks for a substring, you can search for subjects even
In Emacs, @kbd{i} runs the command @code{Info-index}.
+@findex info-apropos
+If you don't know what manual documents something, try the @kbd{M-x
+info-apropos} command. It prompts for a string and then looks up that
+string in all the indices of all the Info documents installed on your
+system.
+
@kindex s @r{(Info mode)}
@findex Info-search
The @kbd{s} command allows you to search a whole file for a string.
A menu begins with a line starting with @w{@samp{* Menu:}}. The
rest of the line is a comment. After the starting line, every line
that begins with a @samp{* } lists a single topic. The name of the
-topic--what the user must type at the @kbd{m}'s command prompt to
+topic---what the user must type at the @kbd{m}'s command prompt to
select this topic---comes right after the star and space, and is
followed by a colon, spaces and tabs, and the name of the node which
discusses that topic. The node name, like node names following