1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes.
3 Copyright (C) 2010-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 See the end of the file for license conditions.
6 Please send Emacs bug reports to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.
7 If possible, use M-x report-emacs-bug.
9 This file is about changes in Emacs version 24.
11 See files NEWS.23, NEWS.22, NEWS.21, NEWS.20, NEWS.19, NEWS.18,
12 and NEWS.1-17 for changes in older Emacs versions.
14 You can narrow news to a specific version by calling `view-emacs-news'
15 with a prefix argument or by typing C-u C-h C-n.
18 +++ indicates that the appropriate manual has already been updated.
19 --- means no change in the manuals is called for.
20 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
21 so we will look at it and add it to the manual.
24 * Installation Changes in Emacs 24.2
26 ** New configure option '--enable-gcc-warnings', intended for developers.
27 If building with GCC, this enables compile-time checks that warn about
28 possibly-questionable C code. On a recent GNU system there should be
29 no warnings; on older and on non-GNU systems the generated warnings
32 ** The configure option '--disable-maintainer-mode' has been removed,
33 as it was confusingly-named and rarely useful.
36 ** Emacs uses libtinfo in preference to libncurses, if available.
39 ** On FreeBSD and NetBSD, configure no longer adds /usr/local/lib and
40 /usr/pkg/lib to the linker search path. You must add them yourself if
44 ** On Mac OS X, configure no longer automatically adds the Fink /sw
45 directories to the search path. You must add them yourself if you want them.
48 ** The standalone scripts rcs-checkin and vcdiff have been removed
49 (from the bin and libexec directories, respectively). The former is
50 no longer relevant, the latter is replaced by lisp (in vc-sccs.el).
52 ** The configuration option '--enable-use-lisp-union-type' has been
53 renamed to '--enable-check-lisp-object-type', as the resulting
54 Lisp_Object type no longer uses a union to implement the compile time
55 check that this option enables.
58 * Startup Changes in Emacs 24.2
60 ** Emacs no longer searches for `leim-list.el' files beneath the standard
61 lisp/ directory. There should not be any there anyway. If you have
62 been adding them there, put them somewhere else, eg site-lisp.
65 ** The `--no-site-lisp' command line option now works for Nextstep builds.
68 * Changes in Emacs 24.2
72 *** `C-h f' (describe-function) can now perform autoloading.
73 When this command is called for an autoloaded function whose docstring
74 contains a key substitution construct, that function's library is
75 automatically loaded, so that the documentation can be shown
76 correctly. To disable this, set `help-enable-auto-load' to nil.
78 *** `C-h f' now reports previously-autoloaded functions as "autoloaded",
79 even after their associated libraries have been loaded (and the
80 autoloads have been redefined as functions).
82 ** The function `current-time' now returns extended-format time stamps
83 (HIGH LOW USEC PSEC) that use picosecond resolution; the PSEC
84 component is new. PSEC is typically a multiple of 1000 on current
85 machines. Other functions that use this format, such as
86 file-attributes and format-time-string, have been changed accordingly.
87 Old-format time stamps are still accepted.
89 ** New functions `system-users', `system-groups' return lists of the user
90 name, group names known to the system (where possible).
92 ** If your Emacs was built from a bzr checkout, the new variable
93 `emacs-bzr-version' contains information about which bzr revision was used.
95 ** ImageMagick support, if available, is automatically enabled.
96 It is no longer necessary to call `imagemagick-register-types'
97 explicitly to install ImageMagick image types; that function is called
98 automatically at startup, or when customizing a relevant imagemagick-
101 *** Setting `imagemagick-types-inhibit' to t now disables the use of
102 ImageMagick to view images. You must call imagemagick-register-types
103 afterwards if you do not use customize to change this.
105 *** The new variable `imagemagick-enabled-types' also affects which
106 ImageMagick types are treated as images. The function
107 `imagemagick-filter-types' returns the list of types that will be
110 *** Images displayed via ImageMagick now support transparency and the
111 :background image spec property.
113 ** Face underlining can now use a wave.
114 See the "Face Attributes" section of the Elisp manual.
116 ** String values for `initial-buffer-choice' also apply to emacsclient
117 frames, if emacsclient is only told to open a new frame without
118 specifying any file to visit or expression to evaluate.
121 ** You can prevent the creation of lock files by setting `create-lockfiles'
122 to nil. Use with caution, and only if you really need to.
125 ** Using "unibyte: t" in Lisp source files is obsolete.
126 Use "coding: raw-text" instead.
130 *** New option `mode-line-default-help-echo' specifies the help text
131 (shown in a tooltip or in the echo area) for any part of the mode line
132 that does not have its own specialized help text.
134 *** You can now click mouse-3 in the coding system indicator to
135 invokes `set-buffer-file-coding-system'.
138 ** Setting `enable-remote-dir-locals' to non-nil allows directory
139 local variables on remote hosts.
142 * Editing Changes in Emacs 24.2
146 *** Global `M-s _' starts a symbol (identifier) incremental search,
147 and `M-s _' in Isearch toggles symbol search mode.
148 `M-s c' in Isearch toggles search case-sensitivity.
150 ** M-x move-to-column, if called interactively with no prefix arg, now
151 prompts for a column number.
153 ** `mouse-avoidance-banish-position' can now be used to customize
154 `mouse-avoidance-mode' further.
156 ** `C-M-f' and `C-M-b' will now move to the path name separator
157 character when doing minibuffer filename prompts.
159 ** `goto-char' is now bound to `M-g c'.
161 ** New input method `vietnamese-vni'.
164 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.2
168 The variables `term-default-fg-color' and `term-default-bg-color' are
169 now deprecated in favor of the `term-face' face, that you can
170 customize. Also, it is now possible to customize how are displayed the
171 ANSI terminal colors and styles by customizing the corresponding
172 `term-color-<COLOR>', `term-color-underline' and `term-color-bold'
175 ** CL's main entry is now (require 'cl-lib).
176 `cl-lib' is like the old `cl' except that it uses the namespace cleanly,
177 i.e. all its definitions have the "cl-" prefix.
179 If `cl' provided a feature under the name `foo', then `cl-lib' provides it
180 under the name `cl-foo' instead, with the exceptions of the few definitions
181 that had to use `foo*' to avoid conflicts with pre-existing Elisp entities,
182 which have not been renamed to `cl-foo*' but just `cl-foo'.
184 The old `cl' is now deprecated and is nothing more than a bunch of aliases that
185 provide the old non-prefixed names.
189 *** `desktop-path' no longer includes the "." directory. Desktop
190 files are now located in ~/.emacs.d by default.
194 A new version of python.el, which provides several new features, including:
195 per-buffer shells, better indentation, Python 3 support, and improved
196 shell-interaction compatible with iPython (and virtually any other
199 *** Some user options have been replaced/renamed:
200 Old defcustom: | New defcustom:
201 python-indent | python-indent-offset
202 python-guess-indent | python-indent-guess-indent-offset
203 python-pdbtrack-do-tracking-p | python-pdbtrack-activate
204 python-use-skeletons | python-skeleton-autoinsert
206 *** Some user options have been removed:
208 **** `python-indent-string-contents': Strings are never indented.
210 **** `python-honour-comment-indentation':
211 Comments are never considered as indentation markers themselves.
213 **** `python-continuation-offset': Indentation is automatically
214 calculated in a pep8 compliant way depending on the context.
216 **** `python-shell-prompt-alist', `python-shell-continuation-prompt-alist':
217 Have no direct mapping as the shell interaction is completely different.
219 **** `python-python-command', `python-jython-command':
220 Replaced by `python-shell-interpreter'.
222 **** `inferior-python-filter-regexp', `python-remove-cwd-from-path',
223 `python-pdbtrack-minor-mode-string', `python-source-modes':
226 *** Some commands have been replaced:
227 Old command | New command
228 python-insert-class | python-skeleton-class
229 python-insert-def | python-skeleton-def
230 python-insert-for | python-skeleton-for
231 python-insert-if | python-skeleton-if
232 python-insert-try/except | python-skeleton-try
233 python-insert-try/finally | python-skeleton-try
234 python-insert-while | python-skeleton-while
235 python-find-function | python-nav-jump-to-defun
236 python-next-statement | python-nav-forward-sentence
237 python-previous-statement | python-nav-backward-sentence
238 python-send-buffer | python-shell-send-buffer
239 python-send-defun | python-shell-send-defun
240 python-send-region | python-shell-send-region
241 python-send-region-and-go | Emulate with python-shell-send-region and
242 python-shell-switch-to-shell
243 python-send-string | python-shell-send-string
244 python-switch-to-python | python-shell-switch-to-shell
245 python-describe-symbol | python-eldoc-at-point
249 *** The free software compiler GHDL is supported (and now the default).
251 *** Support for the VHDL-AMS packages has been added/updated.
253 *** Updated to the 2002 revision of the VHDL standard.
255 *** Accepts \r and \f as whitespace.
259 Faces for changes now use the same diff color scheme as in modern VCSes
260 where deletions are displayed in red (new faces `diff-refine-removed'
261 and `smerge-refined-removed' and new definition of `diff-removed'),
262 insertions in green (new faces `diff-refine-added' and
263 `smerge-refined-added' and new definition of `diff-added').
264 The variable `diff-use-changed-face' defines whether to use
265 the face `diff-changed', or `diff-removed' and `diff-added'
266 to highlight changes in context diffs.
268 ** Ediff now uses the same color scheme as Diff mode
269 on high color displays.
272 *** Pairing of parens/quotes uses electric-pair-mode instead of skeleton-pair.
273 *** `sh-electric-here-document-mode' now controls auto-insertion of here-docs.
274 *** `sh-use-smie' lets you choose a new indentation and navigation code.
276 ** reStructuredText mode
278 *** Rebind nearly all keys making room for more keys and complying
279 better to usage in other modes. Describe bindings with C-c C-h.
281 *** Major revision of indentation working very similar to other
282 modes. TAB is your friend.
284 *** Major revision of filling working fine with most of
285 reStructuredText syntax. Support auto-filling.
287 *** Major revision of comment handling.
289 *** Major revision of fontification working with `jit-lock-mode'.
291 *** Cover reStructuredText syntax more closely. Improve
292 the experience for Sphinx users.
294 *** `rst-insert-list' inserts new list or continues existing lists.
296 *** Extend correct and improve customization.
298 *** Negative prefix argument always works for `rst-adjust'.
300 *** Reset window configuration after displaying TOC.
302 *** Package version in `rst-version'.
304 ** New `derived-mode' filter for Ibuffer, bound to `/ M'.
305 `/ m' is now bound to filter by used-mode, which used to be bound to `/ M'.
309 *** The faces used by Apropos are now directly customizable.
310 These faces are named `apropos-symbol', `apropos-keybinding', and so on;
311 see the `apropos' Custom group for details.
313 **** The old options whose values specified faces to use were removed
314 (i.e. `apropos-symbol-face', `apropos-keybinding-face', etc.).
317 This package has been rewritten to use Tabulated List mode.
319 *** Option `Buffer-menu-buffer+size-width' is now obsolete.
320 Use `Buffer-menu-name-width' and `Buffer-menu-size-width' instead.
324 *** The calendars produced by cal-html include holidays.
325 Customize cal-html-holidays to change this.
329 *** `custom-reset-button-menu' now defaults to t.
331 *** Non-option variables are never matched in `customize-apropos' and
332 `customize-apropos-options' (i.e. the prefix argument does nothing for
335 ** erc will look up server/channel names via auth-source and use the
336 channel keys found, if any.
340 *** The option `ffap-url-unwrap-remote' can now be a list of strings,
341 specifying URL types which should be converted to remote file names at
342 the FFAP prompt. The default is now '("ftp").
346 *** The obsolete variable `follow-mode-off-hook' has been removed.
348 *** Follow mode no longer works by using advice.
349 The option `follow-intercept-processes' has been removed.
351 ** The `server-auth-key' variable can be used to set a permanent
352 shared key for Emacs Server.
354 ** In Perl mode, new option `perl-indent-parens-as-block' causes non-block
355 closing brackets to be aligned with the line of the opening bracket.
357 ** FIXME something happened to ses.el, 2012-04-17.
359 ** which-function-mode now applies to all applicable major modes by default.
364 *** The syntax has been extended in order to allow ad-hoc proxy
365 definitions. See the manual for details.
368 *** Remote processes are now supported also on remote Windows host.
373 *** New variables `dbus-compiled-version' and `dbus-runtime-version'.
376 *** The D-Bus object manager interface is implemented.
379 *** Variables of type :(u)int32 and :(u)int64 accept floating points,
380 if their value does not fit into Emacs's integer range.
383 *** The function `dbus-call-method' works non-blocking now, it can be
384 interrupted by C-g. `dbus-call-method-non-blocking' is obsolete.
387 *** Signals can be sent also as unicast message.
390 *** The argument list of `dbus-register-signal' has been extended,
391 according to the new match rule types of D-Bus. See the manual for
395 *** `dbus-init-bus' supports private connections.
398 *** There is a new function `dbus-setenv'.
401 ** notifications.el supports now version 1.2 of the Notifications API.
402 The function `notifications-get-capabilities' returns the supported
407 *** Newly-available packages are listed in the Package Menu as "new",
408 and sorted above the other "available" packages by default.
410 ** Tabulated List and packages derived from it
412 *** New command `tabulated-list-sort', bound to `S', sorts the column
413 at point, or the Nth column if a numeric prefix argument is given.
417 *** Structs made by `url-generic-parse-url' have nil `attributes' slot.
418 Previously, this slot stored semicolon-separated attribute-value pairs
419 appended to some imap URLs, but this is not compatible with RFC 3986.
420 So now the `filename' slot stores the entire path and query components
421 and the `attributes' slot is always nil.
423 *** New function `url-encode-url' for encoding a URI string.
424 The `url-retrieve' function now uses this to encode its URL argument,
425 in case that is not properly encoded.
427 ** Obsolete packages:
430 In most cases, assoc+member+push+delq work just as well.
431 And in any case it's just a terrible package: ugly semantics, terrible
432 inefficiency, and not namespace-clean.
447 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.2
449 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.2
452 ** Docstrings starting with `*' no longer indicate user options.
453 Only variables defined using `defcustom' are considered user options.
454 The function `user-variable-p' is now an obsolete alias for
458 ** The return values of `defalias', `defun' and `defmacro' have changed,
459 and are now undefined. For backwards compatibility, defun and
460 defmacro currently return the name of the newly defined function/macro
461 but this should not be relied upon.
463 ** `face-spec-set' no longer sets frame-specific attributes when the
464 third argument is a frame (that usage was obsolete since Emacs 22.2).
467 ** The arguments of `dbus-register-signal' are no longer just strings,
468 but keywords or keyword-string pairs. The old argument list will
469 still be supported for Emacs 24.x.
471 ** The following obsolete variables and varaliases have been removed:
473 *** `facemenu-unlisted-faces'
474 *** `rmail-decode-mime-charset'
477 * Lisp changes in Emacs 24.2
479 ** CL-style generalized variables are now in core Elisp.
480 `setf' is autoloaded and `push' and `pop' accept generalized variables.
482 ** `defun' also accepts a (declare DECLS) form, like `defmacro'.
483 The interpretation of the DECLS is determined by `defun-declarations-alist'.
485 ** `macro-declaration-function' is obsolete, use `macro-declarations-alist'.
487 ** New function `set-temporary-overlay-map'.
489 ** New macros `setq-local' and `defvar-local'.
491 ** New error type and new function `user-error'. Doesn't trigger the debugger.
493 ** The functions get-lru-window, get-mru-window and get-largest-window
494 now accept a third argument to avoid choosing the selected window.
498 *** New function `completion-table-with-quoting' to handle completion
499 in the presence of quoting, such as file completion in shell buffers.
501 *** New function `completion-table-subvert' to use an existing completion
502 table, but with a different prefix.
506 *** `current-time-string' no longer requires that its argument's year
507 must be in the range 1000..9999. It now works with any year supported
508 by the underlying C implementation.
510 ** New function file-name-base.
512 ** `automount-dir-prefix' is obsolete.
513 ** `buffer-has-markers-at' is obsolete.
515 * Changes in Emacs 24.2 on non-free operating systems
517 ** New configure.bat options on MS-Windows:
519 *** --without-libxml2 omits support for libxml2, even if its presence
522 ** When invoked with the -nw switch to run on the Windows text-mode terminal,
523 Emacs now supports mouse highlight, help-echo (in the echo area), and
524 mouse-autoselect-window.
526 ** New function `tty-top-frame' returns the topmost frame of a text terminal.
529 * Installation Changes in Emacs 24.1
531 ** Emacs can be compiled with Gtk+ 3.0 if you pass --with-x-toolkit=gtk3
532 to configure. Note that other libraries used by Emacs, RSVG and GConf,
533 also depend on Gtk+. You can disable them with --without-rsvg and
536 ** Emacs can be compiled with GnuTLS support.
537 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
538 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
539 `--without-gnutls'. See below for GnuTLS features.
541 ** Emacs can be compiled with SELinux support.
542 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
543 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
544 `--without-selinux'. See below for SELinux features.
546 ** Emacs can be compiled with ImageMagick support.
547 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
548 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
549 `--without-imagemagick'. See below for ImageMagick features.
550 This feature is not available for the Nextstep or MS ports.
552 ** Emacs can be compiled with libxml2 support.
553 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
554 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
555 `--without-xml2'. See below for libxml2 features.
557 ** By default, the installed Info and man pages are compressed.
558 You can disable this by configuring --without-compress-info.
560 ** New configure option --with-wide-int.
561 With it, Emacs integers typically have 62 bits, even on 32-bit machines.
562 On 32-bit hosts, this raises the limit on buffer sizes from about 512 MiB
565 ** New configure options: --with-mmdf, --with-mail-unlink, --with-mailhost.
566 These provide no new functionality, they just remove the need to edit
567 lib-src/Makefile by hand in order to use the associated features.
569 ** New configure option --enable-use-lisp-union-type.
570 This is only useful for Emacs developers to debug certain types of bugs.
571 This is not a new feature; only the configure flag is new.
573 ** The standalone programs digest-doc and sorted-doc are removed.
574 Emacs now uses Lisp commands `doc-file-to-man' and `doc-file-to-info'.
576 ** The standalone program `fakemail' is removed.
577 If you need it, feedmail.el provides a superset of the functionality.
580 * Startup Changes in Emacs 24.1
582 ** The --unibyte, --multibyte, --no-multibyte, and --no-unibyte
583 command line arguments, and the EMACS_UNIBYTE environment variable, no
584 longer have any effect. (They were declared obsolete in Emacs 23.)
586 ** New command line option `--no-site-lisp' removes site-lisp directories
587 from load-path. -Q now implies this. This option does not affect the
588 EMACSLOADPATH environment variable (and hence has no effect for
592 * Changes in Emacs 24.1
596 *** Many packages now use the `completion-at-point' command,
597 rather than implementing separate completion commands.
599 *** `completion-at-point' now handles tags and semantic completion.
601 *** Completion in a non-minibuffer now tries to detect the end of completion
602 and pops down the *Completions* buffer accordingly.
604 *** New option `completion-cycle-threshold' allows completion cycling.
606 *** New option `completion-category-overrides' for overriding the
607 default completion style in certain circumstances.
609 *** New completion style `substring'.
611 *** Completion of buffer names uses `substring' completion by default.
613 *** The option `widget-complete-field' has been removed.
617 *** The first time you try sending mail, Emacs asks for a mail method.
618 This is implemented by a new default for `send-mail-function', which
619 is `sendmail-query-once'. This offers to use the smtpmail package, or
620 to use the old defaults relying on external mail facilities
621 (`sendmail-send-it' on GNU/Linux and other Unix-like systems, and
622 `mailclient-send-it' on Windows).
624 *** Typing C-c m in the buffer made by M-x report-emacs-bug transfers
625 the report to your desktop's preferred mail client, if there is one.
626 This uses either the "xdg-email" utility, or Mac OS's "open" command.
628 *** See Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages for SMTPmail changes
629 and Mail mode changes
631 ** Emacs server and client changes
633 *** New option `server-port' specifies the port for TCP Emacs servers.
635 *** New emacsclient argument -q/--quiet suppresses some status messages.
637 *** New emacsclient argument --frame-parameters specifies the frame
638 parameters of any newly-created graphical frame.
640 *** If emacsclient shuts down due to Emacs signaling an error,
641 its exit status is 1.
643 *** New emacsclient argument --parent-id ID.
644 This opens a client frame in parent X window ID, via XEmbed, similar
645 to the --parent-id argument to Emacs.
647 ** Internationalization changes
649 *** Emacs now supports display and editing of bidirectional text.
650 Right-to-left (RTL) scripts, such as Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew, are
651 displayed in the correct visual order as expected by users of those
652 scripts. The display reordering is a "full bidirectionality" class
653 implementation of the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm (UBA). Buffers
654 with no RTL text should look exactly the same as before.
656 **** New buffer-local variable `bidi-display-reordering'.
657 To disable display reordering in a buffer, change this to nil.
659 **** New buffer-local variable `bidi-paragraph-direction'.
660 If nil (the default), Emacs determines the base direction of each
661 paragraph from its text, as specified by the UBA. Setting the value
662 to `right-to-left' or `left-to-right' forces a base direction on each
665 Paragraphs with right-to-left base direction are displayed starting at
666 the right window edge.
668 *** Enhanced support for characters with no glyphs in available fonts,
669 or, on text terminals, characters that cannot be encoded by the
670 terminal coding system. The new option `glyphless-char-display-control'
671 specifies how to display them: as a hexadecimal code in a box, a thin
672 1-pixel space, an empty box, etc.
674 *** New input methods for Farsi and Bulgarian
675 (farsi-isiri-9147, farsi-transliterate-banan, bulgarian-alt-phonetic).
677 *** `nobreak-char-display' now also highlights Unicode hyphen chars
680 *** New Hebrew translation of the Emacs Tutorial.
681 Type `C-u C-h t' to choose it in case your language setup doesn't
682 automatically select it.
684 ** An Emacs Lisp package manager is now included.
685 This is a convenient way to download and install additional packages,
686 from a package repository at http://elpa.gnu.org.
688 *** M-x list-packages shows a list of packages, which can be
689 selected for installation.
691 *** New command `describe-package', bound to `C-h P'.
693 *** By default, all installed packages are loaded automatically when
694 Emacs starts up. To disable this, set `package-enable-at-startup' to
695 nil. To specify the packages to load, customize `package-load-list'.
697 ** Custom theme changes
699 *** New command `M-x customize-themes', which provides a convenient
700 interface for enabling and disabling Custom themes.
702 *** New option `custom-theme-load-path' is the load path for themes.
703 Emacs no longer looks for Custom themes in `load-path'. The default
704 value of `custom-theme-load-path' says to look for themes in
705 `custom-theme-directory', followed by a subdirectory of
706 `data-directory' named "themes/", which contains a small selection of
707 built-in Custom themes.
709 *** New option `custom-safe-themes' records known-safe theme files.
710 If a theme is not in this list, Emacs queries before loading it, and
711 offers to save the theme to `custom-safe-themes' automatically. By
712 default, all themes included in Emacs are treated as safe.
714 ** Improved GTK integration
716 *** GTK scroll-bars are now placed on the right by default.
717 The function `set-scroll-bar-mode' can change this.
719 *** GTK tool bars can have just text, just images or images and text.
720 Customize `tool-bar-style' to choose the style. On a Gnome desktop,
721 the default is taken from desktop settings.
723 *** GTK tool bars can be placed on any edge of the frame.
724 The frame-parameter tool-bar-position controls this. It takes the
725 values top, left, right or bottom. The Options => Show/Hide menu has
728 *** The default colors for selected text (the `region' face) are taken
729 from the GTK theme when Emacs is built with GTK.
731 *** Emacs uses GTK tooltips by default if built with GTK.
732 You can disable this by changing `x-gtk-use-system-tooltips' to nil.
734 ** Graphical interface changes
736 *** On graphical displays, the mode-line no longer ends in dashes.
737 Also, the first dash (which does not indicate anything) is just
738 displayed as a space.
740 *** `menu-bar-select-buffer-function' lets you choose another operation
741 instead of `switch-to-buffer' when selecting an item in the Buffers menu.
743 *** Lucid menus and dialogs can display antialiased fonts if Emacs is
744 built with Xft. These fonts can be set via X resources, for example:
745 Emacs.pane.menubar.font: Courier-12
749 *** Emacs now calls `kill-emacs' if it receives SIGTERM or SIGHUP,
750 or if it receives a SIGINT signal in batch mode.
752 *** `kill-emacs-hook' is now also run in batch mode.
753 Third-party code which adds to `kill-emacs-hook' should check if they
754 do the right thing in batch mode.
758 *** New scrolling commands `scroll-up-command' and `scroll-down-command'
759 (bound to C-v/[next] and M-v/[prior]) do not signal errors at top/bottom
760 of buffer at first key-press (instead they move to top/bottom of buffer)
761 when `scroll-error-top-bottom' is non-nil.
763 *** New option `scroll-error-top-bottom' (see above).
765 *** New scrolling commands `scroll-up-line' and `scroll-down-line'
766 scroll a line instead of full screen.
768 *** New property `scroll-command' should be set on a command's symbol to
769 define it as a scroll command affected by `scroll-preserve-screen-position'.
771 *** If you customize `scroll-conservatively' to a value greater than 100,
772 Emacs will never recenter point in the window when it scrolls due to
773 cursor motion commands or commands that move point (e.f., `M-g M-g').
774 Previously, you needed to use `most-positive-fixnum' as the value of
775 `scroll-conservatively' to achieve the same effect.
777 *** "Aggressive" scrolling now honors the scroll margins.
778 If you customize `scroll-up-aggressively' or
779 `scroll-down-aggressively' and move point off the window, Emacs now
780 scrolls the window so as to avoid positioning point inside the scroll
783 ** Basic SELinux support has been added.
784 This requires Emacs to be linked with libselinux at build time.
786 *** Emacs preserves the SELinux file context when backing up.
787 Also, the function `copy-file' has an extra optional argument for
788 preserving SELinux context, and the return value of `backup-buffer'
789 now includes the SELinux context.
791 *** New functions `file-selinux-context' and `set-file-selinux-context'
792 get and set the SELinux context of a file.
796 *** `delete-by-moving-to-trash' now only affects commands that specify
797 trashing. This avoids inadvertently trashing temporary files.
799 *** Calling `delete-file' or `delete-directory' with a prefix argument
800 now forces true deletion, regardless of `delete-by-moving-to-trash'.
802 ** File- and directory-local variable changes
804 *** You can stop directory local vars from applying to subdirectories.
805 Add an element (subdirs . nil) to the alist portion of any variables
806 settings to indicate that the section should not apply to
809 *** Directory local variables can apply to some file-less buffers.
810 Affected modes include dired, vc-dir, and log-edit. For example,
811 adding "(diff-mode . ((mode . whitespace)))" to .dir-locals.el will
812 turn on `whitespace-mode' for *vc-diff* buffers. Modes should call
813 `hack-dir-local-variables-non-file-buffer' to support this.
815 *** Using "mode: MINOR-MODE" to enable a minor mode is deprecated.
816 Instead, use "eval: (minor-mode 1)".
818 *** The variable `inhibit-first-line-modes-regexps' has been renamed
819 to `inhibit-local-variables-regexps'. As the name suggests, it now
820 applies to ALL file local variables, not just -*- lines. The
821 associated `inhibit-first-line-modes-suffixes' has been renamed in the
826 *** The `quit-window' command now restores the last buffer displayed
827 in the quitted window.
829 *** Resizing an Emacs frame now preserves proportional window sizes,
830 modulo restrictions like window minimum sizes and fixed-size windows.
832 *** The behavior of `display-buffer' is now customizable in detail.
834 **** New option `display-buffer-base-action' specifies a list of
835 user-determined display "actions" (functions and optional arguments
836 for choosing the displaying window).
838 This takes precedence over the default display action, which is
839 specified by `display-buffer-fallback-action'.
841 **** New option `display-buffer-alist' maps buffer name regexps to
842 display actions, taking precedence over `display-buffer-base-action'.
844 *** New option `window-combination-limit'.
845 The new option `window-combination-limit' allows to return the space
846 obtained for resizing or creating a window more reliably to the window
847 from which such space was obtained.
849 *** New option `window-combination-resize'.
850 The new option `window-combination-resize' allows to split a window that
851 otherwise cannot be split because it's too small by stealing space from
852 other windows in the same combination. Subsequent resizing or deletion
853 of the window will resize all windows in the same combination as well.
855 *** New option `frame-auto-hide-function' lets you choose between
856 iconifying or deleting a frame when burying a buffer in a dedicated
857 frame, or quitting a window showing a buffer in a frame of its own.
859 *** New commands `maximize-window' and `minimize-window'.
860 These maximize and minimize the size of a window within its frame.
862 *** New commands `switch-to-prev-buffer' and `switch-to-next-buffer'.
863 These functions allow to navigate through the live buffers that have
864 been shown in a specific window.
866 ** Minibuffer changes
868 *** The inactive minibuffer has its own major mode `minibuffer-inactive-mode'.
869 This is handy for minibuffer-only frames, and is also used for the feature
870 where mouse-1 pops up *Messages*"', which can now easily be changed.
872 *** Minibuffers set `truncate-lines' to nil.
873 If you want to change the value to something else, you could use
874 for example `minibuffer-setup-hook'.
876 ** `auto-mode-case-fold' is now enabled by default.
878 ** `backup-by-copying-when-mismatch' now defaults to t.
880 ** New basic faces `error', `warning', `success'.
881 These are used to highlight text indicating failure, caution or
882 successful operation.
884 ** New option `list-colors-sort' defines the color sort order
885 for `list-colors-display'.
887 ** The variable `focus-follows-mouse' now always defaults to nil.
890 * Editing Changes in Emacs 24.1
894 *** C-y in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-kill', instead of
897 *** M-y in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-pop', instead of
900 *** M-s C-e in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-line'.
902 ** New commands `count-words-region' and `count-words'.
904 *** M-= is bound to `count-words-region', not `count-lines-region'.
905 The `count-words-region' command, when called interactively, reports
906 the number of lines, words, and characters in the region. It is a
907 superset of the old `count-lines-region', which is now an obsolete
910 ** The command `just-one-space' (M-SPC), if given a negative argument,
911 also deletes newlines around point.
915 *** New option `delete-active-region'.
916 If non-nil, [delete] and DEL delete the region if it is active and no
917 prefix argument is given. If set to `kill', those commands kill
920 *** New command `delete-forward-char', bound to [delete].
921 This is meant for interactive use, and obeys `delete-active-region'.
922 The command `delete-char' does not obey `delete-active-region'.
924 *** `delete-backward-char' is now a Lisp function.
925 Apart from obeying `delete-active-region', its behavior is unchanged.
926 However, the byte compiler now warns if it is called from Lisp; Lisp
927 callers should use delete-char with a negative argument instead.
929 *** The option `mouse-region-delete-keys' has been deleted.
931 ** Selection changes.
933 The default handling of clipboard and primary selections has been
934 changed to conform with modern X applications. In short, most
935 commands for killing and yanking text now use the clipboard, while
936 mouse commands use the primary selection.
938 In the following, we provide a list of these changes, followed by a
939 list of steps to get the old behavior back if you prefer that.
941 *** `select-active-regions' now defaults to t.
942 Merely selecting text (e.g. with drag-mouse-1) no longer puts it in
943 the kill ring. The selected text is put in the primary selection, if
944 the system possesses a separate primary selection facility (e.g. X).
946 **** `select-active-regions' also accepts a new value, `only'.
947 This means to only set the primary selection for temporarily active
948 regions (usually made by mouse-dragging or shift-selection);
949 "ordinary" active regions, such as those made with C-SPC followed by
950 point motion, do not alter the primary selection.
952 **** `mouse-drag-copy-region' now defaults to nil.
954 *** mouse-2 is now bound to `mouse-yank-primary'.
955 This pastes from the primary selection, ignoring the kill-ring.
956 Previously, mouse-2 was bound to `mouse-yank-at-click'.
958 *** `x-select-enable-clipboard' now defaults to t on all platforms.
960 *** `x-select-enable-primary' now defaults to nil.
961 Thus, commands that kill text or copy it to the kill-ring (such as
962 M-w, C-w, and C-k) also use the clipboard---not the primary selection.
964 **** The "Copy", "Cut", and "Paste" items in the "Edit" menu are now
965 exactly equivalent to M-w, C-w, and C-y respectively.
967 **** Note that on MS-Windows, `x-select-enable-clipboard' was already
968 non-nil by default, as Windows does not support the primary selection
969 between applications.
971 *** To return to the previous behavior, do the following:
973 **** Change `select-active-regions' to nil.
974 **** Change `mouse-drag-copy-region' to t.
975 **** Change `x-select-enable-primary' to t (on X only).
976 **** Change `x-select-enable-clipboard' to nil.
977 **** Bind `mouse-yank-at-click' to mouse-2.
979 *** Support for X cut buffers has been removed.
981 *** X clipboard managers are now supported.
982 To inhibit this, change `x-select-enable-clipboard-manager' to nil.
984 ** New command `C-x r N' (`rectangle-number-lines') numbers the lines
985 in the current rectangle. With a prefix argument, this prompts for a
986 number to count from and for a format string.
988 ** `redisplay-dont-pause' now defaults to t.
989 This makes Emacs feel more responsive to editing commands that arrive
990 at high rate, e.g. if you lean on some key, because stopping redisplay
991 in the middle (when this variable is nil) forces more expensive
992 updates later on, and Emacs appears to be unable to keep up.
994 ** The behavior of <TAB> for active regions in Text mode has changed.
995 In Text and related modes, typing <TAB> (`indent-for-tab-command')
996 when the region is active causes Emacs to indent all the lines in the
997 region, aligning them with the line previous to the first line in the
998 region (or with the left margin if there is no previous line).
1000 ** When `occur' is called with a prefix argument, matching strings are
1001 collected into the `*Occur*' buffer without line numbers. If there
1002 are parenthesized subexpressions in the specified regexp, `occur'
1003 reads replacement text that may contain \\& and \\N whose convention
1004 follows `replace-match'.
1007 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.1
1009 ** Archive Mode has basic support for browsing and updating 7z archives.
1013 *** BibTeX mode now supports biblatex.
1014 Use the variable `bibtex-dialect' to select different BibTeX dialects.
1015 `bibtex-entry-field-alist' is now an obsolete alias for
1016 `bibtex-BibTeX-entry-alist'.
1018 *** New command `bibtex-search-entries', bound to C-c C-a.
1020 *** New `bibtex-entry-format' option `sort-fields', disabled by default.
1022 *** New variable `bibtex-search-entry-globally'.
1026 *** New option `browse-url-mailto-function' specifies how to handle "mailto:"s.
1028 *** The default browser used by the package is now the "xdg-open" program,
1029 on platforms that support it. This calls your desktop's preferred browser.
1031 ** Calendar, Diary, and Appt
1033 *** Diary entries can contain non-printing "comments".
1034 See the variable `diary-comment-start'.
1036 *** Appointments can specify their individual warning times.
1037 See the variable `appt-warning-time-regexp'.
1039 *** The function specified by `appt-disp-window-function' may be passed
1040 lists of arguments if multiple appointments are due at similar times.
1041 If you are using a custom function for this, you should update it.
1043 *** New function `diary-hebrew-birthday'.
1045 *** Elements of `calendar-day-abbrev-array' and `calendar-month-abbrev-array'
1046 may no longer be nil, but must all be strings.
1048 *** The obsolete (since Emacs 22.1) method of enabling the appt
1049 package by adding `appt-make-list' to `diary-hook' has been removed.
1050 Use `appt-activate' instead.
1052 *** Some appt variables (obsolete since Emacs 22.1) have been removed:
1053 appt-issue-message (use the function appt-activate)
1054 appt-visible/appt-msg-window (use the variable appt-display-format)
1056 *** Some diary function aliases (obsolete since Emacs 22.1) have been removed:
1057 view-diary-entries, list-diary-entries, show-all-diary-entries
1061 *** New feature to "guess" the style in an existing buffer.
1062 The main entry point is M-x c-guess.
1064 *** Java Mode now supports Java 5.0 (Tiger) and 6 (Mustang).
1066 *** `c-beginning-of-defun' and `c-end-of-defun' now respect nested scopes.
1067 Thus C-M-a will, by default, go to the beginning of the immediate function,
1070 *** "Macros with semicolons" can be registered for correct indentation.
1071 Where such a macro ends a line (no semicolon) the next statement is no longer
1072 parsed as a statement continuation.
1074 ** Comint and modes derived from it use the standard completion code.
1078 *** Compilation mode can be used without Font Lock mode.
1079 `compilation-parse-errors-function' is now obsolete.
1081 *** New variable `compilation-filter-start', which is bound while
1082 `compilation-filter-hook' runs. It records the start position of the
1083 text inserted by `compilation-filter'.
1085 *** `compilation-error-screen-columns' and `compilation-first-column'
1086 are obeyed in the editing buffer. So programming language modes can
1087 set them, whereas previously only the value in the *Compilation*
1092 *** Customize buffers now contain a search field.
1093 The search is performed using `customize-apropos'.
1094 To turn off the search field, set `custom-search-field' to nil.
1096 *** Custom options now start out hidden if at their default values.
1097 Use the arrow to the left of the option name to toggle visibility.
1099 *** custom-buffer-sort-alphabetically now defaults to t.
1101 *** The color widget now has a "Choose" button, which allows you to
1102 choose a color via `list-colors-display'.
1106 *** It is now possible to access buses other than the default system
1109 *** The `dbus-register-method' and `dbus-register-property' functions
1110 optionally do not register names.
1112 *** The new function `dbus-register-service' registers a known service
1113 name on a D-Bus without also registering a property or a method.
1117 *** C-x C-j (`dired-jump') and C-x 4 C-j (`dired-jump-other-window'),
1118 if called with a prefix argument, read a file name from the minibuffer
1119 instead of using the current buffer.
1121 *** The "dired local variables" feature of Dired-x is obsolete.
1122 The standard directory local variables feature replaces it.
1126 *** New options `erc-autojoin-timing' and `erc-autojoin-delay',
1127 controlling attempts to autojoin a channel.
1129 *** New variable `erc-coding-system-precedence': If we use `undecided'
1130 as the server coding system, this variable will then be consulted.
1131 The default is to decode strings that can be decoded as utf-8 as
1132 utf-8, and do the normal `undecided' decoding for the rest.
1136 *** The default value of `eshell-directory-name' has changed
1137 to be an "eshell" directory in `user-emacs-directory'.
1138 The old "~/.eshell/" directory is still used if it exists, though.
1142 *** The M-x gdb command now uses the GDB Machine Interface protocol.
1143 It now supports multithread non-stop debugging and simultaneous
1144 debugging of several threads.
1148 *** RET (`image-toggle-animation') toggles animation, if applicable.
1149 Animation plays once, unless the option `image-animate-loop' is non-nil.
1153 *** New command M-x info-display-manual displays a named Info manual.
1154 If that manual is already visited in some Info buffer, it displays
1155 that buffer. (This is handy if you have many manuals in many *info*
1156 buffers, and don't remember the name of the buffer visiting the manual
1157 you want to consult.) Otherwise, it loads and displays the manual.
1159 *** `e' is now bound to `end-of-buffer' rather than to `Info-edit'.
1160 This is for compatibility with the stand-alone Info reader program,
1161 and also because `Info-edit' is a rarely used command that is disabled
1164 ** Mail mode changes (not Message mode)
1166 *** New command M-x mail-add-attachment for adding MIME attachments
1168 *** The command M-x mail-attach-file was renamed to M-x mail-insert-file.
1169 (Its name is misleading, since it has nothing to do with MIME
1170 attachments.) The old name is now an obsolete alias to the new name.
1172 ** MH-E has been updated to MH-E version 8.3.1.
1173 See MH-E-NEWS for details.
1175 ** Modula-2 mode provides auto-indentation.
1177 ** mpc.el: Can use pseudo tags of the form tag1|tag2 as a union of two tags.
1179 ** nXML mode no longer binds C-RET to `nxml-complete'.
1180 Completion is now performed via `completion-at-point', bound to C-M-i
1181 or M-TAB. If `nxml-bind-meta-tab-to-complete-flag' is non-nil (the
1182 default), this performs tag completion.
1184 ** Org mode has been updated to version 7.8.09.
1185 See ORG-NEWS for details.
1187 ** Prolog mode has been completely revamped, with lots of additional
1188 functionality such as more intelligent indentation, electricity,
1189 support for more variants, including Mercury, and a lot more.
1193 *** The command `rmail-epa-decrypt' decrypts OpenPGP data
1194 in the Rmail incoming message.
1196 *** The variable `rmail-message-filter' no longer has any effect.
1197 This change was made in Emacs 23.1 but was not advertised at the time.
1198 Try using `rmail-show-message-hook' instead.
1202 *** M-x shell prompts for the shell path name if the default directory
1203 is a remote file name and neither the environment variable $ESHELL nor
1204 the variable `explicit-shell-file-name' is set.
1206 *** TAB is now bound to the standard `completion-at-point' command,
1207 which now implements the pcomplete rules for shell command completion.
1211 *** SMTPmail now uses encrypted connections (via STARTTLS) by default
1212 if the mail server supports them. This uses either built-in GnuTLS
1213 support, or the starttls.el library. Customize `smtpmail-stream-type'
1216 *** The variable `smtpmail-auth-credentials' has been removed.
1217 By default, the information is now stored in the file ~/.authinfo.
1218 This was the default value of smtpmail-auth-credentials. If you had
1219 customized smtpmail-auth-credentials to a list of user names and
1220 passwords, those settings are not used. During your first connection
1221 to the smtp server, Emacs will prompt for the user name and password,
1222 and offer to save them to ~/.authinfo. Or you can manually copy the
1223 credentials to ~/.authinfo. For example, if you had
1225 (setq smtpmail-auth-credentials
1226 '(("mail.example.org" 25 "jim" "s!cret")))
1228 then the equivalent line in ~/.authinfo would be
1230 machine mail.example.org port 25 login jim password s!cret
1232 See the auth-source manual for more information, e.g. on encrypting
1233 the credentials file.
1235 *** The variable `smtpmail-starttls-credentials' has been removed.
1236 If you had that set, you need to put
1238 machine smtp.whatever.foo port 25 key "~/.my_smtp_tls.key" cert "~/.my_smtp_tls.cert"
1240 in your ~/.authinfo file instead.
1244 *** New options `sql-port', `sql-connection-alist', `sql-send-terminator',
1245 and `sql-oracle-scan-on'.
1247 *** New options controlling prompting for login parameters.
1248 Each supported product has a custom variable `sql-*-login-params',
1249 which is a list of the parameters to be prompted for before a
1250 connection is established.
1252 *** The command `sql-product-interactive' now takes a prefix argument,
1253 which causes it to prompt for an SQL product.
1255 *** Product-specific SQL interactive commands now take prefix arguments.
1256 These commands (`sql-sqlite', `sql-postgres', `sql-mysql', etc.),
1257 given a prefix argument, prompt for a name for the SQL interactive
1258 buffer. This reduces the need for calling `sql-rename-buffer'.
1260 *** SQL interactive modes suppress command continuation prompts, and
1261 replace tabs with spaces. The first change impacts multiple line SQL
1262 statements entered with C-j between each line, statements yanked into
1263 the buffer and statements sent with `sql-send-*' functions. The
1264 second prevents the MySQL and Postgres interpreters from listing
1265 object name completions when sent text via `sql-send-*' functions.
1267 *** New command `sql-connect' starts a predefined SQLi session,
1268 using the login parameters from `sql-connection-alist'.
1270 *** New "Save Connection" menu item in SQLi buffers.
1271 This gathers the login params specified for the SQLi session, if it
1272 was not started by a connection, and saves them as a new connection.
1274 *** New commands for listing database objects and details:
1275 sql-list-all and sql-list-table.
1277 *** An API for manipulating SQL product definitions has been added.
1281 *** latex-electric-env-pair-mode keeps \begin..\end matched on the fly.
1285 *** New inline access method "ksu" (kerberized su).
1287 *** The following access methods are discontinued: "ssh1_old",
1288 "ssh2_old", "scp1_old", "scp2_old", "imap", "imaps" and "fish".
1290 *** The user option `remote-file-name-inhibit-cache' controls whether
1291 remote file attributes are cached for better performance.
1293 *** The option `ange-ftp-binary-file-name-regexp' has changed its
1294 default value to "".
1296 *** Handlers for `file-selinux-context' and `set-file-selinux-context'
1297 for remote machines which support SELinux.
1299 ** New function `url-queue-retrieve', which behaves like url-retrieve,
1300 but with limits (`url-queue-parallel-processes', `url-queue-timeout') on
1301 the degree of parallelism.
1303 ** VC and related modes
1305 *** Support for pulling on distributed version control systems.
1306 The command C-x v + (`vc-pull') runs a "pull" operation, if it is
1307 supported (currently with Bzr, Git, and Mercurial), to update the
1308 current branch and working tree. A prefix argument means to prompt
1309 the user for specifics, e.g. a pull location.
1311 *** `vc-update' is now an alias for `vc-pull'.
1313 *** Support for merging on distributed version control systems.
1314 The command C-x v m (`vc-merge') now runs a "merge" operation, if it
1315 is supported (currently with Bzr, Git, and Mercurial), to merge
1316 changes from another branch into the current one. It prompts for
1317 specifics, e.g. a merge source.
1319 *** New option `vc-revert-show-diff' controls whether `vc-revert'
1320 shows a diff while querying the user. It defaults to t.
1322 *** Log entries in some Log View buffers can be toggled to display a
1323 longer description by typing RET (log-view-toggle-entry-display).
1324 This is currently supported for Bzr, Git, and Mercurial (to support
1325 another backend, define a `log-view-expanded-log-entry-function').
1326 In the Log View buffers made by C-x v L (`vc-print-root-log'), you can
1327 use this to display the full log entry for the revision at point.
1329 *** New command `vc-ediff' allows visual comparison of two revisions
1330 of a file similar to `vc-diff', but using ediff backend.
1332 *** The option `vc-initial-comment' was removed in Emacs 23.2, but
1333 this was not advertised at the time.
1335 *** `vc-toggle-read-only' is an obsolete alias for `toggle-read-only'.
1336 Since Emacs 23, it has done the same thing as `toggle-read-only', but
1337 this was not advertised at the time.
1343 *** erc-hecomplete.el (use erc-pcomplete.el instead)
1345 *** partial-completion-mode (complete.el) is obsolete.
1346 You can get a comparable behavior with:
1347 (setq completion-styles '(partial-completion initials))
1348 (setq completion-pcm-complete-word-inserts-delimiters t)
1350 *** pc-mode.el is obsolete (CUA mode is much more comprehensive).
1352 *** pgg is obsolete (use EasyPG instead).
1354 *** sregex.el is obsolete, since rx.el is a strict superset.
1356 *** s-region.el and pc-select.el are obsolete.
1357 They are superseded by shift-select-mode, enabled by default since 23.1.
1359 *** vc-mcvs.el is obsolete (for lack of a maintainer).
1363 *** The Landmark game is now invoked with `landmark', not `lm'.
1364 Its functions and variables have been similarly renamed.
1366 *** In `ido-file-completion-map', C-v is no longer bound to `ido-toggle-vc'.
1367 (This interfered with cua-mode.)
1369 *** f90.el has some support for Fortran 2008 syntax.
1371 *** `copyright-fix-years' can optionally convert consecutive years to ranges.
1373 *** New command `nato-region' converts text to NATO phonetic alphabet.
1376 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.1
1378 ** Occur Edit mode applies edits made in *Occur* buffers to the
1379 original buffers. It is bound to "e" in Occur mode.
1381 ** New global minor mode electric-pair-mode.
1382 When enabled, typing an open parenthesis automatically inserts the
1383 matching closing one.
1385 ** New global minor mode electric-indent-mode.
1386 When enabled, typing certain characters triggers reindentation.
1387 Major modes wishing to use this can set electric-indent-chars or
1388 electric-indent-functions.
1390 ** New global minor mode electric-layout-mode.
1391 When enabled, typing certain characters automatically inserts newlines.
1392 Major modes wishing to use this can set electric-layout-rules.
1394 ** tabulated-list.el provides a generic major mode for tabulated data,
1395 from which other modes can be derived.
1397 ** pcase.el provides the ML-style pattern matching macro `pcase'.
1399 ** secrets.el is an implementation of the Secret Service API, an
1400 interface to password managers like GNOME Keyring or KDE Wallet. The
1401 Secret Service API requires D-Bus for communication. The command
1402 `secrets-show-secrets' offers a buffer with a visualization of the
1405 ** notifications.el provides an implementation of the Desktop
1406 Notifications API. It requires D-Bus for communication.
1408 ** soap-client.el supports access to SOAP web services from Emacs.
1409 soap-inspect.el is an interactive inspector for SOAP WSDL structures.
1411 ** New generic mode, xmodmap-generic-mode, for xmodmap files.
1413 ** New emacs-lock.el package.
1414 The previous version has been moved to obsolete/old-emacs-lock.el.
1415 Now, there is a proper minor mode `emacs-lock-mode'. Protection
1416 against exiting Emacs and killing the buffer can be set separately.
1417 The mechanism for automatically turning off protection for buffers
1418 with dead inferior processes has been generalized.
1421 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.1
1423 ** Passing a nil argument to a minor mode function call now ENABLES
1424 the minor mode unconditionally. This is so that you can write e.g.
1426 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'foo-mode)
1428 to enable foo-mode in Text mode buffers, removing the need for
1429 `turn-on-foo-mode' style functions. This affects all mode commands
1430 defined by `define-minor-mode'. If called interactively, the mode
1431 command still toggles the minor mode.
1433 ** The return value of `backup-buffer' has changed.
1434 It is now a list of three elements, where the second element is a list
1435 describing the original file's SELinux context. If Emacs or the
1436 system lacks SELinux support, the context list is (nil nil nil nil).
1437 See "Basic SELinux support" above, under "Changes in Emacs 24.1".
1439 ** `char-direction-table' and the `char-direction' function were deleted.
1440 They were buggy and inferior to the new support of bidirectional
1441 editing introduced in Emacs 24. If you need the bidirectional
1442 properties of a character, use `get-char-code-property' with the last
1443 argument `bidi-class'.
1445 ** `copy-directory' now copies the source directory as a subdirectory
1446 of the target directory, if the latter is an existing directory. The
1447 new optional arg COPY-CONTENTS, if non-nil, makes the function copy
1448 the contents directly into a pre-existing target directory.
1450 ** For mouse click input events in the text area, the Y pixel
1451 coordinate in the POSITION list now counts from the top of the text
1452 area, excluding any header line. Previously, it counted from the top
1455 ** Support for "old-style" backquotes, obsolete for 10+ years, has
1456 been further reduced. Now a backquote not followed by a space is
1457 always treated as a "new-style" backquote. Please remove all
1458 "old-style" backquotes from your code. If your code uses backquotes
1459 as documented in the Elisp manual, and compiles without warning, then
1460 you have nothing to do in this regard. Code not following the
1461 appropriate conventions may fail to compile.
1463 The most common cause of trouble seems to be an old-style backquote
1464 followed by a newline. Another cause of trouble is vector notation
1465 for key sequence notation: instead of [(control ,)] and [(control ')],
1466 you should write [(control ?,)] and [(control ?')], which will work in
1469 ** The macro `eval-at-startup' was removed in Emacs 23.2, but this
1470 was not advertised at the time. The function `custom-initialize-delay'
1471 replaced all known uses.
1473 ** `view-buffer' now treats special mode-class in the same way that
1474 `view-file' has since Emacs 22 (i.e. it won't enable View mode if the
1475 major mode is special).
1477 ** Menu and tool bar changes
1479 *** During startup, Emacs no longer adds entries for `menu-bar-lines'
1480 and `tool-bar-lines' to `default-frame-alist' and `initial-frame-alist'.
1481 With these alist entries omitted, `make-frame' checks the value of the
1482 variable `menu-bar-mode'/`tool-bar-mode' to determine whether to create
1483 a menu-bar or tool-bar, respectively. If the alist entries are added,
1484 they override the value of `menu-bar-mode'/`tool-bar-mode'.
1486 *** The menu bar bindings's caches are not used any more.
1487 Use (where-is-internal <def> nil t) instead.
1489 ** Regions created by mouse dragging are now normal active regions,
1490 similar to those created by shift-selection (see Selection changes
1491 above). In previous Emacs versions, these regions were delineated by
1492 `mouse-drag-overlay'; that variable has been removed.
1494 ** The fourth argument of `filter-buffer-substring' has been removed.
1495 If you want to remove text properties from the final result, simply
1496 pass the result through substring-no-properties.
1498 ** cl.el no longer provides `cl-19'.
1500 ** The following obsolete functions and aliases have been removed
1501 (the appropriate new function is given in parentheses; "not needed"
1502 means you can just remove all calls to the function in question):
1504 *** `comint-kill-output' (`comint-delete-output')
1505 *** `decompose-composite-char' (`char-to-string')
1506 *** `outline-visible' (`outline-invisible-p')
1507 *** `internal-find-face' (`facep')
1508 *** `internal-get-face' (`facep and check-face')
1509 *** `frame-update-faces' (not needed)
1510 *** `frame-update-face-colors' (`frame-set-background-mode')
1511 *** `x-frob-font-weight' and `x-frob-font-slant' (`make-face-*' functions)
1512 *** `x-make-font-bold and x-make-font-demibold (`make-face-bold')
1513 *** `x-make-font-italic' and `x-make-font-oblique' (`make-face-italic')
1514 *** `x-make-font-bold-italic' (`make-face-bold-italic')
1515 *** `x-make-font-unbold' (`make-face-unbold')
1516 *** `x-make-font-unitalic' (`make-face-unitalic')
1517 *** `mldrag-drag-mode-line' (`mouse-drag-mode-line')
1518 *** `mldrag-drag-vertical-line' (`mouse-drag-vertical-line')
1519 *** `iswitchb-default-keybindings' (`iswitchb-mode')
1520 *** `char-bytes' (== 1)
1521 *** `isearch-return-char' (`isearch-printing-char')
1522 *** `make-local-hook' (not needed)
1523 *** `set-screen-height' (`set-frame-height')
1524 *** `set-screen-width' (`set-frame-width')
1526 ** The following obsolete variables and varaliases have been removed
1527 (the appropriate new variable is given in parentheses):
1529 *** `checkdoc-minor-keymap' (`checkdoc-minor-mode-map')
1530 *** `vc-header-alist' (`vc-BACKEND-header')
1531 *** `directory-sep-char' (== ?/)
1532 *** `font-lock-defaults-alist' (`font-lock-defaults')
1533 *** `e' (`float-e').
1535 ** The following obsolete files were removed:
1536 sc.el, x-menu.el, rnews.el, rnewspost.el
1538 ** The format of the finder-inf.el file has changed, since the Finder
1539 mechanism is now based on the package system. The variable
1540 `finder-package-info' is replaced by `package--builtins' and
1541 `finder-keywords-hash'.
1543 ** When generating autoloads, `update-directory-autoloads' no longer
1544 assumes every inspected file is in your `load-path'. It instead
1545 generates relative names according to the current `load-path'.
1548 * Lisp changes in Emacs 24.1
1550 ** Code can now use lexical scoping by default instead of dynamic scoping.
1551 The `lexical-binding' variable enables lexical scoping for local
1552 variables. It is typically set via a file-local variable in the first
1553 line of the file, in which case it applies to all the code in that
1556 *** `eval' takes a new optional argument `lexical' to choose the new lexical
1557 binding instead of the old dynamic binding mode.
1559 *** Lexically scoped interpreted functions are represented with a new form
1560 of function value which looks like (closure ENV ARGS &rest BODY).
1562 *** New macro `letrec' to define recursive local functions.
1564 *** `defvar' and `defconst' now mark the variable as special (dynamic).
1565 So do `defcustom' and other forms that call `defvar' as a subroutine.
1567 *** New function `special-variable-p' to check whether a variable is
1568 declared as dynamically bound.
1570 *** The form ((lambda ...) ...) is deprecated.
1572 ** An Emacs Lisp testing tool is now included.
1573 Emacs Lisp developers can use this tool to write automated tests for
1574 their code. See the ERT info manual for details.
1576 ** Changes for bidirectional display and editing
1578 *** New function `current-bidi-paragraph-direction'.
1579 This returns the base direction of the paragraph at point.
1581 *** New function `bidi-string-mark-left-to-right'.
1582 Given a string containing characters from right-to-left scripts, this
1583 function returns another string which can be safely inserted into a
1584 buffer, such that any following text will be always displayed to the
1585 right of that string. (This works by appending an invisible Unicode
1586 "LEFT-TO-RIGHT MARK" character if the argument string might need it.)
1588 This is useful when the buffer has overall left-to-right paragraph
1589 direction and you need to insert a string whose contents are not known
1590 in advance, without disrupting the layout of the line.
1594 *** Window tree functions are accessible in Elisp.
1595 Functions are provided to return the parent, siblings or child windows
1596 of any window including internal windows (windows not associated with a
1597 buffer) in the window tree.
1599 **** New function `window-valid-p' gives non-nil for live and internal
1602 **** Window manipulation can deal with internal windows.
1603 Many window handling functions like `split-window', `delete-window', or
1604 `delete-other-windows' as well as the window resizing functions can now
1605 act on any window including internal ones.
1607 *** window-total-height/-width vs window-body-height/-width.
1608 The function `window-height' has been renamed to `window-total-height'
1609 and `window-width' has been renamed to `window-body-width'. The old
1610 names are provided as aliases. Two new functions `window-total-width'
1611 and `window-body-height' are provided.
1613 *** Window parameters specific to window handling functions.
1614 For each window you can specify a parameter to override the default
1615 behavior of a number of functions like `split-window', `delete-window'
1616 and `delete-other-windows'. The variable `ignore-window-parameters'
1617 allows to ignore processing such parameters.
1619 *** New semantics of third argument of `split-window'.
1620 The third argument of `split-window' has been renamed to SIDE and can be
1621 set to any of the values 'below, 'right, 'above, or 'left to make the
1622 new window appear on the corresponding side of the window that shall be
1623 split. Any other value of SIDE will cause `split-window' to split the
1624 window into two side-by-side windows as before.
1626 *** Window resizing functions.
1627 A new standard function for resizing windows called `window-resize' has
1628 been introduced. This and all other functions for resizing windows no
1629 longer delete any windows when they become too small.
1631 *** Deleting the selected window now selects the most recently selected
1632 live window on that frame instead.
1634 *** `adjust-window-trailing-edge' adjustments.
1635 `adjust-window-trailing-edge' can now deal with fixed-size windows and
1636 is able to resize other windows if a window adjacent to the trailing
1637 edge cannot be shrunk any more. This makes its behavior more similar to
1638 that of Emacs 21 without compromising, however, its inability to delete
1639 windows which was introduced in Emacs 22.
1641 *** Window-local buffer lists.
1642 Windows now have local buffer lists. This means that removing a buffer
1643 from display in a window will preferably show the buffer previously
1644 shown in that window with its previous window-start and window-point
1645 positions. This also means that the same buffer may be automatically
1646 shown twice even if it already appears in another window.
1648 *** `switch-to-buffer' has a new optional argument FORCE-SAME-WINDOW,
1649 which if non-nil requires the buffer to be displayed in the currently
1650 selected window, signaling an error otherwise. If nil, another window
1651 can be used, e.g. if the selected one is strongly dedicated.
1653 *** `split-window-vertically' and `split-window-horizontally' renamed
1654 to `split-window-below' and `split-window-right' respectively.
1655 The old names are kept as aliases.
1659 **** The second arg to `display-buffer' and `pop-to-buffer' is now
1660 named ACTION, and takes a display action of the same form as
1661 `display-buffer-base-action' (see Changes, above). A non-nil,
1662 non-list value is treated specially, as the old meaning.
1664 **** New variable `display-buffer-overriding-action'.
1666 **** The procedure of `display-buffer' etc. to choose a window is
1667 determined by combining `display-buffer-overriding-action',
1668 `display-buffer-alist', the ACTION arg, `display-buffer-base-action',
1669 and `display-buffer-fallback-action'. The second and fourth of these
1670 are user-customizable variables.
1672 See the docstring of `display-buffer' for details.
1674 *** New functions `window-state-get' and `window-state-put'.
1675 These functions allow to save and restore the state of an arbitrary
1676 frame or window as an Elisp object.
1680 *** New variable `completion-extra-properties' used to specify extra
1681 properties of the current completion:
1682 - :annotate-function, same as the old completion-annotate-function.
1683 - :exit-function, function to call after completion took place.
1685 *** Functions on `completion-at-point-functions' can return any of the
1686 properties valid for `completion-extra-properties'.
1688 *** `completion-annotate-function' is obsolete.
1690 *** New `metadata' method for completion tables. The metadata thus returned
1691 can specify various details of the data returned by `all-completions':
1692 - `category' is the kind of objects returned (e.g., `buffer', `file', ...),
1693 used to select a style in completion-category-overrides.
1694 - `annotation-function' to add annotations in *Completions*.
1695 - `display-sort-function' to specify how to sort entries in *Completions*.
1696 - `cycle-sort-function' to specify how to sort entries when cycling.
1698 *** `minibuffer-local-filename-must-match-map' is not used any more.
1699 Instead, the bindings in `minibuffer-local-filename-completion-map'
1700 are combined with `minibuffer-local-must-match-map'.
1702 *** New variable `completing-read-function' allows overriding the
1703 behavior of `completing-read'.
1705 ** `glyphless-char-display' can now distinguish between graphical and
1706 text terminal display, via a char-table entry that is a cons cell.
1708 ** `pre-command-hook'/`post-command-hook' are not reset to nil on error.
1709 Instead, the offending function is removed.
1713 *** New function `run-hook-wrapped' for running an abnormal hook by
1714 passing the hook functions as arguments to a "wrapping" function.
1715 Like `run-hook-with-args-until-success', it stops at the first
1716 non-nil return value.
1718 *** New macro `with-wrapper-hook' for running an abnormal hook as a
1719 set of "wrapping" filters, similar to around advice.
1720 (A version of this macro was actually added in Emacs 23.2 but was not
1721 advertised at the time.)
1725 *** New macro `condition-case-unless-debug' (this was actually added in
1726 Emacs 23.1 as condition-case-no-debug, but not advertised)
1728 *** The macro `with-demoted-errors' was added in Emacs 23.1, but not advertised.
1730 *** Variable `stack-trace-on-error' removed.
1732 *** The debugger can now "continue" from an error, which means it will
1733 jump to the error handler as if the debugger had not been invoked
1734 instead of jumping all the way to the top-level.
1736 *** Set `debug-on-event' to enter the debugger on events like SIGUSR1.
1737 This can be useful when `inhibit-quit' is set.
1739 ** The new function `server-eval-at' allows evaluation of Lisp forms on
1740 named Emacs server instances.
1742 ** `call-process' and `call-process-region' allow a `(:file "file")' spec
1743 to redirect STDOUT to a file.
1745 ** The function `format-time-string' now supports the %N directive,
1746 for higher-resolution time stamps.
1748 ** New input reading functions
1750 *** New function `read-char-choice' reads a restricted set of
1751 characters, discarding any inputs not inside the set.
1753 *** The command `read-color' now requires a match for a color name
1754 or RGB triplet, instead of signaling an error if the user provides
1757 **** `facemenu-read-color' is now an alias for `read-color'.
1759 ** `image-library-alist' is renamed to `dynamic-library-alist'.
1760 The variable is now used to load all kind of supported dynamic libraries,
1761 not just image libraries. The previous name is still available as an
1764 ** Syntax parsing changes
1766 *** New variable `syntax-propertize-function'.
1767 This replaces `font-lock-syntactic-keywords' which is now obsolete.
1768 This allows syntax-table properties to be set independently from font-lock:
1769 just call syntax-propertize to make sure the text is propertized.
1770 Together with this new variable come a new hook
1771 syntax-propertize-extend-region-functions, as well as two helper functions:
1772 syntax-propertize-via-font-lock to reuse old font-lock-syntactic-keywords
1773 as-is; and syntax-propertize-rules which provides a new way to specify
1776 *** Syntax tables support a new "comment style c" additionally to style b.
1778 ** New hook `post-self-insert-hook', run after `self-insert-command'.
1780 ** frame-local variables cannot be let-bound any more.
1782 ** Major and minor mode changes
1784 *** `set-auto-mode' now respects mode: local variables at the end of files,
1785 as well as those in the -*- line.
1787 *** `prog-mode' is a new major mode from which programming modes
1790 **** `prog-mode-hook' can be used to enable features for programming
1791 modes, e.g. (add-hook 'prog-mode-hook 'flyspell-prog-mode) to enable
1792 on-the-fly spell checking for comments and strings.
1794 *** New hook `change-major-mode-after-body-hook', run by
1795 `run-mode-hooks' just before any other mode hooks.
1797 *** Enabled globalized minor modes can be disabled in specific major modes.
1798 If the global mode is global-FOO-mode, then run (FOO-mode -1) in the
1799 major mode's hook, where FOO-mode toggles the mode on a per-buffer basis.
1801 *** `define-minor-mode' accepts new keywords :variable, :after-hook.
1803 ** File-handling changes
1805 *** `delete-file' and `delete-directory' now accept optional arg TRASH.
1806 Trashing is performed if TRASH and `delete-by-moving-to-trash' are
1807 both non-nil. Interactively, TRASH defaults to t, unless a prefix
1808 argument is supplied (see Trash changes, above).
1810 *** New file predicates: `file-equal-p', `file-in-directory-p'.
1812 ** Tool-bars can display separators.
1813 Tool-bar separators are handled like menu separators in menu-bar maps,
1814 i.e. via menu entries of the form `(menu-item "--")'.
1818 *** Animated images support (currently animated gifs only).
1820 **** `image-animated-p' returns non-nil if an image can be animated.
1822 **** `image-animate' animates a supplied image spec.
1824 **** `image-animate-timer' returns the timer object for an image that
1827 *** `image-extension-data' has been renamed to `image-metadata'.
1828 The old name is an obsolete alias to the new one.
1830 *** Image mode can view any image type that ImageMagick supports.
1831 This requires Emacs to be built with ImageMagick support.
1833 **** New function `imagemagick-types', defined if ImageMagick support
1834 is enabled, returns a list of image file extensions that your
1835 ImageMagick installation supports.
1837 **** New function `imagemagick-register-types' enables ImageMagick
1838 image types in Image mode and in `create-image' and other helper
1841 **** New option `imagemagick-types-inhibit' excludes certain
1842 ImageMagick image types from `imagemagick-register-types'.
1844 **** With ImageMagick support, there are extra Image mode commands to
1845 resize and rotate images: `image-transform-fit-to-height',
1846 `image-transform-fit-to-width', `image-transform-set-rotation', and
1847 `image-transform-set-scale'.
1849 ** `compose-mail' now accepts an optional 8th arg, RETURN-ACTION, and
1850 passes it to the mail user agent function. This argument specifies an
1851 action for returning to the caller after finishing with the mail. For
1852 example, this is used by Rmail to optionally delete a mail window.
1854 ** XML and HTML parsing
1855 If Emacs is compiled with libxml2 support, there are two new
1856 functions: `libxml-parse-html-region' (which parses "real world" HTML)
1857 and `libxml-parse-xml-region' (which parses XML). Both return an
1858 Emacs Lisp parse tree.
1860 ** Networking and encryption changes
1862 *** `open-network-stream' can now be used to open an encrypted stream.
1863 It now accepts an optional `:type' parameter for initiating a TLS
1864 connection, directly or via STARTTLS. To do STARTTLS, additional
1865 parameters (`:end-of-command', `:success', `:capabilities-command')
1866 must also be supplied.
1868 *** New library gnutls.el.
1869 The new function `gnutls-available-p' returns non-nil if Emacs is
1870 built with GnuTLS support. The main entry points are
1871 `open-gnutls-stream' and `gnutls-negotiate'. It's easiest to use
1872 these functions through `open-network-stream', because that can
1873 upgrade connections through STARTTLS opportunistically or use plain
1874 SSL, depending on your needs. For debugging, set `gnutls-log-level'
1877 *** New primitive `secure-hash' that supports many secure hash algorithms:
1878 md5, sha1, sha2, sha224, sha256, sha384, and sha512. The lisp library
1879 sha1.el has been removed. The `sha1' feature is provided by default.
1883 *** New hook `isearch-update-post-hook' that runs in `isearch-update'.
1885 ** Progress reporters can now "spin".
1886 The MIN-VALUE and MAX-VALUE arguments of `make-progress-reporter' can
1887 now be nil, or omitted. This makes a "non-numeric" reporter. Each
1888 time you call `progress-reporter-update' on that progress reporter,
1889 with a nil or omitted VALUE argument, the reporter message is
1890 displayed with a "spinning bar".
1892 ** New variable `revert-buffer-in-progress-p' is true while a buffer is
1893 being reverted, even if the buffer has a local `revert-buffer-function'.
1895 ** New variables `delayed-warnings-list' and `delayed-warnings-hook'.
1896 If delayed-warnings-list is non-nil, the command loop calls
1897 `delayed-warnings-hook' after `post-command-hook'. At present, this
1898 is only used by Emacs on some platforms to display warnings during
1899 startup, which might otherwise not be noticed. This uses the
1900 functions `display-delayed-warnings' and `collapse-delayed-warnings'.
1902 ** rx.el has a new `group-n' construct for explicitly numbered groups.
1904 ** New function `make-composed-keymap' that constructs a new keymap
1905 from multiple input maps. You can use this to make a keymap that
1906 inherits from multiple maps, eg:
1907 (set-keymap-parent newmap (make-composed-keymap othermap parent))
1909 ** New function `string-prefix-p'.
1910 (This was actually added in Emacs 23.2 but was not advertised at the time.)
1912 ** New reader macro ## that stands for the empty symbol.
1913 This means that the empty symbol can now be read back. Also, #: by itself
1914 (when not immediately followed by a possible symbol character) stands for
1915 an empty uninterned symbol.
1917 ** New math functions `isnan', `copysign', `frexp', `ldexp'.
1919 ** The following functions and variables are obsolete:
1921 *** `tooltip-use-echo-area' is obsolete.
1922 Rather than setting this to t, disable Tooltip mode instead.
1924 *** buffer-substring-filters is obsolete.
1925 Use `filter-buffer-substring-functions' instead.
1927 *** `byte-compile-disable-print-circle' is obsolete.
1929 *** `deferred-action-list' and `deferred-action-function' are obsolete.
1930 Use `post-command-hook' instead.
1932 *** `font-lock-maximum-size' is obsolete.
1935 * Changes in Emacs 24.1 on non-free operating systems
1937 ** On MS Windows, Emacs warns when using the obsolete init file _emacs,
1938 and also when HOME is set to C:\ by default.
1940 ** New configure.bat options
1942 *** --enable-checking builds Emacs with extra runtime checks.
1944 *** --distfiles specifies files to be included in binary distribution.
1946 *** --without-gnutls disables automatic GnuTLS detection.
1948 *** --lib for general library linkage, works with the USER_LIBS build variable.
1950 ** New make target `dist' to create binary distribution for MS Windows.
1952 ** The Lisp function `w32-default-color-map' is now obsolete.
1953 (It is only used internally in the Emacs C code.)
1955 ** Customize ns-auto-hide-menu-bar to have the menu-bar hidden, but
1956 reappear on mouse-over. (Requires OS X 10.6 or later.)
1958 ** On Mac OS X, dragging a file into Emacs visits the file, like on
1959 other platforms, rather than inserting its contents into the buffer.
1962 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1963 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
1965 GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
1966 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
1967 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
1968 (at your option) any later version.
1970 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
1971 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1972 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1973 GNU General Public License for more details.
1975 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
1976 along with GNU Emacs. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
1981 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"