@c -*-texinfo-*-
@c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.
@c Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002,
-@c 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@c 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions.
@setfilename ../../info/minibuf
@node Minibuffers, Command Loop, Read and Print, Top
reads the text and returns the resulting Lisp object, unevaluated.
(@xref{Input Functions}, for information about reading.)
-The argument @var{default} specifies a default value to make available
-through the history commands. It should be a string, a list of strings,
-or @code{nil}. If non-@code{nil}, the user can access its values using
-@code{next-history-element}, usually bound in the minibuffer to
-@kbd{M-n}. If @var{read} is non-@code{nil}, then @var{default} is
-also used as the input to @code{read}, if the user enters empty input.
-(If @var{read} is non-@code{nil} and @var{default} is @code{nil}, empty
+The argument @var{default} specifies default values to make available
+through the history commands. It should be a string, a list of
+strings, or @code{nil}. The string or strings become the minibuffer's
+``future history,'' available to the user with @kbd{M-n}.
+
+If @var{read} is non-@code{nil}, then @var{default} is also used as
+the input to @code{read}, if the user enters empty input. (If
+@var{read} is non-@code{nil} and @var{default} is @code{nil}, empty
input results in an @code{end-of-file} error.) However, in the usual
case (where @var{read} is @code{nil}), @code{read-from-minibuffer}
ignores @var{default} when the user enters empty input and returns an
-empty string, @code{""}. In this respect, it is different from all
-the other minibuffer input functions in this chapter.
+empty string, @code{""}. In this respect, it differs from all the
+other minibuffer input functions in this chapter.
If @var{keymap} is non-@code{nil}, that keymap is the local keymap to
use in the minibuffer. If @var{keymap} is omitted or @code{nil}, the
The optional argument @var{default} is used as in
@code{read-from-minibuffer}, except that, if non-@code{nil}, it also
specifies a default value to return if the user enters null input. As
-in @code{read-from-minibuffer} it should be a string, a list of strings,
-or @code{nil}, which is equivalent to an empty string. When @var{default}
-is a list of strings, it returns the first element of this list.
-
-This function is a simplified interface to the
+in @code{read-from-minibuffer} it should be a string, a list of
+strings, or @code{nil} which is equivalent to an empty string. When
+@var{default} is a string, that string is the default value. When it
+is a list of strings, the first string is the default value. (All
+these strings are available to the user in the ``future minibuffer
+history.'')
+
+This function works by calling the
@code{read-from-minibuffer} function:
@smallexample
input already in the buffer matches an element of @var{collection}.
However, empty input is always permitted, regardless of the value of
-@var{require-match}; in that case, @code{completing-read} returns
-the first element of @var{default}, if it is a list, @code{""},
-if @var{default} is @code{nil}, or @var{default}. The value of
-@var{default} (if non-@code{nil}) is also available to the user
-through the history commands.
+@var{require-match}; in that case, @code{completing-read} returns the
+first element of @var{default}, if it is a list; @code{""}, if
+@var{default} is @code{nil}; or @var{default}. The string or strings
+in @var{default} are also available to the user through the history
+commands.
The function @code{completing-read} uses
@code{minibuffer-local-completion-map} as the keymap if
This function reads the name of a user variable and returns it as a
symbol.
-The argument @var{default} specifies what to return if the user enters
-null input. It can be a symbol, a string or a list of strings. If it
-is a string, @code{read-variable} interns it before returning it.
-If it is a list, @code{read-variable} returns the first element of
-this list. If @var{default} is @code{nil}, that means no default has
-been specified; then if the user enters null input, the return value
-is @code{(intern "")}.
+The argument @var{default} specifies the default value to return if
+the user enters null input. It can be a symbol, a string, or a list
+of strings. If it is a string, @code{read-variable} interns it to
+make the default value. If it is a list, @code{read-variable} interns
+the first element. If @var{default} is @code{nil}, that means no
+default has been specified; then if the user enters null input, the
+return value is @code{(intern "")}.
@example
@group
Emacs uses programmed completion when completing file names.
@xref{File Name Completion}.
-@defmac dynamic-completion-table function
-This macro is a convenient way to write a function that can act as
+@defun completion-table-dynamic function
+This function is a convenient way to write a function that can act as
programmed completion function. The argument @var{function} should be
a function that takes one argument, a string, and returns an alist of
possible completions of it. You can think of
-@code{dynamic-completion-table} as a transducer between that interface
+@code{completion-table-dynamic} as a transducer between that interface
and the interface for programmed completion functions.
-@end defmac
+@end defun
@node Yes-or-No Queries
@section Yes-or-No Queries