* Font Lock:: Minor mode for syntactic highlighting using faces.
* Highlight Changes:: Using colors to show where you changed the buffer.
* Highlight Interactively:: Tell Emacs what text to highlight.
-* Trailing Whitespace:: Showing possibly-spurious trailing whitespace.
* Scrolling:: Moving text up and down in a window.
* Horizontal Scrolling:: Moving text left and right in a window.
+* Fringes:: Enabling or disabling window fringes.
+* Useless Whitespace:: Showing possibly-spurious trailing whitespace.
* Follow Mode:: Follow mode lets two windows scroll as one.
* Selective Display:: Hiding lines with lots of indentation.
* Optional Mode Line:: Optional mode line display features.
@code{hi-lock-exclude-modes}.
@end table
-@node Trailing Whitespace
-@section Trailing Whitespace
-
-@cindex trailing whitespace
-@cindex whitespace, trailing
-@vindex show-trailing-whitespace
- It is easy to leave unnecessary spaces at the end of a line without
-realizing it. In most cases, this @dfn{trailing whitespace} has no
-effect, but there are special circumstances where it matters.
-
- You can make trailing whitespace visible on the screen by setting the
-buffer-local variable @code{show-trailing-whitespace} to @code{t}. Then
-Emacs displays trailing whitespace in the face
-@code{trailing-whitespace}.
-
- Trailing whitespace is defined as spaces or tabs at the end of a
-line. But trailing whitespace is not displayed specially if point is
-at the end of the line containing the whitespace. (Doing that looks
-ugly while you are typing in new text, and the location of point is
-enough in that case to show you that the spaces are present.)
-
-@findex delete-trailing-whitespace
- To delete all trailing whitespace within the current buffer's
-restriction (@pxref{Narrowing}), type @kbd{M-x
-delete-trailing-whitespace @key{RET}}. (This command does not remove
-the form-feed characters.)
-
-@vindex indicate-empty-lines
-@vindex default-indicate-empty-lines
-@cindex empty lines
-@cindex fringes, and empty line indication
- Emacs can indicate empty lines at the end of the buffer with a
-special bitmap on the left fringe of the window. To enable this
-feature, set the buffer-local variable @code{indicate-empty-lines} to
-a non-@code{nil} value. The default value of this variable is
-controlled by the variable @code{default-indicate-empty-lines};
-by setting that variable, you can enable or disable this feature
-for all new buffers. (This feature currently doesn't work on
-character terminals.)
-
@node Scrolling
@section Scrolling
To disable automatic horizontal scrolling, set the variable
@code{auto-hscroll-mode} to @code{nil}.
+@node Fringes
+@section Window Fringes
+@cindex fringes
+
+ On a graphical display, each Emacs window normally has narrow
+@dfn{fringes} on the left and right edges. The fringes display
+indications about the text in the window.
+
+ The most common use of the fringes is to indicate a continuation
+line, when one line of text is split into multiple lines on the
+screen. The left fringe shows a curving arrow for each screen line
+except the first, indicating that ``this is not the real beginning.''
+The right fringe shows a curving arrow for each screen line except the
+last, indicating that ``this is not the real end.''
+
+ The fringes indicate line truncation with short horizontale arrows
+meaning ``there's more text on this line which is scrolled
+horizontally out of view.'' They also indicate other things such as
+empty lines, or where a program you are debugging is executing
+(@pxref{Debuggers}).
+
+@findex set-fringe-style
+@findex fringe-mode
+ You can enable and disable the fringes for all frames using
+@kbd{M-x fringe-mode}. To enable and disable the fringes
+for the selected frame, use @kbd{M-x set-fringe-style}.
+
+@node Useless Whitespace
+@section Useless Whitespace
+
+@cindex trailing whitespace
+@cindex whitespace, trailing
+@vindex show-trailing-whitespace
+ It is easy to leave unnecessary spaces at the end of a line, or
+empty lines at the end of a file, without realizing it. In most
+cases, this @dfn{trailing whitespace} has no effect, but there are
+special circumstances where it matters.
+
+ You can make trailing whitespace at the end of a line visible on the
+screen by setting the buffer-local variable
+@code{show-trailing-whitespace} to @code{t}. Then Emacs displays
+trailing whitespace in the face @code{trailing-whitespace}.
+
+ This feature does not apply when point is at the end of the line
+containing the whitespace. Strictly speaking, that is ``trailing
+whitespace'' nonetheless, but displaying it specially in that case
+looks ugly while you are typing in new text. In this special case,
+the location of point is enough to show you that the spaces are
+present.
+
+@findex delete-trailing-whitespace
+ To delete all trailing whitespace within the current buffer's
+accessible portion (@pxref{Narrowing}), type @kbd{M-x
+delete-trailing-whitespace @key{RET}}. (This command does not remove
+the form-feed characters.)
+
+@vindex indicate-empty-lines
+@vindex default-indicate-empty-lines
+@cindex empty lines
+@cindex fringes, and empty line indication
+ Emacs can indicate empty lines at the end of the buffer with a
+special bitmap in the left fringe of the window. To enable this
+feature, set the buffer-local variable @code{indicate-empty-lines} to
+a non-@code{nil} value. The default value of this variable is
+controlled by the variable @code{default-indicate-empty-lines}; by
+setting that variable, you can enable or disable this feature for all
+new buffers. (This feature currently doesn't work on character
+terminals.)
+
@node Follow Mode
@section Follow Mode
@cindex Follow mode
@cindex mail (on mode line)
@vindex display-time-use-mail-icon
@vindex display-time-mail-face
+@vindex display-time-mail-file
+@vindex display-time-mail-directory
The word @samp{Mail} appears after the load level if there is mail
for you that you have not read yet. On a graphical display you can use
an icon instead of @samp{Mail} by customizing
@code{display-time-use-mail-icon}; this may save some space on the mode
line. You can customize @code{display-time-mail-face} to make the mail
-indicator prominent.
+indicator prominent. Use @code{display-time-mail-file} to specify
+the mail file to check, or set @code{display-time-mail-directory}
+to specify the directory to check for incoming mail (any nonempty regular
+file in the directory is considered as ``newly arrived mail'').
@cindex mode line, 3D appearance
@cindex attributes of mode line, changing
@node Cursor Display
@section Displaying the Cursor
-@findex hl-line-mode
-@findex global-hl-line-mode
-@cindex highlight current line
@findex blink-cursor-mode
@cindex cursor, locating visually
@cindex cursor, blinking
- There are a number of ways to customize the display of the cursor.
-@kbd{M-x hl-line-mode} enables or disables a minor mode which
-highlights the line containing point. @kbd{M-x global-hl-line-mode}
-enables the minor mode globally. On window systems, the command
-@kbd{M-x blink-cursor-mode} turns on or off the blinking of the
-cursor. (On terminals, the terminal itself blinks the cursor, and
-Emacs has no control over it.)
-
You can customize the cursor's color, and whether it blinks, using
-the @code{cursor} Custom group (@pxref{Easy Customization}).
+the @code{cursor} Custom group (@pxref{Easy Customization}). On
+graphical terminals, the command @kbd{M-x blink-cursor-mode} enables
+or disables the blinking of the cursor. (On text terminals, the
+terminal itself blinks the cursor, and Emacs has no control over it.)
+
+@cindex cursor in non-selected windows
+@vindex cursor-in-non-selected-windows
+ Normally, the cursor appears in non-selected windows in the ``off''
+state, with the same appearance as when the blinking cursor blinks
+``off''. For a box cursor, this is a hollow box; for a bar cursor,
+this is a thinner bar. To turn off cursors in non-selected windows,
+customize the option @code{cursor-in-non-selected-windows} and assign
+it a @code{nil} value.
@vindex x-stretch-cursor
@cindex wide block cursor
- When displaying on a window system, Emacs can optionally draw the
-block cursor as wide as the character under the cursor---for example,
-if the cursor is on a tab character, it would cover the full width
-occupied by that tab character. To enable this feature, set the
-variable @code{x-stretch-cursor} to a non-@code{nil} value.
+ On graphical terminals, Emacs can optionally draw the block cursor
+as wide as the character under the cursor---for example, if the cursor
+is on a tab character, it would cover the full width occupied by that
+tab character. To enable this feature, set the variable
+@code{x-stretch-cursor} to a non-@code{nil} value.
-@cindex cursor in non-selected windows
-@vindex cursor-in-non-selected-windows
- Normally, the cursor in non-selected windows is shown as a hollow box.
-To turn off cursor display in non-selected windows, customize the option
-@code{cursor-in-non-selected-windows} to assign it a @code{nil} value.
+@findex hl-line-mode
+@findex global-hl-line-mode
+@cindex highlight current line
+ If you find it hard to see the cursor, you might like HL Line mode,
+a minor mode that highlights the line containing point. Use @kbd{M-x
+hl-line-mode} to enable or disable it in the current buffer. @kbd{M-x
+global-hl-line-mode} enables or disables the same mode globally.