variable, and the type is known by the compiler but not represented in
the data. Such type declarations do not exist in Emacs Lisp. A Lisp
variable can have any type of value, and it remembers whatever value
-you store in it, type and all.
+you store in it, type and all. (Actually, a small number of Emacs
+Lisp variables can only take on values of a certain type.
+@xref{Variables with Restricted Values}.)
This chapter describes the purpose, printed representation, and read
syntax of each of the standard types in GNU Emacs Lisp. Details on how
@node Integer Type
@subsection Integer Type
- The range of values for integers in Emacs Lisp is @minus{}134217728 to
-134217727 (28 bits; i.e.,
+ The range of values for integers in Emacs Lisp is @minus{}268435456 to
+268435455 (29 bits; i.e.,
@ifnottex
--2**27
+-2**28
@end ifnottex
@tex
-@math{-2^{27}}
+@math{-2^{28}}
@end tex
to
@ifnottex
-2**27 - 1)
+2**28 - 1)
@end ifnottex
@tex
@math{2^{28}-1})
@end tex
on most machines. (Some machines may provide a wider range.) It is
important to note that the Emacs Lisp arithmetic functions do not check
-for overflow. Thus @code{(1+ 134217727)} is @minus{}134217728 on most
+for overflow. Thus @code{(1+ 268435455)} is @minus{}268435456 on most
machines.
The read syntax for integers is a sequence of (base ten) digits with an
1 ; @r{The integer 1.}
1. ; @r{Also the integer 1.}
+1 ; @r{Also the integer 1.}
-268435457 ; @r{Also the integer 1 on a 28-bit implementation.}
+536870913 ; @r{Also the integer 1 on a 29-bit implementation.}
@end group
@end example
@node Character Type
@subsection Character Type
-@cindex @sc{ascii} character codes
+@cindex @acronym{ASCII} character codes
A @dfn{character} in Emacs Lisp is nothing more than an integer. In
other words, characters are represented by their character codes. For
common to work with @emph{strings}, which are sequences composed of
characters. @xref{String Type}.
- Characters in strings, buffers, and files are currently limited to the
-range of 0 to 524287---nineteen bits. But not all values in that range
-are valid character codes. Codes 0 through 127 are @sc{ascii} codes; the
-rest are non-@sc{ascii} (@pxref{Non-ASCII Characters}). Characters that represent
-keyboard input have a much wider range, to encode modifier keys such as
+ Characters in strings, buffers, and files are currently limited to
+the range of 0 to 524287---nineteen bits. But not all values in that
+range are valid character codes. Codes 0 through 127 are
+@acronym{ASCII} codes; the rest are non-@acronym{ASCII}
+(@pxref{Non-ASCII Characters}). Characters that represent keyboard
+input have a much wider range, to encode modifier keys such as
Control, Meta and Shift.
@cindex read syntax for characters
@end example
In strings and buffers, the only control characters allowed are those
-that exist in @sc{ascii}; but for keyboard input purposes, you can turn
+that exist in @acronym{ASCII}; but for keyboard input purposes, you can turn
any character into a control character with @samp{C-}. The character
-codes for these non-@sc{ascii} control characters include the
+codes for these non-@acronym{ASCII} control characters include the
@tex
@math{2^{26}}
@end tex
2**26
@end ifnottex
bit as well as the code for the corresponding non-control
-character. Ordinary terminals have no way of generating non-@sc{ascii}
+character. Ordinary terminals have no way of generating non-@acronym{ASCII}
control characters, but you can generate them straightforwardly using X
and other window systems.
@ifnottex
2**27
@end ifnottex
-bit set (which on most machines makes it a negative number). We
-use high bits for this and other modifiers to make possible a wide range
-of basic character codes.
+bit set. We use high bits for this and other modifiers to make
+possible a wide range of basic character codes.
In a string, the
@tex
@ifnottex
2**7
@end ifnottex
-bit attached to an @sc{ascii} character indicates a meta character; thus, the
-meta characters that can fit in a string have codes in the range from
-128 to 255, and are the meta versions of the ordinary @sc{ascii}
-characters. (In Emacs versions 18 and older, this convention was used
-for characters outside of strings as well.)
+bit attached to an @acronym{ASCII} character indicates a meta
+character; thus, the meta characters that can fit in a string have
+codes in the range from 128 to 255, and are the meta versions of the
+ordinary @acronym{ASCII} characters. (In Emacs versions 18 and older,
+this convention was used for characters outside of strings as well.)
The read syntax for meta characters uses @samp{\M-}. For example,
@samp{?\M-A} stands for @kbd{M-A}. You can use @samp{\M-} together with
@samp{?\M-\C-b}, @samp{?\C-\M-b}, or @samp{?\M-\002}.
The case of a graphic character is indicated by its character code;
-for example, @sc{ascii} distinguishes between the characters @samp{a}
-and @samp{A}. But @sc{ascii} has no way to represent whether a control
+for example, @acronym{ASCII} distinguishes between the characters @samp{a}
+and @samp{A}. But @acronym{ASCII} has no way to represent whether a control
character is upper case or lower case. Emacs uses the
@tex
@math{2^{25}}
@cindex hyper characters
@cindex super characters
@cindex alt characters
- The X Window System defines three other @anchor{modifier bits}
-modifier bits that can be set
+ The X Window System defines three other
+@anchor{modifier bits}modifier bits that can be set
in a character: @dfn{hyper}, @dfn{super} and @dfn{alt}. The syntaxes
for these bits are @samp{\H-}, @samp{\s-} and @samp{\A-}. (Case is
significant in these prefixes.) Thus, @samp{?\H-\M-\A-x} represents
@kbd{Alt-Hyper-Meta-x}. (Note that @samp{\s} with no following @samp{-}
represents the space character.)
@tex
-Numerically, the
-bit values are @math{2^{22}} for alt, @math{2^{23}} for super and @math{2^{24}} for hyper.
+Numerically, the bit values are @math{2^{22}} for alt, @math{2^{23}}
+for super and @math{2^{24}} for hyper.
@end tex
@ifnottex
Numerically, the
mark followed by a backslash and the octal character code (up to three
octal digits); thus, @samp{?\101} for the character @kbd{A},
@samp{?\001} for the character @kbd{C-a}, and @code{?\002} for the
-character @kbd{C-b}. Although this syntax can represent any @sc{ascii}
+character @kbd{C-b}. Although this syntax can represent any @acronym{ASCII}
character, it is preferred only when the precise octal value is more
-important than the @sc{ascii} representation.
+important than the @acronym{ASCII} representation.
@example
@group
@end example
@node Non-ASCII in Strings
-@subsubsection Non-@sc{ascii} Characters in Strings
+@subsubsection Non-@acronym{ASCII} Characters in Strings
- You can include a non-@sc{ascii} international character in a string
+ You can include a non-@acronym{ASCII} international character in a string
constant by writing it literally. There are two text representations
-for non-@sc{ascii} characters in Emacs strings (and in buffers): unibyte
+for non-@acronym{ASCII} characters in Emacs strings (and in buffers): unibyte
and multibyte. If the string constant is read from a multibyte source,
such as a multibyte buffer or string, or a file that would be visited as
multibyte, then the character is read as a multibyte character, and that
unibyte source, then the character is read as unibyte and that makes the
string unibyte.
- You can also represent a multibyte non-@sc{ascii} character with its
+ You can also represent a multibyte non-@acronym{ASCII} character with its
character code: use a hex escape, @samp{\x@var{nnnnnnn}}, with as many
-digits as necessary. (Multibyte non-@sc{ascii} character codes are all
+digits as necessary. (Multibyte non-@acronym{ASCII} character codes are all
greater than 256.) Any character which is not a valid hex digit
terminates this construct. If the next character in the string could be
interpreted as a hex digit, write @w{@samp{\ }} (backslash and space) to
constant is just like backslash-newline; it does not contribute any
character to the string, but it does terminate the preceding hex escape.
- Using a multibyte hex escape forces the string to multibyte. You can
-represent a unibyte non-@sc{ascii} character with its character code,
-which must be in the range from 128 (0200 octal) to 255 (0377 octal).
-This forces a unibyte string.
+ You can represent a unibyte non-@acronym{ASCII} character with its
+character code, which must be in the range from 128 (0200 octal) to
+255 (0377 octal). If you write all such character codes in octal and
+the string contains no other characters forcing it to be multibyte,
+this produces a unibyte string. However, using any hex escape in a
+string (even for an @acronym{ASCII} character) forces the string to be
+multibyte.
@xref{Text Representations}, for more information about the two
text representations.
However, not all of the characters you can write with backslash
escape-sequences are valid in strings. The only control characters that
-a string can hold are the @sc{ascii} control characters. Strings do not
-distinguish case in @sc{ascii} control characters.
+a string can hold are the @acronym{ASCII} control characters. Strings do not
+distinguish case in @acronym{ASCII} control characters.
Properly speaking, strings cannot hold meta characters; but when a
string is to be used as a key sequence, there is a special convention
-that provides a way to represent meta versions of @sc{ascii} characters in a
-string. If you use the @samp{\M-} syntax to indicate a meta character
-in a string constant, this sets the
+that provides a way to represent meta versions of @acronym{ASCII}
+characters in a string. If you use the @samp{\M-} syntax to indicate
+a meta character in a string constant, this sets the
@tex
@math{2^{7}}
@end tex
as a bitmap---each ``character'' in the string contains 8 bits, which
specify the next 8 elements of the bool-vector (1 stands for @code{t},
and 0 for @code{nil}). The least significant bits of the character
-correspond to the lowest indices in the bool-vector. If the length is not a
-multiple of 8, the printed representation shows extra elements, but
-these extras really make no difference.
+correspond to the lowest indices in the bool-vector.
@example
(make-bool-vector 3 t)
- @result{} #&3"\007"
+ @result{} #&3"^G"
(make-bool-vector 3 nil)
- @result{} #&3"\0"
-;; @r{These are equal since only the first 3 bits are used.}
+ @result{} #&3"^@@"
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+These results make sense, because the binary code for @samp{C-g} is
+111 and @samp{C-@@} is the character with code 0.
+
+ If the length is not a multiple of 8, the printed representation
+shows extra elements, but these extras really make no difference. For
+instance, in the next example, the two bool-vectors are equal, because
+only the first 3 bits are used:
+
+@example
(equal #&3"\377" #&3"\007")
@result{} t
@end example
@cindex @samp{#@var{n}=} read syntax
@cindex @samp{#@var{n}#} read syntax
- In Emacs 21, to represent shared or circular structure within a
+ In Emacs 21, to represent shared or circular structures within a
complex of Lisp objects, you can use the reader constructs
@samp{#@var{n}=} and @samp{#@var{n}#}.
@end example
Comparison of strings is case-sensitive, but does not take account of
-text properties---it compares only the characters in the strings.
-A unibyte string never equals a multibyte string unless the
-contents are entirely @sc{ascii} (@pxref{Text Representations}).
+text properties---it compares only the characters in the strings. For
+technical reasons, a unibyte string and a multibyte string are
+@code{equal} if and only if they contain the same sequence of
+character codes and all these codes are either in the range 0 through
+127 (@acronym{ASCII}) or 160 through 255 (@code{eight-bit-graphic}).
+(@pxref{Text Representations}).
@example
@group