@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
@c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001,
-@c 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@c 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
@node Minibuffer, M-x, Basic, Top
@chapter The Minibuffer
prompt normally ends with a colon.
@cindex default argument
- Sometimes a @dfn{default argument} appears in parentheses after the
+ Sometimes a @dfn{default argument} appears in parentheses before the
colon; it too is part of the prompt. The default will be used as the
argument value if you enter an empty argument (that is, just type
@key{RET}). For example, commands that read buffer names always show a
@cindex // in file name
@cindex double slash in file name
@cindex slashes repeated in file name
+@findex file-name-shadow-mode
GNU Emacs gives a special meaning to a double slash (which is not
-normally a useful thing to write): it means, ``ignore everything before
-the second slash in the pair.'' Thus, @samp{/u2/emacs/src/} is ignored
-in the example above, and you get the file @file{/etc/termcap}.
-
- If you set @code{insert-default-directory} to @code{nil}, the default
-directory is not inserted in the minibuffer. This way, the minibuffer
-starts out empty. But the name you type, if relative, is still
-interpreted with respect to the same default directory.
+normally a useful thing to write): it means, ``ignore everything
+before the second slash in the pair.'' Thus, @samp{/u2/emacs/src/} is
+ignored in the example above, and you get the file
+@file{/etc/termcap}. The ignored part of the file name is dimmed if
+the terminal allows it; to disable this, turn off
+@code{file-name-shadow-mode} minor mode.
+
+ If you set @code{insert-default-directory} to @code{nil}, the
+default directory is never inserted in the minibuffer---so the
+minibuffer starts out empty. But the name you type, if relative, is
+still interpreted with respect to the same default directory.
@node Minibuffer Edit
@section Editing in the Minibuffer
Since @key{RET} in the minibuffer is defined to exit the minibuffer,
you can't use it to insert a newline in the minibuffer. To do that,
-type @kbd{C-o} or @kbd{C-q C-j}. (On text terminals, newline is
-really the @acronym{ASCII} character control-J.)
-
- The minibuffer has its own window which always has space on the screen
-but acts as if it were not there when the minibuffer is not in use. When
-the minibuffer is in use, its window is just like the others; you can
-switch to another window with @kbd{C-x o}, edit text in other windows and
-perhaps even visit more files, before returning to the minibuffer to submit
-the argument. You can kill text in another window, return to the
-minibuffer window, and then yank the text to use it in the argument.
-@xref{Windows}.
+type @kbd{C-o} or @kbd{C-q C-j}. (The newline character is really the
+@acronym{ASCII} character control-J.)
+
+ The minibuffer has its own window, which normally has space on the
+Emacs frame at all times, but it only acts like an Emacs window when
+the minibuffer is really in use. At those times, its window is much
+like any other Emacs window; you can switch from the minibuffer window
+to another window with @kbd{C-x o}, and edit text in other windows,
+before returning to the minibuffer to submit the argument. You can
+kill text in another window, return to the minibuffer window, and then
+yank the text to use it in the argument. @xref{Windows}.
@cindex height of minibuffer
@cindex size of minibuffer
argument. @kbd{?} is defined to display a list of possible completions
of what you have inserted.
- For example, when @kbd{M-x} uses the minibuffer to read the name of a
-command, it provides a list of all available Emacs command names to
+ For example, when @kbd{M-x} uses the minibuffer to read the name of
+a command, it provides a list of all available Emacs command names to
complete against. The completion keys match the minibuffer text
against all the command names, find any additional name characters
implied by the ones already present in the minibuffer, and add those
characters to the ones you have given. This is what makes it possible
to type @kbd{M-x ins @key{SPC} b @key{RET}} instead of @kbd{M-x
-insert-buffer @key{RET}} (for example).
+insert-buffer @key{RET}} (for example). (@key{SPC} does not do
+completion in reading file names, because it is common to use spaces
+in file names on some systems.)
Case is normally significant in completion, because it is significant
in most of the names that you can complete (buffer names, file names and
Complete the text before point in the minibuffer as much as possible
(@code{minibuffer-complete}).
@item @key{SPC}
-Complete the minibuffer text before point, but don't go beyond one word
-(@code{minibuffer-complete-word}).
+Complete the minibuffer text before point, but don't go beyond one
+word (@code{minibuffer-complete-word}). @key{SPC} for completion is
+not available when entering a file name, since some users often put
+spaces in filenames.
@item @key{RET}
Submit the text in the minibuffer as the argument, possibly completing
first as described
If an element of the list in @code{completion-ignored-extensions} ends
in a slash @file{/}, it indicates a subdirectory that should be ignored
-when completing file names. (Elements of
+when completing file names. Elements of
@code{completion-ignored-extensions} which do not end in a slash are
never considered when a completion candidate is a directory; thus,
completion returns directories whose names end in @file{.elc} even
-though there's an element @code{".elc"} in the list.)
+though there's an element @code{".elc"} in the list.
@vindex completion-auto-help
Normally, a completion command that cannot determine even one
``moved'' to, but your new argument does go at the end of the history
list in its own right.
- For many minibuffer arguments there is a ``default'' value. In some
-cases, the minibuffer history commands know the default value. Then you
-can insert the default value into the minibuffer as text by using
-@kbd{M-n} to move ``into the future'' in the history. Eventually we
-hope to make this feature available whenever the minibuffer has a
-default value.
+ For many minibuffer arguments there is a ``default'' value. Then
+you can insert the default value into the minibuffer as text by using
+@kbd{M-n} to move ``into the future'' in the history.
@findex previous-matching-history-element
@findex next-matching-history-element