1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes. 2003-05-21
2 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
3 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 See the end for copying conditions.
6 Please send Emacs bug reports to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.
7 For older news, see the file ONEWS
8 You can narrow news to the specific version by calling
9 `view-emacs-news' with a prefix argument or by typing C-u C-h C-n.
12 +++ indicates that the appropriate manual has already been updated.
13 --- means no change in the manuals is called for.
14 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
15 so we will look at it and add it to the manual.
18 * Installation Changes in Emacs 22.1
21 ** Emacs now supports new configure options `--program-prefix',
22 `--program-suffix' and `--program-transform-name' that affect the names of
26 ** Emacs can now be built without sound support.
29 ** You can build Emacs with Gtk+ widgets by specifying `--with-x-toolkit=gtk'
30 when you run configure. This requires Gtk+ 2.0 or newer. This port
31 provides a way to display multilingual text in menus (with some caveats).
34 ** The `emacsserver' program has been removed, replaced with Lisp code.
37 ** By default, Emacs now uses a setgid helper program to update game
38 scores. The directory ${localstatedir}/games/emacs is the normal
39 place for game scores to be stored. You can control this with the
40 configure option `--with-game-dir'. The specific user that Emacs uses
41 to own the game scores is controlled by `--with-game-user'. If access
42 to a game user is not available, then scores will be stored separately
43 in each user's home directory.
46 ** Leim is now part of the Emacs distribution.
47 You no longer need to download a separate tarball in order to build
51 ** The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual is now part of the distribution.
53 The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual in Info format is built as part of the
54 Emacs build procedure and installed together with the Emacs User
55 Manual. A menu item was added to the menu bar that makes it easy
56 accessible (Help->More Manuals->Emacs Lisp Reference).
59 ** The Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp manual is now part of
62 This manual is now part of the standard distribution and is installed,
63 together with the Emacs User Manual, into the Info directory. A menu
64 item was added to the menu bar that makes it easy accessible
65 (Help->More Manuals->Introduction to Emacs Lisp).
68 ** New translations of the Emacs Tutorial are available in the
69 following languages: Brasilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese (both
70 with simplified and traditional characters), French, and Italian.
71 Type `C-u C-h t' to choose one of them in case your language setup
72 doesn't automatically select the right one.
75 ** A French translation of the `Emacs Survival Guide' is available.
78 ** Emacs now includes support for loading image libraries on demand.
79 (Currently this feature is only used on MS Windows.) You can configure
80 the supported image types and their associated dynamic libraries by
81 setting the variable `image-library-alist'.
84 ** Support for Cygwin was added.
87 ** Support for FreeBSD/Alpha has been added.
90 ** Support for GNU/Linux systems on S390 machines was added.
93 ** Support for MacOS X was added.
94 See the files mac/README and mac/INSTALL for build instructions.
97 ** Support for GNU/Linux systems on X86-64 machines was added.
100 ** Mac OS 9 port now uses the Carbon API by default. You can also
101 create non-Carbon build by specifying `NonCarbon' as a target. See
102 the files mac/README and mac/INSTALL for build instructions.
105 ** Building with -DENABLE_CHECKING does not automatically build with union
106 types any more. Add -DUSE_LISP_UNION_TYPE if you want union types.
109 ** When pure storage overflows while dumping, Emacs now prints how
110 much pure storage it will approximately need.
112 ** The script etc/emacs-buffer.gdb can be used with gdb to retrieve the
113 contents of buffers from a core dump and save them to files easily, should
117 * Startup Changes in Emacs 22.1
120 ** New command line option -Q or --quick.
121 This is like using -q --no-site-file, but in addition it also disables
122 the fancy startup screen.
125 ** New command line option -D or --basic-display.
126 Disables the menu-bar, the tool-bar, the scroll-bars, tool tips, and
130 ** New command line option -nbc or --no-blinking-cursor disables
131 the blinking cursor on graphical terminals.
134 ** The option --script FILE runs Emacs in batch mode and loads FILE.
135 It is useful for writing Emacs Lisp shell script files, because they
136 can start with this line:
138 #!/usr/bin/emacs --script
141 ** The option --directory DIR now modifies `load-path' immediately.
142 Directories are added to the front of `load-path' in the order they
143 appear on the command line. For example, with this command line:
145 emacs -batch -L .. -L /tmp --eval "(require 'foo)"
147 Emacs looks for library `foo' in the parent directory, then in /tmp, then
148 in the other directories in `load-path'. (-L is short for --directory.)
151 ** The command line option --no-windows has been changed to
152 --no-window-system. The old one still works, but is deprecated.
155 ** The -f option, used from the command line to call a function,
156 now reads arguments for the function interactively if it is
157 an interactively callable function.
160 ** When you specify a frame size with --geometry, the size applies to
161 all frames you create. A position specified with --geometry only
162 affects the initial frame.
165 ** Emacs can now be invoked in full-screen mode on a windowed display.
166 When Emacs is invoked on a window system, the new command-line options
167 `--fullwidth', `--fullheight', and `--fullscreen' produce a frame
168 whose width, height, or both width and height take up the entire
169 screen size. (For now, this does not work with some window managers.)
172 ** Emacs now displays a splash screen by default even if command-line
173 arguments were given. The new command-line option --no-splash
174 disables the splash screen; see also the variable
175 `inhibit-startup-message' (which is also aliased as
176 `inhibit-splash-screen').
179 ** The default is now to use an bitmap as the icon, so the command-line options
180 --icon-type, -i has been replaced with options --no-bitmap-icon, -nbi to turn
184 ** New user option `inhibit-startup-buffer-menu'.
185 When loading many files, for instance with `emacs *', Emacs normally
186 displays a buffer menu. This option turns the buffer menu off.
190 You can now put the init files .emacs and .emacs_SHELL under
191 ~/.emacs.d or directly under ~. Emacs will find them in either place.
194 ** Emacs now reads the standard abbrevs file ~/.abbrev_defs
195 automatically at startup, if it exists. When Emacs offers to save
196 modified buffers, it saves the abbrevs too if they have changed. It
197 can do this either silently or asking for confirmation first,
198 according to the value of `save-abbrevs'.
200 * Incompatible Editing Changes in Emacs 22.1
203 ** M-g is now a prefix key.
204 M-g g and M-g M-g run goto-line.
205 M-g n and M-g M-n run next-error (like C-x `).
206 M-g p and M-g M-p run previous-error.
209 ** C-u M-g M-g switches to the most recent previous buffer,
210 and goes to the specified line in that buffer.
212 When goto-line starts to execute, if there's a number in the buffer at
213 point then it acts as the default argument for the minibuffer.
216 ** The old bindings C-M-delete and C-M-backspace have been deleted,
217 since there are situations where one or the other will shut down
218 the operating system or your X server.
221 ** line-move-ignore-invisible now defaults to t.
224 ** When the undo information of the current command gets really large
225 (beyond the value of `undo-outer-limit'), Emacs discards it and warns
229 ** `apply-macro-to-region-lines' now operates on all lines that begin
230 in the region, rather than on all complete lines in the region.
233 ** A prefix argument is no longer required to repeat a jump to a
234 previous mark, i.e. C-u C-SPC C-SPC C-SPC ... cycles through the
235 mark ring. Use C-u C-u C-SPC to set the mark immediately after a jump.
238 ** The info-search bindings on C-h C-f, C-h C-k and C-h C-i
239 have been moved to C-h F, C-h K and C-h S.
242 ** In incremental search, C-w is changed. M-%, C-M-w and C-M-y are special.
244 See below under "incremental search changes".
247 ** C-x C-f RET, typing nothing in the minibuffer, is no longer a special case.
249 Since the default input is the current directory, this has the effect
250 of specifying the current directory. Normally that means to visit the
251 directory with Dired.
254 ** The completion commands TAB, SPC and ? in the minibuffer apply only
255 to the text before point. If there is text in the buffer after point,
256 it remains unchanged.
259 ** M-o now is the prefix key for setting text properties;
260 M-o M-o requests refontification.
263 ** You can now follow links by clicking Mouse-1 on the link.
265 See below for more details.
268 ** In Dired's ! command (dired-do-shell-command), `*' and `?' now
269 control substitution of the file names only when they are surrounded
270 by whitespace. This means you can now use them as shell wildcards
271 too. If you want to use just plain `*' as a wildcard, type `*""'; the
272 doublequotes make no difference in the shell, but they prevent
273 special treatment in `dired-do-shell-command'.
275 * Editing Changes in Emacs 22.1
278 ** The max size of buffers and integers has been doubled.
279 On 32bit machines, it is now 256M (i.e. 268435455).
282 ** M-g is now a prefix key.
283 M-g g and M-g M-g run goto-line.
284 M-g n and M-g M-n run next-error (like C-x `).
285 M-g p and M-g M-p run previous-error.
288 ** C-u M-g M-g switches to the most recent previous buffer,
289 and goes to the specified line in that buffer.
291 When goto-line starts to execute, if there's a number in the buffer at
292 point then it acts as the default argument for the minibuffer.
295 ** The old bindings C-M-delete and C-M-backspace have been deleted,
296 since there are situations where one or the other will shut down
297 the operating system or your X server.
300 ** line-move-ignore-invisible now defaults to t.
303 ** When the undo information of the current command gets really large
304 (beyond the value of `undo-outer-limit'), Emacs discards it and warns
308 ** `apply-macro-to-region-lines' now operates on all lines that begin
309 in the region, rather than on all complete lines in the region.
312 ** You can now switch buffers in a cyclic order with C-x C-left and
313 (prev-buffer) and C-x C-right (next-buffer). C-x left and C-x right
317 ** `undo-only' does an undo which does not redo any previous undo.
320 ** M-SPC (just-one-space) when given a numeric argument N
321 converts whitespace around point to N spaces.
324 ** New commands to operate on pairs of open and close characters:
325 `insert-pair', `delete-pair', `raise-sexp'.
328 ** New command `kill-whole-line' kills an entire line at once.
329 By default, it is bound to C-S-<backspace>.
332 ** Yanking text now discards certain text properties that can
333 be inconvenient when you did not expect them. The variable
334 `yank-excluded-properties' specifies which ones. Insertion
335 of register contents and rectangles also discards these properties.
338 ** The default values of paragraph-start and indent-line-function have
339 been changed to reflect those used in Text mode rather than those used
340 in Indented-Text mode.
343 ** M-x setenv now expands environment variable references.
345 Substrings of the form `$foo' and `${foo}' in the specified new value
346 now refer to the value of environment variable foo. To include a `$'
347 in the value, use `$$'.
350 ** `special-display-buffer-names' and `special-display-regexps' now
351 understand two new boolean pseudo-frame-parameters `same-frame' and
355 ** The default for the paper size (variable ps-paper-type) is taken
358 ** The command `list-faces-display' now accepts a prefix arg.
359 When passed, the function prompts for a regular expression and lists
360 only faces matching this regexp.
362 ** Mark command changes:
365 *** A prefix argument is no longer required to repeat a jump to a
366 previous mark, i.e. C-u C-SPC C-SPC C-SPC ... cycles through the
367 mark ring. Use C-u C-u C-SPC to set the mark immediately after a jump.
370 *** Marking commands extend the region when invoked multiple times.
372 If you type C-M-SPC (mark-sexp), M-@ (mark-word), M-h
373 (mark-paragraph), or C-M-h (mark-defun) repeatedly, the marked region
374 extends each time, so you can mark the next two sexps with M-C-SPC
375 M-C-SPC, for example. This feature also works for
376 mark-end-of-sentence, if you bind that to a key. It also extends the
377 region when the mark is active in Transient Mark mode, regardless of
378 the last command. To start a new region with one of marking commands
379 in Transient Mark mode, you can deactivate the active region with C-g,
380 or set the new mark with C-SPC.
383 *** M-h (mark-paragraph) now accepts a prefix arg.
385 With positive arg, M-h marks the current and the following paragraphs;
386 if the arg is negative, it marks the current and the preceding
390 *** Some commands do something special in Transient Mark mode when the
391 mark is active--for instance, they limit their operation to the
392 region. Even if you don't normally use Transient Mark mode, you might
393 want to get this behavior from a particular command. There are two
394 ways you can enable Transient Mark mode and activate the mark, for one
397 One method is to type C-SPC C-SPC; this enables Transient Mark mode
398 and sets the mark at point. The other method is to type C-u C-x C-x.
399 This enables Transient Mark mode temporarily but does not alter the
402 After these commands, Transient Mark mode remains enabled until you
403 deactivate the mark. That typically happens when you type a command
404 that alters the buffer, but you can also deactivate the mark by typing
408 *** Movement commands `beginning-of-buffer', `end-of-buffer',
409 `beginning-of-defun', `end-of-defun' do not set the mark if the mark
410 is already active in Transient Mark mode.
412 ** Help command changes:
415 *** Changes in C-h bindings:
417 C-h e displays the *Messages* buffer.
419 C-h followed by a control character is used for displaying files
422 C-h C-f displays the FAQ.
423 C-h C-e displays the PROBLEMS file.
425 The info-search bindings on C-h C-f, C-h C-k and C-h C-i
426 have been moved to C-h F, C-h K and C-h S.
428 C-h c, C-h k, C-h w, and C-h f now handle remapped interactive commands.
430 - C-h c and C-h k report the actual command (after possible remapping)
431 run by the key sequence.
433 - C-h w and C-h f on a command which has been remapped now report the
434 command it is remapped to, and the keys which can be used to run
437 For example, if C-k is bound to kill-line, and kill-line is remapped
438 to new-kill-line, these commands now report:
440 - C-h c and C-h k C-k reports:
441 C-k runs the command new-kill-line
443 - C-h w and C-h f kill-line reports:
444 kill-line is remapped to new-kill-line which is on C-k, <deleteline>
446 - C-h w and C-h f new-kill-line reports:
447 new-kill-line is on C-k
450 *** Help commands `describe-function' and `describe-key' now show function
451 arguments in lowercase italics on displays that support it. To change the
452 default, customize face `help-argument-name' or redefine the function
453 `help-default-arg-highlight'.
456 *** C-h v and C-h f commands now include a hyperlink to the C source for
457 variables and functions defined in C (if the C source is available).
460 *** Help mode now only makes hyperlinks for faces when the face name is
461 preceded or followed by the word `face'. It no longer makes
462 hyperlinks for variables without variable documentation, unless
463 preceded by one of the words `variable' or `option'. It now makes
464 hyperlinks to Info anchors (or nodes) if the anchor (or node) name is
465 enclosed in single quotes and preceded by `info anchor' or `Info
466 anchor' (in addition to earlier `info node' and `Info node').
469 *** The new command `describe-char' (C-u C-x =) pops up a buffer with
470 description various information about a character, including its
471 encodings and syntax, its text properties, how to input, overlays, and
472 widgets at point. You can get more information about some of them, by
473 clicking on mouse-sensitive areas or moving there and pressing RET.
476 *** The command `list-text-properties-at' has been deleted because
477 C-u C-x = gives the same information and more.
480 *** New command `display-local-help' displays any local help at point
481 in the echo area. It is bound to `C-h .'. It normally displays the
482 same string that would be displayed on mouse-over using the
483 `help-echo' property, but, in certain cases, it can display a more
484 keyboard oriented alternative.
487 *** New user option `help-at-pt-display-when-idle' allows to
488 automatically show the help provided by `display-local-help' on
489 point-over, after suitable idle time. The amount of idle time is
490 determined by the user option `help-at-pt-timer-delay' and defaults
491 to one second. This feature is turned off by default.
494 *** The apropos commands now accept a list of words to match.
495 When more than one word is specified, at least two of those words must
496 be present for an item to match. Regular expression matching is still
500 *** The new option `apropos-sort-by-scores' causes the matching items
501 to be sorted according to their score. The score for an item is a
502 number calculated to indicate how well the item matches the words or
503 regular expression that you entered to the apropos command. The best
504 match is listed first, and the calculated score is shown for each
507 ** Incremental Search changes:
510 *** Vertical scrolling is now possible within incremental search.
511 To enable this feature, customize the new user option
512 `isearch-allow-scroll'. User written commands which satisfy stringent
513 constraints can be marked as "scrolling commands". See the Emacs manual
517 *** C-w in incremental search now grabs either a character or a word,
518 making the decision in a heuristic way. This new job is done by the
519 command `isearch-yank-word-or-char'. To restore the old behavior,
520 bind C-w to `isearch-yank-word' in `isearch-mode-map'.
523 *** C-y in incremental search now grabs the next line if point is already
524 at the end of a line.
527 *** C-M-w deletes and C-M-y grabs a character in isearch mode.
528 Another method to grab a character is to enter the minibuffer by `M-e'
529 and to type `C-f' at the end of the search string in the minibuffer.
532 *** M-% typed in isearch mode invokes `query-replace' or
533 `query-replace-regexp' (depending on search mode) with the current
534 search string used as the string to replace.
537 *** Isearch no longer adds `isearch-resume' commands to the command
538 history by default. To enable this feature, customize the new
539 user option `isearch-resume-in-command-history'.
541 ** Replace command changes:
544 *** New user option `query-replace-skip-read-only': when non-nil,
545 `query-replace' and related functions simply ignore
546 a match if part of it has a read-only property.
549 *** When used interactively, the commands `query-replace-regexp' and
550 `replace-regexp' allow \,expr to be used in a replacement string,
551 where expr is an arbitrary Lisp expression evaluated at replacement
552 time. In many cases, this will be more convenient than using
553 `query-replace-regexp-eval'. `\#' in a replacement string now refers
554 to the count of replacements already made by the replacement command.
555 All regular expression replacement commands now allow `\?' in the
556 replacement string to specify a position where the replacement string
557 can be edited for each replacement.
560 *** query-replace uses isearch lazy highlighting when the new user option
561 `query-replace-lazy-highlight' is non-nil.
564 *** The current match in query-replace is highlighted in new face
565 `query-replace' which by default inherits from isearch face.
567 ** File operation changes:
570 *** Unquoted `$' in file names do not signal an error any more when
571 the corresponding environment variable does not exist.
572 Instead, the `$ENVVAR' text is left as is, so that `$$' quoting
573 is only rarely needed.
576 *** In processing a local variables list, Emacs strips the prefix and
577 suffix are from every line before processing all the lines.
580 *** find-file-read-only visits multiple files in read-only mode,
581 when the file name contains wildcard characters.
584 *** find-alternate-file replaces the current file with multiple files,
585 when the file name contains wildcard characters.
588 *** Auto Compression mode is now enabled by default.
591 *** C-x C-f RET, typing nothing in the minibuffer, is no longer a special case.
593 Since the default input is the current directory, this has the effect
594 of specifying the current directory. Normally that means to visit the
595 directory with Dired.
598 *** When you are root, and you visit a file whose modes specify
599 read-only, the Emacs buffer is now read-only too. Type C-x C-q if you
600 want to make the buffer writable. (As root, you can in fact alter the
604 *** C-x s (save-some-buffers) now offers an option `d' to diff a buffer
605 against its file, so you can see what changes you would be saving.
608 *** The commands copy-file, rename-file, make-symbolic-link and
609 add-name-to-file, when given a directory as the "new name" argument,
610 convert it to a file name by merging in the within-directory part of
611 the existing file's name. (This is the same convention that shell
612 commands cp, mv, and ln follow.) Thus, M-x copy-file RET ~/foo RET
613 /tmp RET copies ~/foo to /tmp/foo.
616 *** When used interactively, `format-write-file' now asks for confirmation
617 before overwriting an existing file, unless a prefix argument is
618 supplied. This behavior is analogous to `write-file'.
621 *** The variable `auto-save-file-name-transforms' now has a third element that
622 controls whether or not the function `make-auto-save-file-name' will
623 attempt to construct a unique auto-save name (e.g. for remote files).
626 *** The new option `write-region-inhibit-fsync' disables calls to fsync
627 in `write-region'. This can be useful on laptops to avoid spinning up
628 the hard drive upon each file save. Enabling this variable may result
629 in data loss, use with care.
632 *** If the user visits a file larger than `large-file-warning-threshold',
633 Emacs asks for confirmation.
636 *** require-final-newline now has two new possible values:
638 `visit' means add a newline (as an undoable change) if it's needed
639 when visiting the file.
641 `visit-save' means add a newline (as an undoable change) if it's
642 needed when visiting the file, and also add a newline if it's needed
643 when saving the file.
646 *** The new option mode-require-final-newline controls how certain
647 major modes enable require-final-newline. Any major mode that's
648 designed for a kind of file that should normally end in a newline
649 sets require-final-newline based on mode-require-final-newline.
650 So you can customize mode-require-final-newline to control what these
653 ** Minibuffer changes:
656 *** There's a new face `minibuffer-prompt'.
657 Emacs adds this face to the list of text properties stored in the
658 variable `minibuffer-prompt-properties', which is used to display the
662 *** Enhanced visual feedback in `*Completions*' buffer.
664 Completions lists use faces to highlight what all completions
665 have in common and where they begin to differ.
667 The common prefix shared by all possible completions uses the face
668 `completions-common-part', while the first character that isn't the
669 same uses the face `completions-first-difference'. By default,
670 `completions-common-part' inherits from `default', and
671 `completions-first-difference' inherits from `bold'. The idea of
672 `completions-common-part' is that you can use it to make the common
673 parts less visible than normal, so that the rest of the differing
674 parts is, by contrast, slightly highlighted.
677 *** File-name completion can now ignore specified directories.
678 If an element of the list in `completion-ignored-extensions' ends in a
679 slash `/', it indicates a subdirectory that should be ignored when
680 completing file names. Elements of `completion-ignored-extensions'
681 which do not end in a slash are never considered when a completion
682 candidate is a directory.
685 *** The completion commands TAB, SPC and ? in the minibuffer apply only
686 to the text before point. If there is text in the buffer after point,
687 it remains unchanged.
690 *** New user option `history-delete-duplicates'.
691 If set to t when adding a new history element, all previous identical
692 elements are deleted.
694 ** Redisplay changes:
697 *** The mode line position information now comes before the major mode.
698 When the file is maintained under version control, that information
699 appears between the position information and the major mode.
702 *** New face `escape-glyph' highlights control characters and escape glyphs.
705 *** Non-breaking space and hyphens are now displayed with a special
706 face, either nobreak-space or escape-glyph. You can turn this off or
707 specify a different mode by setting the variable `nobreak-char-display'.
710 *** The parameters of automatic hscrolling can now be customized.
711 The variable `hscroll-margin' determines how many columns away from
712 the window edge point is allowed to get before automatic hscrolling
713 will horizontally scroll the window. The default value is 5.
715 The variable `hscroll-step' determines how many columns automatic
716 hscrolling scrolls the window when point gets too close to the
717 window edge. If its value is zero, the default, Emacs scrolls the
718 window so as to center point. If its value is an integer, it says how
719 many columns to scroll. If the value is a floating-point number, it
720 gives the fraction of the window's width to scroll the window.
722 The variable `automatic-hscrolling' was renamed to
723 `auto-hscroll-mode'. The old name is still available as an alias.
726 *** Moving or scrolling through images (and other lines) taller that
727 the window now works sensibly, by automatically adjusting the window's
731 *** The new face `mode-line-inactive' is used to display the mode line
732 of non-selected windows. The `mode-line' face is now used to display
733 the mode line of the currently selected window.
735 The new variable `mode-line-in-non-selected-windows' controls whether
736 the `mode-line-inactive' face is used.
739 *** You can now customize the use of window fringes. To control this
740 for all frames, use M-x fringe-mode or the Show/Hide submenu of the
741 top-level Options menu, or customize the `fringe-mode' variable. To
742 control this for a specific frame, use the command M-x
746 *** Angle icons in the fringes can indicate the buffer boundaries. In
747 addition, up and down arrow bitmaps in the fringe indicate which ways
748 the window can be scrolled.
750 This behavior is activated by setting the buffer-local variable
751 `indicate-buffer-boundaries' to a non-nil value. The default value of
752 this variable is found in `default-indicate-buffer-boundaries'.
754 If value is `left' or `right', both angle and arrow bitmaps are
755 displayed in the left or right fringe, resp.
757 The value can also be an alist which specifies the presence and
758 position of each bitmap individually.
760 For example, ((top . left) (t . right)) places the top angle bitmap
761 in left fringe, the bottom angle bitmap in right fringe, and both
762 arrow bitmaps in right fringe. To show just the angle bitmaps in the
763 left fringe, but no arrow bitmaps, use ((top . left) (bottom . left)).
766 *** On window systems, lines which are exactly as wide as the window
767 (not counting the final newline character) are no longer broken into
768 two lines on the display (with just the newline on the second line).
769 Instead, the newline now "overflows" into the right fringe, and the
770 cursor will be displayed in the fringe when positioned on that newline.
772 The new user option 'overflow-newline-into-fringe' can be set to nil to
773 revert to the old behavior of continuing such lines.
776 *** When a window has display margin areas, the fringes are now
777 displayed between the margins and the buffer's text area, rather than
778 outside those margins.
781 *** A window can now have individual fringe and scroll-bar settings,
782 in addition to the individual display margin settings.
784 Such individual settings are now preserved when windows are split
785 horizontally or vertically, a saved window configuration is restored,
786 or when the frame is resized.
788 ** Cursor display changes:
791 *** On X, MS Windows, and Mac OS, the blinking cursor's "off" state is
792 now controlled by the variable `blink-cursor-alist'.
795 *** The X resource cursorBlink can be used to turn off cursor blinking.
798 *** Emacs can produce an underscore-like (horizontal bar) cursor.
799 The underscore cursor is set by putting `(cursor-type . hbar)' in
800 default-frame-alist. It supports variable heights, like the `bar'
804 *** Display of hollow cursors now obeys the buffer-local value (if any)
805 of `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' in the buffer that the cursor
809 *** The variable `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' can now be set to any
810 of the recognized cursor types.
815 *** `mode-line-highlight' is the standard face indicating mouse sensitive
816 elements on mode-line (and header-line) like `highlight' face on text
820 *** `shadow' face defines the appearance of the "shadowed" text, i.e.
821 the text which should be less noticeable than the surrounding text.
822 This can be achieved by using shades of grey in contrast with either
823 black or white default foreground color. This generic shadow face
824 allows customization of the appearance of shadowed text in one place,
825 so package-specific faces can inherit from it.
828 *** `vertical-border' face is used for the vertical divider between windows.
830 ** Font-Lock changes:
833 *** M-o now is the prefix key for setting text properties;
834 M-o M-o requests refontification.
837 *** All modes now support using M-x font-lock-mode to toggle
838 fontification, even those such as Occur, Info, and comint-derived
839 modes that do their own fontification in a special way.
841 The variable `Info-fontify' is no longer applicable; to disable
842 fontification in Info, remove `turn-on-font-lock' from
846 *** font-lock-lines-before specifies a number of lines before the
847 current line that should be refontified when you change the buffer.
848 The default value is 1.
851 *** font-lock: in modes like C and Lisp where the fontification assumes that
852 an open-paren in column 0 is always outside of any string or comment,
853 font-lock now highlights any such open-paren-in-column-zero in bold-red
854 if it is inside a string or a comment, to indicate that it can cause
855 trouble with fontification and/or indentation.
858 *** New standard font-lock face `font-lock-preprocessor-face'.
861 *** New standard font-lock face `font-lock-comment-delimiter-face'.
864 *** Easy to overlook single character negation can now be font-locked.
865 You can use the new variable `font-lock-negation-char-face' and the face of
866 the same name to customize this. Currently the cc-modes, sh-script-mode,
867 cperl-mode and make-mode support this.
870 *** The default settings for JIT stealth lock parameters are changed.
871 The default value for the user option jit-lock-stealth-time is now 16
872 instead of 3, and the default value of jit-lock-stealth-nice is now
873 0.5 instead of 0.125. The new defaults should lower the CPU usage
874 when Emacs is fontifying in the background.
877 *** jit-lock can now be delayed with `jit-lock-defer-time'.
879 If this variable is non-nil, its value should be the amount of Emacs
880 idle time in seconds to wait before starting fontification. For
881 example, if you set `jit-lock-defer-time' to 0.25, fontification will
882 only happen after 0.25s of idle time.
885 *** contextual refontification is now separate from stealth fontification.
887 jit-lock-defer-contextually is renamed jit-lock-contextually and
888 jit-lock-context-time determines the delay after which contextual
889 refontification takes place.
894 *** A menu item "Show/Hide" was added to the top-level menu "Options".
895 This menu allows you to turn various display features on and off (such
896 as the fringes, the tool bar, the speedbar, and the menu bar itself).
897 You can also move the vertical scroll bar to either side here or turn
898 it off completely. There is also a menu-item to toggle displaying of
899 current date and time, current line and column number in the mode-line.
902 *** Speedbar has moved from the "Tools" top level menu to "Show/Hide".
905 *** You can exit dialog windows and menus by typing C-g.
908 *** The menu item "Open File..." has been split into two items, "New File..."
909 and "Open File...". "Open File..." now opens only existing files. This is
910 to support existing GUI file selection dialogs better.
913 *** The file selection dialog for Gtk+, Mac, W32 and Motif/Lesstif can be
914 disabled by customizing the variable `use-file-dialog'.
917 *** The pop up menus for Lucid now stay up if you do a fast click and can
918 be navigated with the arrow keys (like Gtk+, Mac and W32).
921 *** The Lucid menus can display multilingual text in your locale. You have
922 to explicitly specify a fontSet resource for this to work, for example
923 `-xrm "Emacs*fontSet: -*-helvetica-medium-r-*--*-120-*-*-*-*-*-*,*"'.
926 *** Dialogs for Lucid/Athena and Lesstif/Motif now pops down when pressing
927 ESC, like they do for Gtk+, Mac and W32.
930 *** For Gtk+ version 2.4, you can make Emacs use the old file dialog
931 by setting the variable `x-use-old-gtk-file-dialog' to t. Default is to use
937 *** If you set the new variable `mouse-autoselect-window' to a non-nil
938 value, windows are automatically selected as you move the mouse from
939 one Emacs window to another, even within a frame. A minibuffer window
940 can be selected only when it is active.
943 *** On X, when the window manager requires that you click on a frame to
944 select it (give it focus), the selected window and cursor position
945 normally changes according to the mouse click position. If you set
946 the variable x-mouse-click-focus-ignore-position to t, the selected
947 window and cursor position do not change when you click on a frame
951 *** You can now follow links by clicking Mouse-1 on the link.
953 Traditionally, Emacs uses a Mouse-1 click to set point and a Mouse-2
954 click to follow a link, whereas most other applications use a Mouse-1
955 click for both purposes, depending on whether you click outside or
956 inside a link. Now the behavior of a Mouse-1 click has been changed
957 to match this context-sentitive dual behavior. (If you prefer the old
958 behavior, set the user option `mouse-1-click-follows-link' to nil.)
960 Depending on the current mode, a Mouse-2 click in Emacs can do much
961 more than just follow a link, so the new Mouse-1 behavior is only
962 activated for modes which explicitly mark a clickable text as a "link"
963 (see the new function `mouse-on-link-p' for details). The Lisp
964 packages that are included in release 22.1 have been adapted to do
965 this, but external packages may not yet support this. However, there
966 is no risk in using such packages, as the worst thing that could
967 happen is that you get the original Mouse-1 behavior when you click
968 on a link, which typically means that you set point where you click.
970 If you want to get the original Mouse-1 action also inside a link, you
971 just need to press the Mouse-1 button a little longer than a normal
972 click (i.e. press and hold the Mouse-1 button for half a second before
975 Dragging the Mouse-1 inside a link still performs the original
976 drag-mouse-1 action, typically copy the text.
978 You can customize the new Mouse-1 behavior via the new user options
979 `mouse-1-click-follows-link' and `mouse-1-click-in-non-selected-windows'.
982 *** Emacs normally highlights mouse sensitive text whenever the mouse
983 is over the text. By setting the new variable `mouse-highlight', you
984 can optionally enable mouse highlighting only after you move the
985 mouse, so that highlighting disappears when you press a key. You can
986 also disable mouse highlighting.
989 *** You can now customize if selecting a region by dragging the mouse
990 shall not copy the selected text to the kill-ring by setting the new
991 variable mouse-drag-copy-region to nil.
994 *** mouse-wheels can now scroll a specific fraction of the window
995 (rather than a fixed number of lines) and the scrolling is `progressive'.
998 *** Emacs ignores mouse-2 clicks while the mouse wheel is being moved.
1000 People tend to push the mouse wheel (which counts as a mouse-2 click)
1001 unintentionally while turning the wheel, so these clicks are now
1002 ignored. You can customize this with the mouse-wheel-click-event and
1003 mouse-wheel-inhibit-click-time variables.
1006 *** Under X, mouse-wheel-mode is turned on by default.
1008 ** Multilingual Environment (Mule) changes:
1011 *** Language environment and various default coding systems are setup
1012 more correctly according to the current locale name. If the locale
1013 name doesn't specify a charset, the default is what glibc defines.
1014 This change can result in using the different coding systems as
1015 default in some locale (e.g. vi_VN).
1018 *** The keyboard-coding-system is now automatically set based on your
1019 current locale settings if you are not using a window system. This
1020 can mean that the META key doesn't work but generates non-ASCII
1021 characters instead, depending on how the terminal (or terminal
1022 emulator) works. Use `set-keyboard-coding-system' (or customize
1023 keyboard-coding-system) if you prefer META to work (the old default)
1024 or if the locale doesn't describe the character set actually generated
1025 by the keyboard. See Info node `Single-Byte Character Support'.
1028 *** The new command `revert-buffer-with-coding-system' (C-x RET r)
1029 revisits the current file using a coding system that you specify.
1032 *** New command `recode-region' decodes the region again by a specified
1036 *** The new command `recode-file-name' changes the encoding of the name
1040 *** New command `ucs-insert' inserts a character specified by its
1044 *** The new command `set-file-name-coding-system' (C-x RET F) sets
1045 coding system for encoding and decoding file names. A new menu item
1046 (Options->Mule->Set Coding Systems->For File Name) invokes this
1050 *** New command quail-show-key shows what key (or key sequence) to type
1051 in the current input method to input a character at point.
1054 *** Limited support for character `unification' has been added.
1055 Emacs now knows how to translate between different representations of
1056 the same characters in various Emacs charsets according to standard
1057 Unicode mappings. This applies mainly to characters in the ISO 8859
1058 sets plus some other 8-bit sets, but can be extended. For instance,
1059 translation works amongst the Emacs ...-iso8859-... charsets and the
1060 mule-unicode-... ones.
1062 By default this translation happens automatically on encoding.
1063 Self-inserting characters are translated to make the input conformant
1064 with the encoding of the buffer in which it's being used, where
1067 You can force a more complete unification with the user option
1068 unify-8859-on-decoding-mode. That maps all the Latin-N character sets
1069 into Unicode characters (from the latin-iso8859-1 and
1070 mule-unicode-0100-24ff charsets) on decoding. Note that this mode
1071 will often effectively clobber data with an iso-2022 encoding.
1074 *** There is support for decoding Greek and Cyrillic characters into
1075 either Unicode (the mule-unicode charsets) or the iso-8859 charsets,
1076 when possible. The latter are more space-efficient. This is
1077 controlled by user option utf-fragment-on-decoding.
1080 *** New language environments: French, Ukrainian, Tajik,
1081 Bulgarian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, UTF-8, Windows-1255, Welsh, Latin-6,
1082 Latin-7, Lithuanian, Latvian, Swedish, Slovenian, Croatian, Georgian,
1083 Italian, Russian, Malayalam, Tamil, Russian, Chinese-EUC-TW. (Set up
1084 automatically according to the locale.)
1087 *** New input methods: latin-alt-postfix, latin-postfix, latin-prefix,
1088 ukrainian-computer, belarusian, bulgarian-bds, russian-computer,
1089 vietnamese-telex, lithuanian-numeric, lithuanian-keyboard,
1090 latvian-keyboard, welsh, georgian, rfc1345, ucs, sgml,
1091 bulgarian-phonetic, dutch, slovenian, croatian, malayalam-inscript,
1095 *** New input method chinese-sisheng for inputting Chinese Pinyin
1099 *** Improved Thai support. A new minor mode `thai-word-mode' (which is
1100 automatically activated if you select Thai as a language
1101 environment) changes key bindings of most word-oriented commands to
1102 versions which recognize Thai words. Affected commands are
1106 M-DEL (backward-kill-word)
1107 M-t (transpose-words)
1108 M-q (fill-paragraph)
1111 *** Indian support has been updated.
1112 The in-is13194 coding system is now Unicode-based. CDAC fonts are
1113 assumed. There is a framework for supporting various
1114 Indian scripts, but currently only Devanagari, Malayalam and Tamil are
1118 *** A UTF-7 coding system is available in the library `utf-7'.
1121 *** The utf-8/16 coding systems have been enhanced.
1122 By default, untranslatable utf-8 sequences are simply composed into
1123 single quasi-characters. User option `utf-translate-cjk-mode' (it is
1124 turned on by default) arranges to translate many utf-8 CJK character
1125 sequences into real Emacs characters in a similar way to the Mule-UCS
1126 system. As this loads a fairly big data on demand, people who are not
1127 interested in CJK characters may want to customize it to nil.
1128 You can augment/amend the CJK translation via hash tables
1129 `ucs-mule-cjk-to-unicode' and `ucs-unicode-to-mule-cjk'. The utf-8
1130 coding system now also encodes characters from most of Emacs's
1131 one-dimensional internal charsets, specifically the ISO-8859 ones.
1132 The utf-16 coding system is affected similarly.
1135 *** A new coding system `euc-tw' has been added for traditional Chinese
1136 in CNS encoding; it accepts both Big 5 and CNS as input; on saving,
1137 Big 5 is then converted to CNS.
1140 *** Many new coding systems are available in the `code-pages' library.
1141 These include complete versions of most of those in codepage.el, based
1142 on Unicode mappings. `codepage-setup' is now obsolete and is used
1143 only in the MS-DOS port of Emacs. All coding systems defined in
1144 `code-pages' are auto-loaded.
1147 *** New variable `utf-translate-cjk-unicode-range' controls which
1148 Unicode characters to translate in `utf-translate-cjk-mode'.
1151 *** iso-10646-1 (`Unicode') fonts can be used to display any range of
1152 characters encodable by the utf-8 coding system. Just specify the
1153 fontset appropriately.
1155 ** Customize changes:
1158 *** Custom themes are collections of customize options. Create a
1159 custom theme with M-x customize-create-theme. Use M-x load-theme to
1160 load and enable a theme, and M-x disable-theme to disable it. Use M-x
1161 enable-theme to renable a disabled theme.
1164 *** The commands M-x customize-face and M-x customize-face-other-window
1165 now look at the character after point. If a face or faces are
1166 specified for that character, the commands by default customize those
1170 *** The face-customization widget has been reworked to be less confusing.
1171 In particular, when you enable a face attribute using the corresponding
1172 check-box, there's no longer a redundant `*' option in value selection
1173 for that attribute; the values you can choose are only those which make
1174 sense for the attribute. When an attribute is de-selected by unchecking
1175 its check-box, then the (now ignored, but still present temporarily in
1176 case you re-select the attribute) value is hidden.
1179 *** When you set or reset a variable's value in a Customize buffer,
1180 the previous value becomes the "backup value" of the variable.
1181 You can go back to that backup value by selecting "Use Backup Value"
1182 under the "[State]" button.
1184 ** Buffer Menu changes:
1187 *** New command `Buffer-menu-toggle-files-only' toggles display of file
1188 buffers only in the Buffer Menu. It is bound to `T' in Buffer Menu
1192 *** `buffer-menu' and `list-buffers' now list buffers whose names begin
1193 with a space, when those buffers are visiting files. Normally buffers
1194 whose names begin with space are omitted.
1197 *** The new options `buffers-menu-show-directories' and
1198 `buffers-menu-show-status' let you control how buffers are displayed
1199 in the menu dropped down when you click "Buffers" from the menu bar.
1201 `buffers-menu-show-directories' controls whether the menu displays
1202 leading directories as part of the file name visited by the buffer.
1203 If its value is `unless-uniquify', the default, directories are
1204 shown unless uniquify-buffer-name-style' is non-nil. The value of nil
1205 and t turn the display of directories off and on, respectively.
1207 `buffers-menu-show-status' controls whether the Buffers menu includes
1208 the modified and read-only status of the buffers. By default it is
1209 t, and the status is shown.
1211 Setting these variables directly does not take effect until next time
1212 the Buffers menu is regenerated.
1217 *** New faces dired-header, dired-mark, dired-marked, dired-flagged,
1218 dired-ignored, dired-directory, dired-symlink, dired-warning
1219 introduced for Dired mode instead of font-lock faces.
1222 *** New Dired command `dired-compare-directories' marks files
1223 with different file attributes in two dired buffers.
1226 *** New Dired command `dired-do-touch' (bound to T) changes timestamps
1227 of marked files with the value entered in the minibuffer.
1230 *** In Dired's ! command (dired-do-shell-command), `*' and `?' now
1231 control substitution of the file names only when they are surrounded
1232 by whitespace. This means you can now use them as shell wildcards
1233 too. If you want to use just plain `*' as a wildcard, type `*""'; the
1234 doublequotes make no difference in the shell, but they prevent
1235 special treatment in `dired-do-shell-command'.
1238 *** In Dired, the w command now copies the current line's file name
1239 into the kill ring. With a zero prefix arg, copies absolute file names.
1242 *** In Dired-x, Omitting files is now a minor mode, dired-omit-mode.
1244 The mode toggling command is bound to M-o. A new command
1245 dired-mark-omitted, bound to * O, marks omitted files. The variable
1246 dired-omit-files-p is obsoleted, use the mode toggling function
1250 *** The variables dired-free-space-program and dired-free-space-args
1251 have been renamed to directory-free-space-program and
1252 directory-free-space-args, and they now apply whenever Emacs puts a
1253 directory listing into a buffer.
1258 *** The comint prompt can now be made read-only, using the new user
1259 option `comint-prompt-read-only'. This is not enabled by default,
1260 except in IELM buffers. The read-only status of IELM prompts can be
1261 controlled with the new user option `ielm-prompt-read-only', which
1262 overrides `comint-prompt-read-only'.
1264 The new commands `comint-kill-whole-line' and `comint-kill-region'
1265 support editing comint buffers with read-only prompts.
1267 `comint-kill-whole-line' is like `kill-whole-line', but ignores both
1268 read-only and field properties. Hence, it always kill entire
1269 lines, including any prompts.
1271 `comint-kill-region' is like `kill-region', except that it ignores
1272 read-only properties, if it is safe to do so. This means that if any
1273 part of a prompt is deleted, then the entire prompt must be deleted
1274 and that all prompts must stay at the beginning of a line. If this is
1275 not the case, then `comint-kill-region' behaves just like
1276 `kill-region' if read-only are involved: it copies the text to the
1277 kill-ring, but does not delete it.
1280 *** The new command `comint-insert-previous-argument' in comint-derived
1281 modes (shell-mode etc) inserts arguments from previous command lines,
1282 like bash's `ESC .' binding. It is bound by default to `C-c .', but
1283 otherwise behaves quite similarly to the bash version.
1286 *** `comint-use-prompt-regexp-instead-of-fields' has been renamed
1287 `comint-use-prompt-regexp'. The old name has been kept as an alias,
1288 but declared obsolete.
1290 ** M-x Compile changes:
1293 *** M-x compile has become more robust and reliable
1295 Quite a few more kinds of messages are recognized. Messages that are
1296 recognized as warnings or informational come in orange or green, instead of
1297 red. Informational messages are by default skipped with `next-error'
1298 (controlled by `compilation-skip-threshold').
1300 Location data is collected on the fly as the *compilation* buffer changes.
1301 This means you could modify messages to make them point to different files.
1302 This also means you can not go to locations of messages you may have deleted.
1304 The variable `compilation-error-regexp-alist' has now become customizable. If
1305 you had added your own regexps to this, you'll probably need to include a
1306 leading `^', otherwise they'll match anywhere on a line. There is now also a
1307 `compilation-mode-font-lock-keywords' and it nicely handles all the checks
1308 that configure outputs and -o options so you see at a glance where you are.
1310 The new file etc/compilation.txt gives examples of each type of message.
1313 *** New user option `compilation-environment'.
1314 This option allows you to specify environment variables for inferior
1315 compilation processes without affecting the environment that all
1316 subprocesses inherit.
1319 *** New user option `compilation-disable-input'.
1320 If this is non-nil, send end-of-file as compilation process input.
1323 *** New options `next-error-highlight' and `next-error-highlight-no-select'
1324 specify the method of highlighting of the corresponding source line
1325 in new face `next-error'.
1328 *** A new minor mode `next-error-follow-minor-mode' can be used in
1329 compilation-mode, grep-mode, occur-mode, and diff-mode (i.e. all the
1330 modes that can use `next-error'). In this mode, cursor motion in the
1331 buffer causes automatic display in another window of the corresponding
1332 matches, compilation errors, etc. This minor mode can be toggled with
1336 *** When the left fringe is displayed, an arrow points to current message in
1337 the compilation buffer.
1340 *** The new variable `compilation-context-lines' controls lines of leading
1341 context before the current message. If nil and the left fringe is displayed,
1342 it doesn't scroll the compilation output window. If there is no left fringe,
1343 no arrow is displayed and a value of nil means display the message at the top
1346 ** Occur mode changes:
1349 *** In the *Occur* buffer, `o' switches to it in another window, and
1350 C-o displays the current line's occurrence in another window without
1354 *** You can now use next-error (C-x `) and previous-error to advance to
1355 the next/previous matching line found by M-x occur.
1358 *** The new command `multi-occur' is just like `occur', except it can
1359 search multiple buffers. There is also a new command
1360 `multi-occur-by-filename-regexp' which allows you to specify the
1361 buffers to search by their filename. Internally, Occur mode has been
1362 rewritten, and now uses font-lock, among other changes.
1367 *** Grep has been decoupled from compilation mode setup.
1369 There's a new separate package grep.el, with its own submenu and
1370 customization group.
1373 *** M-x grep provides highlighting support.
1375 Hits are fontified in green, and hits in binary files in orange. Grep buffers
1376 can be saved and automatically revisited.
1379 *** `grep-find' is now also available under the name `find-grep' where
1380 people knowing `find-grep-dired' would probably expect it.
1383 *** The new variables `grep-window-height', `grep-auto-highlight', and
1384 `grep-scroll-output' override the corresponding compilation mode
1385 settings, for grep commands only.
1388 *** New option `grep-highlight-matches' highlightes matches in *grep*
1389 buffer. It uses a special feature of some grep programs which accept
1390 --color option to output markers around matches. When going to the next
1391 match with `next-error' the exact match is highlighted in the source
1392 buffer. Otherwise, if `grep-highlight-matches' is nil, the whole
1393 source line is highlighted.
1396 *** New key bindings in grep output window:
1397 SPC and DEL scrolls window up and down. C-n and C-p moves to next and
1398 previous match in the grep window. RET jumps to the source line of
1399 the current match. `n' and `p' shows next and previous match in
1400 other window, but does not switch buffer. `{' and `}' jumps to the
1401 previous or next file in the grep output. TAB also jumps to the next
1405 *** M-x grep now tries to avoid appending `/dev/null' to the command line
1406 by using GNU grep `-H' option instead. M-x grep automatically
1407 detects whether this is possible or not the first time it is invoked.
1408 When `-H' is used, the grep command line supplied by the user is passed
1409 unchanged to the system to execute, which allows more complicated
1410 command lines to be used than was possible before.
1412 ** X Windows Support:
1415 *** Emacs now supports drag and drop for X. Dropping a file on a window
1416 opens it, dropping text inserts the text. Dropping a file on a dired
1417 buffer copies or moves the file to that directory.
1420 *** Under X11, it is possible to swap Alt and Meta (and Super and Hyper).
1421 The new variables `x-alt-keysym', `x-hyper-keysym', `x-meta-keysym',
1422 and `x-super-keysym' can be used to choose which keysyms Emacs should
1423 use for the modifiers. For example, the following two lines swap
1425 (setq x-alt-keysym 'meta)
1426 (setq x-meta-keysym 'alt)
1429 *** The X resource useXIM can be used to turn off use of XIM, which can
1430 speed up Emacs with slow networking to the X server.
1432 If the configure option `--without-xim' was used to turn off use of
1433 XIM by default, the X resource useXIM can be used to turn it on.
1436 *** The new variable `x-select-request-type' controls how Emacs
1437 requests X selection. The default value is nil, which means that
1438 Emacs requests X selection with types COMPOUND_TEXT and UTF8_STRING,
1439 and use the more appropriately result.
1442 *** The scrollbar under LessTif or Motif has a smoother drag-scrolling.
1443 On the other hand, the size of the thumb does not represent the actual
1444 amount of text shown any more (only a crude approximation of it).
1449 *** Emacs now responds to mouse-clicks on the mode-line, header-line and
1450 display margin, when run in an xterm.
1453 *** Improved key bindings support when running in an xterm.
1454 When emacs is running in an xterm more key bindings are available. The
1455 following should work:
1456 {C,S,C-S,A}-{right,left,up,down,prior,next,delete,insert,F1-12}.
1457 These key bindings work on xterm from X.org 6.8, they might not work on
1458 some older versions of xterm, or on some proprietary versions.
1460 ** Character terminal color support changes:
1463 *** The new command-line option --color=MODE lets you specify a standard
1464 mode for a tty color support. It is meant to be used on character
1465 terminals whose capabilities are not set correctly in the terminal
1466 database, or with terminal emulators which support colors, but don't
1467 set the TERM environment variable to a name of a color-capable
1468 terminal. "emacs --color" uses the same color commands as GNU `ls'
1469 when invoked with "ls --color", so if your terminal can support colors
1470 in "ls --color", it will support "emacs --color" as well. See the
1471 user manual for the possible values of the MODE parameter.
1474 *** Emacs now supports several character terminals which provide more
1475 than 8 colors. For example, for `xterm', 16-color, 88-color, and
1476 256-color modes are supported. Emacs automatically notes at startup
1477 the extended number of colors, and defines the appropriate entries for
1478 all of these colors.
1481 *** Emacs now uses the full range of available colors for the default
1482 faces when running on a color terminal, including 16-, 88-, and
1483 256-color xterms. This means that when you run "emacs -nw" on an
1484 88-color or 256-color xterm, you will see essentially the same face
1488 *** There's a new support for colors on `rxvt' terminal emulator.
1490 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 22.1
1493 ** Newsticker is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1495 Newsticker asynchronously retrieves headlines (RSS) from a list of news
1496 sites, prepares these headlines for reading, and allows for loading the
1497 corresponding articles in a web browser. Its documentation is in a
1501 ** savehist saves minibuffer histories between sessions.
1504 ** Filesets are collections of files. You can define a fileset in
1505 various ways, such as based on a directory tree or based on
1506 program files that include other program files.
1508 Once you have defined a fileset, you can perform various operations on
1509 all the files in it, such as visiting them or searching and replacing
1513 ** Calc is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1515 Calc is an advanced desk calculator and mathematical tool written in
1516 Emacs Lisp. Its documentation is in a separate manual; within Emacs,
1517 type "C-h i m calc RET" to read that manual. A reference card is
1518 available in `etc/calccard.tex' and `etc/calccard.ps'.
1521 ** The new package ibuffer provides a powerful, completely
1522 customizable replacement for buff-menu.el.
1525 ** Ido mode is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1527 The ido (interactively do) package is an extension of the iswitchb
1528 package to do interactive opening of files and directories in addition
1529 to interactive buffer switching. Ido is a superset of iswitchb (with
1530 a few exceptions), so don't enable both packages.
1533 ** Image files are normally visited in Image mode, which lets you toggle
1534 between viewing the image and viewing the text using C-c C-c.
1537 ** CUA mode is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1539 The new cua package provides CUA-like keybindings using C-x for
1540 cut (kill), C-c for copy, C-v for paste (yank), and C-z for undo.
1541 With cua, the region can be set and extended using shifted movement
1542 keys (like pc-selection-mode) and typed text replaces the active
1543 region (like delete-selection-mode). Do not enable these modes with
1544 cua-mode. Customize the variable `cua-mode' to enable cua.
1546 In addition, cua provides unified rectangle support with visible
1547 rectangle highlighting: Use C-return to start a rectangle, extend it
1548 using the movement commands (or mouse-3), and cut or copy it using C-x
1549 or C-c (using C-w and M-w also works).
1551 Use M-o and M-c to `open' or `close' the rectangle, use M-b or M-f, to
1552 fill it with blanks or another character, use M-u or M-l to upcase or
1553 downcase the rectangle, use M-i to increment the numbers in the
1554 rectangle, use M-n to fill the rectangle with a numeric sequence (such
1555 as 10 20 30...), use M-r to replace a regexp in the rectangle, and use
1556 M-' or M-/ to restrict command on the rectangle to a subset of the
1557 rows. See the commentary in cua-base.el for more rectangle commands.
1559 Cua also provides unified support for registers: Use a numeric
1560 prefix argument between 0 and 9, i.e. M-0 .. M-9, for C-x, C-c, and
1561 C-v to cut or copy into register 0-9, or paste from register 0-9.
1563 The last text deleted (not killed) is automatically stored in
1564 register 0. This includes text deleted by typing text.
1566 Finally, cua provides a global mark which is set using S-C-space.
1567 When the global mark is active, any text which is cut or copied is
1568 automatically inserted at the global mark position. See the
1569 commentary in cua-base.el for more global mark related commands.
1571 The features of cua also works with the standard emacs bindings for
1572 kill, copy, yank, and undo. If you want to use cua mode, but don't
1573 want the C-x, C-c, C-v, and C-z bindings, you can customize the
1574 `cua-enable-cua-keys' variable.
1576 Note: This version of cua mode is not backwards compatible with older
1577 versions of cua.el and cua-mode.el. To ensure proper operation, you
1578 must remove older versions of cua.el or cua-mode.el as well as the
1579 loading and customization of those packages from the .emacs file.
1582 ** Org mode is now part of the Emacs distribution
1584 Org mode is a mode for keeping notes, maintaining ToDo lists, and
1585 doing project planning with a fast and effective plain-text system.
1586 It also contains a plain-text table editor with spreadsheet-like
1589 The Org mode table editor can be integrated into any major mode by
1590 activating the minor Orgtbl-mode.
1592 The documentation for org-mode is in a separate manual; within Emacs,
1593 type "C-h i m org RET" to read that manual. A reference card is
1594 available in `etc/orgcard.tex' and `etc/orgcard.ps'.
1597 ** The new package dns-mode.el add syntax highlight of DNS master files.
1598 The key binding C-c C-s (`dns-mode-soa-increment-serial') can be used
1599 to increment the SOA serial.
1602 ** The new global minor mode `file-name-shadow-mode' modifies the way
1603 filenames being entered by the user in the minibuffer are displayed, so
1604 that it's clear when part of the entered filename will be ignored due to
1605 emacs' filename parsing rules. The ignored portion can be made dim,
1606 invisible, or otherwise less visually noticable. The display method can
1607 be displayed by customizing the variable `file-name-shadow-properties'.
1610 ** The new package flymake.el does on-the-fly syntax checking of program
1611 source files. See the Flymake's Info manual for more details.
1614 ** The new keypad setup package provides several common bindings for
1615 the numeric keypad which is available on most keyboards. The numeric
1616 keypad typically has the digits 0 to 9, a decimal point, keys marked
1617 +, -, /, and *, an Enter key, and a NumLock toggle key. The keypad
1618 package only controls the use of the digit and decimal keys.
1620 By customizing the variables `keypad-setup', `keypad-shifted-setup',
1621 `keypad-numlock-setup', and `keypad-numlock-shifted-setup', or by
1622 using the function `keypad-setup', you can rebind all digit keys and
1623 the decimal key of the keypad in one step for each of the four
1624 possible combinations of the Shift key state (not pressed/pressed) and
1625 the NumLock toggle state (off/on).
1627 The choices for the keypad keys in each of the above states are:
1628 `Plain numeric keypad' where the keys generates plain digits,
1629 `Numeric keypad with decimal key' where the character produced by the
1630 decimal key can be customized individually (for internationalization),
1631 `Numeric Prefix Arg' where the keypad keys produce numeric prefix args
1632 for emacs editing commands, `Cursor keys' and `Shifted Cursor keys'
1633 where the keys work like (shifted) arrow keys, home/end, etc., and
1634 `Unspecified/User-defined' where the keypad keys (kp-0, kp-1, etc.)
1635 are left unspecified and can be bound individually through the global
1639 ** The new kmacro package provides a simpler user interface to
1640 emacs' keyboard macro facilities.
1642 Basically, it uses two function keys (default F3 and F4) like this:
1643 F3 starts a macro, F4 ends the macro, and pressing F4 again executes
1644 the last macro. While defining the macro, F3 inserts a counter value
1645 which automatically increments every time the macro is executed.
1647 There is now a keyboard macro ring which stores the most recently
1650 The C-x C-k sequence is now a prefix for the kmacro keymap which
1651 defines bindings for moving through the keyboard macro ring,
1652 C-x C-k C-p and C-x C-k C-n, editing the last macro C-x C-k C-e,
1653 manipulating the macro counter and format via C-x C-k C-c,
1654 C-x C-k C-a, and C-x C-k C-f. See the commentary in kmacro.el
1657 The normal macro bindings C-x (, C-x ), and C-x e now interfaces to
1658 the keyboard macro ring.
1660 The C-x e command now automatically terminates the current macro
1661 before calling it, if used while defining a macro.
1663 In addition, when ending or calling a macro with C-x e, the macro can
1664 be repeated immediately by typing just the `e'. You can customize
1665 this behavior via the variables kmacro-call-repeat-key and
1666 kmacro-call-repeat-with-arg.
1668 Keyboard macros can now be debugged and edited interactively.
1669 C-x C-k SPC steps through the last keyboard macro one key sequence
1670 at a time, prompting for the actions to take.
1673 ** New minor mode, Visible mode, toggles invisibility in the current buffer.
1674 When enabled, it makes all invisible text visible. When disabled, it
1675 restores the previous value of `buffer-invisibility-spec'.
1678 ** The wdired.el package allows you to use normal editing commands on Dired
1679 buffers to change filenames, permissions, etc...
1682 ** The new package longlines.el provides a minor mode for editing text
1683 files composed of long lines, based on the `use-hard-newlines'
1684 mechanism. The long lines are broken up by inserting soft newlines,
1685 which are automatically removed when saving the file to disk or
1686 copying into the kill ring, clipboard, etc. By default, Longlines
1687 mode inserts soft newlines automatically during editing, a behavior
1688 referred to as "soft word wrap" in other text editors. This is
1689 similar to Refill mode, but more reliable. To turn the word wrap
1690 feature off, set `longlines-auto-wrap' to nil.
1693 ** The printing package is now part of the Emacs distribution.
1695 If you enable the printing package by including (require 'printing) in
1696 the .emacs file, the normal Print item on the File menu is replaced
1697 with a Print sub-menu which allows you to preview output through
1698 ghostview, use ghostscript to print (if you don't have a PostScript
1699 printer) or send directly to printer a PostScript code generated by
1700 `ps-print' package. Use M-x pr-help for more information.
1703 ** The minor mode Reveal mode makes text visible on the fly as you
1704 move your cursor into hidden regions of the buffer.
1705 It should work with any package that uses overlays to hide parts
1706 of a buffer, such as outline-minor-mode, hs-minor-mode, hide-ifdef-mode, ...
1708 There is also Global Reveal mode which affects all buffers.
1711 ** The ruler-mode.el library provides a minor mode for displaying an
1712 "active" ruler in the header line. You can use the mouse to visually
1713 change the `fill-column', `window-margins' and `tab-stop-list'
1717 ** SES mode (ses-mode) is a new major mode for creating and editing
1718 spreadsheet files. Besides the usual Emacs features (intuitive command
1719 letters, undo, cell formulas in Lisp, plaintext files, etc.) it also offers
1720 viral immunity and import/export of tab-separated values.
1723 ** The new global minor mode `size-indication-mode' (off by default)
1724 shows the size of accessible part of the buffer on the mode line.
1727 ** The new package table.el implements editable, WYSIWYG, embedded
1728 `text tables' in Emacs buffers. It simulates the effect of putting
1729 these tables in a special major mode. The package emulates WYSIWYG
1730 table editing available in modern word processors. The package also
1731 can generate a table source in typesetting and markup languages such
1732 as latex and html from the visually laid out text table.
1735 ** The thumbs.el package allows you to preview image files as thumbnails
1736 and can be invoked from a Dired buffer.
1739 ** Tramp is now part of the distribution.
1741 This package is similar to Ange-FTP: it allows you to edit remote
1742 files. But whereas Ange-FTP uses FTP to access the remote host,
1743 Tramp uses a shell connection. The shell connection is always used
1744 for filename completion and directory listings and suchlike, but for
1745 the actual file transfer, you can choose between the so-called
1746 `inline' methods (which transfer the files through the shell
1747 connection using base64 or uu encoding) and the `out-of-band' methods
1748 (which invoke an external copying program such as `rcp' or `scp' or
1749 `rsync' to do the copying).
1751 Shell connections can be acquired via `rsh', `ssh', `telnet' and also
1752 `su' and `sudo'. Ange-FTP is still supported via the `ftp' method.
1754 If you want to disable Tramp you should set
1756 (setq tramp-default-method "ftp")
1759 ** The URL package (which had been part of W3) is now part of Emacs.
1762 ** `cfengine-mode' is a major mode for editing GNU Cfengine
1763 configuration files.
1766 ** The new package conf-mode.el handles thousands of configuration files, with
1767 varying syntaxes for comments (;, #, //, /* */ or !), assignment (var = value,
1768 var : value, var value or keyword var value) and sections ([section] or
1769 section { }). Many files under /etc/, or with suffixes like .cf through
1770 .config, .properties (Java), .desktop (KDE/Gnome), .ini and many others are
1774 ** GDB-Script-mode is used for files like .gdbinit.
1777 ** The new python.el package is used to edit Python and Jython programs.
1780 ** The TCL package tcl-mode.el was replaced by tcl.el.
1781 This was actually done in Emacs-21.1, and was not documented.
1783 ** The new package scroll-lock.el provides the Scroll Lock minor mode
1784 for pager-like scrolling. Keys which normally move point by line or
1785 paragraph will scroll the buffer by the respective amount of lines
1786 instead and point will be kept vertically fixed relative to window
1787 boundaries during scrolling.
1789 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 22.1:
1791 ** The variable `woman-topic-at-point' was renamed
1792 to `woman-use-topic-at-point' and behaves differently: if this
1793 variable is non-nil, the `woman' command uses the word at point
1794 automatically, without asking for a confirmation. Otherwise, the word
1795 at point is suggested as default, but not inserted at the prompt.
1798 ** Changes to cmuscheme
1800 *** Emacs now offers to start Scheme if the user tries to
1801 evaluate a Scheme expression but no Scheme subprocess is running.
1803 *** If a file `.emacs_NAME' (where NAME is the name of the Scheme interpreter)
1804 exists in the user's home directory or in ~/.emacs.d, its
1805 contents are sent to the Scheme subprocess upon startup.
1807 *** There are new commands to instruct the Scheme interpreter to trace
1808 procedure calls (`scheme-trace-procedure') and to expand syntactic forms
1809 (`scheme-expand-current-form'). The commands actually sent to the Scheme
1810 subprocess are controlled by the user options `scheme-trace-command',
1811 `scheme-untrace-command' and `scheme-expand-current-form'.
1814 ** Makefile mode has submodes for automake, gmake, makepp and BSD make.
1816 The former two couldn't be differentiated before, and the latter two
1817 are new. Font-locking is robust now and offers new customizable
1821 ** In Outline mode, `hide-body' no longer hides lines at the top
1822 of the file that precede the first header line.
1825 ** Telnet now prompts you for a port number with C-u M-x telnet.
1828 ** The terminal emulation code in term.el has been improved; it can
1829 run most curses applications now.
1832 ** M-x diff uses Diff mode instead of Compilation mode.
1835 ** You can now customize `fill-nobreak-predicate' to control where
1836 filling can break lines. The value is now normally a list of
1837 functions, but it can also be a single function, for compatibility.
1839 Emacs provide two predicates, `fill-single-word-nobreak-p' and
1840 `fill-french-nobreak-p', for use as the value of
1841 `fill-nobreak-predicate'.
1844 ** M-x view-file and commands that use it now avoid interfering
1845 with special modes such as Tar mode.
1848 ** Commands `winner-redo' and `winner-undo', from winner.el, are now
1849 bound to C-c <left> and C-c <right>, respectively. This is an
1850 incompatible change.
1853 ** `global-whitespace-mode' is a new alias for `whitespace-global-mode'.
1856 ** M-x compare-windows now can automatically skip non-matching text to
1857 resync points in both windows.
1860 ** New user option `add-log-always-start-new-record'.
1862 When this option is enabled, M-x add-change-log-entry always
1863 starts a new record regardless of when the last record is.
1866 ** PO translation files are decoded according to their MIME headers
1867 when Emacs visits them.
1869 ** Info mode changes:
1872 *** A numeric prefix argument of `info' selects an Info buffer
1873 with the number appended to the `*info*' buffer name (e.g. "*info*<2>").
1876 *** isearch in Info uses Info-search and searches through multiple nodes.
1878 Before leaving the initial Info node isearch fails once with the error
1879 message [initial node], and with subsequent C-s/C-r continues through
1880 other nodes. When isearch fails for the rest of the manual, it wraps
1881 aroung the whole manual to the top/final node. The user option
1882 `Info-isearch-search' controls whether to use Info-search for isearch,
1883 or the default isearch search function that wraps around the current
1887 *** New search commands: `Info-search-case-sensitively' (bound to S),
1888 `Info-search-backward', and `Info-search-next' which repeats the last
1889 search without prompting for a new search string.
1892 *** New command `Info-history-forward' (bound to r and new toolbar icon)
1893 moves forward in history to the node you returned from after using
1894 `Info-history-back' (renamed from `Info-last').
1897 *** New command `Info-history' (bound to L) displays a menu of visited nodes.
1900 *** New command `Info-toc' (bound to T) creates a node with table of contents
1901 from the tree structure of menus of the current Info file.
1904 *** New command `info-apropos' searches the indices of the known
1905 Info files on your system for a string, and builds a menu of the
1909 *** New command `Info-copy-current-node-name' (bound to w) copies
1910 the current Info node name into the kill ring. With a zero prefix
1911 arg, puts the node name inside the `info' function call.
1914 *** New face `info-xref-visited' distinguishes visited nodes from unvisited
1915 and a new option `Info-fontify-visited-nodes' to control this.
1918 *** http and ftp links in Info are now operational: they look like cross
1919 references and following them calls `browse-url'.
1922 *** Info now hides node names in menus and cross references by default.
1924 If you prefer the old behavior, you can set the new user option
1925 `Info-hide-note-references' to nil.
1928 *** Images in Info pages are supported.
1930 Info pages show embedded images, in Emacs frames with image support.
1931 Info documentation that includes images, processed with makeinfo
1932 version 4.7 or newer, compiles to Info pages with embedded images.
1935 *** The default value for `Info-scroll-prefer-subnodes' is now nil.
1938 *** `Info-index' offers completion.
1940 ** Lisp mode changes:
1943 *** Lisp mode now uses `font-lock-doc-face' for doc strings.
1946 *** C-u C-M-q in Emacs Lisp mode pretty-prints the list after point.
1948 *** New features in evaluation commands
1951 **** The function `eval-defun' (C-M-x) called on defface reinitializes
1952 the face to the value specified in the defface expression.
1955 **** Typing C-x C-e twice prints the value of the integer result
1956 in additional formats (octal, hexadecimal, character) specified
1957 by the new function `eval-expression-print-format'. The same
1958 function also defines the result format for `eval-expression' (M-:),
1959 `eval-print-last-sexp' (C-j) and some edebug evaluation functions.
1964 *** Font lock support.
1965 CC Mode now provides font lock support for all its languages. This
1966 supersedes the font lock patterns that have been in the core font lock
1967 package for C, C++, Java and Objective-C. Like indentation, font
1968 locking is done in a uniform way across all languages (except the new
1969 AWK mode - see below). That means that the new font locking will be
1970 different from the old patterns in various details for most languages.
1972 The main goal of the font locking in CC Mode is accuracy, to provide a
1973 dependable aid in recognizing the various constructs. Some, like
1974 strings and comments, are easy to recognize while others like
1975 declarations and types can be very tricky. CC Mode can go to great
1976 lengths to recognize declarations and casts correctly, especially when
1977 the types aren't recognized by standard patterns. This is a fairly
1978 demanding analysis which can be slow on older hardware, and it can
1979 therefore be disabled by choosing a lower decoration level with the
1980 variable font-lock-maximum-decoration.
1982 Note that the most demanding font lock level has been tuned with lazy
1983 fontification in mind, i.e. there should be a support mode that waits
1984 with the fontification until the text is actually shown
1985 (e.g. Just-in-time Lock mode, which is the default, or Lazy Lock
1986 mode). Fontifying a file with several thousand lines in one go can
1987 take the better part of a minute.
1989 **** The (c|c++|objc|java|idl|pike)-font-lock-extra-types variables
1990 are now used by CC Mode to recognize identifiers that are certain to
1991 be types. (They are also used in cases that aren't related to font
1992 locking.) At the maximum decoration level, types are often recognized
1993 properly anyway, so these variables should be fairly restrictive and
1994 not contain patterns for uncertain types.
1996 **** Support for documentation comments.
1997 There is a "plugin" system to fontify documentation comments like
1998 Javadoc and the markup within them. It's independent of the host
1999 language, so it's possible to e.g. turn on Javadoc font locking in C
2000 buffers. See the variable c-doc-comment-style for details.
2002 Currently two kinds of doc comment styles are recognized: Suns Javadoc
2003 and Autodoc which is used in Pike. This is by no means a complete
2004 list of the most common tools; if your doc comment extractor of choice
2005 is missing then please drop a note to bug-cc-mode@gnu.org.
2007 **** Better handling of C++ templates.
2008 As a side effect of the more accurate font locking, C++ templates are
2009 now handled much better. The angle brackets that delimit them are
2010 given parenthesis syntax so that they can be navigated like other
2013 This also improves indentation of templates, although there still is
2014 work to be done in that area. E.g. it's required that multiline
2015 template clauses are written in full and then refontified to be
2016 recognized, and the indentation of nested templates is a bit odd and
2017 not as configurable as it ought to be.
2019 **** Improved handling of Objective-C and CORBA IDL.
2020 Especially the support for Objective-C and IDL has gotten an overhaul.
2021 The special "@" declarations in Objective-C are handled correctly.
2022 All the keywords used in CORBA IDL, PSDL, and CIDL are recognized and
2023 handled correctly, also wrt indentation.
2025 *** Support for the AWK language.
2026 Support for the AWK language has been introduced. The implementation is
2027 based around GNU AWK version 3.1, but it should work pretty well with
2028 any AWK. As yet, not all features of CC Mode have been adapted for AWK.
2031 **** Indentation Engine
2032 The CC Mode indentation engine fully supports AWK mode.
2034 AWK mode handles code formatted in the conventional AWK fashion: `{'s
2035 which start actions, user-defined functions, or compound statements are
2036 placed on the same line as the associated construct; the matching `}'s
2037 are normally placed under the start of the respective pattern, function
2038 definition, or structured statement.
2040 The predefined indentation functions haven't yet been adapted for AWK
2041 mode, though some of them may work serendipitously. There shouldn't be
2042 any problems writing custom indentation functions for AWK mode.
2044 The command C-c C-q (c-indent-defun) hasn't yet been adapted for AWK,
2045 though in practice it works properly nearly all the time. Should it
2046 fail, explicitly set the region around the function (using C-u C-SPC:
2047 C-M-h probably won't work either) then do C-M-\ (indent-region).
2050 There is a single level of font locking in AWK mode, rather than the
2051 three distinct levels the other modes have. There are several
2052 idiosyncrasies in AWK mode's font-locking due to the peculiarities of
2053 the AWK language itself.
2055 **** Comment Commands
2056 M-; (indent-for-comment) works fine. None of the other CC Mode
2057 comment formatting commands have yet been adapted for AWK mode.
2059 **** Movement Commands
2060 Most of the movement commands work in AWK mode. The most important
2061 exceptions are M-a (c-beginning-of-statement) and M-e
2062 (c-end-of-statement) which haven't yet been adapted.
2064 The notion of "defun" has been augmented to include AWK pattern-action
2065 pairs. C-M-a (c-awk-beginning-of-defun) and C-M-e (c-awk-end-of-defun)
2066 recognize these pattern-action pairs, as well as user defined
2069 **** Auto-newline Insertion and Clean-ups
2070 Auto-newline insertion hasn't yet been adapted for AWK. Some of
2071 the clean-ups can actually convert good AWK code into syntactically
2072 invalid code. These features are best disabled in AWK buffers.
2074 *** New syntactic symbols in IDL mode.
2075 The top level constructs "module" and "composition" (from CIDL) are
2076 now handled like "namespace" in C++: They are given syntactic symbols
2077 module-open, module-close, inmodule, composition-open,
2078 composition-close, and incomposition.
2080 *** New functions to do hungry delete without enabling hungry delete mode.
2081 The functions `c-hungry-backspace' and `c-hungry-delete-forward' can be
2082 bound to keys to get this feature without toggling a mode.
2084 *** Better control over `require-final-newline'.
2086 The variable `c-require-final-newline' specifies which of the modes
2087 implemented by CC mode should insert final newlines. Its value is a
2088 list of modes, and only those modes should do it. By default the list
2089 includes C, C++ and Objective-C modes.
2091 Whichever modes are in this list will set `require-final-newline'
2092 based on `mode-require-final-newline'.
2094 *** Format change for syntactic context elements.
2096 The elements in the syntactic context returned by `c-guess-basic-syntax'
2097 and stored in `c-syntactic-context' has been changed somewhat to allow
2098 attaching more information. They are now lists instead of single cons
2099 cells. E.g. a line that previously had the syntactic analysis
2101 ((inclass . 11) (topmost-intro . 13))
2105 ((inclass 11) (topmost-intro 13))
2107 In some cases there are more than one position given for a syntactic
2110 This change might affect code that call `c-guess-basic-syntax' directly,
2111 and custom lineup functions if they use `c-syntactic-context'. However,
2112 the argument given to lineup functions is still a single cons cell
2113 with nil or an integer in the cdr.
2115 *** API changes for derived modes.
2117 There have been extensive changes "under the hood" which can affect
2118 derived mode writers. Some of these changes are likely to cause
2119 incompatibilities with existing derived modes, but on the other hand
2120 care has now been taken to make it possible to extend and modify CC
2121 Mode with less risk of such problems in the future.
2123 **** New language variable system.
2124 See the comment blurb near the top of cc-langs.el.
2126 **** New initialization functions.
2127 The initialization procedure has been split up into more functions to
2128 give better control: `c-basic-common-init', `c-font-lock-init', and
2129 `c-init-language-vars'.
2131 *** Changes in analysis of nested syntactic constructs.
2132 The syntactic analysis engine has better handling of cases where
2133 several syntactic constructs appear nested on the same line. They are
2134 now handled as if each construct started on a line of its own.
2136 This means that CC Mode now indents some cases differently, and
2137 although it's more consistent there might be cases where the old way
2138 gave results that's more to one's liking. So if you find a situation
2139 where you think that the indentation has become worse, please report
2140 it to bug-cc-mode@gnu.org.
2142 **** New syntactic symbol substatement-label.
2143 This symbol is used when a label is inserted between a statement and
2144 its substatement. E.g:
2150 *** Better handling of multiline macros.
2152 **** Syntactic indentation inside macros.
2153 The contents of multiline #define's are now analyzed and indented
2154 syntactically just like other code. This can be disabled by the new
2155 variable `c-syntactic-indentation-in-macros'. A new syntactic symbol
2156 `cpp-define-intro' has been added to control the initial indentation
2159 **** New lineup function `c-lineup-cpp-define'.
2161 Now used by default to line up macro continuation lines. The behavior
2162 of this function closely mimics the indentation one gets if the macro
2163 is indented while the line continuation backslashes are temporarily
2164 removed. If syntactic indentation in macros is turned off, it works
2165 much line `c-lineup-dont-change', which was used earlier, but handles
2166 empty lines within the macro better.
2168 **** Automatically inserted newlines continues the macro if used within one.
2169 This applies to the newlines inserted by the auto-newline mode, and to
2170 `c-context-line-break' and `c-context-open-line'.
2172 **** Better alignment of line continuation backslashes.
2173 `c-backslash-region' tries to adapt to surrounding backslashes. New
2174 variable `c-backslash-max-column' which put a limit on how far out
2175 backslashes can be moved.
2177 **** Automatic alignment of line continuation backslashes.
2178 This is controlled by the new variable `c-auto-align-backslashes'. It
2179 affects `c-context-line-break', `c-context-open-line' and newlines
2180 inserted in Auto-Newline mode.
2181 **** Line indentation works better inside macros.
2183 Regardless whether syntactic indentation and syntactic indentation
2184 inside macros are enabled or not, line indentation now ignores the
2185 line continuation backslashes. This is most noticeable when syntactic
2186 indentation is turned off and there are empty lines (save for the
2187 backslash) in the macro.
2189 *** indent-for-comment is more customizable.
2190 The behavior of M-; (indent-for-comment) is now configurable through
2191 the variable `c-indent-comment-alist'. The indentation behavior based
2192 on the preceding code on the line, e.g. to get two spaces after #else
2193 and #endif but indentation to `comment-column' in most other cases
2194 (something which was hardcoded earlier).
2196 *** New function `c-context-open-line'.
2197 It's the open-line equivalent of `c-context-line-break'.
2199 *** New lineup functions
2201 **** `c-lineup-string-cont'
2202 This lineup function lines up a continued string under the one it
2205 result = prefix + "A message "
2206 "string."; <- c-lineup-string-cont
2208 **** `c-lineup-cascaded-calls'
2209 Lines up series of calls separated by "->" or ".".
2211 **** `c-lineup-knr-region-comment'
2212 Gives (what most people think is) better indentation of comments in
2213 the "K&R region" between the function header and its body.
2215 **** `c-lineup-gcc-asm-reg'
2216 Provides better indentation inside asm blocks.
2218 **** `c-lineup-argcont'
2219 Lines up continued function arguments after the preceding comma.
2221 *** Better caching of the syntactic context.
2222 CC Mode caches the positions of the opening parentheses (of any kind)
2223 of the lists surrounding the point. Those positions are used in many
2224 places as anchor points for various searches. The cache is now
2225 improved so that it can be reused to a large extent when the point is
2226 moved. The less it moves, the less needs to be recalculated.
2228 The effect is that CC Mode should be fast most of the time even when
2229 opening parens are hung (i.e. aren't in column zero). It's typically
2230 only the first time after the point is moved far down in a complex
2231 file that it'll take noticeable time to find out the syntactic
2234 *** Statements are recognized in a more robust way.
2235 Statements are recognized most of the time even when they occur in an
2236 "invalid" context, e.g. in a function argument. In practice that can
2237 happen when macros are involved.
2239 *** Improved the way `c-indent-exp' chooses the block to indent.
2240 It now indents the block for the closest sexp following the point
2241 whose closing paren ends on a different line. This means that the
2242 point doesn't have to be immediately before the block to indent.
2243 Also, only the block and the closing line is indented; the current
2244 line is left untouched.
2246 *** Added toggle for syntactic indentation.
2247 The function `c-toggle-syntactic-indentation' can be used to toggle
2248 syntactic indentation.
2250 ** In sh-script, a continuation line is only indented if the backslash was
2251 preceded by a SPC or a TAB.
2254 ** Perl mode has a new variable `perl-indent-continued-arguments'.
2257 ** The old Octave mode bindings C-c f and C-c i have been changed
2258 to C-c C-f and C-c C-i. The C-c C-i subcommands now have duplicate
2259 bindings on control characters--thus, C-c C-i C-b is the same as
2260 C-c C-i b, and so on.
2262 ** Fortran mode changes:
2265 *** Fortran mode does more font-locking by default. Use level 3
2266 highlighting for the old default.
2269 *** Fortran mode has a new variable `fortran-directive-re'.
2270 Adapt this to match the format of any compiler directives you use.
2271 Lines that match are never indented, and are given distinctive font-locking.
2274 *** F90 mode and Fortran mode have new navigation commands
2275 `f90-end-of-block', `f90-beginning-of-block', `f90-next-block',
2276 `f90-previous-block', `fortran-end-of-block',
2277 `fortran-beginning-of-block'.
2280 *** F90 mode and Fortran mode have support for `hs-minor-mode' (hideshow).
2281 It cannot deal with every code format, but ought to handle a sizeable
2285 *** The new function `f90-backslash-not-special' can be used to change
2286 the syntax of backslashes in F90 buffers.
2289 ** Reftex mode changes
2291 *** Changes to RefTeX's table of contents
2293 The new command keys "<" and ">" in the TOC buffer promote/demote the
2294 section at point or all sections in the current region, with full
2295 support for multifile documents.
2297 The new command `reftex-toc-recenter' (`C-c -') shows the current
2298 section in the TOC buffer without selecting the TOC window.
2299 Recentering can happen automatically in idle time when the option
2300 `reftex-auto-recenter-toc' is turned on. The highlight in the TOC
2301 buffer stays when the focus moves to a different window. A dedicated
2302 frame can show the TOC with the current section always automatically
2303 highlighted. The frame is created and deleted from the toc buffer
2306 The toc window can be split off horizontally instead of vertically.
2307 See new option `reftex-toc-split-windows-horizontally'.
2309 Labels can be renamed globally from the table of contents using the
2312 The new command `reftex-goto-label' jumps directly to a label
2316 *** Changes related to citations and BibTeX database files
2318 Commands that insert a citation now prompt for optional arguments when
2319 called with a prefix argument. Related new options are
2320 `reftex-cite-prompt-optional-args' and `reftex-cite-cleanup-optional-args'.
2322 The new command `reftex-create-bibtex-file' creates a BibTeX database
2323 with all entries referenced in the current document. The keys "e" and
2324 "E" allow to produce a BibTeX database file from entries marked in a
2325 citation selection buffer.
2327 The command `reftex-citation' uses the word in the buffer before the
2328 cursor as a default search string.
2330 The support for chapterbib has been improved. Different chapters can
2331 now use BibTeX or an explicit `thebibliography' environment.
2333 The macros which specify the bibliography file (like \bibliography)
2334 can be configured with the new option `reftex-bibliography-commands'.
2336 Support for jurabib has been added.
2339 *** Global index matched may be verified with a user function
2341 During global indexing, a user function can verify an index match.
2342 See new option `reftex-index-verify-function'.
2345 *** Parsing documents with many labels can be sped up.
2347 Operating in a document with thousands of labels can be sped up
2348 considerably by allowing RefTeX to derive the type of a label directly
2349 from the label prefix like `eq:' or `fig:'. The option
2350 `reftex-trust-label-prefix' needs to be configured in order to enable
2351 this feature. While the speed-up is significant, this may reduce the
2352 quality of the context offered by RefTeX to describe a label.
2355 *** Miscellaneous changes
2357 The macros which input a file in LaTeX (like \input, \include) can be
2358 configured in the new option `reftex-include-file-commands'.
2360 RefTeX supports global incremental search.
2363 ** Prolog mode has a new variable `prolog-font-lock-keywords'
2364 to support use of font-lock.
2366 ** HTML/SGML changes:
2369 *** Emacs now tries to set up buffer coding systems for HTML/XML files
2373 *** SGML mode has indentation and supports XML syntax.
2374 The new variable `sgml-xml-mode' tells SGML mode to use XML syntax.
2375 When this option is enabled, SGML tags are inserted in XML style,
2376 i.e., there is always a closing tag.
2377 By default, its setting is inferred on a buffer-by-buffer basis
2378 from the file name or buffer contents.
2381 *** `xml-mode' is now an alias for `sgml-mode', which has XML support.
2386 *** C-c C-c prompts for a command to run, and tries to offer a good default.
2389 *** The user option `tex-start-options-string' has been replaced
2390 by two new user options: `tex-start-options', which should hold
2391 command-line options to feed to TeX, and `tex-start-commands' which should hold
2392 TeX commands to use at startup.
2395 *** verbatim environments are now highlighted in courier by font-lock
2396 and super/sub-scripts are made into super/sub-scripts.
2399 *** New major mode Doctex mode, for *.dtx files.
2403 *** The new command `bibtex-url' browses a URL for the BibTeX entry at
2404 point (bound to C-c C-l and mouse-2, RET on clickable fields).
2406 *** The new command `bibtex-entry-update' (bound to C-c C-u) updates
2407 an existing BibTeX entry.
2409 *** New `bibtex-entry-format' option `required-fields', enabled by default.
2411 *** `bibtex-maintain-sorted-entries' can take values `plain',
2412 `crossref', and `entry-class' which control the sorting scheme used
2413 for BibTeX entries. `bibtex-sort-entry-class' controls the sorting
2414 scheme `entry-class'. TAB completion for reference keys and
2415 automatic detection of duplicates does not require anymore that
2416 `bibtex-maintain-sorted-entries' is non-nil.
2418 *** If the new variable `bibtex-parse-keys-fast' is non-nil,
2419 use fast but simplified algorithm for parsing BibTeX keys.
2421 *** If the new variable `bibtex-autoadd-commas' is non-nil,
2422 automatically add missing commas at end of BibTeX fields.
2424 *** The new variable `bibtex-autofill-types' contains a list of entry
2425 types for which fields are filled automatically (if possible).
2427 *** The new command `bibtex-complete' completes word fragment before
2428 point according to context (bound to M-tab).
2430 *** The new commands `bibtex-find-entry' and `bibtex-find-crossref'
2431 locate entries and crossref'd entries (bound to C-c C-s and C-c C-x).
2432 Crossref fields are clickable (bound to mouse-2, RET).
2434 *** In BibTeX mode the command `fill-paragraph' (M-q) fills
2435 individual fields of a BibTeX entry.
2437 *** The new variables `bibtex-files' and `bibtex-file-path' define a set
2438 of BibTeX files that are searched for entry keys.
2440 *** The new command `bibtex-validate-globally' checks for duplicate keys
2441 in multiple BibTeX files.
2443 *** The new command `bibtex-copy-summary-as-kill' pushes summary
2444 of BibTeX entry to kill ring (bound to C-c C-t).
2447 ** In Enriched mode, `set-left-margin' and `set-right-margin' are now
2448 by default bound to `C-c [' and `C-c ]' instead of the former `C-c C-l'
2454 *** In GUD mode, when talking to GDB, C-x C-a C-j "jumps" the program
2455 counter to the specified source line (the one where point is).
2458 *** GUD mode has its own tool bar for controlling execution of the inferior
2459 and other common debugger commands.
2462 *** The new package gdb-ui.el provides an enhanced graphical interface to
2463 GDB. You can interact with GDB through the GUD buffer in the usual way, but
2464 there are also further buffers which control the execution and describe the
2465 state of your program. It can separate the input/output of your program from
2466 that of GDB and watches expressions in the speedbar. It also uses features of
2467 Emacs 21/22 such as the toolbar, and bitmaps in the fringe to indicate
2470 Use M-x gdb to start GDB-UI.
2472 *** The variable tooltip-gud-tips-p has been removed. GUD tooltips can now be
2473 toggled independently of normal tooltips with the minor mode
2477 *** In graphical mode, with a C program, GUD Tooltips have been extended to
2478 display the #define directive associated with an identifier when program is
2482 ** GUD mode improvements for jdb:
2484 *** Search for source files using jdb classpath and class
2485 information. Fast startup since there is no need to scan all
2486 source files up front. There is also no need to create and maintain
2487 lists of source directories to scan. Look at `gud-jdb-use-classpath'
2488 and `gud-jdb-classpath' customization variables documentation.
2490 *** Supports the standard breakpoint (gud-break, gud-clear)
2491 set/clear operations from java source files under the classpath, stack
2492 traversal (gud-up, gud-down), and run until current stack finish
2495 *** Supports new jdb (Java 1.2 and later) in addition to oldjdb
2498 *** The previous method of searching for source files has been
2499 preserved in case someone still wants/needs to use it.
2500 Set `gud-jdb-use-classpath' to nil.
2502 Added Customization Variables
2504 *** `gud-jdb-command-name'. What command line to use to invoke jdb.
2506 *** `gud-jdb-use-classpath'. Allows selection of java source file searching
2507 method: set to t for new method, nil to scan `gud-jdb-directories' for
2508 java sources (previous method).
2510 *** `gud-jdb-directories'. List of directories to scan and search for java
2511 classes using the original gud-jdb method (if `gud-jdb-use-classpath'
2516 *** The STARTTLS wrapper (starttls.el) can now use GNUTLS
2517 instead of the OpenSSL based `starttls' tool. For backwards
2518 compatibility, it prefers `starttls', but you can toggle
2519 `starttls-use-gnutls' to switch to GNUTLS (or simply remove the
2522 *** Do not allow debugger output history variable to grow without bounds.
2524 ** Auto-Revert changes:
2527 *** You can now use Auto Revert mode to `tail' a file.
2529 If point is at the end of a file buffer before reverting, Auto Revert
2530 mode keeps it at the end after reverting. Similarly if point is
2531 displayed at the end of a file buffer in any window, it stays at
2532 the end of the buffer in that window. This allows to tail a file:
2533 just put point at the end of the buffer and it stays there. This
2534 rule applies to file buffers. For non-file buffers, the behavior can
2537 If you are sure that the file will only change by growing at the end,
2538 then you can tail the file more efficiently by using the new minor
2539 mode Auto Revert Tail mode. The function `auto-revert-tail-mode'
2543 *** Auto Revert mode is now more careful to avoid excessive reverts and
2544 other potential problems when deciding which non-file buffers to
2545 revert. This matters especially if Global Auto Revert mode is enabled
2546 and `global-auto-revert-non-file-buffers' is non-nil. Auto Revert
2547 mode only reverts a non-file buffer if the buffer has a non-nil
2548 `revert-buffer-function' and a non-nil `buffer-stale-function', which
2549 decides whether the buffer should be reverted. Currently, this means
2550 that auto reverting works for Dired buffers (although this may not
2551 work properly on all operating systems) and for the Buffer Menu.
2554 *** If the new user option `auto-revert-check-vc-info' is non-nil, Auto
2555 Revert mode reliably updates version control info (such as the version
2556 control number in the mode line), in all version controlled buffers in
2557 which it is active. If the option is nil, the default, then this info
2558 only gets updated whenever the buffer gets reverted.
2563 The recent file list is now automatically cleanup when recentf mode is
2564 enabled. The new option `recentf-auto-cleanup' controls when to do
2567 The ten most recent files can be quickly opened by using the shortcut
2568 keys 1 to 9, and 0, when the recent list is displayed in a buffer via
2569 the `recentf-open-files', or `recentf-open-more-files' commands.
2571 The `recentf-keep' option replaces `recentf-keep-non-readable-files-p'
2572 and provides a more general mechanism to customize which file names to
2573 keep in the recent list.
2575 With the more advanced option `recentf-filename-handlers', you can
2576 specify functions that successively transform recent file names. For
2577 example, if set to `file-truename' plus `abbreviate-file-name', the
2578 same file will not be in the recent list with different symbolic
2579 links, and the file name will be abbreviated.
2581 To follow naming convention, `recentf-menu-append-commands-flag'
2582 replaces the misnamed option `recentf-menu-append-commands-p'. The
2583 old name remains available as alias, but has been marked obsolete.
2589 *** Desktop saving is now a minor mode, `desktop-save-mode'.
2592 *** The variable `desktop-enable' is obsolete.
2594 Customize `desktop-save-mode' to enable desktop saving.
2597 *** Buffers are saved in the desktop file in the same order as that in the
2601 *** The desktop package can be customized to restore only some buffers
2602 immediately, remaining buffers are restored lazily (when Emacs is
2607 - desktop-revert reverts to the last loaded desktop.
2608 - desktop-change-dir kills current desktop and loads a new.
2609 - desktop-save-in-desktop-dir saves desktop in the directory from which
2611 - desktop-lazy-complete runs the desktop load to completion.
2612 - desktop-lazy-abort aborts lazy loading of the desktop.
2615 *** New customizable variables:
2616 - desktop-save. Determins whether the desktop should be saved when it is
2618 - desktop-file-name-format. Format in which desktop file names should be saved.
2619 - desktop-path. List of directories in which to lookup the desktop file.
2620 - desktop-locals-to-save. List of local variables to save.
2621 - desktop-globals-to-clear. List of global variables that `desktop-clear' will clear.
2622 - desktop-clear-preserve-buffers-regexp. Regexp identifying buffers that `desktop-clear'
2624 - desktop-restore-eager. Number of buffers to restore immediately. Remaining buffers are
2625 restored lazily (when Emacs is idle).
2626 - desktop-lazy-verbose. Verbose reporting of lazily created buffers.
2627 - desktop-lazy-idle-delay. Idle delay before starting to create buffers.
2630 *** New command line option --no-desktop
2634 - desktop-after-read-hook run after a desktop is loaded.
2635 - desktop-no-desktop-file-hook run when no desktop file is found.
2638 ** The saveplace.el package now filters out unreadable files.
2640 When you exit Emacs, the saved positions in visited files no longer
2641 include files that aren't readable, e.g. files that don't exist.
2642 Customize the new option `save-place-forget-unreadable-files' to nil
2643 to get the old behavior. The new options `save-place-save-skipped'
2644 and `save-place-skip-check-regexp' allow further fine-tuning of this
2650 *** When comparing directories.
2651 Typing D brings up a buffer that lists the differences between the contents of
2652 directories. Now it is possible to use this buffer to copy the missing files
2653 from one directory to another.
2656 *** When comparing files or buffers.
2657 Typing the = key now offers to perform the word-by-word comparison of the
2658 currently highlighted regions in an inferior Ediff session. If you answer 'n'
2659 then it reverts to the old behavior and asks the user to select regions for
2663 *** The new command `ediff-backup' compares a file with its most recent
2664 backup using `ediff'. If you specify the name of a backup file,
2665 `ediff-backup' compares it with the file of which it is a backup.
2670 *** New regular expressions features
2672 **** New syntax for regular expressions, multi-line regular expressions.
2674 The syntax --ignore-case-regexp=/regex/ is now undocumented and retained
2675 only for backward compatibility. The new equivalent syntax is
2676 --regex=/regex/i. More generally, it is --regex=/TAGREGEX/TAGNAME/MODS,
2677 where `/TAGNAME' is optional, as usual, and MODS is a string of 0 or
2678 more characters among `i' (ignore case), `m' (multi-line) and `s'
2679 (single-line). The `m' and `s' modifiers behave as in Perl regular
2680 expressions: `m' allows regexps to match more than one line, while `s'
2681 (which implies `m') means that `.' matches newlines. The ability to
2682 span newlines allows writing of much more powerful regular expressions
2683 and rapid prototyping for tagging new languages.
2685 **** Regular expressions can use char escape sequences as in GCC.
2687 The escaped character sequence \a, \b, \d, \e, \f, \n, \r, \t, \v,
2688 respectively, stand for the ASCII characters BEL, BS, DEL, ESC, FF, NL,
2691 **** Regular expressions can be bound to a given language.
2693 The syntax --regex={LANGUAGE}REGEX means that REGEX is used to make tags
2694 only for files of language LANGUAGE, and ignored otherwise. This is
2695 particularly useful when storing regexps in a file.
2697 **** Regular expressions can be read from a file.
2699 The --regex=@regexfile option means read the regexps from a file, one
2700 per line. Lines beginning with space or tab are ignored.
2702 *** New language parsing features
2704 **** The `::' qualifier triggers C++ parsing in C file.
2706 Previously, only the `template' and `class' keywords had this effect.
2708 **** The GCC __attribute__ keyword is now recognized and ignored.
2710 **** New language HTML.
2712 Tags are generated for `title' as well as `h1', `h2', and `h3'. Also,
2713 when `name=' is used inside an anchor and whenever `id=' is used.
2715 **** In Makefiles, constants are tagged.
2717 If you want the old behavior instead, thus avoiding to increase the
2718 size of the tags file, use the --no-globals option.
2720 **** New language Lua.
2722 All functions are tagged.
2724 **** In Perl, packages are tags.
2726 Subroutine tags are named from their package. You can jump to sub tags
2727 as you did before, by the sub name, or additionally by looking for
2730 **** In Prolog, etags creates tags for rules in addition to predicates.
2732 **** New language PHP.
2734 Functions, classes and defines are tags. If the --members option is
2735 specified to etags, variables are tags also.
2737 **** New default keywords for TeX.
2739 The new keywords are def, newcommand, renewcommand, newenvironment and
2742 *** Honour #line directives.
2744 When Etags parses an input file that contains C preprocessor's #line
2745 directives, it creates tags using the file name and line number
2746 specified in those directives. This is useful when dealing with code
2747 created from Cweb source files. When Etags tags the generated file, it
2748 writes tags pointing to the source file.
2750 *** New option --parse-stdin=FILE.
2752 This option is mostly useful when calling etags from programs. It can
2753 be used (only once) in place of a file name on the command line. Etags
2754 reads from standard input and marks the produced tags as belonging to
2760 *** The key C-x C-q only changes the read-only state of the buffer
2761 (toggle-read-only). It no longer checks files in or out.
2763 We made this change because we held a poll and found that many users
2764 were unhappy with the previous behavior. If you do prefer this
2765 behavior, you can bind `vc-toggle-read-only' to C-x C-q in your
2768 (global-set-key "\C-x\C-q" 'vc-toggle-read-only)
2770 The function `vc-toggle-read-only' will continue to exist.
2773 *** The new variable `vc-cvs-global-switches' specifies switches that
2774 are passed to any CVS command invoked by VC.
2776 These switches are used as "global options" for CVS, which means they
2777 are inserted before the command name. For example, this allows you to
2778 specify a compression level using the `-z#' option for CVS.
2781 *** New backends for Subversion and Meta-CVS.
2784 *** VC-Annotate mode enhancements
2786 In VC-Annotate mode, you can now use the following key bindings for
2787 enhanced functionality to browse the annotations of past revisions, or
2788 to view diffs or log entries directly from vc-annotate-mode:
2790 P: annotates the previous revision
2791 N: annotates the next revision
2792 J: annotates the revision at line
2793 A: annotates the revision previous to line
2794 D: shows the diff of the revision at line with its previous revision
2795 L: shows the log of the revision at line
2796 W: annotates the workfile (most up to date) version
2801 *** In pcl-cvs mode, there is a new `d y' command to view the diffs
2802 between the local version of the file and yesterday's head revision
2806 *** In pcl-cvs mode, there is a new `d r' command to view the changes
2807 anyone has committed to the repository since you last executed
2808 `checkout', `update' or `commit'. That means using cvs diff options
2812 ** The new variable `mail-default-directory' specifies
2813 `default-directory' for mail buffers. This directory is used for
2814 auto-save files of mail buffers. It defaults to "~/".
2817 ** The mode line can indicate new mail in a directory or file.
2819 See the documentation of the user option
2820 `display-time-mail-directory'.
2825 *** Rmail now displays 5-digit message ids in its summary buffer.
2827 *** The new commands rmail-end-of-message and rmail-summary end-of-message,
2828 by default bound to `/', go to the end of the current mail message in
2829 Rmail and Rmail summary buffers.
2832 *** Support for `movemail' from GNU mailutils was added to Rmail.
2834 This version of `movemail' allows to read mail from a wide range of
2835 mailbox formats, including remote POP3 and IMAP4 mailboxes with or
2836 without TLS encryption. If GNU mailutils is installed on the system
2837 and its version of `movemail' can be found in exec-path, it will be
2838 used instead of the native one.
2843 *** Gnus now includes Sieve and PGG
2845 Sieve is a library for managing Sieve scripts. PGG is a library to handle
2849 *** There are many news features, bug fixes and improvements.
2851 See the file GNUS-NEWS or the node "Oort Gnus" in the Gnus manual for details.
2856 Upgraded to MH-E version 7.85. There have been major changes since
2857 version 5.0.2; see MH-E-NEWS for details.
2859 ** Calendar changes:
2862 *** You can now use < and >, instead of C-x < and C-x >, to scroll
2863 the calendar left or right. (The old key bindings still work too.)
2866 *** There is a new calendar package, icalendar.el, that can be used to
2867 convert Emacs diary entries to/from the iCalendar format.
2870 *** Diary sexp entries can have custom marking in the calendar.
2871 Diary sexp functions which only apply to certain days (such as
2872 `diary-block' or `diary-cyclic') now take an optional parameter MARK,
2873 which is the name of a face or a single-character string indicating
2874 how to highlight the day in the calendar display. Specifying a
2875 single-character string as @var{mark} places the character next to the
2876 day in the calendar. Specifying a face highlights the day with that
2877 face. This lets you have different colors or markings for vacations,
2878 appointments, paydays or anything else using a sexp.
2881 *** The new function `calendar-goto-day-of-year' (g D) prompts for a
2882 year and day number, and moves to that date. Negative day numbers
2883 count backward from the end of the year.
2886 *** The new Calendar function `calendar-goto-iso-week' (g w)
2887 prompts for a year and a week number, and moves to the first
2888 day of that ISO week.
2891 *** The new variable `calendar-minimum-window-height' affects the
2892 window generated by the function `generate-calendar-window'.
2895 *** The functions `holiday-easter-etc' and `holiday-advent' now take
2896 optional arguments, in order to only report on the specified holiday
2897 rather than all. This makes customization of variables such as
2898 `christian-holidays' simpler.
2901 *** The function `simple-diary-display' now by default sets a header line.
2902 This can be controlled through the variables `diary-header-line-flag'
2903 and `diary-header-line-format'.
2906 *** The procedure for activating appointment reminders has changed:
2907 use the new function `appt-activate'. The new variable
2908 `appt-display-format' controls how reminders are displayed, replacing
2909 `appt-issue-message', `appt-visible', and `appt-msg-window'.
2912 *** The new functions `diary-from-outlook', `diary-from-outlook-gnus',
2913 and `diary-from-outlook-rmail' can be used to import diary entries
2914 from Outlook-format appointments in mail messages. The variable
2915 `diary-outlook-formats' can be customized to recognize additional
2919 ** Speedbar changes:
2921 *** Speedbar items can now be selected by clicking mouse-1, based on
2922 the `mouse-1-click-follows-link' mechanism.
2924 *** SPC and DEL are no longer bound to scroll up/down in the speedbar
2927 *** The new command `speedbar-toggle-line-expansion', bound to SPC,
2928 contracts or expands the line under the cursor.
2930 *** New command `speedbar-create-directory', bound to `M'.
2932 *** The new commands `speedbar-expand-line-descendants' and
2933 `speedbar-contract-line-descendants', bound to `[' and `]'
2934 respectively, expand and contract the line under cursor with all of
2937 *** The new user option `speedbar-query-confirmation-method' controls
2938 how querying is performed for file operations. A value of 'always
2939 means to always query before file operations; 'none-but-delete means
2940 to not query before any file operations, except before a file
2943 *** The new user option `speedbar-select-frame-method' specifies how
2944 to select a frame for displaying a file opened with the speedbar. A
2945 value of 'attached means to use the attached frame (the frame that
2946 speedbar was started from.) A number such as 1 or -1 means to pass
2947 that number to `other-frame'.
2949 *** The new user option `speedbar-use-tool-tips-flag', if non-nil,
2950 means to display tool-tips for speedbar items.
2952 *** The frame management code in speedbar.el has been split into a new
2953 `dframe' library. Emacs Lisp code that makes use of the speedbar
2954 should use `dframe-attached-frame' instead of
2955 `speedbar-attached-frame', `dframe-timer' instead of `speedbar-timer',
2956 `dframe-close-frame' instead of `speedbar-close-frame', and
2957 `dframe-activity-change-focus-flag' instead of
2958 `speedbar-activity-change-focus-flag'. The variables
2959 `speedbar-update-speed' and `speedbar-navigating-speed' are also
2960 obsolete; use `dframe-update-speed' instead.
2965 *** The variable `sql-product' controls the highlightng of different
2966 SQL dialects. This variable can be set globally via Customize, on a
2967 buffer-specific basis via local variable settings, or for the current
2968 session using the new SQL->Product submenu. (This menu replaces the
2969 SQL->Highlighting submenu.)
2971 The following values are supported:
2973 ansi ANSI Standard (default)
2987 The current product name will be shown on the mode line following the
2990 The technique of setting `sql-mode-font-lock-defaults' directly in
2991 your `.emacs' will no longer establish the default highlighting -- Use
2992 `sql-product' to accomplish this.
2994 ANSI keywords are always highlighted.
2996 *** The function `sql-add-product-keywords' can be used to add
2997 font-lock rules to the product specific rules. For example, to have
2998 all identifiers ending in `_t' under MS SQLServer treated as a type,
2999 you would use the following line in your .emacs file:
3001 (sql-add-product-keywords 'ms
3002 '(("\\<\\w+_t\\>" . font-lock-type-face)))
3004 *** Oracle support includes keyword highlighting for Oracle 9i.
3006 Most SQL and PL/SQL keywords are implemented. SQL*Plus commands are
3007 highlighted in `font-lock-doc-face'.
3009 *** Microsoft SQLServer support has been significantly improved.
3011 Keyword highlighting for SqlServer 2000 is implemented.
3012 sql-interactive-mode defaults to use osql, rather than isql, because
3013 osql flushes its error stream more frequently. Thus error messages
3014 are displayed when they occur rather than when the session is
3017 If the username and password are not provided to `sql-ms', osql is
3018 called with the `-E' command line argument to use the operating system
3019 credentials to authenticate the user.
3021 *** Postgres support is enhanced.
3022 Keyword highlighting of Postgres 7.3 is implemented. Prompting for
3023 the username and the pgsql `-U' option is added.
3025 *** MySQL support is enhanced.
3026 Keyword higlighting of MySql 4.0 is implemented.
3028 *** Imenu support has been enhanced to locate tables, views, indexes,
3029 packages, procedures, functions, triggers, sequences, rules, and
3032 *** Added SQL->Start SQLi Session menu entry which calls the
3033 appropriate `sql-interactive-mode' wrapper for the current setting of
3037 *** sql.el supports the SQLite interpreter--call 'sql-sqlite'.
3042 *** New ffap commands and keybindings:
3044 C-x C-r (`ffap-read-only'),
3045 C-x C-v (`ffap-alternate-file'), C-x C-d (`ffap-list-directory'),
3046 C-x 4 r (`ffap-read-only-other-window'), C-x 4 d (`ffap-dired-other-window'),
3047 C-x 5 r (`ffap-read-only-other-frame'), C-x 5 d (`ffap-dired-other-frame').
3050 *** FFAP accepts wildcards in a file name by default.
3052 C-x C-f passes the file name to `find-file' with non-nil WILDCARDS
3053 argument, which visits multiple files, and C-x d passes it to `dired'.
3056 ** In skeleton.el, `-' marks the `skeleton-point' without interregion interaction.
3058 `@' has reverted to only setting `skeleton-positions' and no longer
3059 sets `skeleton-point'. Skeletons which used @ to mark
3060 `skeleton-point' independent of `_' should now use `-' instead. The
3061 updated `skeleton-insert' docstring explains these new features along
3062 with other details of skeleton construction.
3065 ** Hideshow mode changes
3067 *** New variable `hs-set-up-overlay' allows customization of the overlay
3068 used to effect hiding for hideshow minor mode. Integration with isearch
3069 handles the overlay property `display' specially, preserving it during
3070 temporary overlay showing in the course of an isearch operation.
3072 *** New variable `hs-allow-nesting' non-nil means that hiding a block does
3073 not discard the hidden state of any "internal" blocks; when the parent
3074 block is later shown, the internal blocks remain hidden. Default is nil.
3077 ** `hide-ifdef-mode' now uses overlays rather than selective-display
3078 to hide its text. This should be mostly transparent but slightly
3079 changes the behavior of motion commands like C-e and C-p.
3082 ** `partial-completion-mode' now handles partial completion on directory names.
3085 ** The type-break package now allows `type-break-file-name' to be nil
3086 and if so, doesn't store any data across sessions. This is handy if
3087 you don't want the `.type-break' file in your home directory or are
3088 annoyed by the need for interaction when you kill Emacs.
3091 ** `ps-print' can now print characters from the mule-unicode charsets.
3093 Printing text with characters from the mule-unicode-* sets works with
3094 `ps-print', provided that you have installed the appropriate BDF
3095 fonts. See the file INSTALL for URLs where you can find these fonts.
3098 ** New command `strokes-global-set-stroke-string'.
3099 This is like `strokes-global-set-stroke', but it allows you to bind
3100 the stroke directly to a string to insert. This is convenient for
3101 using strokes as an input method.
3103 ** Emacs server changes:
3106 *** You can have several Emacs servers on the same machine.
3108 % emacs --eval '(setq server-name "foo")' -f server-start &
3109 % emacs --eval '(setq server-name "bar")' -f server-start &
3110 % emacsclient -s foo file1
3111 % emacsclient -s bar file2
3114 *** The `emacsclient' command understands the options `--eval' and
3115 `--display' which tell Emacs respectively to evaluate the given Lisp
3116 expression and to use the given display when visiting files.
3119 *** User option `server-mode' can be used to start a server process.
3122 ** LDAP support now defaults to ldapsearch from OpenLDAP version 2.
3125 ** You can now disable pc-selection-mode after enabling it.
3127 M-x pc-selection-mode behaves like a proper minor mode, and with no
3128 argument it toggles the mode. Turning off PC-Selection mode restores
3129 the global key bindings that were replaced by turning on the mode.
3132 ** `uniquify-strip-common-suffix' tells uniquify to prefer
3133 `file|dir1' and `file|dir2' to `file|dir1/subdir' and `file|dir2/subdir'.
3136 ** Support for `magic cookie' standout modes has been removed.
3138 Emacs still works on terminals that require magic cookies in order to
3139 use standout mode, but they can no longer display mode-lines in
3143 ** The game `mpuz' is enhanced.
3145 `mpuz' now allows the 2nd factor not to have two identical digits. By
3146 default, all trivial operations involving whole lines are performed
3147 automatically. The game uses faces for better visual feedback.
3149 ** battery.el changes:
3152 *** display-battery-mode replaces display-battery.
3155 *** battery.el now works on recent versions of OS X.
3158 ** calculator.el now has radix grouping mode.
3160 To enable this, set `calculator-output-radix' non-nil. In this mode a
3161 separator character is used every few digits, making it easier to see
3162 byte boundries etc. For more info, see the documentation of the
3163 variable `calculator-radix-grouping-mode'.
3166 ** fast-lock.el and lazy-lock.el are obsolete. Use jit-lock.el instead.
3169 ** iso-acc.el is now obsolete. Use one of the latin input methods instead.
3172 ** cplus-md.el has been deleted.
3174 * Changes in Emacs 22.1 on non-free operating systems
3177 ** The HOME directory defaults to Application Data under the user profile.
3179 If you used a previous version of Emacs without setting the HOME
3180 environment variable and a `.emacs' was saved, then Emacs will continue
3181 using C:/ as the default HOME. But if you are installing Emacs afresh,
3182 the default location will be the "Application Data" (or similar
3183 localized name) subdirectory of your user profile. A typical location
3184 of this directory is "C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data",
3185 where USERNAME is your user name.
3187 This change means that users can now have their own `.emacs' files on
3188 shared computers, and the default HOME directory is less likely to be
3189 read-only on computers that are administered by someone else.
3192 ** Passing resources on the command line now works on MS Windows.
3194 You can use --xrm to pass resource settings to Emacs, overriding any
3195 existing values. For example:
3197 emacs --xrm "Emacs.Background:red" --xrm "Emacs.Geometry:100x20"
3199 will start up Emacs on an initial frame of 100x20 with red background,
3200 irrespective of geometry or background setting on the Windows registry.
3203 ** On MS Windows, the "system caret" now follows the cursor.
3205 This enables Emacs to work better with programs that need to track
3206 the cursor, for example screen magnifiers and text to speech programs.
3209 ** Tooltips now work on MS Windows.
3211 See the Emacs 21.1 NEWS entry for tooltips for details.
3214 ** Images are now supported on MS Windows.
3216 PBM and XBM images are supported out of the box. Other image formats
3217 depend on external libraries. All of these libraries have been ported
3218 to Windows, and can be found in both source and binary form at
3219 http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/. Note that libpng also depends on
3220 zlib, and tiff depends on the version of jpeg that it was compiled
3221 against. For additional information, see nt/INSTALL.
3224 ** Sound is now supported on MS Windows.
3226 WAV format is supported on all versions of Windows, other formats such
3227 as AU, AIFF and MP3 may be supported in the more recent versions of
3228 Windows, or when other software provides hooks into the system level
3229 sound support for those formats.
3232 ** Different shaped mouse pointers are supported on MS Windows.
3234 The mouse pointer changes shape depending on what is under the pointer.
3237 ** Pointing devices with more than 3 buttons are now supported on MS Windows.
3239 The new variable `w32-pass-extra-mouse-buttons-to-system' controls
3240 whether Emacs should handle the extra buttons itself (the default), or
3241 pass them to Windows to be handled with system-wide functions.
3244 ** Emacs takes note of colors defined in Control Panel on MS-Windows.
3246 The Control Panel defines some default colors for applications in much
3247 the same way as wildcard X Resources do on X. Emacs now adds these
3248 colors to the colormap prefixed by System (eg SystemMenu for the
3249 default Menu background, SystemMenuText for the foreground), and uses
3250 some of them to initialize some of the default faces.
3251 `list-colors-display' shows the list of System color names, in case
3252 you wish to use them in other faces.
3255 ** On MS Windows NT/W2K/XP, Emacs uses Unicode for clipboard operations.
3257 Those systems use Unicode internally, so this allows Emacs to share
3258 multilingual text with other applications. On other versions of
3259 MS Windows, Emacs now uses the appropriate locale coding-system, so
3260 the clipboard should work correctly for your local language without
3264 ** Running in a console window in Windows now uses the console size.
3266 Previous versions of Emacs erred on the side of having a usable Emacs
3267 through telnet, even though that was inconvenient if you use Emacs in
3268 a local console window with a scrollback buffer. The default value of
3269 w32-use-full-screen-buffer is now nil, which favours local console
3270 windows. Recent versions of Windows telnet also work well with this
3271 setting. If you are using an older telnet server then Emacs detects
3272 that the console window dimensions that are reported are not sane, and
3273 defaults to 80x25. If you use such a telnet server regularly at a size
3274 other than 80x25, you can still manually set
3275 w32-use-full-screen-buffer to t.
3278 ** On Mac OS, `keyboard-coding-system' changes based on the keyboard script.
3281 ** The variable `mac-keyboard-text-encoding' and the constants
3282 `kTextEncodingMacRoman', `kTextEncodingISOLatin1', and
3283 `kTextEncodingISOLatin2' are obsolete.
3285 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 22.1
3288 ** The variables post-command-idle-hook and post-command-idle-delay have
3289 been removed. Use run-with-idle-timer instead.
3292 ** `suppress-keymap' now works by remapping `self-insert-command' to
3293 the command `undefined'. (In earlier Emacs versions, it used
3294 `substitute-key-definition' to rebind self inserting characters to
3298 ** Mode line display ignores text properties as well as the
3299 :propertize and :eval forms in the value of a variable whose
3300 `risky-local-variable' property is nil.
3303 ** Support for Mocklisp has been removed.
3305 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 22.1
3307 ** General Lisp changes:
3309 *** The function `expt' handles negative exponents differently.
3310 The value for `(expt A B)', if both A and B are integers and B is
3311 negative, is now a float. For example: (expt 2 -2) => 0.25.
3314 *** The function `eql' is now available without requiring the CL package.
3317 *** `makehash' is now obsolete. Use `make-hash-table' instead.
3320 *** `add-to-list' takes an optional third argument, APPEND.
3322 If APPEND is non-nil, the new element gets added at the end of the
3323 list instead of at the beginning. This change actually occurred in
3324 Emacs 21.1, but was not documented then.
3327 *** New function `add-to-ordered-list' is like `add-to-list' but
3328 associates a numeric ordering of each element added to the list.
3331 *** New function `copy-tree' makes a copy of a tree.
3333 It recursively copyies through both CARs and CDRs.
3336 *** New function `delete-dups' deletes `equal' duplicate elements from a list.
3338 It modifies the list destructively, like `delete'. Of several `equal'
3339 occurrences of an element in the list, the one that's kept is the
3343 *** New function `rassq-delete-all'.
3345 (rassq-delete-all VALUE ALIST) deletes, from ALIST, each element whose
3346 CDR is `eq' to the specified value.
3349 *** The function `number-sequence' makes a list of equally-separated numbers.
3351 For instance, (number-sequence 4 9) returns (4 5 6 7 8 9). By
3352 default, the separation is 1, but you can specify a different
3353 separation as the third argument. (number-sequence 1.5 6 2) returns
3357 *** New variables `most-positive-fixnum' and `most-negative-fixnum'.
3359 They hold the largest and smallest possible integer values.
3362 *** Minor change in the function `format'.
3364 Some flags that were accepted but not implemented (such as "*") are no
3368 *** Functions `get' and `plist-get' no longer give errors for bad plists.
3370 They return nil for a malformed property list or if the list is
3374 *** New functions `lax-plist-get' and `lax-plist-put'.
3376 They are like `plist-get' and `plist-put', except that they compare
3377 the property name using `equal' rather than `eq'.
3380 *** New variable `print-continuous-numbering'.
3382 When this is non-nil, successive calls to print functions use a single
3383 numbering scheme for circular structure references. This is only
3384 relevant when `print-circle' is non-nil.
3386 When you bind `print-continuous-numbering' to t, you should
3387 also bind `print-number-table' to nil.
3390 *** New function `macroexpand-all' expands all macros in a form.
3392 It is similar to the Common-Lisp function of the same name.
3393 One difference is that it guarantees to return the original argument
3394 if no expansion is done, which can be tested using `eq'.
3397 *** The function `atan' now accepts an optional second argument.
3399 When called with 2 arguments, as in `(atan Y X)', `atan' returns the
3400 angle in radians between the vector [X, Y] and the X axis. (This is
3401 equivalent to the standard C library function `atan2'.)
3404 *** A function or macro's doc string can now specify the calling pattern.
3406 You put this info in the doc string's last line. It should be
3407 formatted so as to match the regexp "\n\n(fn .*)\\'". If you don't
3408 specify this explicitly, Emacs determines it from the actual argument
3409 names. Usually that default is right, but not always.
3412 *** New macro `with-local-quit' temporarily allows quitting.
3414 A quit inside the body of `with-local-quit' is caught by the
3415 `with-local-quit' form itself, but another quit will happen later once
3416 the code that has inhibitted quitting exits.
3418 This is for use around potentially blocking or long-running code
3419 inside timer functions and `post-command-hook' functions.
3422 *** New macro `define-obsolete-function-alias'.
3424 This combines `defalias' and `make-obsolete'.
3427 *** New function `unsafep' determines whether a Lisp form is safe.
3429 It returns nil if the given Lisp form can't possibly do anything
3430 dangerous; otherwise it returns a reason why the form might be unsafe
3431 (calls unknown function, alters global variable, etc).
3433 *** `list-faces-display' takes an optional argument, REGEXP.
3435 If it is non-nil, the function lists only faces matching this regexp.
3437 ** Lisp code indentation features:
3440 *** The `defmacro' form can contain indentation and edebug declarations.
3442 These declarations specify how to indent the macro calls in Lisp mode
3443 and how to debug them with Edebug. You write them like this:
3445 (defmacro NAME LAMBDA-LIST [DOC-STRING] [DECLARATION ...] ...)
3447 DECLARATION is a list `(declare DECLARATION-SPECIFIER ...)'. The
3448 possible declaration specifiers are:
3451 Set NAME's `lisp-indent-function' property to INDENT.
3454 Set NAME's `edebug-form-spec' property to DEBUG. (This is
3455 equivalent to writing a `def-edebug-spec' for the macro,
3456 but this is cleaner.)
3459 *** cl-indent now allows customization of Indentation of backquoted forms.
3461 See the new user option `lisp-backquote-indentation'.
3464 *** cl-indent now handles indentation of simple and extended `loop' forms.
3466 The new user options `lisp-loop-keyword-indentation',
3467 `lisp-loop-forms-indentation', and `lisp-simple-loop-indentation' can
3468 be used to customize the indentation of keywords and forms in loop
3472 ** Variable aliases:
3474 *** New function: defvaralias ALIAS-VAR BASE-VAR [DOCSTRING]
3476 This function defines the symbol ALIAS-VAR as a variable alias for
3477 symbol BASE-VAR. This means that retrieving the value of ALIAS-VAR
3478 returns the value of BASE-VAR, and changing the value of ALIAS-VAR
3479 changes the value of BASE-VAR.
3481 DOCSTRING, if present, is the documentation for ALIAS-VAR; else it has
3482 the same documentation as BASE-VAR.
3484 *** New function: indirect-variable VARIABLE
3486 This function returns the variable at the end of the chain of aliases
3487 of VARIABLE. If VARIABLE is not a symbol, or if VARIABLE is not
3488 defined as an alias, the function returns VARIABLE.
3490 It might be noteworthy that variables aliases work for all kinds of
3491 variables, including buffer-local and frame-local variables.
3494 *** The macro `define-obsolete-variable-alias' combines `defvaralias' and
3495 `make-obsolete-variable'.
3497 ** defcustom changes:
3500 *** The new customization type `float' requires a floating point number.
3505 *** The escape sequence \s is now interpreted as a SPACE character.
3507 Exception: In a character constant, if it is followed by a `-' in a
3508 character constant (e.g. ?\s-A), it is still interpreted as the super
3509 modifier. In strings, \s is always interpreted as a space.
3512 *** A hex escape in a string constant forces the string to be multibyte.
3515 *** An octal escape in a string constant forces the string to be unibyte.
3518 *** `split-string' now includes null substrings in the returned list if
3519 the optional argument SEPARATORS is non-nil and there are matches for
3520 SEPARATORS at the beginning or end of the string. If SEPARATORS is
3521 nil, or if the new optional third argument OMIT-NULLS is non-nil, all
3522 empty matches are omitted from the returned list.
3525 *** New function `string-to-multibyte' converts a unibyte string to a
3526 multibyte string with the same individual character codes.
3529 *** New function `substring-no-properties' returns a substring without
3533 *** The new function `assoc-string' replaces `assoc-ignore-case' and
3534 `assoc-ignore-representation', which are still available, but have
3535 been declared obsolete.
3538 ** Displaying warnings to the user.
3540 See the functions `warn' and `display-warning', or the Lisp Manual.
3541 If you want to be sure the warning will not be overlooked, this
3542 facility is much better than using `message', since it displays
3543 warnings in a separate window.
3546 ** Progress reporters.
3548 These provide a simple and uniform way for commands to present
3549 progress messages for the user.
3551 See the new functions `make-progress-reporter',
3552 `progress-reporter-update', `progress-reporter-force-update',
3553 `progress-reporter-done', and `dotimes-with-progress-reporter'.
3555 ** Buffer positions:
3558 *** Function `compute-motion' now calculates the usable window
3559 width if the WIDTH argument is nil. If the TOPOS argument is nil,
3560 the usable window height and width is used.
3563 *** The `line-move', `scroll-up', and `scroll-down' functions will now
3564 modify the window vscroll to scroll through display rows that are
3565 taller that the height of the window, for example in the presence of
3566 large images. To disable this feature, bind the new variable
3567 `auto-window-vscroll' to nil.
3570 *** The argument to `forward-word', `backward-word' is optional.
3575 *** Argument to `forward-to-indentation' and `backward-to-indentation' is optional.
3580 *** New function `mouse-on-link-p' test if a position is in a clickable link.
3582 This is the function used by the new `mouse-1-click-follows-link'
3586 *** New function `line-number-at-pos' returns the line number of a position.
3588 It an optional buffer position argument that defaults to point.
3591 *** `field-beginning' and `field-end' take new optional argument, LIMIT.
3593 This argument tells them not to search beyond LIMIT. Instead they
3594 give up and return LIMIT.
3597 *** Function `pos-visible-in-window-p' now returns the pixel coordinates
3598 and partial visiblity state of the corresponding row, if the PARTIALLY
3602 *** New functions `posn-at-point' and `posn-at-x-y' return
3603 click-event-style position information for a given visible buffer
3604 position or for a given window pixel coordinate.
3606 ** Text modification:
3609 *** The new function `insert-for-yank' normally works like `insert', but
3610 removes the text properties in the `yank-excluded-properties' list
3611 and handles the `yank-handler' text property.
3614 *** The new function `insert-buffer-substring-as-yank' is like
3615 `insert-for-yank' except that it gets the text from another buffer as
3616 in `insert-buffer-substring'.
3619 *** The new function `insert-buffer-substring-no-properties' is like
3620 `insert-buffer-substring', but removes all text properties from the
3624 *** The new function `filter-buffer-substring' extracts a buffer
3625 substring, passes it through a set of filter functions, and returns
3626 the filtered substring. Use it instead of `buffer-substring' or
3627 `delete-and-extract-region' when copying text into a user-accessible
3628 data structure, such as the kill-ring, X clipboard, or a register.
3630 The list of filter function is specified by the new variable
3631 `buffer-substring-filters'. For example, Longlines mode adds to
3632 `buffer-substring-filters' to remove soft newlines from the copied
3636 *** Function `translate-region' accepts also a char-table as TABLE
3640 *** The new translation table `translation-table-for-input'
3641 is used for customizing self-insertion. The character to
3642 be inserted is translated through it.
3647 The new function `text-clone-create'. Text clones are chunks of text
3648 that are kept identical by transparently propagating changes from one
3652 *** The function `insert-string' is now obsolete.
3657 *** In determining an adaptive fill prefix, Emacs now tries the function in
3658 `adaptive-fill-function' _before_ matching the buffer line against
3659 `adaptive-fill-regexp' rather than _after_ it.
3662 ** Atomic change groups.
3664 To perform some changes in the current buffer "atomically" so that
3665 they either all succeed or are all undone, use `atomic-change-group'
3666 around the code that makes changes. For instance:
3668 (atomic-change-group
3670 (delete-region x y))
3672 If an error (or other nonlocal exit) occurs inside the body of
3673 `atomic-change-group', it unmakes all the changes in that buffer that
3674 were during the execution of the body. The change group has no effect
3675 on any other buffers--any such changes remain.
3677 If you need something more sophisticated, you can directly call the
3678 lower-level functions that `atomic-change-group' uses. Here is how.
3680 To set up a change group for one buffer, call `prepare-change-group'.
3681 Specify the buffer as argument; it defaults to the current buffer.
3682 This function returns a "handle" for the change group. You must save
3683 the handle to activate the change group and then finish it.
3685 Before you change the buffer again, you must activate the change
3686 group. Pass the handle to `activate-change-group' afterward to
3689 After you make the changes, you must finish the change group. You can
3690 either accept the changes or cancel them all. Call
3691 `accept-change-group' to accept the changes in the group as final;
3692 call `cancel-change-group' to undo them all.
3694 You should use `unwind-protect' to make sure the group is always
3695 finished. The call to `activate-change-group' should be inside the
3696 `unwind-protect', in case the user types C-g just after it runs.
3697 (This is one reason why `prepare-change-group' and
3698 `activate-change-group' are separate functions.) Once you finish the
3699 group, don't use the handle again--don't try to finish the same group
3702 To make a multibuffer change group, call `prepare-change-group' once
3703 for each buffer you want to cover, then use `nconc' to combine the
3704 returned values, like this:
3706 (nconc (prepare-change-group buffer-1)
3707 (prepare-change-group buffer-2))
3709 You can then activate the multibuffer change group with a single call
3710 to `activate-change-group', and finish it with a single call to
3711 `accept-change-group' or `cancel-change-group'.
3713 Nested use of several change groups for the same buffer works as you
3714 would expect. Non-nested use of change groups for the same buffer
3715 will lead to undesirable results, so don't let it happen; the first
3716 change group you start for any given buffer should be the last one
3719 ** Buffer-related changes:
3722 *** `list-buffers-noselect' now takes an additional argument, BUFFER-LIST.
3724 If it is non-nil, it specifies which buffers to list.
3727 *** `kill-buffer-hook' is now a permanent local.
3730 *** The new function `buffer-local-value' returns the buffer-local
3731 binding of VARIABLE (a symbol) in buffer BUFFER. If VARIABLE does not
3732 have a buffer-local binding in buffer BUFFER, it returns the default
3733 value of VARIABLE instead.
3735 *** The function `frame-or-buffer-changed-p' now lets you maintain
3736 various status records in parallel.
3738 It take a variable (a symbol) as argument. If the variable is non-nil,
3739 then its value should be a vector installed previously by
3740 `frame-or-buffer-changed-p'. If the frame names, buffer names, buffer
3741 order, or their read-only or modified flags have changed, since the
3742 time the vector's contents were recorded by a previous call to
3743 `frame-or-buffer-changed-p', then the function returns t. Otherwise
3746 On the first call to `frame-or-buffer-changed-p', the variable's
3747 value should be nil. `frame-or-buffer-changed-p' stores a suitable
3748 vector into the variable and returns t.
3750 If the variable is itself nil, then `frame-or-buffer-changed-p' uses,
3751 for compatibility, an internal variable which exists only for this
3755 *** The function `read-buffer' follows the convention for reading from
3756 the minibuffer with a default value: if DEF is non-nil, the minibuffer
3757 prompt provided in PROMPT is edited to show the default value provided
3758 in DEF before the terminal colon and space.
3760 ** Local variables lists:
3763 *** Text properties in local variables.
3765 A file local variables list cannot specify a string with text
3766 properties--any specified text properties are discarded.
3769 *** The variable `safe-local-eval-forms' specifies a list of forms that
3770 are ok to evaluate when they appear in an `eval' local variables
3771 specification. Normally Emacs asks for confirmation before evaluating
3772 such a form, but if the form appears in this list, no confirmation is
3776 *** If a function has a non-nil `safe-local-eval-function' property,
3777 that means it is ok to evaluate some calls to that function when it
3778 appears in an `eval' local variables specification. If the property
3779 is t, then any form calling that function with constant arguments is
3780 ok. If the property is a function or list of functions, they are called
3781 with the form as argument, and if any returns t, the form is ok to call.
3783 If the form is not "ok to call", that means Emacs asks for
3784 confirmation as before.
3786 ** Searching and matching changes:
3789 *** New function `looking-back' checks whether a regular expression matches
3790 the text before point. Specifying the LIMIT argument bounds how far
3791 back the match can start; this is a way to keep it from taking too long.
3794 *** The new variable `search-spaces-regexp' controls how to search
3795 for spaces in a regular expression. If it is non-nil, it should be a
3796 regular expression, and any series of spaces stands for that regular
3797 expression. If it is nil, spaces stand for themselves.
3799 Spaces inside of constructs such as `[..]' and inside loops such as
3800 `*', `+', and `?' are never replaced with `search-spaces-regexp'.
3803 *** New regular expression operators, `\_<' and `\_>'.
3805 These match the beginning and end of a symbol. A symbol is a
3806 non-empty sequence of either word or symbol constituent characters, as
3807 specified by the syntax table.
3810 *** rx.el has new corresponding `symbol-end' and `symbol-start' elements.
3813 *** `skip-chars-forward' and `skip-chars-backward' now handle
3814 character classes such as `[:alpha:]', along with individual
3815 characters and ranges.
3818 *** In `replace-match', the replacement text no longer inherits
3819 properties from surrounding text.
3822 *** The list returned by `(match-data t)' now has the buffer as a final
3823 element, if the last match was on a buffer. `set-match-data'
3824 accepts such a list for restoring the match state.
3827 *** Functions `match-data' and `set-match-data' now have an optional
3828 argument `reseat'. When non-nil, all markers in the match data list
3829 passed to these function will be reseated to point to nowhere.
3832 *** The default value of `sentence-end' is now defined using the new
3833 variable `sentence-end-without-space', which contains such characters
3834 that end a sentence without following spaces.
3836 The function `sentence-end' should be used to obtain the value of the
3837 variable `sentence-end'. If the variable `sentence-end' is nil, then
3838 this function returns the regexp constructed from the variables
3839 `sentence-end-without-period', `sentence-end-double-space' and
3840 `sentence-end-without-space'.
3845 *** `buffer-undo-list' can allows programmable elements.
3847 These elements have the form (apply FUNNAME . ARGS), where FUNNAME is
3848 a symbol other than t or nil. That stands for a high-level change
3849 that should be undone by evaluating (apply FUNNAME ARGS).
3851 These entries can also have the form (apply DELTA BEG END FUNNAME . ARGS)
3852 which indicates that the change which took place was limited to the
3853 range BEG...END and increased the buffer size by DELTA.
3856 *** If the buffer's undo list for the current command gets longer than
3857 `undo-outer-limit', garbage collection empties it. This is to prevent
3858 it from using up the available memory and choking Emacs.
3861 ** New `yank-handler' text property can be used to control how
3862 previously killed text on the kill ring is reinserted.
3864 The value of the `yank-handler' property must be a list with one to four
3865 elements with the following format:
3866 (FUNCTION PARAM NOEXCLUDE UNDO).
3868 The `insert-for-yank' function looks for a yank-handler property on
3869 the first character on its string argument (typically the first
3870 element on the kill-ring). If a `yank-handler' property is found,
3871 the normal behavior of `insert-for-yank' is modified in various ways:
3873 When FUNCTION is present and non-nil, it is called instead of `insert'
3874 to insert the string. FUNCTION takes one argument--the object to insert.
3875 If PARAM is present and non-nil, it replaces STRING as the object
3876 passed to FUNCTION (or `insert'); for example, if FUNCTION is
3877 `yank-rectangle', PARAM should be a list of strings to insert as a
3879 If NOEXCLUDE is present and non-nil, the normal removal of the
3880 `yank-excluded-properties' is not performed; instead FUNCTION is
3881 responsible for removing those properties. This may be necessary
3882 if FUNCTION adjusts point before or after inserting the object.
3883 If UNDO is present and non-nil, it is a function that will be called
3884 by `yank-pop' to undo the insertion of the current object. It is
3885 called with two arguments, the start and end of the current region.
3886 FUNCTION can set `yank-undo-function' to override the UNDO value.
3888 *** The functions `kill-new', `kill-append', and `kill-region' now have an
3889 optional argument to specify the `yank-handler' text property to put on
3892 *** The function `yank-pop' will now use a non-nil value of the variable
3893 `yank-undo-function' (instead of `delete-region') to undo the previous
3894 `yank' or `yank-pop' command (or a call to `insert-for-yank'). The function
3895 `insert-for-yank' automatically sets that variable according to the UNDO
3896 element of the string argument's `yank-handler' text property if present.
3898 *** The function `insert-for-yank' now supports strings where the
3899 `yank-handler' property does not span the first character of the
3900 string. The old behavior is available if you call
3901 `insert-for-yank-1' instead.
3903 ** Syntax table changes:
3906 *** The macro `with-syntax-table' no longer copies the syntax table.
3909 *** The new function `syntax-after' returns the syntax code
3910 of the character after a specified buffer position, taking account
3911 of text properties as well as the character code.
3914 *** `syntax-class' extracts the class of a syntax code (as returned
3918 *** The new function `syntax-ppss' rovides an efficient way to find the
3919 current syntactic context at point.
3921 ** File operation changes:
3924 *** New vars `exec-suffixes' and `load-suffixes' used when
3925 searching for an executable or an Emacs Lisp file.
3928 *** The new primitive `set-file-times' sets a file's access and
3929 modification times. Magic file name handlers can handle this
3933 *** The new function `file-remote-p' tests a file name and returns
3934 non-nil if it specifies a remote file (one that Emacs accesses using
3935 its own special methods and not directly through the file system).
3936 The value in that case is an identifier for the remote file system.
3939 *** `buffer-auto-save-file-format' is the new name for what was
3940 formerly called `auto-save-file-format'. It is now a permanent local.
3943 *** Functions `file-name-sans-extension' and `file-name-extension' now
3944 ignore the leading dots in file names, so that file names such as
3945 `.emacs' are treated as extensionless.
3948 *** `copy-file' now takes an additional option arg MUSTBENEW.
3950 This argument works like the MUSTBENEW argument of write-file.
3953 *** `visited-file-modtime' and `calendar-time-from-absolute' now return
3954 a list of two integers, instead of a cons.
3957 *** `file-chase-links' now takes an optional second argument LIMIT which
3958 specifies the maximum number of links to chase through. If after that
3959 many iterations the file name obtained is still a symbolic link,
3960 `file-chase-links' returns it anyway.
3963 *** The new hook `before-save-hook' is invoked by `basic-save-buffer'
3964 before saving buffers. This allows packages to perform various final
3965 tasks, for example; it can be used by the copyright package to make
3966 sure saved files have the current year in any copyright headers.
3969 *** If `buffer-save-without-query' is non-nil in some buffer,
3970 `save-some-buffers' will always save that buffer without asking (if
3974 *** New function `locate-file' searches for a file in a list of directories.
3975 `locate-file' accepts a name of a file to search (a string), and two
3976 lists: a list of directories to search in and a list of suffixes to
3977 try; typical usage might use `exec-path' and `load-path' for the list
3978 of directories, and `exec-suffixes' and `load-suffixes' for the list
3979 of suffixes. The function also accepts a predicate argument to
3980 further filter candidate files.
3982 One advantage of using this function is that the list of suffixes in
3983 `exec-suffixes' is OS-dependant, so this function will find
3984 executables without polluting Lisp code with OS dependancies.
3987 *** The precedence of file name handlers has been changed.
3989 Instead of choosing the first handler that matches,
3990 `find-file-name-handler' now gives precedence to a file name handler
3991 that matches nearest the end of the file name. More precisely, the
3992 handler whose (match-beginning 0) is the largest is chosen. In case
3993 of ties, the old "first matched" rule applies.
3996 *** A file name handler can declare which operations it handles.
3998 You do this by putting an `operation' property on the handler name
3999 symbol. The property value should be a list of the operations that
4000 the handler really handles. It won't be called for any other
4003 This is useful for autoloaded handlers, to prevent them from being
4004 autoloaded when not really necessary.
4007 *** The function `make-auto-save-file-name' is now handled by file
4008 name handlers. This will be exploited for remote files mainly.
4013 *** An interactive specification can now use the code letter 'U' to get
4014 the up-event that was discarded in case the last key sequence read for a
4015 previous `k' or `K' argument was a down-event; otherwise nil is used.
4018 *** The new interactive-specification `G' reads a file name
4019 much like `F', but if the input is a directory name (even defaulted),
4020 it returns just the directory name.
4023 *** Functions `y-or-n-p', `read-char', `read-key-sequence' and the like, that
4024 display a prompt but don't use the minibuffer, now display the prompt
4025 using the text properties (esp. the face) of the prompt string.
4028 *** (while-no-input BODY...) runs BODY, but only so long as no input
4029 arrives. If the user types or clicks anything, BODY stops as if a
4030 quit had occurred. `while-no-input' returns the value of BODY, if BODY
4031 finishes. It returns nil if BODY was aborted by a quit, and t if
4032 BODY was aborted by arrival of input.
4034 ** Minibuffer changes:
4037 *** The new function `minibufferp' returns non-nil if its optional
4038 buffer argument is a minibuffer. If the argument is omitted, it
4039 defaults to the current buffer.
4042 *** New function `minibuffer-selected-window' returns the window which
4043 was selected when entering the minibuffer.
4046 *** `read-from-minibuffer' now accepts an additional argument KEEP-ALL
4047 saying to put all inputs in the history list, even empty ones.
4050 *** The `read-file-name' function now takes an additional argument which
4051 specifies a predicate which the file name read must satify. The
4052 new variable `read-file-name-predicate' contains the predicate argument
4053 while reading the file name from the minibuffer; the predicate in this
4054 variable is used by read-file-name-internal to filter the completion list.
4057 *** The new variable `read-file-name-function' can be used by Lisp code
4058 to override the built-in `read-file-name' function.
4061 *** The new variable `read-file-name-completion-ignore-case' specifies
4062 whether completion ignores case when reading a file name with the
4063 `read-file-name' function.
4066 *** The new function `read-directory-name' for reading a directory name.
4068 It is like `read-file-name' except that the defaulting works better
4069 for directories, and completion inside it shows only directories.
4071 ** Completion changes:
4074 *** The functions `all-completions' and `try-completion' now accept lists
4075 of strings as well as hash-tables additionally to alists, obarrays
4076 and functions. Furthermore, the function `test-completion' is now
4077 exported to Lisp. The keys in alists and hash tables can be either
4078 strings or symbols, which are automatically converted with to strings.
4081 *** The new macro `dynamic-completion-table' supports using functions
4082 as a dynamic completion table.
4084 (dynamic-completion-table FUN)
4086 FUN is called with one argument, the string for which completion is required,
4087 and it should return an alist containing all the intended possible
4088 completions. This alist can be a full list of possible completions so that FUN
4089 can ignore the value of its argument. If completion is performed in the
4090 minibuffer, FUN will be called in the buffer from which the minibuffer was
4091 entered. `dynamic-completion-table' then computes the completion.
4094 *** The new macro `lazy-completion-table' initializes a variable
4095 as a lazy completion table.
4097 (lazy-completion-table VAR FUN &rest ARGS)
4099 If the completion table VAR is used for the first time (e.g., by passing VAR
4100 as an argument to `try-completion'), the function FUN is called with arguments
4101 ARGS. FUN must return the completion table that will be stored in VAR. If
4102 completion is requested in the minibuffer, FUN will be called in the buffer
4103 from which the minibuffer was entered. The return value of
4104 `lazy-completion-table' must be used to initialize the value of VAR.
4107 ** Enhancements to keymaps.
4109 *** Cleaner way to enter key sequences.
4111 You can enter a constant key sequence in a more natural format, the
4112 same one used for saving keyboard macros, using the macro `kbd'. For
4115 (kbd "C-x C-f") => "\^x\^f"
4117 *** Interactive commands can be remapped through keymaps.
4119 This is an alternative to using `defadvice' or `substitute-key-definition'
4120 to modify the behavior of a key binding using the normal keymap
4121 binding and lookup functionality.
4123 When a key sequence is bound to a command, and that command is
4124 remapped to another command, that command is run instead of the
4128 Suppose that minor mode `my-mode' has defined the commands
4129 `my-kill-line' and `my-kill-word', and it wants C-k (and any other key
4130 bound to `kill-line') to run the command `my-kill-line' instead of
4131 `kill-line', and likewise it wants to run `my-kill-word' instead of
4134 Instead of rebinding C-k and the other keys in the minor mode map,
4135 command remapping allows you to directly map `kill-line' into
4136 `my-kill-line' and `kill-word' into `my-kill-word' using `define-key':
4138 (define-key my-mode-map [remap kill-line] 'my-kill-line)
4139 (define-key my-mode-map [remap kill-word] 'my-kill-word)
4141 When `my-mode' is enabled, its minor mode keymap is enabled too. So
4142 when the user types C-k, that runs the command `my-kill-line'.
4144 Only one level of remapping is supported. In the above example, this
4145 means that if `my-kill-line' is remapped to `other-kill', then C-k still
4146 runs `my-kill-line'.
4148 The following changes have been made to provide command remapping:
4150 - Command remappings are defined using `define-key' with a prefix-key
4151 `remap', i.e. `(define-key MAP [remap CMD] DEF)' remaps command CMD
4152 to definition DEF in keymap MAP. The definition is not limited to
4153 another command; it can be anything accepted for a normal binding.
4155 - The new function `command-remapping' returns the binding for a
4156 remapped command in the current keymaps, or nil if not remapped.
4158 - `key-binding' now remaps interactive commands unless the optional
4159 third argument NO-REMAP is non-nil.
4161 - `where-is-internal' now returns nil for a remapped command (e.g.
4162 `kill-line', when `my-mode' is enabled), and the actual key binding for
4163 the command it is remapped to (e.g. C-k for my-kill-line).
4164 It also has a new optional fifth argument, NO-REMAP, which inhibits
4165 remapping if non-nil (e.g. it returns "C-k" for `kill-line', and
4166 "<kill-line>" for `my-kill-line').
4168 - The new variable `this-original-command' contains the original
4169 command before remapping. It is equal to `this-command' when the
4170 command was not remapped.
4172 *** If text has a `keymap' property, that keymap takes precedence
4173 over minor mode keymaps.
4175 *** The `keymap' property now also works at the ends of overlays and
4176 text properties, according to their stickiness. This also means that it
4177 works with empty overlays. The same hold for the `local-map' property.
4179 *** Dense keymaps now handle inheritance correctly.
4181 Previously a dense keymap would hide all of the simple-char key
4182 bindings of the parent keymap.
4184 *** `define-key-after' now accepts keys longer than 1.
4186 *** New function `current-active-maps' returns a list of currently
4189 *** New function `describe-buffer-bindings' inserts the list of all
4190 defined keys and their definitions.
4192 *** New function `keymap-prompt' returns the prompt string of a keymap.
4194 *** (map-keymap FUNCTION KEYMAP) applies the function to each binding
4197 *** New variable `emulation-mode-map-alists'.
4199 Lisp packages using many minor mode keymaps can now maintain their own
4200 keymap alist separate from `minor-mode-map-alist' by adding their
4201 keymap alist to this list.
4206 *** The new function `copy-abbrev-table' copies an abbrev table.
4208 It returns a new abbrev table that is a copy of a given abbrev table.
4211 *** `define-abbrev' now accepts an optional argument SYSTEM-FLAG.
4213 If non-nil, this marks the abbrev as a "system" abbrev, which means
4214 that it won't be stored in the user's abbrevs file if he saves the
4215 abbrevs. Major modes that predefine some abbrevs should always
4219 ** Enhancements to process support
4221 *** Function `list-processes' now has an optional argument; if non-nil,
4222 it lists only the processes whose query-on-exit flag is set.
4224 *** New fns `set-process-query-on-exit-flag' and `process-query-on-exit-flag'.
4226 These replace the old function `process-kill-without-query'. That
4227 function is still supported, but new code should use the new
4230 *** Function `signal-process' now accepts a process object or process
4231 name in addition to a process id to identify the signaled process.
4233 *** Processes now have an associated property list where programs can
4234 maintain process state and other per-process related information.
4236 Use the new functions `process-get' and `process-put' to access, add,
4237 and modify elements on this property list. Use the new functions
4238 `process-plist' and `set-process-plist' to access and replace the
4239 entire property list of a process.
4241 *** Function `accept-process-output' has a new optional fourth arg
4242 JUST-THIS-ONE. If non-nil, only output from the specified process
4243 is handled, suspending output from other processes. If value is an
4244 integer, also inhibit running timers. This feature is generally not
4245 recommended, but may be necessary for specific applications, such as
4248 *** Adaptive read buffering of subprocess output.
4250 On some systems, when emacs reads the output from a subprocess, the
4251 output data is read in very small blocks, potentially resulting in
4252 very poor performance. This behavior can be remedied to some extent
4253 by setting the new variable `process-adaptive-read-buffering' to a
4254 non-nil value (the default), as it will automatically delay reading
4255 from such processes, to allowing them to produce more output before
4256 emacs tries to read it.
4258 *** The new function `call-process-shell-command'.
4260 This executes a shell command synchronously in a separate process.
4262 *** The new function `process-file' is similar to `call-process', but
4263 obeys file handlers. The file handler is chosen based on
4264 `default-directory'.
4266 *** A process filter function gets the output as multibyte string
4267 if the process specifies t for its filter's multibyteness.
4269 That multibyteness is decided by the value of
4270 `default-enable-multibyte-characters' when the process is created, and
4271 you can change it later with `set-process-filter-multibyte'.
4273 *** The new function `set-process-filter-multibyte' sets the
4274 multibyteness of the strings passed to the process's filter.
4276 *** The new function `process-filter-multibyte-p' returns the
4277 multibyteness of the strings passed to the process's filter.
4279 *** If a process's coding system is `raw-text' or `no-conversion' and its
4280 buffer is multibyte, the output of the process is at first converted
4281 to multibyte by `string-to-multibyte' then inserted in the buffer.
4282 Previously, it was converted to multibyte by `string-as-multibyte',
4283 which was not compatible with the behavior of file reading.
4286 ** Enhanced networking support.
4288 *** The new `make-network-process' function makes network connections.
4289 It allows opening of stream and datagram connections to a server, as well as
4290 create a stream or datagram server inside emacs.
4292 - A server is started using :server t arg.
4293 - Datagram connection is selected using :type 'datagram arg.
4294 - A server can open on a random port using :service t arg.
4295 - Local sockets are supported using :family 'local arg.
4296 - Non-blocking connect is supported using :nowait t arg.
4297 - The process' property list can be initialized using :plist PLIST arg;
4298 a copy of the server process' property list is automatically inherited
4299 by new client processes created to handle incoming connections.
4301 To test for the availability of a given feature, use featurep like this:
4302 (featurep 'make-network-process '(:type datagram))
4304 *** The old `open-network-stream' now uses `make-network-process'.
4306 *** New functions `process-datagram-address', `set-process-datagram-address'.
4308 These functions are used with datagram-based network processes to get
4309 and set the current address of the remote partner.
4311 *** New function `format-network-address'.
4313 This function reformats the Lisp representation of a network address
4314 to a printable string. For example, an IP address A.B.C.D and port
4315 number P is represented as a five element vector [A B C D P], and the
4316 printable string returned for this vector is "A.B.C.D:P". See the doc
4317 string for other formatting options.
4319 *** `process-contact' has an optional KEY argument.
4321 Depending on this argument, you can get the complete list of network
4322 process properties or a specific property. Using :local or :remote as
4323 the KEY, you get the address of the local or remote end-point.
4325 An Inet address is represented as a 5 element vector, where the first
4326 4 elements contain the IP address and the fifth is the port number.
4328 *** New functions `stop-process' and `continue-process'.
4330 These functions stop and restart communication through a network
4331 connection. For a server process, no connections are accepted in the
4332 stopped state. For a client process, no input is received in the
4335 *** New function `network-interface-list'.
4337 This function returns a list of network interface names and their
4338 current network addresses.
4340 *** New function `network-interface-info'.
4342 This function returns the network address, hardware address, current
4343 status, and other information about a specific network interface.
4345 *** Deleting a network process with `delete-process' calls the sentinel.
4347 The status message passed to the sentinel for a deleted network
4348 process is "deleted". The message passed to the sentinel when the
4349 connection is closed by the remote peer has been changed to
4350 "connection broken by remote peer".
4352 ** Using window objects:
4355 *** New function `window-body-height'.
4357 This is like `window-height' but does not count the mode line or the
4361 *** New function `window-body-height'.
4363 This is like `window-height' but does not count the mode line
4367 *** You can now make a window as short as one line.
4369 A window that is just one line tall does not display either a mode
4370 line or a header line, even if the variables `mode-line-format' and
4371 `header-line-format' call for them. A window that is two lines tall
4372 cannot display both a mode line and a header line at once; if the
4373 variables call for both, only the mode line actually appears.
4376 *** The new function `window-inside-edges' returns the edges of the
4377 actual text portion of the window, not including the scroll bar or
4378 divider line, the fringes, the display margins, the header line and
4382 *** The new functions `window-pixel-edges' and `window-inside-pixel-edges'
4383 return window edges in units of pixels, rather than columns and lines.
4386 *** The new macro `with-selected-window' temporarily switches the
4387 selected window without impacting the order of `buffer-list'.
4388 It saves and restores the current buffer, too.
4391 *** `select-window' takes an optional second argument NORECORD.
4393 This is like `switch-to-buffer'.
4396 *** `save-selected-window' now saves and restores the selected window
4397 of every frame. This way, it restores everything that can be changed
4398 by calling `select-window'. It also saves and restores the current
4402 *** `set-window-buffer' has an optional argument KEEP-MARGINS.
4404 If non-nil, that says to preserve the window's current margin, fringe,
4405 and scroll-bar settings.
4408 *** The new function `window-tree' returns a frame's window tree.
4411 ** Customizable fringe bitmaps
4413 *** New function `define-fringe-bitmap' can now be used to create new
4414 fringe bitmaps, as well as change the built-in fringe bitmaps.
4416 To change a built-in bitmap, do (require 'fringe) and use the symbol
4417 identifing the bitmap such as `left-truncation or `continued-line'.
4419 *** New function `destroy-fringe-bitmap' deletes a fringe bitmap
4420 or restores a built-in one to its default value.
4422 *** New function `set-fringe-bitmap-face' specifies the face to be
4423 used for a specific fringe bitmap. The face is automatically merged
4424 with the `fringe' face, so normally, the face should only specify the
4425 foreground color of the bitmap.
4427 *** There are new display properties, `left-fringe' and `right-fringe',
4428 that can be used to show a specific bitmap in the left or right fringe
4429 bitmap of the display line.
4431 Format is `display (left-fringe BITMAP [FACE])', where BITMAP is a
4432 symbol identifying a fringe bitmap, either built-in or defined with
4433 `define-fringe-bitmap', and FACE is an optional face name to be used
4434 for displaying the bitmap instead of the default `fringe' face.
4435 When specified, FACE is automatically merged with the `fringe' face.
4437 *** New function `fringe-bitmaps-at-pos' returns the current fringe
4438 bitmaps in the display line at a given buffer position.
4440 ** Other window fringe features:
4443 *** Controlling the default left and right fringe widths.
4445 The default left and right fringe widths for all windows of a frame
4446 can now be controlled by setting the `left-fringe' and `right-fringe'
4447 frame parameters to an integer value specifying the width in pixels.
4448 Setting the width to 0 effectively removes the corresponding fringe.
4450 The actual default fringe widths for the frame may deviate from the
4451 specified widths, since the combined fringe widths must match an
4452 integral number of columns. The extra width is distributed evenly
4453 between the left and right fringe. For force a specific fringe width,
4454 specify the width as a negative integer (if both widths are negative,
4455 only the left fringe gets the specified width).
4457 Setting the width to nil (the default), restores the default fringe
4458 width which is the minimum number of pixels necessary to display any
4459 of the currently defined fringe bitmaps. The width of the built-in
4460 fringe bitmaps is 8 pixels.
4463 *** Per-window fringe and scrollbar settings
4465 **** Windows can now have their own individual fringe widths and
4468 To control the fringe widths of a window, either set the buffer-local
4469 variables `left-fringe-width', `right-fringe-width', or call
4470 `set-window-fringes'.
4472 To control the fringe position in a window, that is, whether fringes
4473 are positioned between the display margins and the window's text area,
4474 or at the edges of the window, either set the buffer-local variable
4475 `fringes-outside-margins' or call `set-window-fringes'.
4477 The function `window-fringes' can be used to obtain the current
4478 settings. To make `left-fringe-width', `right-fringe-width', and
4479 `fringes-outside-margins' take effect, you must set them before
4480 displaying the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force
4481 an update of the display margins.
4483 **** Windows can now have their own individual scroll-bar settings
4484 controlling the width and position of scroll-bars.
4486 To control the scroll-bar of a window, either set the buffer-local
4487 variables `scroll-bar-mode' and `scroll-bar-width', or call
4488 `set-window-scroll-bars'. The function `window-scroll-bars' can be
4489 used to obtain the current settings. To make `scroll-bar-mode' and
4490 `scroll-bar-width' take effect, you must set them before displaying
4491 the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force an update
4492 of the display margins.
4494 ** Redisplay features:
4497 *** `sit-for' can now be called with args (SECONDS &optional NODISP).
4500 *** New function `force-window-update' can initiate a full redisplay of
4501 one or all windows. Normally, this is not needed as changes in window
4502 contents are detected automatically. However, certain implicit
4503 changes to mode lines, header lines, or display properties may require
4504 forcing an explicit window update.
4507 *** (char-displayable-p CHAR) returns non-nil if Emacs ought to be able
4508 to display CHAR. More precisely, if the selected frame's fontset has
4509 a font to display the character set that CHAR belongs to.
4511 Fontsets can specify a font on a per-character basis; when the fontset
4512 does that, this value cannot be accurate.
4515 *** You can define multiple overlay arrows via the new
4516 variable `overlay-arrow-variable-list'.
4518 It contains a list of varibles which contain overlay arrow position
4519 markers, including the original `overlay-arrow-position' variable.
4521 Each variable on this list can have individual `overlay-arrow-string'
4522 and `overlay-arrow-bitmap' properties that specify an overlay arrow
4523 string (for non-window terminals) or fringe bitmap (for window
4524 systems) to display at the corresponding overlay arrow position.
4525 If either property is not set, the default `overlay-arrow-string' or
4526 'overlay-arrow-fringe-bitmap' will be used.
4529 *** New `line-height' and `line-spacing' properties for newline characters
4531 A newline can now have `line-height' and `line-spacing' text or overlay
4532 properties that control the height of the corresponding display row.
4534 If the `line-height' property value is t, the newline does not
4535 contribute to the height of the display row; instead the height of the
4536 newline glyph is reduced. Also, a `line-spacing' property on this
4537 newline is ignored. This can be used to tile small images or image
4538 slices without adding blank areas between the images.
4540 If the `line-height' property value is a positive integer, the value
4541 specifies the minimum line height in pixels. If necessary, the line
4542 height it increased by increasing the line's ascent.
4544 If the `line-height' property value is a float, the minimum line
4545 height is calculated by multiplying the default frame line height by
4548 If the `line-height' property value is a cons (FACE . RATIO), the
4549 minimum line height is calculated as RATIO * height of named FACE.
4550 RATIO is int or float. If FACE is t, it specifies the current face.
4552 If the `line-height' property value is a cons (nil . RATIO), the line
4553 height is calculated as RATIO * actual height of the line's contents.
4555 If the `line-height' value is a cons (HEIGHT . TOTAL), HEIGHT specifies
4556 the line height as described above, while TOTAL is any of the forms
4557 described above and specifies the total height of the line, causing a
4558 varying number of pixels to be inserted after the line to make it line
4559 exactly that many pixels high.
4561 If the `line-spacing' property value is an positive integer, the value
4562 is used as additional pixels to insert after the display line; this
4563 overrides the default frame `line-spacing' and any buffer local value of
4564 the `line-spacing' variable.
4566 If the `line-spacing' property is a float or cons, the line spacing
4567 is calculated as specified above for the `line-height' property.
4570 *** The buffer local `line-spacing' variable can now have a float value,
4571 which is used as a height relative to the default frame line height.
4574 *** Enhancements to stretch display properties
4576 The display property stretch specification form `(space PROPS)', where
4577 PROPS is a property list now allows pixel based width and height
4578 specifications, as well as enhanced horizontal text alignment.
4580 The value of these properties can now be a (primitive) expression
4581 which is evaluated during redisplay. The following expressions
4584 EXPR ::= NUM | (NUM) | UNIT | ELEM | POS | IMAGE | FORM
4585 NUM ::= INTEGER | FLOAT | SYMBOL
4586 UNIT ::= in | mm | cm | width | height
4587 ELEM ::= left-fringe | right-fringe | left-margin | right-margin
4589 POS ::= left | center | right
4590 FORM ::= (NUM . EXPR) | (OP EXPR ...)
4593 The form `NUM' specifies a fractional width or height of the default
4594 frame font size. The form `(NUM)' specifies an absolute number of
4595 pixels. If a symbol is specified, its buffer-local variable binding
4596 is used. The `in', `mm', and `cm' units specifies the number of
4597 pixels per inch, milli-meter, and centi-meter, resp. The `width' and
4598 `height' units correspond to the width and height of the current face
4599 font. An image specification corresponds to the width or height of
4602 The `left-fringe', `right-fringe', `left-margin', `right-margin',
4603 `scroll-bar', and `text' elements specify to the width of the
4604 corresponding area of the window.
4606 The `left', `center', and `right' positions can be used with :align-to
4607 to specify a position relative to the left edge, center, or right edge
4608 of the text area. One of the above window elements (except `text')
4609 can also be used with :align-to to specify that the position is
4610 relative to the left edge of the given area. Once the base offset for
4611 a relative position has been set (by the first occurrence of one of
4612 these symbols), further occurences of these symbols are interpreted as
4613 the width of the area.
4615 For example, to align to the center of the left-margin, use
4616 :align-to (+ left-margin (0.5 . left-margin))
4618 If no specific base offset is set for alignment, it is always relative
4619 to the left edge of the text area. For example, :align-to 0 in a
4620 header line aligns with the first text column in the text area.
4622 The value of the form `(NUM . EXPR)' is the value of NUM multiplied by
4623 the value of the expression EXPR. For example, (2 . in) specifies a
4624 width of 2 inches, while (0.5 . IMAGE) specifies half the width (or
4625 height) of the specified image.
4627 The form `(+ EXPR ...)' adds up the value of the expressions.
4628 The form `(- EXPR ...)' negates or subtracts the value of the expressions.
4631 *** Normally, the cursor is displayed at the end of any overlay and
4632 text property string that may be present at the current window
4633 position. The cursor can now be placed on any character of such
4634 strings by giving that character a non-nil `cursor' text property.
4637 *** The display space :width and :align-to text properties are now
4638 supported on text terminals.
4641 *** Support for displaying image slices
4643 **** New display property (slice X Y WIDTH HEIGHT) can be used with
4644 an image property to display only a specific slice of the image.
4646 **** Function `insert-image' has new optional fourth arg to
4647 specify image slice (X Y WIDTH HEIGHT).
4649 **** New function `insert-sliced-image' inserts a given image as a
4650 specified number of evenly sized slices (rows x columns).
4653 *** Images can now have an associated image map via the :map property.
4655 An image map is an alist where each element has the format (AREA ID PLIST).
4656 An AREA is specified as either a rectangle, a circle, or a polygon:
4657 A rectangle is a cons (rect . ((X0 . Y0) . (X1 . Y1))) specifying the
4658 pixel coordinates of the upper left and bottom right corners.
4659 A circle is a cons (circle . ((X0 . Y0) . R)) specifying the center
4660 and the radius of the circle; R can be a float or integer.
4661 A polygon is a cons (poly . [X0 Y0 X1 Y1 ...]) where each pair in the
4662 vector describes one corner in the polygon.
4664 When the mouse pointer is above a hot-spot area of an image, the
4665 PLIST of that hot-spot is consulted; if it contains a `help-echo'
4666 property it defines a tool-tip for the hot-spot, and if it contains
4667 a `pointer' property, it defines the shape of the mouse cursor when
4668 it is over the hot-spot. See the variable `void-area-text-pointer'
4669 for possible pointer shapes.
4671 When you click the mouse when the mouse pointer is over a hot-spot,
4672 an event is composed by combining the ID of the hot-spot with the
4673 mouse event, e.g. [area4 mouse-1] if the hot-spot's ID is `area4'.
4676 *** The function `find-image' now searches in etc/images/ and etc/.
4677 The new variable `image-load-path' is a list of locations in which to
4678 search for image files. The default is to search in etc/images, then
4679 in etc/, and finally in the directories specified by `load-path'.
4680 Subdirectories of etc/ and etc/images are not recursively searched; if
4681 you put an image file in a subdirectory, you have to specify it
4682 explicitly; for example, if an image is put in etc/images/foo/bar.xpm:
4684 (defimage foo-image '((:type xpm :file "foo/bar.xpm")))
4686 ** Mouse pointer features:
4690 *** The mouse pointer shape in void text areas (i.e. after the end of a
4691 line or below the last line in the buffer) of the text window is now
4692 controlled by the new variable `void-text-area-pointer'. The default
4693 is to use the `arrow' (non-text) pointer. Other choices are `text'
4694 (or nil), `hand', `vdrag', `hdrag', `modeline', and `hourglass'.
4697 *** The mouse pointer shape over an image can now be controlled by the
4698 :pointer image property.
4701 *** The mouse pointer shape over ordinary text or images can now be
4702 controlled/overriden via the `pointer' text property.
4704 ** Mouse event enhancements:
4707 *** Mouse events for clicks on window fringes now specify `left-fringe'
4708 or `right-fringe' as the area.
4711 *** All mouse events now include a buffer position regardless of where
4712 you clicked. For mouse clicks in window margins and fringes, this is
4713 a sensible buffer position corresponding to the surrounding text.
4716 *** `posn-point' now returns buffer position for non-text area events.
4719 *** Function `mouse-set-point' now works for events outside text area.
4722 *** New function `posn-area' returns window area clicked on (nil means
4726 *** Mouse events include actual glyph column and row for all event types
4730 *** New function `posn-actual-col-row' returns the actual glyph coordinates
4731 of the mouse event position.
4734 *** Mouse events can now indicate an image object clicked on.
4737 *** Mouse events include relative X and Y pixel coordinates relative to
4738 the top left corner of the object (image or character) clicked on.
4741 *** Mouse events include the pixel width and height of the object
4742 (image or character) clicked on.
4745 *** New functions 'posn-object', 'posn-object-x-y', 'posn-object-width-height'.
4747 These return the image or string object of a mouse click, the X and Y
4748 pixel coordinates relative to the top left corner of that object, and
4749 the total width and height of that object.
4751 ** Text property and overlay changes:
4754 *** Arguments for `remove-overlays' are now optional, so that you can
4755 remove all overlays in the buffer with just (remove-overlays).
4758 *** New variable `char-property-alias-alist'.
4760 This variable allows you to create alternative names for text
4761 properties. It works at the same level as `default-text-properties',
4762 although it applies to overlays as well. This variable was introduced
4763 to implement the `font-lock-face' property.
4766 *** New function `get-char-property-and-overlay' accepts the same
4767 arguments as `get-char-property' and returns a cons whose car is the
4768 return value of `get-char-property' called with those arguments and
4769 whose cdr is the overlay in which the property was found, or nil if
4770 it was found as a text property or not found at all.
4773 *** The new function `remove-list-of-text-properties'.
4775 It is like `remove-text-properties' except that it takes a list of
4776 property names as argument rather than a property list.
4781 *** The new face attribute condition `min-colors' can be used to tailor
4782 the face color to the number of colors supported by a display, and
4783 define the foreground and background colors accordingly so that they
4784 look best on a terminal that supports at least this many colors. This
4785 is now the preferred method for defining default faces in a way that
4786 makes a good use of the capabilities of the display.
4789 *** New function `display-supports-face-attributes-p' can be used to test
4790 whether a given set of face attributes is actually displayable.
4792 A new predicate `supports' has also been added to the `defface' face
4793 specification language, which can be used to do this test for faces
4794 defined with `defface'.
4797 *** The special treatment of faces whose names are of the form `fg:COLOR'
4798 or `bg:COLOR' has been removed. Lisp programs should use the
4799 `defface' facility for defining faces with specific colors, or use
4800 the feature of specifying the face attributes :foreground and :background
4801 directly in the `face' property instead of using a named face.
4804 *** The first face specification element in a defface can specify
4805 `default' instead of frame classification. Then its attributes act as
4806 defaults that apply to all the subsequent cases (and can be overridden
4810 *** The variable `face-font-rescale-alist' specifies how much larger
4811 (or smaller) font we should use. For instance, if the value is
4812 '((SOME-FONTNAME-PATTERN . 1.3)) and a face requests a font of 10
4813 point, we actually use a font of 13 point if the font matches
4814 SOME-FONTNAME-PATTERN.
4817 *** The function `face-differs-from-default-p' now truly checks
4818 whether the given face displays differently from the default face or
4819 not (previously it did only a very cursory check).
4822 *** `face-attribute', `face-foreground', `face-background', `face-stipple'.
4824 These now accept a new optional argument, INHERIT, which controls how
4825 face inheritance is used when determining the value of a face
4829 *** New functions `face-attribute-relative-p' and `merge-face-attribute'
4830 help with handling relative face attributes.
4833 *** The priority of faces in an :inherit attribute face list is reversed.
4835 If a face contains an :inherit attribute with a list of faces, earlier
4836 faces in the list override later faces in the list; in previous
4837 releases of Emacs, the order was the opposite. This change was made
4838 so that :inherit face lists operate identically to face lists in text
4842 *** On terminals, faces with the :inverse-video attribute are displayed
4843 with swapped foreground and background colors even when one of them is
4844 not specified. In previous releases of Emacs, if either foreground
4845 or background color was unspecified, colors were not swapped. This
4846 was inconsistent with the face behavior under X.
4849 *** `set-fontset-font', `fontset-info', `fontset-font' now operate on
4850 the default fontset if the argument NAME is nil..
4852 ** Font-Lock changes:
4855 *** New special text property `font-lock-face'.
4857 This property acts like the `face' property, but it is controlled by
4858 M-x font-lock-mode. It is not, strictly speaking, a builtin text
4859 property. Instead, it is implemented inside font-core.el, using the
4860 new variable `char-property-alias-alist'.
4863 *** font-lock can manage arbitrary text-properties beside `face'.
4865 **** the FACENAME returned in `font-lock-keywords' can be a list of the
4866 form (face FACE PROP1 VAL1 PROP2 VAL2 ...) so you can set other
4867 properties than `face'.
4869 **** `font-lock-extra-managed-props' can be set to make sure those
4870 extra properties are automatically cleaned up by font-lock.
4873 *** jit-lock obeys a new text-property `jit-lock-defer-multiline'.
4875 If a piece of text with that property gets contextually refontified
4876 (see `jit-lock-defer-contextually'), then all of that text will
4877 be refontified. This is useful when the syntax of a textual element
4878 depends on text several lines further down (and when `font-lock-multiline'
4879 is not appropriate to solve that problem). For example in Perl:
4887 Adding/removing the last `e' changes the `bar' from being a piece of
4888 text to being a piece of code, so you'd put a `jit-lock-defer-multiline'
4889 property over the second half of the command to force (deferred)
4890 refontification of `bar' whenever the `e' is added/removed.
4892 ** Major mode mechanism changes:
4895 *** `set-auto-mode' now gives the interpreter magic line (if present)
4896 precedence over the file name. Likewise an `<?xml' or `<!DOCTYPE'
4897 declaration will give the buffer XML or SGML mode, based on the new
4898 var `magic-mode-alist'.
4901 *** Use the new function `run-mode-hooks' to run the major mode's mode hook.
4904 *** All major mode functions should now run the new normal hook
4905 `after-change-major-mode-hook', at their very end, after the mode
4906 hooks. `run-mode-hooks' does this automatically.
4909 *** If a major mode function has a non-nil `no-clone-indirect'
4910 property, `clone-indirect-buffer' signals an error if you use
4914 *** Major modes can define `eldoc-documentation-function'
4915 locally to provide Eldoc functionality by some method appropriate to
4919 *** `define-derived-mode' by default creates a new empty abbrev table.
4920 It does not copy abbrevs from the parent mode's abbrev table.
4923 *** The new function `run-mode-hooks' and the new macro `delay-mode-hooks'
4924 are used by `define-derived-mode' to make sure the mode hook for the
4925 parent mode is run at the end of the child mode.
4927 ** Minor mode changes:
4930 *** `define-minor-mode' now accepts arbitrary additional keyword arguments
4931 and simply passes them to `defcustom', if applicable.
4934 *** `minor-mode-list' now holds a list of minor mode commands.
4937 *** `define-global-minor-mode'.
4939 This is a new name for what was formerly called
4940 `easy-mmode-define-global-mode'. The old name remains as an alias.
4942 ** Command loop changes:
4945 *** The new function `called-interactively-p' does what many people
4946 have mistakenly believed `interactive-p' to do: it returns t if the
4947 calling function was called through `call-interactively'.
4949 Only use this when you cannot solve the problem by adding a new
4950 INTERACTIVE argument to the command.
4953 *** The function `commandp' takes an additional optional argument.
4955 If it is non-nil, then `commandp' checks for a function that could be
4956 called with `call-interactively', and does not return t for keyboard
4960 *** When a command returns, the command loop moves point out from
4961 within invisible text, in the same way it moves out from within text
4962 covered by an image or composition property.
4964 This makes it generally unnecessary to mark invisible text as intangible.
4965 This is particularly good because the intangible property often has
4966 unexpected side-effects since the property applies to everything
4967 (including `goto-char', ...) whereas this new code is only run after
4968 `post-command-hook' and thus does not care about intermediate states.
4971 *** If a command sets `transient-mark-mode' to `only', that
4972 enables Transient Mark mode for the following command only.
4973 During that following command, the value of `transient-mark-mode'
4974 is `identity'. If it is still `identity' at the end of the command,
4975 the next return to the command loop changes to nil.
4978 *** Both the variable and the function `disabled-command-hook' have
4979 been renamed to `disabled-command-function'. The variable
4980 `disabled-command-hook' has been kept as an obsolete alias.
4983 *** `emacsserver' now runs `pre-command-hook' and `post-command-hook'
4984 when it receives a request from emacsclient.
4986 ** Lisp file loading changes:
4989 *** `load-history' can now have elements of the form (t . FUNNAME),
4990 which means FUNNAME was previously defined as an autoload (before the
4991 current file redefined it).
4994 *** `load-history' now records (defun . FUNNAME) when a function is
4995 defined. For a variable, it records just the variable name.
4998 *** The function `symbol-file' can now search specifically for function,
4999 variable or face definitions.
5002 *** `provide' and `featurep' now accept an optional second argument
5003 to test/provide subfeatures. Also `provide' now checks `after-load-alist'
5004 and runs any code associated with the provided feature.
5007 *** The variable `recursive-load-depth-limit' has been deleted.
5008 Emacs now signals an error if the same file is loaded with more
5009 than 3 levels of nesting.
5012 ** Byte compiler changes:
5014 *** The byte compiler now displays the actual line and character
5015 position of errors, where possible. Additionally, the form of its
5016 warning and error messages have been brought into line with GNU standards
5017 for these. As a result, you can use next-error and friends on the
5018 compilation output buffer.
5020 *** The new macro `with-no-warnings' suppresses all compiler warnings
5021 inside its body. In terms of execution, it is equivalent to `progn'.
5023 *** You can avoid warnings for possibly-undefined symbols with a
5024 simple convention that the compiler understands. (This is mostly
5025 useful in code meant to be portable to different Emacs versions.)
5026 Write forms like the following, or code that macroexpands into such
5029 (if (fboundp 'foo) <then> <else>)
5030 (if (boundp 'foo) <then> <else)
5032 In the first case, using `foo' as a function inside the <then> form
5033 won't produce a warning if it's not defined as a function, and in the
5034 second case, using `foo' as a variable won't produce a warning if it's
5035 unbound. The test must be in exactly one of the above forms (after
5036 macro expansion), but such tests can be nested. Note that `when' and
5037 `unless' expand to `if', but `cond' doesn't.
5039 *** `(featurep 'xemacs)' is treated by the compiler as nil. This
5040 helps to avoid noisy compiler warnings in code meant to run under both
5041 Emacs and XEmacs and can sometimes make the result significantly more
5042 efficient. Since byte code from recent versions of XEmacs won't
5043 generally run in Emacs and vice versa, this optimization doesn't lose
5046 *** The local variable `no-byte-compile' in Lisp files is now obeyed.
5049 *** When a Lisp file uses CL functions at run-time, compiling the file
5050 now issues warnings about these calls, unless the file performs
5051 (require 'cl) when loaded.
5053 ** Frame operations:
5056 *** New functions `frame-current-scroll-bars' and `window-current-scroll-bars'.
5058 These functions return the current locations of the vertical and
5059 horizontal scroll bars in a frame or window.
5062 *** The new function `modify-all-frames-parameters' modifies parameters
5063 for all (existing and future) frames.
5066 *** The new frame parameter `tty-color-mode' specifies the mode to use
5067 for color support on character terminal frames. Its value can be a
5068 number of colors to support, or a symbol. See the Emacs Lisp
5069 Reference manual for more detailed documentation.
5072 *** When using non-toolkit scroll bars with the default width,
5073 the `scroll-bar-width' frame parameter value is nil.
5078 *** Already true in Emacs 21.1, but not emphasized clearly enough:
5080 Multibyte buffers can now faithfully record all 256 character codes
5081 from 0 to 255. As a result, most of the past reasons to use unibyte
5082 buffers no longer exist. We only know of three reasons to use them
5085 1. If you prefer to use unibyte text all of the time.
5087 2. For reading files into temporary buffers, when you want to avoid
5088 the time it takes to convert the format.
5090 3. For binary files where format conversion would be pointless and
5094 *** `set-buffer-file-coding-system' now takes an additional argument,
5095 NOMODIFY. If it is non-nil, it means don't mark the buffer modified.
5098 *** The new variable `auto-coding-functions' lets you specify functions
5099 to examine a file being visited and deduce the proper coding system
5100 for it. (If the coding system is detected incorrectly for a specific
5101 file, you can put a `coding:' tags to override it.)
5104 *** The new function `merge-coding-systems' fills in unspecified aspects
5105 of one coding system from another coding system.
5108 *** New coding system property `mime-text-unsuitable' indicates that
5109 the coding system's `mime-charset' is not suitable for MIME text
5113 *** New function `decode-coding-inserted-region' decodes a region as if
5114 it is read from a file without decoding.
5117 *** New CCL functions `lookup-character' and `lookup-integer' access
5118 hash tables defined by the Lisp function `define-translation-hash-table'.
5121 *** New function `quail-find-key' returns a list of keys to type in the
5122 current input method to input a character.
5124 ** Mode line changes:
5127 *** New function `format-mode-line'.
5129 This returns the mode line or header line of the selected (or a
5130 specified) window as a string with or without text properties.
5133 *** The new mode-line construct `(:propertize ELT PROPS...)' can be
5134 used to add text properties to mode-line elements.
5137 *** The new `%i' and `%I' constructs for `mode-line-format' can be used
5138 to display the size of the accessible part of the buffer on the mode
5142 *** Mouse-face on mode-line (and header-line) is now supported.
5144 ** Menu manipulation changes:
5147 *** To manipulate the File menu using easy-menu, you must specify the
5148 proper name "file". In previous Emacs versions, you had to specify
5149 "files", even though the menu item itself was changed to say "File"
5150 several versions ago.
5153 *** The dummy function keys made by easy-menu are now always lower case.
5154 If you specify the menu item name "Ada", for instance, it uses `ada'
5155 as the "key" bound by that key binding.
5157 This is relevant only if Lisp code looks for the bindings that were
5158 made with easy-menu.
5161 *** `easy-menu-define' now allows you to use nil for the symbol name
5162 if you don't need to give the menu a name. If you install the menu
5163 into other keymaps right away (MAPS is non-nil), it usually doesn't
5164 need to have a name.
5166 ** Operating system access:
5169 *** The new primitive `get-internal-run-time' returns the processor
5170 run time used by Emacs since start-up.
5173 *** Functions `user-uid' and `user-real-uid' now return floats if the
5174 user UID doesn't fit in a Lisp integer. Function `user-full-name'
5175 accepts a float as UID parameter.
5178 *** New function `locale-info' accesses locale information.
5181 *** On MS Windows, locale-coding-system is used to interact with the OS.
5182 The Windows specific variable w32-system-coding-system, which was
5183 formerly used for that purpose is now an alias for locale-coding-system.
5186 *** New function `redirect-debugging-output' can be used to redirect
5187 debugging output on the stderr file handle to a file.
5192 *** A number of hooks have been renamed to better follow the conventions:
5194 `find-file-hooks' to `find-file-hook',
5195 `find-file-not-found-hooks' to `find-file-not-found-functions',
5196 `write-file-hooks' to `write-file-functions',
5197 `write-contents-hooks' to `write-contents-functions',
5198 `x-lost-selection-hooks' to `x-lost-selection-functions',
5199 `x-sent-selection-hooks' to `x-sent-selection-functions',
5200 `delete-frame-hook' to `delete-frame-functions'.
5202 In each case the old name remains as an alias for the moment.
5205 *** local-write-file-hooks is marked obsolete
5207 Use the LOCAL arg of `add-hook'.
5210 *** New function `x-send-client-message' sends a client message when
5216 *** New variable `gc-cons-percentage' automatically grows the GC cons threshold
5217 as the heap size increases.
5220 *** New variables `gc-elapsed' and `gcs-done' provide extra information
5221 on garbage collection.
5224 *** The normal hook `post-gc-hook' is run at the end of garbage collection.
5226 The hook is run with GC inhibited, so use it with care.
5228 * New Packages for Lisp Programming in Emacs 22.1
5231 ** The new library button.el implements simple and fast `clickable
5232 buttons' in emacs buffers. Buttons are much lighter-weight than the
5233 `widgets' implemented by widget.el, and can be used by lisp code that
5234 doesn't require the full power of widgets. Emacs uses buttons for
5235 such things as help and apropos buffers.
5238 ** The new library tree-widget.el provides a widget to display a set
5239 of hierarchical data as an outline. For example, the tree-widget is
5240 well suited to display a hierarchy of directories and files.
5243 ** The new library bindat.el provides functions to unpack and pack
5244 binary data structures, such as network packets, to and from Lisp
5248 ** master-mode.el implements a minor mode for scrolling a slave
5249 buffer without leaving your current buffer, the master buffer.
5251 It can be used by sql.el, for example: the SQL buffer is the master
5252 and its SQLi buffer is the slave. This allows you to scroll the SQLi
5253 buffer containing the output from the SQL buffer containing the
5256 This is how to use sql.el and master.el together: the variable
5257 sql-buffer contains the slave buffer. It is a local variable in the
5260 (add-hook 'sql-mode-hook
5261 (function (lambda ()
5263 (master-set-slave sql-buffer))))
5264 (add-hook 'sql-set-sqli-hook
5265 (function (lambda ()
5266 (master-set-slave sql-buffer))))
5269 ** The new library benchmark.el does timing measurements on Lisp code.
5271 This includes measuring garbage collection time.
5274 ** The new library testcover.el does test coverage checking.
5276 This is so you can tell whether you've tested all paths in your Lisp
5277 code. It works with edebug.
5279 The function `testcover-start' instruments all functions in a given
5280 file. Then test your code. The function `testcover-mark-all' adds
5281 overlay "splotches" to the Lisp file's buffer to show where coverage
5282 is lacking. The command `testcover-next-mark' (bind it to a key!)
5283 will move point forward to the next spot that has a splotch.
5285 Normally, a red splotch indicates the form was never completely
5286 evaluated; a brown splotch means it always evaluated to the same
5287 value. The red splotches are skipped for forms that can't possibly
5288 complete their evaluation, such as `error'. The brown splotches are
5289 skipped for forms that are expected to always evaluate to the same
5290 value, such as (setq x 14).
5292 For difficult cases, you can add do-nothing macros to your code to
5293 help out the test coverage tool. The macro `noreturn' suppresses a
5294 red splotch. It is an error if the argument to `noreturn' does
5295 return. The macro `1value' suppresses a brown splotch for its argument.
5296 This macro is a no-op except during test-coverage -- then it signals
5297 an error if the argument actually returns differing values.
5299 * Installation changes in Emacs 21.3
5301 ** Support for GNU/Linux on little-endian MIPS and on IBM S390 has
5305 * Changes in Emacs 21.3
5307 ** The obsolete C mode (c-mode.el) has been removed to avoid problems
5310 ** UTF-16 coding systems are available, encoding the same characters
5313 ** There is a new language environment for UTF-8 (set up automatically
5316 ** Translation tables are available between equivalent characters in
5317 different Emacs charsets -- for instance `e with acute' coming from the
5318 Latin-1 and Latin-2 charsets. User options `unify-8859-on-encoding-mode'
5319 and `unify-8859-on-decoding-mode' respectively turn on translation
5320 between ISO 8859 character sets (`unification') on encoding
5321 (e.g. writing a file) and decoding (e.g. reading a file). Note that
5322 `unify-8859-on-encoding-mode' is useful and safe, but
5323 `unify-8859-on-decoding-mode' can cause text to change when you read
5324 it and write it out again without edits, so it is not generally advisable.
5325 By default `unify-8859-on-encoding-mode' is turned on.
5327 ** In Emacs running on the X window system, the default value of
5328 `selection-coding-system' is now `compound-text-with-extensions'.
5330 If you want the old behavior, set selection-coding-system to
5331 compound-text, which may be significantly more efficient. Using
5332 compound-text-with-extensions seems to be necessary only for decoding
5333 text from applications under XFree86 4.2, whose behavior is actually
5334 contrary to the compound text specification.
5337 * Installation changes in Emacs 21.2
5339 ** Support for BSD/OS 5.0 has been added.
5341 ** Support for AIX 5.1 was added.
5344 * Changes in Emacs 21.2
5346 ** Emacs now supports compound-text extended segments in X selections.
5348 X applications can use `extended segments' to encode characters in
5349 compound text that belong to character sets which are not part of the
5350 list of approved standard encodings for X, e.g. Big5. To paste
5351 selections with such characters into Emacs, use the new coding system
5352 compound-text-with-extensions as the value of selection-coding-system.
5354 ** The default values of `tooltip-delay' and `tooltip-hide-delay'
5357 ** On terminals whose erase-char is ^H (Backspace), Emacs
5358 now uses normal-erase-is-backspace-mode.
5360 ** When the *scratch* buffer is recreated, its mode is set from
5361 initial-major-mode, which normally is lisp-interaction-mode,
5362 instead of using default-major-mode.
5364 ** The new option `Info-scroll-prefer-subnodes' causes Info to behave
5365 like the stand-alone Info reader (from the GNU Texinfo package) as far
5366 as motion between nodes and their subnodes is concerned. If it is t
5367 (the default), Emacs behaves as before when you type SPC in a menu: it
5368 visits the subnode pointed to by the first menu entry. If this option
5369 is nil, SPC scrolls to the end of the current node, and only then goes
5370 to the first menu item, like the stand-alone reader does.
5372 This change was already in Emacs 21.1, but wasn't advertised in the
5376 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 21.2
5378 ** The meanings of scroll-up-aggressively and scroll-down-aggressively
5379 have been interchanged, so that the former now controls scrolling up,
5380 and the latter now controls scrolling down.
5382 ** The variable `compilation-parse-errors-filename-function' can
5383 be used to transform filenames found in compilation output.
5386 * Installation Changes in Emacs 21.1
5388 See the INSTALL file for information on installing extra libraries and
5389 fonts to take advantage of the new graphical features and extra
5390 charsets in this release.
5392 ** Support for GNU/Linux on IA64 machines has been added.
5394 ** Support for LynxOS has been added.
5396 ** There are new configure options associated with the support for
5397 images and toolkit scrollbars. Use the --help option in `configure'
5400 ** You can build a 64-bit Emacs for SPARC/Solaris systems which
5401 support 64-bit executables and also on Irix 6.5. This increases the
5402 maximum buffer size. See etc/MACHINES for instructions. Changes to
5403 build on other 64-bit systems should be straightforward modulo any
5404 necessary changes to unexec.
5406 ** There is a new configure option `--disable-largefile' to omit
5407 Unix-98-style support for large files if that is available.
5409 ** There is a new configure option `--without-xim' that instructs
5410 Emacs to not use X Input Methods (XIM), if these are available.
5412 ** `movemail' defaults to supporting POP. You can turn this off using
5413 the --without-pop configure option, should that be necessary.
5415 ** This version can be built for the Macintosh, but does not implement
5416 all of the new display features described below. The port currently
5417 lacks unexec, asynchronous processes, and networking support. See the
5418 "Emacs and the Mac OS" appendix in the Emacs manual, for the
5419 description of aspects specific to the Mac.
5421 ** Note that the MS-Windows port does not yet implement various of the
5422 new display features described below.
5425 * Changes in Emacs 21.1
5427 ** Emacs has a new redisplay engine.
5429 The new redisplay handles characters of variable width and height.
5430 Italic text can be used without redisplay problems. Fonts containing
5431 oversized characters, i.e. characters larger than the logical height
5432 of a font can be used. Images of various formats can be displayed in
5435 ** Emacs has a new face implementation.
5437 The new faces no longer fundamentally use X font names to specify the
5438 font. Instead, each face has several independent attributes--family,
5439 height, width, weight and slant--that it may or may not specify.
5440 These attributes can be merged from various faces, and then together
5443 Faces are supported on terminals that can display color or fonts.
5444 These terminal capabilities are auto-detected. Details can be found
5445 under Lisp changes, below.
5447 ** Emacs can display faces on TTY frames.
5449 Emacs automatically detects terminals that are able to display colors.
5450 Faces with a weight greater than normal are displayed extra-bright, if
5451 the terminal supports it. Faces with a weight less than normal and
5452 italic faces are displayed dimmed, if the terminal supports it.
5453 Underlined faces are displayed underlined if possible. Other face
5454 attributes such as `overline', `strike-through', and `box' are ignored
5457 The command-line options `-fg COLOR', `-bg COLOR', and `-rv' are now
5458 supported on character terminals.
5460 Emacs automatically remaps all X-style color specifications to one of
5461 the colors supported by the terminal. This means you could have the
5462 same color customizations that work both on a windowed display and on
5463 a TTY or when Emacs is invoked with the -nw option.
5465 ** New default font is Courier 12pt under X.
5469 Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and FreeBSD (Voxware
5470 driver and native BSD driver, a.k.a. Luigi's driver). Currently
5471 supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio (*.au).
5472 You must configure Emacs with the option `--with-sound=yes' to enable
5475 ** Emacs now resizes mini-windows if appropriate.
5477 If a message is longer than one line, or minibuffer contents are
5478 longer than one line, Emacs can resize the minibuffer window unless it
5479 is on a frame of its own. You can control resizing and the maximum
5480 minibuffer window size by setting the following variables:
5482 - User option: max-mini-window-height
5484 Maximum height for resizing mini-windows. If a float, it specifies a
5485 fraction of the mini-window frame's height. If an integer, it
5486 specifies a number of lines.
5490 - User option: resize-mini-windows
5492 How to resize mini-windows. If nil, don't resize. If t, always
5493 resize to fit the size of the text. If `grow-only', let mini-windows
5494 grow only, until they become empty, at which point they are shrunk
5497 Default is `grow-only'.
5501 Emacs now runs with the LessTif toolkit (see
5502 <http://www.lesstif.org>). You will need version 0.92.26, or later.
5504 ** LessTif/Motif file selection dialog.
5506 When Emacs is configured to use LessTif or Motif, reading a file name
5507 from a menu will pop up a file selection dialog if `use-dialog-box' is
5510 ** File selection dialog on MS-Windows is supported.
5512 When a file is visited by clicking File->Open, the MS-Windows version
5513 now pops up a standard file selection dialog where you can select a
5514 file to visit. File->Save As also pops up that dialog.
5516 ** Toolkit scroll bars.
5518 Emacs now uses toolkit scroll bars if available. When configured for
5519 LessTif/Motif, it will use that toolkit's scroll bar. Otherwise, when
5520 configured for Lucid and Athena widgets, it will use the Xaw3d scroll
5521 bar if Xaw3d is available. You can turn off the use of toolkit scroll
5522 bars by specifying `--with-toolkit-scroll-bars=no' when configuring
5525 When you encounter problems with the Xaw3d scroll bar, watch out how
5526 Xaw3d is compiled on your system. If the Makefile generated from
5527 Xaw3d's Imakefile contains a `-DNARROWPROTO' compiler option, and your
5528 Emacs system configuration file `s/your-system.h' does not contain a
5529 define for NARROWPROTO, you might consider adding it. Take
5530 `s/freebsd.h' as an example.
5532 Alternatively, if you don't have access to the Xaw3d source code, take
5533 a look at your system's imake configuration file, for example in the
5534 directory `/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/config' (paths are different on
5535 different systems). You will find files `*.cf' there. If your
5536 system's cf-file contains a line like `#define NeedWidePrototypes NO',
5537 add a `#define NARROWPROTO' to your Emacs system configuration file.
5539 The reason for this is that one Xaw3d function uses `double' or
5540 `float' function parameters depending on the setting of NARROWPROTO.
5541 This is not a problem when Imakefiles are used because each system's
5542 imake configuration file contains the necessary information. Since
5543 Emacs doesn't use imake, this has do be done manually.
5545 ** Tool bar support.
5547 Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. For details
5548 of how to define a tool bar, see the page describing Lisp-level
5549 changes. Tool-bar global minor mode controls whether or not it is
5550 displayed and is on by default. The appearance of the bar is improved
5551 if Emacs has been built with XPM image support. Otherwise monochrome
5554 To make the tool bar more useful, we need contributions of extra icons
5555 for specific modes (with copyright assignments).
5559 Tooltips are small X windows displaying a help string at the current
5560 mouse position. The Lisp package `tooltip' implements them. You can
5561 turn them off via the user option `tooltip-mode'.
5563 Tooltips also provides support for GUD debugging. If activated,
5564 variable values can be displayed in tooltips by pointing at them with
5565 the mouse in source buffers. You can customize various aspects of the
5566 tooltip display in the group `tooltip'.
5568 ** Automatic Hscrolling
5570 Horizontal scrolling now happens automatically if
5571 `automatic-hscrolling' is set (the default). This setting can be
5574 If a window is scrolled horizontally with set-window-hscroll, or
5575 scroll-left/scroll-right (C-x <, C-x >), this serves as a lower bound
5576 for automatic horizontal scrolling. Automatic scrolling will scroll
5577 the text more to the left if necessary, but won't scroll the text more
5578 to the right than the column set with set-window-hscroll etc.
5580 ** When using a windowing terminal, each Emacs window now has a cursor
5581 of its own. By default, when a window is selected, the cursor is
5582 solid; otherwise, it is hollow. The user-option
5583 `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' controls how to display the
5584 cursor in non-selected windows. If nil, no cursor is shown, if
5585 non-nil a hollow box cursor is shown.
5587 ** Fringes to the left and right of windows are used to display
5588 truncation marks, continuation marks, overlay arrows and alike. The
5589 foreground, background, and stipple of these areas can be changed by
5590 customizing face `fringe'.
5592 ** The mode line under X is now drawn with shadows by default.
5593 You can change its appearance by modifying the face `mode-line'.
5594 In particular, setting the `:box' attribute to nil turns off the 3D
5595 appearance of the mode line. (The 3D appearance makes the mode line
5596 occupy more space, and thus might cause the first or the last line of
5597 the window to be partially obscured.)
5599 The variable `mode-line-inverse-video', which was used in older
5600 versions of emacs to make the mode-line stand out, is now deprecated.
5601 However, setting it to nil will cause the `mode-line' face to be
5602 ignored, and mode-lines to be drawn using the default text face.
5604 ** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
5606 Different parts of the mode line have been made mouse-sensitive on all
5607 systems which support the mouse. Moving the mouse to a
5608 mouse-sensitive part in the mode line changes the appearance of the
5609 mouse pointer to an arrow, and help about available mouse actions is
5610 displayed either in the echo area, or in the tooltip window if you
5613 Currently, the following actions have been defined:
5615 - Mouse-1 on the buffer name in the mode line goes to the next buffer.
5617 - Mouse-3 on the buffer-name goes to the previous buffer.
5619 - Mouse-2 on the read-only or modified status in the mode line (`%' or
5620 `*') toggles the status.
5622 - Mouse-3 on the mode name displays a minor-mode menu.
5624 ** Hourglass pointer
5626 Emacs can optionally display an hourglass pointer under X. You can
5627 turn the display on or off by customizing group `cursor'.
5631 M-x blink-cursor-mode toggles a blinking cursor under X and on
5632 terminals having terminal capabilities `vi', `vs', and `ve'. Blinking
5633 and related parameters like frequency and delay can be customized in
5636 ** New font-lock support mode `jit-lock-mode'.
5638 This support mode is roughly equivalent to `lazy-lock' but is
5639 generally faster. It supports stealth and deferred fontification.
5640 See the documentation of the function `jit-lock-mode' for more
5643 Font-lock uses jit-lock-mode as default support mode, so you don't
5644 have to do anything to activate it.
5646 ** The default binding of the Delete key has changed.
5648 The new user-option `normal-erase-is-backspace' can be set to
5649 determine the effect of the Delete and Backspace function keys.
5651 On window systems, the default value of this option is chosen
5652 according to the keyboard used. If the keyboard has both a Backspace
5653 key and a Delete key, and both are mapped to their usual meanings, the
5654 option's default value is set to t, so that Backspace can be used to
5655 delete backward, and Delete can be used to delete forward. On
5656 keyboards which either have only one key (usually labeled DEL), or two
5657 keys DEL and BS which produce the same effect, the option's value is
5658 set to nil, and these keys delete backward.
5660 If not running under a window system, setting this option accomplishes
5661 a similar effect by mapping C-h, which is usually generated by the
5662 Backspace key, to DEL, and by mapping DEL to C-d via
5663 `keyboard-translate'. The former functionality of C-h is available on
5664 the F1 key. You should probably not use this setting on a text-only
5665 terminal if you don't have both Backspace, Delete and F1 keys.
5667 Programmatically, you can call function normal-erase-is-backspace-mode
5668 to toggle the behavior of the Delete and Backspace keys.
5670 ** The default for user-option `next-line-add-newlines' has been
5671 changed to nil, i.e. C-n will no longer add newlines at the end of a
5674 ** The <home> and <end> keys now move to the beginning or end of the
5675 current line, respectively. C-<home> and C-<end> move to the
5676 beginning and end of the buffer.
5678 ** Emacs now checks for recursive loads of Lisp files. If the
5679 recursion depth exceeds `recursive-load-depth-limit', an error is
5682 ** When an error is signaled during the loading of the user's init
5683 file, Emacs now pops up the *Messages* buffer.
5685 ** Emacs now refuses to load compiled Lisp files which weren't
5686 compiled with Emacs. Set `load-dangerous-libraries' to t to change
5689 The reason for this change is an incompatible change in XEmacs's byte
5690 compiler. Files compiled with XEmacs can contain byte codes that let
5693 ** Toggle buttons and radio buttons in menus.
5695 When compiled with LessTif (or Motif) support, Emacs uses toolkit
5696 widgets for radio and toggle buttons in menus. When configured for
5697 Lucid, Emacs draws radio buttons and toggle buttons similar to Motif.
5699 ** The menu bar configuration has changed. The new configuration is
5700 more CUA-compliant. The most significant change is that Options is
5701 now a separate menu-bar item, with Mule and Customize as its submenus.
5703 ** Item Save Options on the Options menu allows saving options set
5706 ** Highlighting of trailing whitespace.
5708 When `show-trailing-whitespace' is non-nil, Emacs displays trailing
5709 whitespace in the face `trailing-whitespace'. Trailing whitespace is
5710 defined as spaces or tabs at the end of a line. To avoid busy
5711 highlighting when entering new text, trailing whitespace is not
5712 displayed if point is at the end of the line containing the
5715 ** C-x 5 1 runs the new command delete-other-frames which deletes
5716 all frames except the selected one.
5718 ** The new user-option `confirm-kill-emacs' can be customized to
5719 let Emacs ask for confirmation before exiting.
5721 ** The header line in an Info buffer is now displayed as an emacs
5722 header-line (which is like a mode-line, but at the top of the window),
5723 so that it remains visible even when the buffer has been scrolled.
5724 This behavior may be disabled by customizing the option
5725 `Info-use-header-line'.
5727 ** Polish, Czech, German, and French translations of Emacs' reference card
5728 have been added. They are named `pl-refcard.tex', `cs-refcard.tex',
5729 `de-refcard.tex' and `fr-refcard.tex'. Postscript files are included.
5731 ** An `Emacs Survival Guide', etc/survival.tex, is available.
5733 ** A reference card for Dired has been added. Its name is
5734 `dired-ref.tex'. A French translation is available in
5737 ** C-down-mouse-3 is bound differently. Now if the menu bar is not
5738 displayed it pops up a menu containing the items which would be on the
5739 menu bar. If the menu bar is displayed, it pops up the major mode
5740 menu or the Edit menu if there is no major mode menu.
5742 ** Variable `load-path' is no longer customizable through Customize.
5744 You can no longer use `M-x customize-variable' to customize `load-path'
5745 because it now contains a version-dependent component. You can still
5746 use `add-to-list' and `setq' to customize this variable in your
5747 `~/.emacs' init file or to modify it from any Lisp program in general.
5749 ** C-u C-x = provides detailed information about the character at
5750 point in a pop-up window.
5752 ** Emacs can now support 'wheeled' mice (such as the MS IntelliMouse)
5753 under XFree86. To enable this, use the `mouse-wheel-mode' command, or
5754 customize the variable `mouse-wheel-mode'.
5756 The variables `mouse-wheel-follow-mouse' and `mouse-wheel-scroll-amount'
5757 determine where and by how much buffers are scrolled.
5759 ** Emacs' auto-save list files are now by default stored in a
5760 sub-directory `.emacs.d/auto-save-list/' of the user's home directory.
5761 (On MS-DOS, this subdirectory's name is `_emacs.d/auto-save.list/'.)
5762 You can customize `auto-save-list-file-prefix' to change this location.
5764 ** The function `getenv' is now callable interactively.
5766 ** The new user-option `even-window-heights' can be set to nil
5767 to prevent `display-buffer' from evening out window heights.
5769 ** The new command M-x delete-trailing-whitespace RET will delete the
5770 trailing whitespace within the current restriction. You can also add
5771 this function to `write-file-hooks' or `local-write-file-hooks'.
5773 ** When visiting a file with M-x find-file-literally, no newlines will
5774 be added to the end of the buffer even if `require-final-newline' is
5777 ** The new user-option `find-file-suppress-same-file-warnings' can be
5778 set to suppress warnings ``X and Y are the same file'' when visiting a
5779 file that is already visited under a different name.
5781 ** The new user-option `electric-help-shrink-window' can be set to
5782 nil to prevent adjusting the help window size to the buffer size.
5784 ** New command M-x describe-character-set reads a character set name
5785 and displays information about that.
5787 ** The new variable `auto-mode-interpreter-regexp' contains a regular
5788 expression matching interpreters, for file mode determination.
5790 This regular expression is matched against the first line of a file to
5791 determine the file's mode in `set-auto-mode' when Emacs can't deduce a
5792 mode from the file's name. If it matches, the file is assumed to be
5793 interpreted by the interpreter matched by the second group of the
5794 regular expression. The mode is then determined as the mode
5795 associated with that interpreter in `interpreter-mode-alist'.
5797 ** New function executable-make-buffer-file-executable-if-script-p is
5798 suitable as an after-save-hook as an alternative to `executable-chmod'.
5800 ** The most preferred coding-system is now used to save a buffer if
5801 buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and it is safe for the buffer
5802 contents. (The most preferred is set by set-language-environment or
5803 by M-x prefer-coding-system.) Thus if you visit an ASCII file and
5804 insert a non-ASCII character from your current language environment,
5805 the file will be saved silently with the appropriate coding.
5806 Previously you would be prompted for a safe coding system.
5808 ** The many obsolete language `setup-...-environment' commands have
5809 been removed -- use `set-language-environment'.
5811 ** The new Custom option `keyboard-coding-system' specifies a coding
5812 system for keyboard input.
5814 ** New variable `inhibit-iso-escape-detection' determines if Emacs'
5815 coding system detection algorithm should pay attention to ISO2022's
5816 escape sequences. If this variable is non-nil, the algorithm ignores
5817 such escape sequences. The default value is nil, and it is
5818 recommended not to change it except for the special case that you
5819 always want to read any escape code verbatim. If you just want to
5820 read a specific file without decoding escape codes, use C-x RET c
5821 (`universal-coding-system-argument'). For instance, C-x RET c latin-1
5822 RET C-x C-f filename RET.
5824 ** Variable `default-korean-keyboard' is initialized properly from the
5825 environment variable `HANGUL_KEYBOARD_TYPE'.
5827 ** New command M-x list-charset-chars reads a character set name and
5828 displays all characters in that character set.
5830 ** M-x set-terminal-coding-system (C-x RET t) now allows CCL-based
5831 coding systems such as cpXXX and cyrillic-koi8.
5833 ** Emacs now attempts to determine the initial language environment
5834 and preferred and locale coding systems systematically from the
5835 LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG environment variables during startup.
5837 ** New language environments `Polish', `Latin-8' and `Latin-9'.
5838 Latin-8 and Latin-9 correspond respectively to the ISO character sets
5839 8859-14 (Celtic) and 8859-15 (updated Latin-1, with the Euro sign).
5840 GNU Intlfonts doesn't support these yet but recent X releases have
5841 8859-15. See etc/INSTALL for information on obtaining extra fonts.
5842 There are new Leim input methods for Latin-8 and Latin-9 prefix (only)
5845 ** New language environments `Dutch' and `Spanish'.
5846 These new environments mainly select appropriate translations
5849 ** In Ethiopic language environment, special key bindings for
5850 function keys are changed as follows. This is to conform to "Emacs
5851 Lisp Coding Convention".
5853 new command old-binding
5854 --- ------- -----------
5855 f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-buffer f5
5856 S-f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-region f5
5857 C-f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-mail-or-marker f5
5859 f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-buffer unchanged
5860 S-f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-region unchanged
5861 C-f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-mail-or-marker unchanged
5863 S-f5 ethio-toggle-punctuation f3
5864 S-f6 ethio-modify-vowel f6
5865 S-f7 ethio-replace-space f7
5866 S-f8 ethio-input-special-character f8
5867 S-f9 ethio-replace-space unchanged
5868 C-f9 ethio-toggle-space f2
5870 ** There are new Leim input methods.
5871 New input methods "turkish-postfix", "turkish-alt-postfix",
5872 "greek-mizuochi", "TeX", and "greek-babel" are now part of the Leim
5875 ** The rule of input method "slovak" is slightly changed. Now the
5876 rules for translating "q" and "Q" to "`" (backquote) are deleted, thus
5877 typing them inserts "q" and "Q" respectively. Rules for translating
5878 "=q", "+q", "=Q", and "+Q" to "`" are also deleted. Now, to input
5879 "`", you must type "=q".
5881 ** When your terminal can't display characters from some of the ISO
5882 8859 character sets but can display Latin-1, you can display
5883 more-or-less mnemonic sequences of ASCII/Latin-1 characters instead of
5884 empty boxes (under a window system) or question marks (not under a
5885 window system). Customize the option `latin1-display' to turn this
5888 ** M-; now calls comment-dwim which tries to do something clever based
5889 on the context. M-x kill-comment is now an alias to comment-kill,
5890 defined in newcomment.el. You can choose different styles of region
5891 commenting with the variable `comment-style'.
5893 ** New user options `display-time-mail-face' and
5894 `display-time-use-mail-icon' control the appearance of mode-line mail
5895 indicator used by the display-time package. On a suitable display the
5896 indicator can be an icon and is mouse-sensitive.
5898 ** On window-systems, additional space can be put between text lines
5899 on the display using several methods
5901 - By setting frame parameter `line-spacing' to PIXELS. PIXELS must be
5902 a positive integer, and specifies that PIXELS number of pixels should
5903 be put below text lines on the affected frame or frames.
5905 - By setting X resource `lineSpacing', class `LineSpacing'. This is
5906 equivalent to specifying the frame parameter.
5908 - By specifying `--line-spacing=N' or `-lsp N' on the command line.
5910 - By setting buffer-local variable `line-spacing'. The meaning is
5911 the same, but applies to the a particular buffer only.
5913 ** The new command `clone-indirect-buffer' can be used to create
5914 an indirect buffer that is a twin copy of the current buffer. The
5915 command `clone-indirect-buffer-other-window', bound to C-x 4 c,
5916 does the same but displays the indirect buffer in another window.
5918 ** New user options `backup-directory-alist' and
5919 `make-backup-file-name-function' control the placement of backups,
5920 typically in a single directory or in an invisible sub-directory.
5922 ** New commands iso-iso2sgml and iso-sgml2iso convert between Latin-1
5923 characters and the corresponding SGML (HTML) entities.
5925 ** New X resources recognized
5927 *** The X resource `synchronous', class `Synchronous', specifies
5928 whether Emacs should run in synchronous mode. Synchronous mode
5929 is useful for debugging X problems.
5933 emacs.synchronous: true
5935 *** The X resource `visualClass, class `VisualClass', specifies the
5936 visual Emacs should use. The resource's value should be a string of
5937 the form `CLASS-DEPTH', where CLASS is the name of the visual class,
5938 and DEPTH is the requested color depth as a decimal number. Valid
5939 visual class names are
5948 Visual class names specified as X resource are case-insensitive, i.e.
5949 `pseudocolor', `Pseudocolor' and `PseudoColor' all have the same
5952 The program `xdpyinfo' can be used to list the visual classes
5953 supported on your display, and which depths they have. If
5954 `visualClass' is not specified, Emacs uses the display's default
5959 emacs.visualClass: TrueColor-8
5961 *** The X resource `privateColormap', class `PrivateColormap',
5962 specifies that Emacs should use a private colormap if it is using the
5963 default visual, and that visual is of class PseudoColor. Recognized
5964 resource values are `true' or `on'.
5968 emacs.privateColormap: true
5970 ** Faces and frame parameters.
5972 There are four new faces `scroll-bar', `border', `cursor' and `mouse'.
5973 Setting the frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
5974 `scroll-bar-background' sets foreground and background color of face
5975 `scroll-bar' and vice versa. Setting frame parameter `border-color'
5976 sets the background color of face `border' and vice versa. Likewise
5977 for frame parameters `cursor-color' and face `cursor', and frame
5978 parameter `mouse-color' and face `mouse'.
5980 Changing frame parameter `font' sets font-related attributes of the
5981 `default' face and vice versa. Setting frame parameters
5982 `foreground-color' or `background-color' sets the colors of the
5983 `default' face and vice versa.
5987 The face `menu' can be used to change colors and font of Emacs' menus.
5989 ** New frame parameter `screen-gamma' for gamma correction.
5991 The new frame parameter `screen-gamma' specifies gamma-correction for
5992 colors. Its value may be nil, the default, in which case no gamma
5993 correction occurs, or a number > 0, usually a float, that specifies
5994 the screen gamma of a frame's display.
5996 PC monitors usually have a screen gamma of 2.2. smaller values result
5997 in darker colors. You might want to try a screen gamma of 1.5 for LCD
5998 color displays. The viewing gamma Emacs uses is 0.4545. (1/2.2).
6000 The X resource name of this parameter is `screenGamma', class
6003 ** Tabs and variable-width text.
6005 Tabs are now displayed with stretch properties; the width of a tab is
6006 defined as a multiple of the normal character width of a frame, and is
6007 independent of the fonts used in the text where the tab appears.
6008 Thus, tabs can be used to line up text in different fonts.
6010 ** Enhancements of the Lucid menu bar
6012 *** The Lucid menu bar now supports the resource "margin".
6014 emacs.pane.menubar.margin: 5
6016 The default margin is 4 which makes the menu bar appear like the
6019 *** Arrows that indicate sub-menus are now drawn with shadows, as in
6022 ** A block cursor can be drawn as wide as the glyph under it under X.
6024 As an example: if a block cursor is over a tab character, it will be
6025 drawn as wide as that tab on the display. To do this, set
6026 `x-stretch-cursor' to a non-nil value.
6028 ** Empty display lines at the end of a buffer may be marked with a
6029 bitmap (this is similar to the tilde displayed by vi and Less).
6031 This behavior is activated by setting the buffer-local variable
6032 `indicate-empty-lines' to a non-nil value. The default value of this
6033 variable is found in `default-indicate-empty-lines'.
6035 ** There is a new "aggressive" scrolling method.
6037 When scrolling up because point is above the window start, if the
6038 value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-up-aggressively' is a
6039 number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
6040 fraction of the window's height from the top of the window.
6042 When scrolling down because point is below the window end, if the
6043 value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-down-aggressively' is a
6044 number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
6045 fraction of the window's height from the bottom of the window.
6047 ** You can now easily create new *Info* buffers using either
6048 M-x clone-buffer, C-u m <entry> RET or C-u g <entry> RET.
6049 M-x clone-buffer can also be used on *Help* and several other special
6052 ** The command `Info-search' now uses a search history.
6054 ** Listing buffers with M-x list-buffers (C-x C-b) now shows
6055 abbreviated file names. Abbreviations can be customized by changing
6056 `directory-abbrev-alist'.
6058 ** A new variable, backup-by-copying-when-privileged-mismatch, gives
6059 the highest file uid for which backup-by-copying-when-mismatch will be
6060 forced on. The assumption is that uids less than or equal to this
6061 value are special uids (root, bin, daemon, etc.--not real system
6062 users) and that files owned by these users should not change ownership,
6063 even if your system policy allows users other than root to edit them.
6065 The default is 200; set the variable to nil to disable the feature.
6067 ** The rectangle commands now avoid inserting undesirable spaces,
6068 notably at the end of lines.
6070 All these functions have been rewritten to avoid inserting unwanted
6071 spaces, and an optional prefix now allows them to behave the old way.
6073 ** The function `replace-rectangle' is an alias for `string-rectangle'.
6075 ** The new command M-x string-insert-rectangle is like `string-rectangle',
6076 but inserts text instead of replacing it.
6078 ** The new command M-x query-replace-regexp-eval acts like
6079 query-replace-regexp, but takes a Lisp expression which is evaluated
6080 after each match to get the replacement text.
6082 ** M-x query-replace recognizes a new command `e' (or `E') that lets
6083 you edit the replacement string.
6085 ** The new command mail-abbrev-complete-alias, bound to `M-TAB'
6086 (if you load the library `mailabbrev'), lets you complete mail aliases
6087 in the text, analogous to lisp-complete-symbol.
6089 ** The variable `echo-keystrokes' may now have a floating point value.
6091 ** If your init file is compiled (.emacs.elc), `user-init-file' is set
6092 to the source name (.emacs.el), if that exists, after loading it.
6094 ** The help string specified for a menu-item whose definition contains
6095 the property `:help HELP' is now displayed under X, on MS-Windows, and
6096 MS-DOS, either in the echo area or with tooltips. Many standard menus
6097 displayed by Emacs now have help strings.
6100 ** New user option `read-mail-command' specifies a command to use to
6101 read mail from the menu etc.
6103 ** The environment variable `EMACSLOCKDIR' is no longer used on MS-Windows.
6104 This environment variable was used when creating lock files. Emacs on
6105 MS-Windows does not use this variable anymore. This change was made
6106 before Emacs 21.1, but wasn't documented until now.
6108 ** Highlighting of mouse-sensitive regions is now supported in the
6109 MS-DOS version of Emacs.
6111 ** The new command `msdos-set-mouse-buttons' forces the MS-DOS version
6112 of Emacs to behave as if the mouse had a specified number of buttons.
6113 This comes handy with mice that don't report their number of buttons
6114 correctly. One example is the wheeled mice, which report 3 buttons,
6115 but clicks on the middle button are not passed to the MS-DOS version
6118 ** Customize changes
6120 *** Customize now supports comments about customized items. Use the
6121 `State' menu to add comments, or give a prefix argument to
6122 M-x customize-set-variable or M-x customize-set-value. Note that
6123 customization comments will cause the customizations to fail in
6124 earlier versions of Emacs.
6126 *** The new option `custom-buffer-done-function' says whether to kill
6127 Custom buffers when you've done with them or just bury them (the
6130 *** If Emacs was invoked with the `-q' or `--no-init-file' options, it
6131 does not allow you to save customizations in your `~/.emacs' init
6132 file. This is because saving customizations from such a session would
6133 wipe out all the other customizationss you might have on your init
6136 ** If Emacs was invoked with the `-q' or `--no-init-file' options, it
6137 does not save disabled and enabled commands for future sessions, to
6138 avoid overwriting existing customizations of this kind that are
6139 already in your init file.
6141 ** New features in evaluation commands
6143 *** The commands to evaluate Lisp expressions, such as C-M-x in Lisp
6144 modes, C-j in Lisp Interaction mode, and M-:, now bind the variables
6145 print-level, print-length, and debug-on-error based on the new
6146 customizable variables eval-expression-print-level,
6147 eval-expression-print-length, and eval-expression-debug-on-error.
6149 The default values for the first two of these variables are 12 and 4
6150 respectively, which means that `eval-expression' now prints at most
6151 the first 12 members of a list and at most 4 nesting levels deep (if
6152 the list is longer or deeper than that, an ellipsis `...' is
6155 <RET> or <mouse-2> on the printed text toggles between an abbreviated
6156 printed representation and an unabbreviated one.
6158 The default value of eval-expression-debug-on-error is t, so any error
6159 during evaluation produces a backtrace.
6161 *** The function `eval-defun' (C-M-x) now loads Edebug and instruments
6162 code when called with a prefix argument.
6166 Note: This release contains changes that might not be compatible with
6167 current user setups (although it's believed that these
6168 incompatibilities will only show in very uncommon circumstances).
6169 However, since the impact is uncertain, these changes may be rolled
6170 back depending on user feedback. Therefore there's no forward
6171 compatibility guarantee wrt the new features introduced in this
6174 *** The hardcoded switch to "java" style in Java mode is gone.
6175 CC Mode used to automatically set the style to "java" when Java mode
6176 is entered. This has now been removed since it caused too much
6179 However, to keep backward compatibility to a certain extent, the
6180 default value for c-default-style now specifies the "java" style for
6181 java-mode, but "gnu" for all other modes (as before). So you won't
6182 notice the change if you haven't touched that variable.
6184 *** New cleanups, space-before-funcall and compact-empty-funcall.
6185 Two new cleanups have been added to c-cleanup-list:
6187 space-before-funcall causes a space to be inserted before the opening
6188 parenthesis of a function call, which gives the style "foo (bar)".
6190 compact-empty-funcall causes any space before a function call opening
6191 parenthesis to be removed if there are no arguments to the function.
6192 It's typically useful together with space-before-funcall to get the
6193 style "foo (bar)" and "foo()".
6195 *** Some keywords now automatically trigger reindentation.
6196 Keywords like "else", "while", "catch" and "finally" have been made
6197 "electric" to make them reindent automatically when they continue an
6198 earlier statement. An example:
6200 for (i = 0; i < 17; i++)
6202 res += a[i]->offset;
6205 Here, the "else" should be indented like the preceding "if", since it
6206 continues that statement. CC Mode will automatically reindent it after
6207 the "else" has been typed in full, since it's not until then it's
6208 possible to decide whether it's a new statement or a continuation of
6211 CC Mode uses Abbrev mode to achieve this, which is therefore turned on
6214 *** M-a and M-e now moves by sentence in multiline strings.
6215 Previously these two keys only moved by sentence in comments, which
6216 meant that sentence movement didn't work in strings containing
6217 documentation or other natural language text.
6219 The reason it's only activated in multiline strings (i.e. strings that
6220 contain a newline, even when escaped by a '\') is to avoid stopping in
6221 the short strings that often reside inside statements. Multiline
6222 strings almost always contain text in a natural language, as opposed
6223 to other strings that typically contain format specifications,
6224 commands, etc. Also, it's not that bothersome that M-a and M-e misses
6225 sentences in single line strings, since they're short anyway.
6227 *** Support for autodoc comments in Pike mode.
6228 Autodoc comments for Pike are used to extract documentation from the
6229 source, like Javadoc in Java. Pike mode now recognize this markup in
6230 comment prefixes and paragraph starts.
6232 *** The comment prefix regexps on c-comment-prefix may be mode specific.
6233 When c-comment-prefix is an association list, it specifies the comment
6234 line prefix on a per-mode basis, like c-default-style does. This
6235 change came about to support the special autodoc comment prefix in
6238 *** Better handling of syntactic errors.
6239 The recovery after unbalanced parens earlier in the buffer has been
6240 improved; CC Mode now reports them by dinging and giving a message
6241 stating the offending line, but still recovers and indent the
6242 following lines in a sane way (most of the time). An "else" with no
6243 matching "if" is handled similarly. If an error is discovered while
6244 indenting a region, the whole region is still indented and the error
6245 is reported afterwards.
6247 *** Lineup functions may now return absolute columns.
6248 A lineup function can give an absolute column to indent the line to by
6249 returning a vector with the desired column as the first element.
6251 *** More robust and warning-free byte compilation.
6252 Although this is strictly not a user visible change (well, depending
6253 on the view of a user), it's still worth mentioning that CC Mode now
6254 can be compiled in the standard ways without causing trouble. Some
6255 code have also been moved between the subpackages to enhance the
6256 modularity somewhat. Thanks to Martin Buchholz for doing the
6259 *** c-style-variables-are-local-p now defaults to t.
6260 This is an incompatible change that has been made to make the behavior
6261 of the style system wrt global variable settings less confusing for
6262 non-advanced users. If you know what this variable does you might
6263 want to set it to nil in your .emacs, otherwise you probably don't
6266 Defaulting c-style-variables-are-local-p to t avoids the confusing
6267 situation that occurs when a user sets some style variables globally
6268 and edits both a Java and a non-Java file in the same Emacs session.
6269 If the style variables aren't buffer local in this case, loading of
6270 the second file will cause the default style (either "gnu" or "java"
6271 by default) to override the global settings made by the user.
6273 *** New initialization procedure for the style system.
6274 When the initial style for a buffer is determined by CC Mode (from the
6275 variable c-default-style), the global values of style variables now
6276 take precedence over the values specified by the chosen style. This
6277 is different than the old behavior: previously, the style-specific
6278 settings would override the global settings. This change makes it
6279 possible to do simple configuration in the intuitive way with
6280 Customize or with setq lines in one's .emacs file.
6282 By default, the global value of every style variable is the new
6283 special symbol set-from-style, which causes the value to be taken from
6284 the style system. This means that in effect, only an explicit setting
6285 of a style variable will cause the "overriding" behavior described
6288 Also note that global settings override style-specific settings *only*
6289 when the initial style of a buffer is chosen by a CC Mode major mode
6290 function. When a style is chosen in other ways --- for example, by a
6291 call like (c-set-style "gnu") in a hook, or via M-x c-set-style ---
6292 then the style-specific values take precedence over any global style
6293 values. In Lisp terms, global values override style-specific values
6294 only when the new second argument to c-set-style is non-nil; see the
6295 function documentation for more info.
6297 The purpose of these changes is to make it easier for users,
6298 especially novice users, to do simple customizations with Customize or
6299 with setq in their .emacs files. On the other hand, the new system is
6300 intended to be compatible with advanced users' customizations as well,
6301 such as those that choose styles in hooks or whatnot. This new system
6302 is believed to be almost entirely compatible with current
6303 configurations, in spite of the changed precedence between style and
6304 global variable settings when a buffer's default style is set.
6306 (Thanks to Eric Eide for clarifying this explanation a bit.)
6308 **** c-offsets-alist is now a customizable variable.
6309 This became possible as a result of the new initialization behavior.
6311 This variable is treated slightly differently from the other style
6312 variables; instead of using the symbol set-from-style, it will be
6313 completed with the syntactic symbols it doesn't already contain when
6314 the style is first initialized. This means it now defaults to the
6315 empty list to make all syntactic elements get their values from the
6318 **** Compatibility variable to restore the old behavior.
6319 In case your configuration doesn't work with this change, you can set
6320 c-old-style-variable-behavior to non-nil to get the old behavior back
6323 *** Improvements to line breaking and text filling.
6324 CC Mode now handles this more intelligently and seamlessly wrt the
6325 surrounding code, especially inside comments. For details see the new
6326 chapter about this in the manual.
6328 **** New variable to recognize comment line prefix decorations.
6329 The variable c-comment-prefix-regexp has been added to properly
6330 recognize the line prefix in both block and line comments. It's
6331 primarily used to initialize the various paragraph recognition and
6332 adaptive filling variables that the text handling functions uses.
6334 **** New variable c-block-comment-prefix.
6335 This is a generalization of the now obsolete variable
6336 c-comment-continuation-stars to handle arbitrary strings.
6338 **** CC Mode now uses adaptive fill mode.
6339 This to make it adapt better to the paragraph style inside comments.
6341 It's also possible to use other adaptive filling packages inside CC
6342 Mode, notably Kyle E. Jones' Filladapt mode (http://wonderworks.com/).
6343 A new convenience function c-setup-filladapt sets up Filladapt for use
6346 Note though that the 2.12 version of Filladapt lacks a feature that
6347 causes it to work suboptimally when c-comment-prefix-regexp can match
6348 the empty string (which it commonly does). A patch for that is
6349 available from the CC Mode web site (http://www.python.org/emacs/
6352 **** The variables `c-hanging-comment-starter-p' and
6353 `c-hanging-comment-ender-p', which controlled how comment starters and
6354 enders were filled, are not used anymore. The new version of the
6355 function `c-fill-paragraph' keeps the comment starters and enders as
6356 they were before the filling.
6358 **** It's now possible to selectively turn off auto filling.
6359 The variable c-ignore-auto-fill is used to ignore auto fill mode in
6360 specific contexts, e.g. in preprocessor directives and in string
6363 **** New context sensitive line break function c-context-line-break.
6364 It works like newline-and-indent in normal code, and adapts the line
6365 prefix according to the comment style when used inside comments. If
6366 you're normally using newline-and-indent, you might want to switch to
6369 *** Fixes to IDL mode.
6370 It now does a better job in recognizing only the constructs relevant
6371 to IDL. E.g. it no longer matches "class" as the beginning of a
6372 struct block, but it does match the CORBA 2.3 "valuetype" keyword.
6373 Thanks to Eric Eide.
6375 *** Improvements to the Whitesmith style.
6376 It now keeps the style consistently on all levels and both when
6377 opening braces hangs and when they don't.
6379 **** New lineup function c-lineup-whitesmith-in-block.
6381 *** New lineup functions c-lineup-template-args and c-indent-multi-line-block.
6382 See their docstrings for details. c-lineup-template-args does a
6383 better job of tracking the brackets used as parens in C++ templates,
6384 and is used by default to line up continued template arguments.
6386 *** c-lineup-comment now preserves alignment with a comment on the
6387 previous line. It used to instead preserve comments that started in
6388 the column specified by comment-column.
6390 *** c-lineup-C-comments handles "free form" text comments.
6391 In comments with a long delimiter line at the start, the indentation
6392 is kept unchanged for lines that start with an empty comment line
6393 prefix. This is intended for the type of large block comments that
6394 contain documentation with its own formatting. In these you normally
6395 don't want CC Mode to change the indentation.
6397 *** The `c' syntactic symbol is now relative to the comment start
6398 instead of the previous line, to make integers usable as lineup
6401 *** All lineup functions have gotten docstrings.
6403 *** More preprocessor directive movement functions.
6404 c-down-conditional does the reverse of c-up-conditional.
6405 c-up-conditional-with-else and c-down-conditional-with-else are
6406 variants of these that also stops at "#else" lines (suggested by Don
6409 *** Minor improvements to many movement functions in tricky situations.
6413 *** New variable `dired-recursive-deletes' determines if the delete
6414 command will delete non-empty directories recursively. The default
6415 is, delete only empty directories.
6417 *** New variable `dired-recursive-copies' determines if the copy
6418 command will copy directories recursively. The default is, do not
6419 copy directories recursively.
6421 *** In command `dired-do-shell-command' (usually bound to `!') a `?'
6422 in the shell command has a special meaning similar to `*', but with
6423 the difference that the command will be run on each file individually.
6425 *** The new command `dired-find-alternate-file' (usually bound to `a')
6426 replaces the Dired buffer with the buffer for an alternate file or
6429 *** The new command `dired-show-file-type' (usually bound to `y') shows
6430 a message in the echo area describing what type of file the point is on.
6431 This command invokes the external program `file' do its work, and so
6432 will only work on systems with that program, and will be only as
6433 accurate or inaccurate as it is.
6435 *** Dired now properly handles undo changes of adding/removing `-R'
6438 *** Dired commands that prompt for a destination file now allow the use
6439 of the `M-n' command in the minibuffer to insert the source filename,
6440 which the user can then edit. This only works if there is a single
6441 source file, not when operating on multiple marked files.
6445 The Gnus NEWS entries are short, but they reflect sweeping changes in
6446 four areas: Article display treatment, MIME treatment,
6447 internationalization and mail-fetching.
6449 *** The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
6450 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
6452 If you used procmail like in
6454 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
6455 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
6456 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
6457 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
6459 this now has changed to
6462 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
6465 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
6466 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
6468 *** Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
6469 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
6470 Separate MIME packages like RMIME, mime-compose etc., will probably no
6471 longer work; remove them and use the native facilities.
6473 The FLIM/SEMI package still works with Emacs 21, but if you want to
6474 use the native facilities, you must remove any mailcap.el[c] that was
6475 installed by FLIM/SEMI version 1.13 or earlier.
6477 *** Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too many
6478 parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables. There
6479 are built-in facilities equivalent to those of gnus-mule.el, which is
6480 now just a compatibility layer.
6482 *** gnus-mule.el is now just a compatibility layer over the built-in
6485 *** gnus-auto-select-first can now be a function to be
6486 called to position point.
6488 *** The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
6489 summary buffers and NOV files.
6491 *** `gnus-article-display-hook' has been removed. Instead, a number
6492 of variables starting with `gnus-treat-' have been added.
6494 *** The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now work in a
6495 subtly different manner.
6497 *** New web-based backends have been added: nnslashdot, nnwarchive
6498 and nnultimate. nnweb has been revamped, again, to keep up with
6499 ever-changing layouts.
6501 *** Gnus can now read IMAP mail via nnimap.
6503 *** There is image support of various kinds and some sound support.
6505 ** Changes in Texinfo mode.
6507 *** A couple of new key bindings have been added for inserting Texinfo
6511 -------------------------
6515 C-c C-c q @quotation
6517 C-c C-o @<block> ... @end <block>
6520 *** The " key now inserts either " or `` or '' depending on context.
6522 ** Changes in Outline mode.
6524 There is now support for Imenu to index headings. A new command
6525 `outline-headers-as-kill' copies the visible headings in the region to
6526 the kill ring, e.g. to produce a table of contents.
6528 ** Changes to Emacs Server
6530 *** The new option `server-kill-new-buffers' specifies what to do
6531 with buffers when done with them. If non-nil, the default, buffers
6532 are killed, unless they were already present before visiting them with
6533 Emacs Server. If nil, `server-temp-file-regexp' specifies which
6534 buffers to kill, as before.
6536 Please note that only buffers are killed that still have a client,
6537 i.e. buffers visited with `emacsclient --no-wait' are never killed in
6540 ** Both emacsclient and Emacs itself now accept command line options
6541 of the form +LINE:COLUMN in addition to +LINE.
6543 ** Changes to Show Paren mode.
6545 *** Overlays used by Show Paren mode now use a priority property.
6546 The new user option show-paren-priority specifies the priority to
6547 use. Default is 1000.
6549 ** New command M-x check-parens can be used to find unbalanced paren
6550 groups and strings in buffers in Lisp mode (or other modes).
6552 ** Changes to hideshow.el
6554 *** Generalized block selection and traversal
6556 A block is now recognized by its start and end regexps (both strings),
6557 and an integer specifying which sub-expression in the start regexp
6558 serves as the place where a `forward-sexp'-like function can operate.
6559 See the documentation of variable `hs-special-modes-alist'.
6561 *** During incremental search, if Hideshow minor mode is active,
6562 hidden blocks are temporarily shown. The variable `hs-headline' can
6563 be used in the mode line format to show the line at the beginning of
6566 *** User option `hs-hide-all-non-comment-function' specifies a
6567 function to be called at each top-level block beginning, instead of
6568 the normal block-hiding function.
6570 *** The command `hs-show-region' has been removed.
6572 *** The key bindings have changed to fit the Emacs conventions,
6573 roughly imitating those of Outline minor mode. Notably, the prefix
6574 for all bindings is now `C-c @'. For details, see the documentation
6575 for `hs-minor-mode'.
6577 *** The variable `hs-show-hidden-short-form' has been removed, and
6578 hideshow.el now always behaves as if this variable were set to t.
6580 ** Changes to Change Log mode and Add-Log functions
6582 *** If you invoke `add-change-log-entry' from a backup file, it makes
6583 an entry appropriate for the file's parent. This is useful for making
6584 log entries by comparing a version with deleted functions.
6586 **** New command M-x change-log-merge merges another log into the
6589 *** New command M-x change-log-redate fixes any old-style date entries
6592 *** Change Log mode now adds a file's version number to change log
6593 entries if user-option `change-log-version-info-enabled' is non-nil.
6594 Unless the file is under version control the search for a file's
6595 version number is performed based on regular expressions from
6596 `change-log-version-number-regexp-list' which can be customized.
6597 Version numbers are only found in the first 10 percent of a file.
6599 *** Change Log mode now defines its own faces for font-lock highlighting.
6601 ** Changes to cmuscheme
6603 *** The user-option `scheme-program-name' has been renamed
6604 `cmuscheme-program-name' due to conflicts with xscheme.el.
6606 ** Changes in Font Lock
6608 *** The new function `font-lock-remove-keywords' can be used to remove
6609 font-lock keywords from the current buffer or from a specific major mode.
6611 *** Multi-line patterns are now supported. Modes using this, should
6612 set font-lock-multiline to t in their font-lock-defaults.
6614 *** `font-lock-syntactic-face-function' allows major-modes to choose
6615 the face used for each string/comment.
6617 *** A new standard face `font-lock-doc-face'.
6618 Meant for Lisp docstrings, Javadoc comments and other "documentation in code".
6620 ** Changes to Shell mode
6622 *** The `shell' command now accepts an optional argument to specify the buffer
6623 to use, which defaults to "*shell*". When used interactively, a
6624 non-default buffer may be specified by giving the `shell' command a
6625 prefix argument (causing it to prompt for the buffer name).
6627 ** Comint (subshell) changes
6629 These changes generally affect all modes derived from comint mode, which
6630 include shell-mode, gdb-mode, scheme-interaction-mode, etc.
6632 *** Comint now by default interprets some carriage-control characters.
6633 Comint now removes CRs from CR LF sequences, and treats single CRs and
6634 BSs in the output in a way similar to a terminal (by deleting to the
6635 beginning of the line, or deleting the previous character,
6636 respectively). This is achieved by adding `comint-carriage-motion' to
6637 the `comint-output-filter-functions' hook by default.
6639 *** By default, comint no longer uses the variable `comint-prompt-regexp'
6640 to distinguish prompts from user-input. Instead, it notices which
6641 parts of the text were output by the process, and which entered by the
6642 user, and attaches `field' properties to allow emacs commands to use
6643 this information. Common movement commands, notably beginning-of-line,
6644 respect field boundaries in a fairly natural manner. To disable this
6645 feature, and use the old behavior, customize the user option
6646 `comint-use-prompt-regexp-instead-of-fields'.
6648 *** Comint now includes new features to send commands to running processes
6649 and redirect the output to a designated buffer or buffers.
6651 *** The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command reads a command and
6652 buffer name from the mini-buffer. The command is sent to the current
6653 buffer's process, and its output is inserted into the specified buffer.
6655 The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command-to-process acts like
6656 M-x comint-redirect-send-command but additionally reads the name of
6657 the buffer whose process should be used from the mini-buffer.
6659 *** Packages based on comint now highlight user input and program prompts,
6660 and support choosing previous input with mouse-2. To control these features,
6661 see the user-options `comint-highlight-input' and `comint-highlight-prompt'.
6663 *** The new command `comint-write-output' (usually bound to `C-c C-s')
6664 saves the output from the most recent command to a file. With a prefix
6665 argument, it appends to the file.
6667 *** The command `comint-kill-output' has been renamed `comint-delete-output'
6668 (usually bound to `C-c C-o'); the old name is aliased to it for
6671 *** The new function `comint-add-to-input-history' adds commands to the input
6674 *** The new variable `comint-input-history-ignore' is a regexp for
6675 identifying history lines that should be ignored, like tcsh time-stamp
6676 strings, starting with a `#'. The default value of this variable is "^#".
6678 ** Changes to Rmail mode
6680 *** The new user-option rmail-user-mail-address-regexp can be
6681 set to fine tune the identification of the correspondent when
6682 receiving new mail. If it matches the address of the sender, the
6683 recipient is taken as correspondent of a mail. If nil, the default,
6684 `user-login-name' and `user-mail-address' are used to exclude yourself
6687 Usually you don't have to set this variable, except if you collect
6688 mails sent by you under different user names. Then it should be a
6689 regexp matching your mail addresses.
6691 *** The new user-option rmail-confirm-expunge controls whether and how
6692 to ask for confirmation before expunging deleted messages from an
6693 Rmail file. You can choose between no confirmation, confirmation
6694 with y-or-n-p, or confirmation with yes-or-no-p. Default is to ask
6695 for confirmation with yes-or-no-p.
6697 *** RET is now bound in the Rmail summary to rmail-summary-goto-msg,
6700 *** There is a new user option `rmail-digest-end-regexps' that
6701 specifies the regular expressions to detect the line that ends a
6704 *** The new user option `rmail-automatic-folder-directives' specifies
6705 in which folder to put messages automatically.
6707 *** The new function `rmail-redecode-body' allows to fix a message
6708 with non-ASCII characters if Emacs happens to decode it incorrectly
6709 due to missing or malformed "charset=" header.
6711 ** The new user-option `mail-envelope-from' can be used to specify
6712 an envelope-from address different from user-mail-address.
6714 ** The variable mail-specify-envelope-from controls whether to
6715 use the -f option when sending mail.
6717 ** The Rmail command `o' (`rmail-output-to-rmail-file') now writes the
6718 current message in the internal `emacs-mule' encoding, rather than in
6719 the encoding taken from the variable `buffer-file-coding-system'.
6720 This allows to save messages whose characters cannot be safely encoded
6721 by the buffer's coding system, and makes sure the message will be
6722 displayed correctly when you later visit the target Rmail file.
6724 If you want your Rmail files be encoded in a specific coding system
6725 other than `emacs-mule', you can customize the variable
6726 `rmail-file-coding-system' to set its value to that coding system.
6728 ** Changes to TeX mode
6730 *** The default mode has been changed from `plain-tex-mode' to
6733 *** latex-mode now has a simple indentation algorithm.
6735 *** M-f and M-p jump around \begin...\end pairs.
6737 *** Added support for outline-minor-mode.
6739 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
6741 *** RefTeX has new support for index generation. Index entries can be
6742 created with `C-c <', with completion available on index keys.
6743 Pressing `C-c /' indexes the word at the cursor with a default
6744 macro. `C-c >' compiles all index entries into an alphabetically
6745 sorted *Index* buffer which looks like the final index. Entries
6746 can be edited from that buffer.
6748 *** Label and citation key selection now allow to select several
6749 items and reference them together (use `m' to mark items, `a' or
6750 `A' to use all marked entries).
6752 *** reftex.el has been split into a number of smaller files to reduce
6753 memory use when only a part of RefTeX is being used.
6755 *** a new command `reftex-view-crossref-from-bibtex' (bound to `C-c &'
6756 in BibTeX-mode) can be called in a BibTeX database buffer in order
6757 to show locations in LaTeX documents where a particular entry has
6760 ** Emacs Lisp mode now allows multiple levels of outline headings.
6761 The level of a heading is determined from the number of leading
6762 semicolons in a heading line. Toplevel forms starting with a `('
6763 in column 1 are always made leaves.
6765 ** The M-x time-stamp command (most commonly used on write-file-hooks)
6766 has the following new features:
6768 *** The patterns for finding the time stamp and for updating a pattern
6769 may match text spanning multiple lines. For example, some people like
6770 to have the filename and date on separate lines. The new variable
6771 time-stamp-inserts-lines controls the matching for multi-line patterns.
6773 *** More than one time stamp can be updated in the same file. This
6774 feature is useful if you need separate time stamps in a program source
6775 file to both include in formatted documentation and insert in the
6776 compiled binary. The same time-stamp will be written at each matching
6777 pattern. The variable time-stamp-count enables this new feature; it
6780 ** Partial Completion mode now completes environment variables in
6785 *** The command `ispell' now spell-checks a region if
6786 transient-mark-mode is on, and the mark is active. Otherwise it
6787 spell-checks the current buffer.
6789 *** Support for synchronous subprocesses - DOS/Windoze - has been
6792 *** An "alignment error" bug was fixed when a manual spelling
6793 correction is made and re-checked.
6795 *** Italian, Portuguese, and Slovak dictionary definitions have been added.
6797 *** Region skipping performance has been vastly improved in some
6800 *** Spell checking HTML buffers has been improved and isn't so strict
6803 *** The buffer-local words are now always placed on a new line at the
6806 *** Spell checking now works in the MS-DOS version of Emacs.
6808 ** Makefile mode changes
6810 *** The mode now uses the abbrev table `makefile-mode-abbrev-table'.
6812 *** Conditionals and include statements are now highlighted when
6813 Fontlock mode is active.
6817 *** Isearch now puts a call to `isearch-resume' in the command history,
6818 so that searches can be resumed.
6820 *** In Isearch mode, C-M-s and C-M-r are now bound like C-s and C-r,
6821 respectively, i.e. you can repeat a regexp isearch with the same keys
6822 that started the search.
6824 *** In Isearch mode, mouse-2 in the echo area now yanks the current
6825 selection into the search string rather than giving an error.
6827 *** There is a new lazy highlighting feature in incremental search.
6829 Lazy highlighting is switched on/off by customizing variable
6830 `isearch-lazy-highlight'. When active, all matches for the current
6831 search string are highlighted. The current match is highlighted as
6832 before using face `isearch' or `region'. All other matches are
6833 highlighted using face `isearch-lazy-highlight-face' which defaults to
6834 `secondary-selection'.
6836 The extra highlighting makes it easier to anticipate where the cursor
6837 will end up each time you press C-s or C-r to repeat a pending search.
6838 Highlighting of these additional matches happens in a deferred fashion
6839 using "idle timers," so the cycles needed do not rob isearch of its
6840 usual snappy response.
6842 If `isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup' is set to t, highlights for
6843 matches are automatically cleared when you end the search. If it is
6844 set to nil, you can remove the highlights manually with `M-x
6845 isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup'.
6849 VC has been overhauled internally. It is now modular, making it
6850 easier to plug-in arbitrary version control backends. (See Lisp
6851 Changes for details on the new structure.) As a result, the mechanism
6852 to enable and disable support for particular version systems has
6853 changed: everything is now controlled by the new variable
6854 `vc-handled-backends'. Its value is a list of symbols that identify
6855 version systems; the default is '(RCS CVS SCCS). When finding a file,
6856 each of the backends in that list is tried in order to see whether the
6857 file is registered in that backend.
6859 When registering a new file, VC first tries each of the listed
6860 backends to see if any of them considers itself "responsible" for the
6861 directory of the file (e.g. because a corresponding subdirectory for
6862 master files exists). If none of the backends is responsible, then
6863 the first backend in the list that could register the file is chosen.
6864 As a consequence, the variable `vc-default-back-end' is now obsolete.
6866 The old variable `vc-master-templates' is also obsolete, although VC
6867 still supports it for backward compatibility. To define templates for
6868 RCS or SCCS, you should rather use the new variables
6869 vc-{rcs,sccs}-master-templates. (There is no such feature under CVS
6870 where it doesn't make sense.)
6872 The variables `vc-ignore-vc-files' and `vc-handle-cvs' are also
6873 obsolete now, you must set `vc-handled-backends' to nil or exclude
6874 `CVS' from the list, respectively, to achieve their effect now.
6878 The variable `vc-checkout-carefully' is obsolete: the corresponding
6879 checks are always done now.
6881 VC Dired buffers are now kept up-to-date during all version control
6884 `vc-diff' output is now displayed in `diff-mode'.
6885 `vc-print-log' uses `log-view-mode'.
6886 `vc-log-mode' (used for *VC-Log*) has been replaced by `log-edit-mode'.
6888 The command C-x v m (vc-merge) now accepts an empty argument as the
6889 first revision number. This means that any recent changes on the
6890 current branch should be picked up from the repository and merged into
6891 the working file (``merge news'').
6893 The commands C-x v s (vc-create-snapshot) and C-x v r
6894 (vc-retrieve-snapshot) now ask for a directory name from which to work
6897 *** Multiple Backends
6899 VC now lets you register files in more than one backend. This is
6900 useful, for example, if you are working with a slow remote CVS
6901 repository. You can then use RCS for local editing, and occasionally
6902 commit your changes back to CVS, or pick up changes from CVS into your
6905 To make this work, the ``more local'' backend (RCS in our example)
6906 should come first in `vc-handled-backends', and the ``more remote''
6907 backend (CVS) should come later. (The default value of
6908 `vc-handled-backends' already has it that way.)
6910 You can then commit changes to another backend (say, RCS), by typing
6911 C-u C-x v v RCS RET (i.e. vc-next-action now accepts a backend name as
6912 a revision number). VC registers the file in the more local backend
6913 if that hasn't already happened, and commits to a branch based on the
6914 current revision number from the more remote backend.
6916 If a file is registered in multiple backends, you can switch to
6917 another one using C-x v b (vc-switch-backend). This does not change
6918 any files, it only changes VC's perspective on the file. Use this to
6919 pick up changes from CVS while working under RCS locally.
6921 After you are done with your local RCS editing, you can commit your
6922 changes back to CVS using C-u C-x v v CVS RET. In this case, the
6923 local RCS archive is removed after the commit, and the log entry
6924 buffer is initialized to contain the entire RCS change log of the file.
6928 There is a new user option, `vc-cvs-stay-local'. If it is `t' (the
6929 default), then VC avoids network queries for files registered in
6930 remote repositories. The state of such files is then only determined
6931 by heuristics and past information. `vc-cvs-stay-local' can also be a
6932 regexp to match against repository hostnames; only files from hosts
6933 that match it are treated locally. If the variable is nil, then VC
6934 queries the repository just as often as it does for local files.
6936 If `vc-cvs-stay-local' is on, then VC also makes local backups of
6937 repository versions. This means that ordinary diffs (C-x v =) and
6938 revert operations (C-x v u) can be done completely locally, without
6939 any repository interactions at all. The name of a local version
6940 backup of FILE is FILE.~REV.~, where REV is the repository version
6941 number. This format is similar to that used by C-x v ~
6942 (vc-version-other-window), except for the trailing dot. As a matter
6943 of fact, the two features can each use the files created by the other,
6944 the only difference being that files with a trailing `.' are deleted
6945 automatically after commit. (This feature doesn't work on MS-DOS,
6946 since DOS disallows more than a single dot in the trunk of a file
6949 If `vc-cvs-stay-local' is on, and there have been changes in the
6950 repository, VC notifies you about it when you actually try to commit.
6951 If you want to check for updates from the repository without trying to
6952 commit, you can either use C-x v m RET to perform an update on the
6953 current file, or you can use C-x v r RET to get an update for an
6954 entire directory tree.
6956 The new user option `vc-cvs-use-edit' indicates whether VC should call
6957 "cvs edit" to make files writeable; it defaults to `t'. (This option
6958 is only meaningful if the CVSREAD variable is set, or if files are
6959 "watched" by other developers.)
6961 The commands C-x v s (vc-create-snapshot) and C-x v r
6962 (vc-retrieve-snapshot) are now also implemented for CVS. If you give
6963 an empty snapshot name to the latter, that performs a `cvs update',
6964 starting at the given directory.
6966 *** Lisp Changes in VC
6968 VC has been restructured internally to make it modular. You can now
6969 add support for arbitrary version control backends by writing a
6970 library that provides a certain set of backend-specific functions, and
6971 then telling VC to use that library. For example, to add support for
6972 a version system named SYS, you write a library named vc-sys.el, which
6973 provides a number of functions vc-sys-... (see commentary at the top
6974 of vc.el for a detailed list of them). To make VC use that library,
6975 you need to put it somewhere into Emacs' load path and add the symbol
6976 `SYS' to the list `vc-handled-backends'.
6978 ** The customizable EDT emulation package now supports the EDT
6979 SUBS command and EDT scroll margins. It also works with more
6980 terminal/keyboard configurations and it now works under XEmacs.
6981 See etc/edt-user.doc for more information.
6983 ** New modes and packages
6985 *** The new global minor mode `minibuffer-electric-default-mode'
6986 automatically hides the `(default ...)' part of minibuffer prompts when
6987 the default is not applicable.
6989 *** Artist is an Emacs lisp package that allows you to draw lines,
6990 rectangles and ellipses by using your mouse and/or keyboard. The
6991 shapes are made up with the ascii characters |, -, / and \.
6995 - Intersecting: When a `|' intersects with a `-', a `+' is
6996 drawn, like this: | \ /
7000 - Rubber-banding: When drawing lines you can interactively see the
7001 result while holding the mouse button down and moving the mouse. If
7002 your machine is not fast enough (a 386 is a bit too slow, but a
7003 pentium is well enough), you can turn this feature off. You will
7004 then see 1's and 2's which mark the 1st and 2nd endpoint of the line
7007 - Arrows: After having drawn a (straight) line or a (straight)
7008 poly-line, you can set arrows on the line-ends by typing < or >.
7010 - Flood-filling: You can fill any area with a certain character by
7013 - Cut copy and paste: You can cut, copy and paste rectangular
7014 regions. Artist also interfaces with the rect package (this can be
7015 turned off if it causes you any trouble) so anything you cut in
7016 artist can be yanked with C-x r y and vice versa.
7018 - Drawing with keys: Everything you can do with the mouse, you can
7019 also do without the mouse.
7021 - Aspect-ratio: You can set the variable artist-aspect-ratio to
7022 reflect the height-width ratio for the font you are using. Squares
7023 and circles are then drawn square/round. Note, that once your
7024 ascii-file is shown with font with a different height-width ratio,
7025 the squares won't be square and the circles won't be round.
7027 - Drawing operations: The following drawing operations are implemented:
7029 lines straight-lines
7031 poly-lines straight poly-lines
7033 text (see-thru) text (overwrite)
7034 spray-can setting size for spraying
7035 vaporize line vaporize lines
7036 erase characters erase rectangles
7038 Straight lines are lines that go horizontally, vertically or
7039 diagonally. Plain lines go in any direction. The operations in
7040 the right column are accessed by holding down the shift key while
7043 It is possible to vaporize (erase) entire lines and connected lines
7044 (rectangles for example) as long as the lines being vaporized are
7045 straight and connected at their endpoints. Vaporizing is inspired
7046 by the drawrect package by Jari Aalto <jari.aalto@poboxes.com>.
7048 - Picture mode compatibility: Artist is picture mode compatible (this
7051 *** The new package Eshell is an operating system command shell
7052 implemented entirely in Emacs Lisp. Use `M-x eshell' to invoke it.
7053 It functions similarly to bash and zsh, and allows running of Lisp
7054 functions and external commands using the same syntax. It supports
7055 history lists, aliases, extended globbing, smart scrolling, etc. It
7056 will work on any platform Emacs has been ported to. And since most of
7057 the basic commands -- ls, rm, mv, cp, ln, du, cat, etc. -- have been
7058 rewritten in Lisp, it offers an operating-system independent shell,
7059 all within the scope of your Emacs process.
7061 *** The new package timeclock.el is a mode is for keeping track of time
7062 intervals. You can use it for whatever purpose you like, but the
7063 typical scenario is to keep track of how much time you spend working
7064 on certain projects.
7066 *** The new package hi-lock.el provides commands to highlight matches
7067 of interactively entered regexps. For example,
7069 M-x highlight-regexp RET clearly RET RET
7071 will highlight all occurrences of `clearly' using a yellow background
7072 face. New occurrences of `clearly' will be highlighted as they are
7073 typed. `M-x unhighlight-regexp RET' will remove the highlighting.
7074 Any existing face can be used for highlighting and a set of
7075 appropriate faces is provided. The regexps can be written into the
7076 current buffer in a form that will be recognized the next time the
7077 corresponding file is read. There are commands to highlight matches
7078 to phrases and to highlight entire lines containing a match.
7080 *** The new package zone.el plays games with Emacs' display when
7083 *** The new package tildify.el allows to add hard spaces or other text
7084 fragments in accordance with the current major mode.
7086 *** The new package xml.el provides a simple but generic XML
7087 parser. It doesn't parse the DTDs however.
7089 *** The comment operations are now provided by the newcomment.el
7090 package which allows different styles of comment-region and should
7091 be more robust while offering the same functionality.
7092 `comment-region' now doesn't always comment a-line-at-a-time, but only
7093 comments the region, breaking the line at point if necessary.
7095 *** The Ebrowse package implements a C++ class browser and tags
7096 facilities tailored for use with C++. It is documented in a
7097 separate Texinfo file.
7099 *** The PCL-CVS package available by either running M-x cvs-examine or
7100 by visiting a CVS administrative directory (with a prefix argument)
7101 provides an alternative interface to VC-dired for CVS. It comes with
7102 `log-view-mode' to view RCS and SCCS logs and `log-edit-mode' used to
7103 enter check-in log messages.
7105 *** The new package called `woman' allows to browse Unix man pages
7106 without invoking external programs.
7108 The command `M-x woman' formats manual pages entirely in Emacs Lisp
7109 and then displays them, like `M-x manual-entry' does. Unlike
7110 `manual-entry', `woman' does not invoke any external programs, so it
7111 is useful on systems such as MS-DOS/MS-Windows where the `man' and
7112 Groff or `troff' commands are not readily available.
7114 The command `M-x woman-find-file' asks for the file name of a man
7115 page, then formats and displays it like `M-x woman' does.
7117 *** The new command M-x re-builder offers a convenient interface for
7118 authoring regular expressions with immediate visual feedback.
7120 The buffer from which the command was called becomes the target for
7121 the regexp editor popping up in a separate window. Matching text in
7122 the target buffer is immediately color marked during the editing.
7123 Each sub-expression of the regexp will show up in a different face so
7124 even complex regexps can be edited and verified on target data in a
7127 On displays not supporting faces the matches instead blink like
7128 matching parens to make them stand out. On such a setup you will
7129 probably also want to use the sub-expression mode when the regexp
7130 contains such to get feedback about their respective limits.
7132 *** glasses-mode is a minor mode that makes
7133 unreadableIdentifiersLikeThis readable. It works as glasses, without
7134 actually modifying content of a buffer.
7136 *** The package ebnf2ps translates an EBNF to a syntactic chart in
7139 Currently accepts ad-hoc EBNF, ISO EBNF and Bison/Yacc.
7141 The ad-hoc default EBNF syntax has the following elements:
7143 ; comment (until end of line)
7147 $A default non-terminal
7148 $"C" default terminal
7149 $?C? default special
7150 A = B. production (A is the header and B the body)
7151 C D sequence (C occurs before D)
7152 C | D alternative (C or D occurs)
7153 A - B exception (A excluding B, B without any non-terminal)
7154 n * A repetition (A repeats n (integer) times)
7155 (C) group (expression C is grouped together)
7156 [C] optional (C may or not occurs)
7157 C+ one or more occurrences of C
7158 {C}+ one or more occurrences of C
7159 {C}* zero or more occurrences of C
7160 {C} zero or more occurrences of C
7161 C / D equivalent to: C {D C}*
7162 {C || D}+ equivalent to: C {D C}*
7163 {C || D}* equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
7164 {C || D} equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
7166 Please, see ebnf2ps documentation for EBNF syntax and how to use it.
7168 *** The package align.el will align columns within a region, using M-x
7169 align. Its mode-specific rules, based on regular expressions,
7170 determine where the columns should be split. In C and C++, for
7171 example, it will align variable names in declaration lists, or the
7172 equal signs of assignments.
7174 *** `paragraph-indent-minor-mode' is a new minor mode supporting
7175 paragraphs in the same style as `paragraph-indent-text-mode'.
7177 *** bs.el is a new package for buffer selection similar to
7178 list-buffers or electric-buffer-list. Use M-x bs-show to display a
7179 buffer menu with this package. See the Custom group `bs'.
7181 *** find-lisp.el is a package emulating the Unix find command in Lisp.
7183 *** calculator.el is a small calculator package that is intended to
7184 replace desktop calculators such as xcalc and calc.exe. Actually, it
7185 is not too small - it has more features than most desktop calculators,
7186 and can be customized easily to get many more functions. It should
7187 not be confused with "calc" which is a much bigger mathematical tool
7188 which answers different needs.
7190 *** The minor modes cwarn-mode and global-cwarn-mode highlights
7191 suspicious C and C++ constructions. Currently, assignments inside
7192 expressions, semicolon following `if', `for' and `while' (except, of
7193 course, after a `do .. while' statement), and C++ functions with
7194 reference parameters are recognized. The modes require font-lock mode
7197 *** smerge-mode.el provides `smerge-mode', a simple minor-mode for files
7198 containing diff3-style conflict markers, such as generated by RCS.
7200 *** 5x5.el is a simple puzzle game.
7202 *** hl-line.el provides `hl-line-mode', a minor mode to highlight the
7203 current line in the current buffer. It also provides
7204 `global-hl-line-mode' to provide the same behavior in all buffers.
7206 *** ansi-color.el translates ANSI terminal escapes into text-properties.
7208 Please note: if `ansi-color-for-comint-mode' and
7209 `global-font-lock-mode' are non-nil, loading ansi-color.el will
7210 disable font-lock and add `ansi-color-apply' to
7211 `comint-preoutput-filter-functions' for all shell-mode buffers. This
7212 displays the output of "ls --color=yes" using the correct foreground
7213 and background colors.
7215 *** delphi.el provides a major mode for editing the Delphi (Object
7218 *** quickurl.el provides a simple method of inserting a URL based on
7221 *** sql.el provides an interface to SQL data bases.
7223 *** fortune.el uses the fortune program to create mail/news signatures.
7225 *** whitespace.el is a package for warning about and cleaning bogus
7226 whitespace in a file.
7228 *** PostScript mode (ps-mode) is a new major mode for editing PostScript
7229 files. It offers: interaction with a PostScript interpreter, including
7230 (very basic) error handling; fontification, easily customizable for
7231 interpreter messages; auto-indentation; insertion of EPSF templates and
7232 often used code snippets; viewing of BoundingBox; commenting out /
7233 uncommenting regions; conversion of 8bit characters to PostScript octal
7234 codes. All functionality is accessible through a menu.
7236 *** delim-col helps to prettify columns in a text region or rectangle.
7238 Here is an example of columns:
7241 dog pineapple car EXTRA
7242 porcupine strawberry airplane
7244 Doing the following settings:
7246 (setq delimit-columns-str-before "[ ")
7247 (setq delimit-columns-str-after " ]")
7248 (setq delimit-columns-str-separator ", ")
7249 (setq delimit-columns-separator "\t")
7252 Selecting the lines above and typing:
7254 M-x delimit-columns-region
7258 [ horse , apple , bus , ]
7259 [ dog , pineapple , car , EXTRA ]
7260 [ porcupine, strawberry, airplane, ]
7262 delim-col has the following options:
7264 delimit-columns-str-before Specify a string to be inserted
7267 delimit-columns-str-separator Specify a string to be inserted
7268 between each column.
7270 delimit-columns-str-after Specify a string to be inserted
7273 delimit-columns-separator Specify a regexp which separates
7276 delim-col has the following commands:
7278 delimit-columns-region Prettify all columns in a text region.
7279 delimit-columns-rectangle Prettify all columns in a text rectangle.
7281 *** Recentf mode maintains a menu for visiting files that were
7282 operated on recently. User option recentf-menu-filter specifies a
7283 menu filter function to change the menu appearance. For example, the
7284 recent file list can be displayed:
7286 - organized by major modes, directories or user defined rules.
7287 - sorted by file paths, file names, ascending or descending.
7288 - showing paths relative to the current default-directory
7290 The `recentf-filter-changer' menu filter function allows to
7291 dynamically change the menu appearance.
7293 *** elide-head.el provides a mechanism for eliding boilerplate header
7296 *** footnote.el provides `footnote-mode', a minor mode supporting use
7297 of footnotes. It is intended for use with Message mode, but isn't
7298 specific to Message mode.
7300 *** diff-mode.el provides `diff-mode', a major mode for
7301 viewing/editing context diffs (patches). It is selected for files
7302 with extension `.diff', `.diffs', `.patch' and `.rej'.
7304 *** EUDC, the Emacs Unified Directory Client, provides a common user
7305 interface to access directory servers using different directory
7306 protocols. It has a separate manual.
7308 *** autoconf.el provides a major mode for editing configure.in files
7309 for Autoconf, selected automatically.
7311 *** windmove.el provides moving between windows.
7313 *** crm.el provides a facility to read multiple strings from the
7314 minibuffer with completion.
7316 *** todo-mode.el provides management of TODO lists and integration
7317 with the diary features.
7319 *** autoarg.el provides a feature reported from Twenex Emacs whereby
7320 numeric keys supply prefix args rather than self inserting.
7322 *** The function `turn-off-auto-fill' unconditionally turns off Auto
7325 *** pcomplete.el is a library that provides programmable completion
7326 facilities for Emacs, similar to what zsh and tcsh offer. The main
7327 difference is that completion functions are written in Lisp, meaning
7328 they can be profiled, debugged, etc.
7330 *** antlr-mode is a new major mode for editing ANTLR grammar files.
7331 It is automatically turned on for files whose names have the extension
7334 ** Changes in sort.el
7336 The function sort-numeric-fields interprets numbers starting with `0'
7337 as octal and numbers starting with `0x' or `0X' as hexadecimal. The
7338 new user-option sort-numeric-base can be used to specify a default
7341 ** Changes to Ange-ftp
7343 *** Ange-ftp allows you to specify of a port number in remote file
7344 names cleanly. It is appended to the host name, separated by a hash
7345 sign, e.g. `/foo@bar.org#666:mumble'. (This syntax comes from EFS.)
7347 *** If the new user-option `ange-ftp-try-passive-mode' is set, passive
7348 ftp mode will be used if the ftp client supports that.
7350 *** Ange-ftp handles the output of the w32-style clients which
7351 output ^M at the end of lines.
7353 ** The recommended way of using Iswitchb is via the new global minor
7354 mode `iswitchb-mode'.
7356 ** Just loading the msb package doesn't switch on Msb mode anymore.
7357 If you have `(require 'msb)' in your .emacs, please replace it with
7360 ** Flyspell mode has various new options. See the `flyspell' Custom
7363 ** The user option `backward-delete-char-untabify-method' controls the
7364 behavior of `backward-delete-char-untabify'. The following values
7367 `untabify' -- turn a tab to many spaces, then delete one space;
7368 `hungry' -- delete all whitespace, both tabs and spaces;
7369 `all' -- delete all whitespace, including tabs, spaces and newlines;
7370 nil -- just delete one character.
7372 Default value is `untabify'.
7374 [This change was made in Emacs 20.3 but not mentioned then.]
7376 ** In Cperl mode `cperl-invalid-face' should now be a normal face
7377 symbol, not double-quoted.
7379 ** Some packages are declared obsolete, to be removed in a future
7380 version. They are: auto-show, c-mode, hilit19, hscroll, ooutline,
7381 profile, rnews, rnewspost, and sc. Their implementations have been
7382 moved to lisp/obsolete.
7384 ** auto-compression mode is no longer enabled just by loading jka-compr.el.
7385 To control it, set `auto-compression-mode' via Custom or use the
7386 `auto-compression-mode' command.
7388 ** `browse-url-gnome-moz' is a new option for
7389 `browse-url-browser-function', invoking Mozilla in GNOME, and
7390 `browse-url-kde' can be chosen for invoking the KDE browser.
7392 ** The user-option `browse-url-new-window-p' has been renamed to
7393 `browse-url-new-window-flag'.
7395 ** The functions `keep-lines', `flush-lines' and `how-many' now
7396 operate on the active region in Transient Mark mode.
7398 ** `gnus-user-agent' is a new possibility for `mail-user-agent'. It
7399 is like `message-user-agent', but with all the Gnus paraphernalia.
7401 ** The Strokes package has been updated. If your Emacs has XPM
7402 support, you can use it for pictographic editing. In Strokes mode,
7403 use C-mouse-2 to compose a complex stoke and insert it into the
7404 buffer. You can encode or decode a strokes buffer with new commands
7405 M-x strokes-encode-buffer and M-x strokes-decode-buffer. There is a
7406 new command M-x strokes-list-strokes.
7408 ** Hexl contains a new command `hexl-insert-hex-string' which inserts
7409 a string of hexadecimal numbers read from the mini-buffer.
7411 ** Hexl mode allows to insert non-ASCII characters.
7413 The non-ASCII characters are encoded using the same encoding as the
7414 file you are visiting in Hexl mode.
7416 ** Shell script mode changes.
7418 Shell script mode (sh-script) can now indent scripts for shells
7419 derived from sh and rc. The indentation style is customizable, and
7420 sh-script can attempt to "learn" the current buffer's style.
7424 *** In DOS, etags looks for file.cgz if it cannot find file.c.
7426 *** New option --ignore-case-regex is an alternative to --regex. It is now
7427 possible to bind a regexp to a language, by prepending the regexp with
7428 {lang}, where lang is one of the languages that `etags --help' prints out.
7429 This feature is useful especially for regex files, where each line contains
7430 a regular expression. The manual contains details.
7432 *** In C and derived languages, etags creates tags for function
7433 declarations when given the --declarations option.
7435 *** In C++, tags are created for "operator". The tags have the form
7436 "operator+", without spaces between the keyword and the operator.
7438 *** You shouldn't generally need any more the -C or -c++ option: etags
7439 automatically switches to C++ parsing when it meets the `class' or
7440 `template' keywords.
7442 *** Etags now is able to delve at arbitrary deeps into nested structures in
7443 C-like languages. Previously, it was limited to one or two brace levels.
7445 *** New language Ada: tags are functions, procedures, packages, tasks, and
7448 *** In Fortran, `procedure' is not tagged.
7450 *** In Java, tags are created for "interface".
7452 *** In Lisp, "(defstruct (foo", "(defun (operator" and similar constructs
7455 *** In makefiles, tags the targets.
7457 *** In Perl, the --globals option tags global variables. my and local
7458 variables are tagged.
7460 *** New language Python: def and class at the beginning of a line are tags.
7462 *** .ss files are Scheme files, .pdb is Postscript with C syntax, .psw is
7465 ** Changes in etags.el
7467 *** The new user-option tags-case-fold-search can be used to make
7468 tags operations case-sensitive or case-insensitive. The default
7469 is to use the same setting as case-fold-search.
7471 *** You can display additional output with M-x tags-apropos by setting
7472 the new variable tags-apropos-additional-actions.
7474 If non-nil, the variable's value should be a list of triples (TITLE
7475 FUNCTION TO-SEARCH). For each triple, M-x tags-apropos processes
7476 TO-SEARCH and lists tags from it. TO-SEARCH should be an alist,
7477 obarray, or symbol. If it is a symbol, the symbol's value is used.
7479 TITLE is a string to use to label the list of tags from TO-SEARCH.
7481 FUNCTION is a function to call when an entry is selected in the Tags
7482 List buffer. It is called with one argument, the selected symbol.
7484 A useful example value for this variable might be something like:
7486 '(("Emacs Lisp" Info-goto-emacs-command-node obarray)
7487 ("Common Lisp" common-lisp-hyperspec common-lisp-hyperspec-obarray)
7488 ("SCWM" scwm-documentation scwm-obarray))
7490 *** The face tags-tag-face can be used to customize the appearance
7491 of tags in the output of M-x tags-apropos.
7493 *** Setting tags-apropos-verbose to a non-nil value displays the
7494 names of tags files in the *Tags List* buffer.
7496 *** You can now search for tags that are part of the filename itself.
7497 If you have tagged the files topfile.c subdir/subfile.c
7498 /tmp/tempfile.c, you can now search for tags "topfile.c", "subfile.c",
7499 "dir/sub", "tempfile", "tempfile.c". If the tag matches the file name,
7500 point will go to the beginning of the file.
7502 *** Compressed files are now transparently supported if
7503 auto-compression-mode is active. You can tag (with Etags) and search
7504 (with find-tag) both compressed and uncompressed files.
7506 *** Tags commands like M-x tags-search no longer change point
7507 in buffers where no match is found. In buffers where a match is
7508 found, the original value of point is pushed on the marker ring.
7510 ** Fortran mode has a new command `fortran-strip-sequence-nos' to
7511 remove text past column 72. The syntax class of `\' in Fortran is now
7512 appropriate for C-style escape sequences in strings.
7514 ** SGML mode's default `sgml-validate-command' is now `nsgmls'.
7516 ** A new command `view-emacs-problems' (C-h P) displays the PROBLEMS file.
7518 ** The Dabbrev package has a new user-option `dabbrev-ignored-regexps'
7519 containing a list of regular expressions. Buffers matching a regular
7520 expression from that list, are not checked.
7522 ** Emacs can now figure out modification times of remote files.
7523 When you do C-x C-f /user@host:/path/file RET and edit the file,
7524 and someone else modifies the file, you will be prompted to revert
7525 the buffer, just like for the local files.
7527 ** The buffer menu (C-x C-b) no longer lists the *Buffer List* buffer.
7529 ** When invoked with a prefix argument, the command `list-abbrevs' now
7530 displays local abbrevs, only.
7532 ** Refill minor mode provides preliminary support for keeping
7533 paragraphs filled as you modify them.
7535 ** The variable `double-click-fuzz' specifies how much the mouse
7536 may be moved between clicks that are recognized as a pair. Its value
7537 is measured in pixels.
7539 ** The new global minor mode `auto-image-file-mode' allows image files
7540 to be visited as images.
7542 ** Two new user-options `grep-command' and `grep-find-command'
7543 were added to compile.el.
7545 ** Withdrawn packages
7547 *** mldrag.el has been removed. mouse.el provides the same
7548 functionality with aliases for the mldrag functions.
7550 *** eval-reg.el has been obsoleted by changes to edebug.el and removed.
7552 *** ph.el has been obsoleted by EUDC and removed.
7555 * Incompatible Lisp changes
7557 There are a few Lisp changes which are not backwards-compatible and
7558 may require changes to existing code. Here is a list for reference.
7559 See the sections below for details.
7561 ** Since `format' preserves text properties, the idiom
7562 `(format "%s" foo)' no longer works to copy and remove properties.
7563 Use `copy-sequence' to copy the string, then use `set-text-properties'
7564 to remove the properties of the copy.
7566 ** Since the `keymap' text property now has significance, some code
7567 which uses both `local-map' and `keymap' properties (for portability)
7568 may, for instance, give rise to duplicate menus when the keymaps from
7569 these properties are active.
7571 ** The change in the treatment of non-ASCII characters in search
7572 ranges may affect some code.
7574 ** A non-nil value for the LOCAL arg of add-hook makes the hook
7575 buffer-local even if `make-local-hook' hasn't been called, which might
7576 make a difference to some code.
7578 ** The new treatment of the minibuffer prompt might affect code which
7579 operates on the minibuffer.
7581 ** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
7582 cause `no-conversion' and `emacs-mule-unix' coding systems to produce
7583 different results when reading files with non-ASCII characters
7584 (previously, both coding systems would produce the same results).
7585 Specifically, `no-conversion' interprets each 8-bit byte as a separate
7586 character. This makes `no-conversion' inappropriate for reading
7587 multibyte text, e.g. buffers written to disk in their internal MULE
7588 encoding (auto-saving does that, for example). If a Lisp program
7589 reads such files with `no-conversion', each byte of the multibyte
7590 sequence, including the MULE leading codes such as \201, is treated as
7591 a separate character, which prevents them from being interpreted in
7592 the buffer as multibyte characters.
7594 Therefore, Lisp programs that read files which contain the internal
7595 MULE encoding should use `emacs-mule-unix'. `no-conversion' is only
7596 appropriate for reading truly binary files.
7598 ** Code that relies on the obsolete `before-change-function' and
7599 `after-change-function' to detect buffer changes will now fail. Use
7600 `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions' instead.
7602 ** Code that uses `concat' with integer args now gets an error, as
7603 long promised. So does any code that uses derivatives of `concat',
7604 such as `mapconcat'.
7606 ** The function base64-decode-string now always returns a unibyte
7609 ** Not a Lisp incompatibility as such but, with the introduction of
7610 extra private charsets, there is now only one slot free for a new
7611 dimension-2 private charset. User code which tries to add more than
7612 one extra will fail unless you rebuild Emacs with some standard
7613 charset(s) removed; that is probably inadvisable because it changes
7614 the emacs-mule encoding. Also, files stored in the emacs-mule
7615 encoding using Emacs 20 with additional private charsets defined will
7616 probably not be read correctly by Emacs 21.
7618 ** The variable `directory-sep-char' is slated for removal.
7619 Not really a change (yet), but a projected one that you should be
7620 aware of: The variable `directory-sep-char' is deprecated, and should
7621 not be used. It was always ignored on GNU/Linux and Unix systems and
7622 on MS-DOS, but the MS-Windows port tried to support it by adapting the
7623 behavior of certain primitives to the value of this variable. It
7624 turned out that such support cannot be reliable, so it was decided to
7625 remove this variable in the near future. Lisp programs are well
7626 advised not to set it to anything but '/', because any different value
7627 will not have any effect when support for this variable is removed.
7630 * Lisp changes made after edition 2.6 of the Emacs Lisp Manual,
7631 (Display-related features are described in a page of their own below.)
7633 ** Function assq-delete-all replaces function assoc-delete-all.
7635 ** The new function animate-string, from lisp/play/animate.el
7636 allows the animated display of strings.
7638 ** The new function `interactive-form' can be used to obtain the
7639 interactive form of a function.
7641 ** The keyword :set-after in defcustom allows to specify dependencies
7642 between custom options. Example:
7644 (defcustom default-input-method nil
7645 "*Default input method for multilingual text (a string).
7646 This is the input method activated automatically by the command
7647 `toggle-input-method' (\\[toggle-input-method])."
7649 :type '(choice (const nil) string)
7650 :set-after '(current-language-environment))
7652 This specifies that default-input-method should be set after
7653 current-language-environment even if default-input-method appears
7654 first in a custom-set-variables statement.
7656 ** The new hook `kbd-macro-termination-hook' is run at the end of
7657 function execute-kbd-macro. Functions on this hook are called with no
7658 args. The hook is run independent of how the macro was terminated
7659 (signal or normal termination).
7661 ** Functions `butlast' and `nbutlast' for removing trailing elements
7662 from a list are now available without requiring the CL package.
7664 ** The new user-option `even-window-heights' can be set to nil
7665 to prevent `display-buffer' from evening out window heights.
7667 ** The user-option `face-font-registry-alternatives' specifies
7668 alternative font registry names to try when looking for a font.
7670 ** Function `md5' calculates the MD5 "message digest"/"checksum".
7672 ** Function `delete-frame' runs `delete-frame-hook' before actually
7673 deleting the frame. The hook is called with one arg, the frame
7676 ** `add-hook' now makes the hook local if called with a non-nil LOCAL arg.
7678 ** The treatment of non-ASCII characters in search ranges has changed.
7679 If a range in a regular expression or the arg of
7680 skip-chars-forward/backward starts with a unibyte character C and ends
7681 with a multibyte character C2, the range is divided into two: one is
7682 C..?\377, the other is C1..C2, where C1 is the first character of C2's
7685 ** The new function `display-message-or-buffer' displays a message in
7686 the echo area or pops up a buffer, depending on the length of the
7689 ** The new macro `with-auto-compression-mode' allows evaluating an
7690 expression with auto-compression-mode enabled.
7692 ** In image specifications, `:heuristic-mask' has been replaced
7693 with the more general `:mask' property.
7695 ** Image specifications accept more `:conversion's.
7697 ** A `?' can be used in a symbol name without escaping it with a
7700 ** Reading from the mini-buffer now reads from standard input if Emacs
7701 is running in batch mode. For example,
7703 (message "%s" (read t))
7705 will read a Lisp expression from standard input and print the result
7708 ** The argument of `down-list', `backward-up-list', `up-list',
7709 `kill-sexp', `backward-kill-sexp' and `mark-sexp' is now optional.
7711 ** If `display-buffer-reuse-frames' is set, function `display-buffer'
7712 will raise frames displaying a buffer, instead of creating a new
7715 ** Two new functions for removing elements from lists/sequences
7718 - Function: remove ELT SEQ
7720 Return a copy of SEQ with all occurrences of ELT removed. SEQ must be
7721 a list, vector, or string. The comparison is done with `equal'.
7723 - Function: remq ELT LIST
7725 Return a copy of LIST with all occurrences of ELT removed. The
7726 comparison is done with `eq'.
7728 ** The function `delete' now also works with vectors and strings.
7730 ** The meaning of the `:weakness WEAK' argument of make-hash-table
7731 has been changed: WEAK can now have new values `key-or-value' and
7732 `key-and-value', in addition to `nil', `key', `value', and `t'.
7734 ** Function `aset' stores any multibyte character in any string
7735 without signaling "Attempt to change char length of a string". It may
7736 convert a unibyte string to multibyte if necessary.
7738 ** The value of the `help-echo' text property is called as a function
7739 or evaluated, if it is not a string already, to obtain a help string.
7741 ** Function `make-obsolete' now has an optional arg to say when the
7742 function was declared obsolete.
7744 ** Function `plist-member' is renamed from `widget-plist-member' (which is
7745 retained as an alias).
7747 ** Easy-menu's :filter now takes the unconverted form of the menu and
7748 the result is automatically converted to Emacs' form.
7750 ** The new function `window-list' has been defined
7752 - Function: window-list &optional FRAME WINDOW MINIBUF
7754 Return a list of windows on FRAME, starting with WINDOW. FRAME nil or
7755 omitted means use the selected frame. WINDOW nil or omitted means use
7756 the selected window. MINIBUF t means include the minibuffer window,
7757 even if it isn't active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means include the
7758 minibuffer window only if it's active. MINIBUF neither nil nor t
7759 means never include the minibuffer window.
7761 ** There's a new function `get-window-with-predicate' defined as follows
7763 - Function: get-window-with-predicate PREDICATE &optional MINIBUF ALL-FRAMES DEFAULT
7765 Return a window satisfying PREDICATE.
7767 This function cycles through all visible windows using `walk-windows',
7768 calling PREDICATE on each one. PREDICATE is called with a window as
7769 argument. The first window for which PREDICATE returns a non-nil
7770 value is returned. If no window satisfies PREDICATE, DEFAULT is
7773 Optional second arg MINIBUF t means count the minibuffer window even
7774 if not active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means count the minibuffer iff
7775 it is active. MINIBUF neither t nor nil means not to count the
7776 minibuffer even if it is active.
7778 Several frames may share a single minibuffer; if the minibuffer
7779 counts, all windows on all frames that share that minibuffer count
7780 too. Therefore, if you are using a separate minibuffer frame
7781 and the minibuffer is active and MINIBUF says it counts,
7782 `walk-windows' includes the windows in the frame from which you
7783 entered the minibuffer, as well as the minibuffer window.
7785 ALL-FRAMES is the optional third argument.
7786 ALL-FRAMES nil or omitted means cycle within the frames as specified above.
7787 ALL-FRAMES = `visible' means include windows on all visible frames.
7788 ALL-FRAMES = 0 means include windows on all visible and iconified frames.
7789 ALL-FRAMES = t means include windows on all frames including invisible frames.
7790 If ALL-FRAMES is a frame, it means include windows on that frame.
7791 Anything else means restrict to the selected frame.
7793 ** The function `single-key-description' now encloses function key and
7794 event names in angle brackets. When called with a second optional
7795 argument non-nil, angle brackets won't be printed.
7797 ** If the variable `message-truncate-lines' is bound to t around a
7798 call to `message', the echo area will not be resized to display that
7799 message; it will be truncated instead, as it was done in 20.x.
7800 Default value is nil.
7802 ** The user option `line-number-display-limit' can now be set to nil,
7805 ** The new user option `line-number-display-limit-width' controls
7806 the maximum width of lines in a buffer for which Emacs displays line
7807 numbers in the mode line. The default is 200.
7809 ** `select-safe-coding-system' now also checks the most preferred
7810 coding-system if buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and
7811 DEFAULT-CODING-SYSTEM is not specified,
7813 ** The function `subr-arity' provides information about the argument
7814 list of a primitive.
7816 ** `where-is-internal' now also accepts a list of keymaps.
7818 ** The text property `keymap' specifies a key map which overrides the
7819 buffer's local map and the map specified by the `local-map' property.
7820 This is probably what most current uses of `local-map' want, rather
7821 than replacing the local map.
7823 ** The obsolete variables `before-change-function' and
7824 `after-change-function' are no longer acted upon and have been
7825 removed. Use `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions'
7828 ** The function `apropos-mode' runs the hook `apropos-mode-hook'.
7830 ** `concat' no longer accepts individual integer arguments,
7831 as promised long ago.
7833 ** The new function `float-time' returns the current time as a float.
7835 ** The new variable auto-coding-regexp-alist specifies coding systems
7836 for reading specific files, analogous to auto-coding-alist, but
7837 patterns are checked against file contents instead of file names.
7840 * Lisp changes in Emacs 21.1 (see following page for display-related features)
7842 ** The new package rx.el provides an alternative sexp notation for
7843 regular expressions.
7845 - Function: rx-to-string SEXP
7847 Translate SEXP into a regular expression in string notation.
7851 Translate SEXP into a regular expression in string notation.
7853 The following are valid subforms of regular expressions in sexp
7857 matches string STRING literally.
7860 matches character CHAR literally.
7863 matches any character except a newline.
7866 matches any character
7869 matches any character in SET. SET may be a character or string.
7870 Ranges of characters can be specified as `A-Z' in strings.
7876 matches any character not in SET
7879 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of a line
7880 in the text being matched
7883 is similar to `line-start' but matches only at the end of a line
7886 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of the
7887 string being matched against.
7890 matches the empty string, but only at the end of the
7891 string being matched against.
7894 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of the
7895 buffer being matched against.
7898 matches the empty string, but only at the end of the
7899 buffer being matched against.
7902 matches the empty string, but only at point.
7905 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or end of a
7909 matches the empty string, but only at the end of a word.
7912 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or end of a
7915 `(not word-boundary)'
7916 matches the empty string, but not at the beginning or end of a
7920 matches 0 through 9.
7923 matches ASCII control characters.
7926 matches 0 through 9, a through f and A through F.
7929 matches space and tab only.
7932 matches graphic characters--everything except ASCII control chars,
7936 matches printing characters--everything except ASCII control chars
7940 matches letters and digits. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
7941 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
7944 matches letters. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
7945 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
7948 matches ASCII (unibyte) characters.
7951 matches non-ASCII (multibyte) characters.
7954 matches anything lower-case.
7957 matches anything upper-case.
7960 matches punctuation. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
7961 it matches anything that has non-word syntax.)
7964 matches anything that has whitespace syntax.
7967 matches anything that has word syntax.
7970 matches a character with syntax SYNTAX. SYNTAX must be one
7971 of the following symbols.
7973 `whitespace' (\\s- in string notation)
7974 `punctuation' (\\s.)
7977 `open-parenthesis' (\\s()
7978 `close-parenthesis' (\\s))
7979 `expression-prefix' (\\s')
7980 `string-quote' (\\s\")
7981 `paired-delimiter' (\\s$)
7983 `character-quote' (\\s/)
7984 `comment-start' (\\s<)
7985 `comment-end' (\\s>)
7987 `(not (syntax SYNTAX))'
7988 matches a character that has not syntax SYNTAX.
7990 `(category CATEGORY)'
7991 matches a character with category CATEGORY. CATEGORY must be
7992 either a character to use for C, or one of the following symbols.
7994 `consonant' (\\c0 in string notation)
7996 `upper-diacritical-mark' (\\c2)
7997 `lower-diacritical-mark' (\\c3)
8001 `vowel-modifying-diacritical-mark' (\\c7)
8003 `semivowel-lower' (\\c9)
8004 `not-at-end-of-line' (\\c<)
8005 `not-at-beginning-of-line' (\\c>)
8006 `alpha-numeric-two-byte' (\\cA)
8007 `chinse-two-byte' (\\cC)
8008 `greek-two-byte' (\\cG)
8009 `japanese-hiragana-two-byte' (\\cH)
8010 `indian-two-byte' (\\cI)
8011 `japanese-katakana-two-byte' (\\cK)
8012 `korean-hangul-two-byte' (\\cN)
8013 `cyrillic-two-byte' (\\cY)
8022 `japanese-katakana' (\\ck)
8026 `japanese-roman' (\\cr)
8033 `(not (category CATEGORY))'
8034 matches a character that has not category CATEGORY.
8036 `(and SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
8037 matches what SEXP1 matches, followed by what SEXP2 matches, etc.
8039 `(submatch SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
8040 like `and', but makes the match accessible with `match-end',
8041 `match-beginning', and `match-string'.
8043 `(group SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
8044 another name for `submatch'.
8046 `(or SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
8047 matches anything that matches SEXP1 or SEXP2, etc. If all
8048 args are strings, use `regexp-opt' to optimize the resulting
8051 `(minimal-match SEXP)'
8052 produce a non-greedy regexp for SEXP. Normally, regexps matching
8053 zero or more occurrences of something are \"greedy\" in that they
8054 match as much as they can, as long as the overall regexp can
8055 still match. A non-greedy regexp matches as little as possible.
8057 `(maximal-match SEXP)'
8058 produce a greedy regexp for SEXP. This is the default.
8060 `(zero-or-more SEXP)'
8061 matches zero or more occurrences of what SEXP matches.
8064 like `zero-or-more'.
8067 like `zero-or-more', but always produces a greedy regexp.
8070 like `zero-or-more', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
8072 `(one-or-more SEXP)'
8073 matches one or more occurrences of A.
8079 like `one-or-more', but always produces a greedy regexp.
8082 like `one-or-more', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
8084 `(zero-or-one SEXP)'
8085 matches zero or one occurrences of A.
8091 like `zero-or-one', but always produces a greedy regexp.
8094 like `zero-or-one', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
8097 matches N occurrences of what SEXP matches.
8100 matches N to M occurrences of what SEXP matches.
8103 evaluate FORM and insert result. If result is a string,
8107 include REGEXP in string notation in the result.
8109 *** The features `md5' and `overlay' are now provided by default.
8111 *** The special form `save-restriction' now works correctly even if the
8112 buffer is widened inside the save-restriction and changes made outside
8113 the original restriction. Previously, doing this would cause the saved
8114 restriction to be restored incorrectly.
8116 *** The functions `find-charset-region' and `find-charset-string' include
8117 `eight-bit-control' and/or `eight-bit-graphic' in the returned list
8118 when they find 8-bit characters. Previously, they included `ascii' in a
8119 multibyte buffer and `unknown' in a unibyte buffer.
8121 *** The functions `set-buffer-multibyte', `string-as-multibyte' and
8122 `string-as-unibyte' change the byte sequence of a buffer or a string
8123 if it contains a character from the `eight-bit-control' character set.
8125 *** The handling of multibyte sequences in a multibyte buffer is
8126 changed. Previously, a byte sequence matching the pattern
8127 [\200-\237][\240-\377]+ was interpreted as a single character
8128 regardless of the length of the trailing bytes [\240-\377]+. Thus, if
8129 the sequence was longer than what the leading byte indicated, the
8130 extra trailing bytes were ignored by Lisp functions. Now such extra
8131 bytes are independent 8-bit characters belonging to the charset
8134 ** Fontsets are now implemented using char-tables.
8136 A fontset can now be specified for each independent character, for
8137 a group of characters or for a character set rather than just for a
8138 character set as previously.
8140 *** The arguments of the function `set-fontset-font' are changed.
8141 They are NAME, CHARACTER, FONTNAME, and optional FRAME. The function
8142 modifies fontset NAME to use FONTNAME for CHARACTER.
8144 CHARACTER may be a cons (FROM . TO), where FROM and TO are non-generic
8145 characters. In that case FONTNAME is used for all characters in the
8146 range FROM and TO (inclusive). CHARACTER may be a charset. In that
8147 case FONTNAME is used for all character in the charset.
8149 FONTNAME may be a cons (FAMILY . REGISTRY), where FAMILY is the family
8150 name of a font and REGISTRY is a registry name of a font.
8152 *** Variable x-charset-registry has been deleted. The default charset
8153 registries of character sets are set in the default fontset
8156 *** The function `create-fontset-from-fontset-spec' ignores the second
8157 argument STYLE-VARIANT. It never creates style-variant fontsets.
8159 ** The method of composing characters is changed. Now character
8160 composition is done by a special text property `composition' in
8161 buffers and strings.
8163 *** Charset composition is deleted. Emacs never creates a `composite
8164 character' which is an independent character with a unique character
8165 code. Thus the following functions handling `composite characters'
8166 have been deleted: composite-char-component,
8167 composite-char-component-count, composite-char-composition-rule,
8168 composite-char-composition-rule and decompose-composite-char delete.
8169 The variables leading-code-composition and min-composite-char have
8172 *** Three more glyph reference points are added. They can be used to
8173 specify a composition rule. See the documentation of the variable
8174 `reference-point-alist' for more detail.
8176 *** The function `compose-region' takes new arguments COMPONENTS and
8177 MODIFICATION-FUNC. With COMPONENTS, you can specify not only a
8178 composition rule but also characters to be composed. Such characters
8179 may differ between buffer and string text.
8181 *** The function `compose-string' takes new arguments START, END,
8182 COMPONENTS, and MODIFICATION-FUNC.
8184 *** The function `compose-string' puts text property `composition'
8185 directly on the argument STRING instead of returning a new string.
8186 Likewise, the function `decompose-string' just removes text property
8187 `composition' from STRING.
8189 *** The new function `find-composition' returns information about
8190 a composition at a specified position in a buffer or a string.
8192 *** The function `decompose-composite-char' is now labeled as
8195 ** The new coding system `mac-roman' is primarily intended for use on
8196 the Macintosh but may be used generally for Macintosh-encoded text.
8198 ** The new character sets `mule-unicode-0100-24ff',
8199 `mule-unicode-2500-33ff', and `mule-unicode-e000-ffff' have been
8200 introduced for Unicode characters in the range U+0100..U+24FF,
8201 U+2500..U+33FF, U+E000..U+FFFF respectively.
8203 Note that the character sets are not yet unified in Emacs, so
8204 characters which belong to charsets such as Latin-2, Greek, Hebrew,
8205 etc. and the same characters in the `mule-unicode-*' charsets are
8206 different characters, as far as Emacs is concerned. For example, text
8207 which includes Unicode characters from the Latin-2 locale cannot be
8208 encoded by Emacs with ISO 8859-2 coding system.
8210 ** The new coding system `mule-utf-8' has been added.
8211 It provides limited support for decoding/encoding UTF-8 text. For
8212 details, please see the documentation string of this coding system.
8214 ** The new character sets `japanese-jisx0213-1' and
8215 `japanese-jisx0213-2' have been introduced for the new Japanese
8216 standard JIS X 0213 Plane 1 and Plane 2.
8218 ** The new character sets `latin-iso8859-14' and `latin-iso8859-15'
8219 have been introduced.
8221 ** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
8222 have been introduced for 8-bit characters in the ranges 0x80..0x9F and
8223 0xA0..0xFF respectively. Note that the multibyte representation of
8224 eight-bit-control is never exposed; this leads to an exception in the
8225 emacs-mule coding system, which encodes everything else to the
8226 buffer/string internal representation. Note that to search for
8227 eight-bit-graphic characters in a multibyte buffer, the search string
8228 must be multibyte, otherwise such characters will be converted to
8229 their multibyte equivalent.
8231 ** If the APPEND argument of `write-region' is an integer, it seeks to
8232 that offset in the file before writing.
8234 ** The function `add-minor-mode' has been added for convenience and
8235 compatibility with XEmacs (and is used internally by define-minor-mode).
8237 ** The function `shell-command' now sets the default directory of the
8238 `*Shell Command Output*' buffer to the default directory of the buffer
8239 from which the command was issued.
8241 ** The functions `query-replace', `query-replace-regexp',
8242 `query-replace-regexp-eval' `map-query-replace-regexp',
8243 `replace-string', `replace-regexp', and `perform-replace' take two
8244 additional optional arguments START and END that specify the region to
8247 ** The new function `count-screen-lines' is a more flexible alternative
8248 to `window-buffer-height'.
8250 - Function: count-screen-lines &optional BEG END COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE WINDOW
8252 Return the number of screen lines in the region between BEG and END.
8253 The number of screen lines may be different from the number of actual
8254 lines, due to line breaking, display table, etc.
8256 Optional arguments BEG and END default to `point-min' and `point-max'
8259 If region ends with a newline, ignore it unless optional third argument
8260 COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE is non-nil.
8262 The optional fourth argument WINDOW specifies the window used for
8263 obtaining parameters such as width, horizontal scrolling, and so
8264 on. The default is to use the selected window's parameters.
8266 Like `vertical-motion', `count-screen-lines' always uses the current
8267 buffer, regardless of which buffer is displayed in WINDOW. This makes
8268 possible to use `count-screen-lines' in any buffer, whether or not it
8269 is currently displayed in some window.
8271 ** The new function `mapc' is like `mapcar' but doesn't collect the
8272 argument function's results.
8274 ** The functions base64-decode-region and base64-decode-string now
8275 signal an error instead of returning nil if decoding fails. Also,
8276 `base64-decode-string' now always returns a unibyte string (in Emacs
8277 20, it returned a multibyte string when the result was a valid multibyte
8280 ** The function sendmail-user-agent-compose now recognizes a `body'
8281 header in the list of headers passed to it.
8283 ** The new function member-ignore-case works like `member', but
8284 ignores differences in case and text representation.
8286 ** The buffer-local variable cursor-type can be used to specify the
8287 cursor to use in windows displaying a buffer. Values are interpreted
8290 t use the cursor specified for the frame (default)
8291 nil don't display a cursor
8292 `bar' display a bar cursor with default width
8293 (bar . WIDTH) display a bar cursor with width WIDTH
8294 others display a box cursor.
8296 ** The variable open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start controls whether
8297 an open parenthesis in column 0 is considered to be the start of a
8298 defun. If set, the default, it is considered a defun start. If not
8299 set, an open parenthesis in column 0 has no special meaning.
8301 ** The new function `string-to-syntax' can be used to translate syntax
8302 specifications in string form as accepted by `modify-syntax-entry' to
8303 the cons-cell form that is used for the values of the `syntax-table'
8304 text property, and in `font-lock-syntactic-keywords'.
8308 (string-to-syntax "()")
8311 ** Emacs' reader supports CL read syntax for integers in bases
8314 *** `#BINTEGER' or `#bINTEGER' reads INTEGER in binary (radix 2).
8315 INTEGER optionally contains a sign.
8322 *** `#OINTEGER' or `#oINTEGER' reads INTEGER in octal (radix 8).
8327 *** `#XINTEGER' or `#xINTEGER' reads INTEGER in hexadecimal (radix 16).
8332 *** `#RADIXrINTEGER' reads INTEGER in radix RADIX, 2 <= RADIX <= 36.
8339 ** The function `documentation-property' now evaluates the value of
8340 the given property to obtain a string if it doesn't refer to etc/DOC
8343 ** If called for a symbol, the function `documentation' now looks for
8344 a `function-documentation' property of that symbol. If it has a non-nil
8345 value, the documentation is taken from that value. If the value is
8346 not a string, it is evaluated to obtain a string.
8348 ** The last argument of `define-key-after' defaults to t for convenience.
8350 ** The new function `replace-regexp-in-string' replaces all matches
8351 for a regexp in a string.
8353 ** `mouse-position' now runs the abnormal hook
8354 `mouse-position-function'.
8356 ** The function string-to-number now returns a float for numbers
8357 that don't fit into a Lisp integer.
8359 ** The variable keyword-symbols-constants-flag has been removed.
8360 Keywords are now always considered constants.
8362 ** The new function `delete-and-extract-region' deletes text and
8365 ** The function `clear-this-command-keys' now also clears the vector
8366 returned by function `recent-keys'.
8368 ** Variables `beginning-of-defun-function' and `end-of-defun-function'
8369 can be used to define handlers for the functions that find defuns.
8370 Major modes can define these locally instead of rebinding C-M-a
8371 etc. if the normal conventions for defuns are not appropriate for the
8374 ** easy-mmode-define-minor-mode now takes an additional BODY argument
8375 and is renamed `define-minor-mode'.
8377 ** If an abbrev has a hook function which is a symbol, and that symbol
8378 has a non-nil `no-self-insert' property, the return value of the hook
8379 function specifies whether an expansion has been done or not. If it
8380 returns nil, abbrev-expand also returns nil, meaning "no expansion has
8383 When abbrev expansion is done by typing a self-inserting character,
8384 and the abbrev has a hook with the `no-self-insert' property, and the
8385 hook function returns non-nil meaning expansion has been done,
8386 then the self-inserting character is not inserted.
8388 ** The function `intern-soft' now accepts a symbol as first argument.
8389 In this case, that exact symbol is looked up in the specified obarray,
8390 and the function's value is nil if it is not found.
8392 ** The new macro `with-syntax-table' can be used to evaluate forms
8393 with the syntax table of the current buffer temporarily set to a
8396 (with-syntax-table TABLE &rest BODY)
8398 Evaluate BODY with syntax table of current buffer set to a copy of
8399 TABLE. The current syntax table is saved, BODY is evaluated, and the
8400 saved table is restored, even in case of an abnormal exit. Value is
8403 ** Regular expressions now support intervals \{n,m\} as well as
8404 Perl's shy-groups \(?:...\) and non-greedy *? +? and ?? operators.
8405 Also back-references like \2 are now considered as an error if the
8406 corresponding subgroup does not exist (or is not closed yet).
8407 Previously it would have been silently turned into `2' (ignoring the `\').
8409 ** The optional argument BUFFER of function file-local-copy has been
8410 removed since it wasn't used by anything.
8412 ** The file name argument of function `file-locked-p' is now required
8413 instead of being optional.
8415 ** The new built-in error `text-read-only' is signaled when trying to
8416 modify read-only text.
8418 ** New functions and variables for locales.
8420 The new variable `locale-coding-system' specifies how to encode and
8421 decode strings passed to low-level message functions like strerror and
8422 time functions like strftime. The new variables
8423 `system-messages-locale' and `system-time-locale' give the system
8424 locales to be used when invoking these two types of functions.
8426 The new function `set-locale-environment' sets the language
8427 environment, preferred coding system, and locale coding system from
8428 the system locale as specified by the LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG
8429 environment variables. Normally, it is invoked during startup and need
8430 not be invoked thereafter. It uses the new variables
8431 `locale-language-names', `locale-charset-language-names', and
8432 `locale-preferred-coding-systems' to make its decisions.
8434 ** syntax tables now understand nested comments.
8435 To declare a comment syntax as allowing nesting, just add an `n'
8436 modifier to either of the characters of the comment end and the comment
8439 ** The function `pixmap-spec-p' has been renamed `bitmap-spec-p'
8440 because `bitmap' is more in line with the usual X terminology.
8442 ** New function `propertize'
8444 The new function `propertize' can be used to conveniently construct
8445 strings with text properties.
8447 - Function: propertize STRING &rest PROPERTIES
8449 Value is a copy of STRING with text properties assigned as specified
8450 by PROPERTIES. PROPERTIES is a sequence of pairs PROPERTY VALUE, with
8451 PROPERTY being the name of a text property and VALUE being the
8452 specified value of that property. Example:
8454 (propertize "foo" 'face 'bold 'read-only t)
8456 ** push and pop macros.
8458 Simple versions of the push and pop macros of Common Lisp
8459 are now defined in Emacs Lisp. These macros allow only symbols
8460 as the place that holds the list to be changed.
8462 (push NEWELT LISTNAME) add NEWELT to the front of LISTNAME's value.
8463 (pop LISTNAME) return first elt of LISTNAME, and remove it
8464 (thus altering the value of LISTNAME).
8466 ** New dolist and dotimes macros.
8468 Simple versions of the dolist and dotimes macros of Common Lisp
8469 are now defined in Emacs Lisp.
8471 (dolist (VAR LIST [RESULT]) BODY...)
8472 Execute body once for each element of LIST,
8473 using the variable VAR to hold the current element.
8474 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
8476 (dotimes (VAR COUNT [RESULT]) BODY...)
8477 Execute BODY with VAR bound to successive integers running from 0,
8478 inclusive, to COUNT, exclusive.
8479 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
8481 ** Regular expressions now support Posix character classes such as
8482 [:alpha:], [:space:] and so on. These must be used within a character
8483 class--for instance, [-[:digit:].+] matches digits or a period
8486 [:digit:] matches 0 through 9
8487 [:cntrl:] matches ASCII control characters
8488 [:xdigit:] matches 0 through 9, a through f and A through F.
8489 [:blank:] matches space and tab only
8490 [:graph:] matches graphic characters--everything except ASCII control chars,
8492 [:print:] matches printing characters--everything except ASCII control chars
8494 [:alnum:] matches letters and digits.
8495 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
8496 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
8497 [:alpha:] matches letters.
8498 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
8499 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
8500 [:ascii:] matches ASCII (unibyte) characters.
8501 [:nonascii:] matches non-ASCII (multibyte) characters.
8502 [:lower:] matches anything lower-case.
8503 [:punct:] matches punctuation.
8504 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
8505 it matches anything that has non-word syntax.)
8506 [:space:] matches anything that has whitespace syntax.
8507 [:upper:] matches anything upper-case.
8508 [:word:] matches anything that has word syntax.
8510 ** Emacs now has built-in hash tables.
8512 The following functions are defined for hash tables:
8514 - Function: make-hash-table ARGS
8516 The argument list ARGS consists of keyword/argument pairs. All arguments
8517 are optional. The following arguments are defined:
8521 TEST must be a symbol specifying how to compare keys. Default is `eql'.
8522 Predefined are `eq', `eql' and `equal'. If TEST is not predefined,
8523 it must have been defined with `define-hash-table-test'.
8527 SIZE must be an integer > 0 giving a hint to the implementation how
8528 many elements will be put in the hash table. Default size is 65.
8530 :rehash-size REHASH-SIZE
8532 REHASH-SIZE specifies by how much to grow a hash table once it becomes
8533 full. If REHASH-SIZE is an integer, add that to the hash table's old
8534 size to get the new size. Otherwise, REHASH-SIZE must be a float >
8535 1.0, and the new size is computed by multiplying REHASH-SIZE with the
8536 old size. Default rehash size is 1.5.
8538 :rehash-threshold THRESHOLD
8540 THRESHOLD must be a float > 0 and <= 1.0 specifying when to resize the
8541 hash table. It is resized when the ratio of (number of entries) /
8542 (size of hash table) is >= THRESHOLD. Default threshold is 0.8.
8546 WEAK must be either nil, one of the symbols `key, `value',
8547 `key-or-value', `key-and-value', or t, meaning the same as
8548 `key-and-value'. Entries are removed from weak tables during garbage
8549 collection if their key and/or value are not referenced elsewhere
8550 outside of the hash table. Default are non-weak hash tables.
8552 - Function: makehash &optional TEST
8554 Similar to make-hash-table, but only TEST can be specified.
8556 - Function: hash-table-p TABLE
8558 Returns non-nil if TABLE is a hash table object.
8560 - Function: copy-hash-table TABLE
8562 Returns a copy of TABLE. Only the table itself is copied, keys and
8565 - Function: hash-table-count TABLE
8567 Returns the number of entries in TABLE.
8569 - Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
8571 Returns the rehash size of TABLE.
8573 - Function: hash-table-rehash-threshold TABLE
8575 Returns the rehash threshold of TABLE.
8577 - Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
8579 Returns the size of TABLE.
8581 - Function: hash-table-test TABLE
8583 Returns the test TABLE uses to compare keys.
8585 - Function: hash-table-weakness TABLE
8587 Returns the weakness specified for TABLE.
8589 - Function: clrhash TABLE
8593 - Function: gethash KEY TABLE &optional DEFAULT
8595 Look up KEY in TABLE and return its associated VALUE or DEFAULT if
8598 - Function: puthash KEY VALUE TABLE
8600 Associate KEY with VALUE in TABLE. If KEY is already associated with
8601 another value, replace the old value with VALUE.
8603 - Function: remhash KEY TABLE
8605 Remove KEY from TABLE if it is there.
8607 - Function: maphash FUNCTION TABLE
8609 Call FUNCTION for all elements in TABLE. FUNCTION must take two
8610 arguments KEY and VALUE.
8612 - Function: sxhash OBJ
8614 Return a hash code for Lisp object OBJ.
8616 - Function: define-hash-table-test NAME TEST-FN HASH-FN
8618 Define a new hash table test named NAME. If NAME is specified as
8619 a test in `make-hash-table', the table created will use TEST-FN for
8620 comparing keys, and HASH-FN to compute hash codes for keys. Test
8621 and hash function are stored as symbol property `hash-table-test'
8622 of NAME with a value of (TEST-FN HASH-FN).
8624 TEST-FN must take two arguments and return non-nil if they are the same.
8626 HASH-FN must take one argument and return an integer that is the hash
8627 code of the argument. The function should use the whole range of
8628 integer values for hash code computation, including negative integers.
8630 Example: The following creates a hash table whose keys are supposed to
8631 be strings that are compared case-insensitively.
8633 (defun case-fold-string= (a b)
8634 (compare-strings a nil nil b nil nil t))
8636 (defun case-fold-string-hash (a)
8637 (sxhash (upcase a)))
8639 (define-hash-table-test 'case-fold 'case-fold-string=
8640 'case-fold-string-hash))
8642 (make-hash-table :test 'case-fold)
8644 ** The Lisp reader handles circular structure.
8646 It now works to use the #N= and #N# constructs to represent
8647 circular structures. For example, #1=(a . #1#) represents
8648 a cons cell which is its own cdr.
8650 ** The Lisp printer handles circular structure.
8652 If you bind print-circle to a non-nil value, the Lisp printer outputs
8653 #N= and #N# constructs to represent circular and shared structure.
8655 ** If the second argument to `move-to-column' is anything but nil or
8656 t, that means replace a tab with spaces if necessary to reach the
8657 specified column, but do not add spaces at the end of the line if it
8658 is too short to reach that column.
8660 ** perform-replace has a new feature: the REPLACEMENTS argument may
8661 now be a cons cell (FUNCTION . DATA). This means to call FUNCTION
8662 after each match to get the replacement text. FUNCTION is called with
8663 two arguments: DATA, and the number of replacements already made.
8665 If the FROM-STRING contains any upper-case letters,
8666 perform-replace also turns off `case-fold-search' temporarily
8667 and inserts the replacement text without altering case in it.
8669 ** The function buffer-size now accepts an optional argument
8670 to specify which buffer to return the size of.
8672 ** The calendar motion commands now run the normal hook
8673 calendar-move-hook after moving point.
8675 ** The new variable small-temporary-file-directory specifies a
8676 directory to use for creating temporary files that are likely to be
8677 small. (Certain Emacs features use this directory.) If
8678 small-temporary-file-directory is nil, they use
8679 temporary-file-directory instead.
8681 ** The variable `inhibit-modification-hooks', if non-nil, inhibits all
8682 the hooks that track changes in the buffer. This affects
8683 `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions', as well as
8684 hooks attached to text properties and overlay properties.
8686 ** assq-delete-all is a new function that deletes all the
8687 elements of an alist which have a car `eq' to a particular value.
8689 ** make-temp-file provides a more reliable way to create a temporary file.
8691 make-temp-file is used like make-temp-name, except that it actually
8692 creates the file before it returns. This prevents a timing error,
8693 ensuring that no other job can use the same name for a temporary file.
8695 ** New exclusive-open feature in `write-region'
8697 The optional seventh arg is now called MUSTBENEW. If non-nil, it insists
8698 on a check for an existing file with the same name. If MUSTBENEW
8699 is `excl', that means to get an error if the file already exists;
8700 never overwrite. If MUSTBENEW is neither nil nor `excl', that means
8701 ask for confirmation before overwriting, but do go ahead and
8702 overwrite the file if the user gives confirmation.
8704 If the MUSTBENEW argument in `write-region' is `excl',
8705 that means to use a special feature in the `open' system call
8706 to get an error if the file exists at that time.
8707 The error reported is `file-already-exists'.
8709 ** Function `format' now handles text properties.
8711 Text properties of the format string are applied to the result string.
8712 If the result string is longer than the format string, text properties
8713 ending at the end of the format string are extended to the end of the
8716 Text properties from string arguments are applied to the result
8717 string where arguments appear in the result string.
8721 (let ((s1 "hello, %s")
8723 (put-text-property 0 (length s1) 'face 'bold s1)
8724 (put-text-property 0 (length s2) 'face 'italic s2)
8727 results in a bold-face string with an italic `world' at the end.
8729 ** Messages can now be displayed with text properties.
8731 Text properties are handled as described above for function `format'.
8732 The following example displays a bold-face message with an italic
8735 (let ((msg "hello, %s!")
8737 (put-text-property 0 (length msg) 'face 'bold msg)
8738 (put-text-property 0 (length arg) 'face 'italic arg)
8743 Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and the free BSDs
8744 (Voxware driver and native BSD driver, aka as Luigi's driver).
8746 Currently supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio
8747 (*.au). You must configure Emacs with the option `--with-sound=yes'
8748 to enable sound support.
8750 Sound files can be played by calling (play-sound SOUND). SOUND is a
8751 list of the form `(sound PROPERTY...)'. The function is only defined
8752 when sound support is present for the system on which Emacs runs. The
8753 functions runs `play-sound-functions' with one argument which is the
8754 sound to play, before playing the sound.
8756 The following sound properties are supported:
8760 FILE is a file name. If FILE isn't an absolute name, it will be
8761 searched relative to `data-directory'.
8765 DATA is a string containing sound data. Either :file or :data
8766 may be present, but not both.
8770 VOLUME must be an integer in the range 0..100 or a float in the range
8771 0..1. This property is optional.
8775 DEVICE is a string specifying the system device on which to play the
8776 sound. The default device is system-dependent.
8778 Other properties are ignored.
8780 An alternative interface is called as
8781 (play-sound-file FILE &optional VOLUME DEVICE).
8783 ** `multimedia' is a new Finder keyword and Custom group.
8785 ** keywordp is a new predicate to test efficiently for an object being
8788 ** Changes to garbage collection
8790 *** The function garbage-collect now additionally returns the number
8791 of live and free strings.
8793 *** There is a new variable `strings-consed' holding the number of
8794 strings that have been consed so far.
8797 * Lisp-level Display features added after release 2.6 of the Emacs
8800 ** The user-option `resize-mini-windows' controls how Emacs resizes
8803 ** The function `pos-visible-in-window-p' now has a third optional
8804 argument, PARTIALLY. If a character is only partially visible, nil is
8805 returned, unless PARTIALLY is non-nil.
8807 ** On window systems, `glyph-table' is no longer used.
8809 ** Help strings in menu items are now used to provide `help-echo' text.
8811 ** The function `image-size' can be used to determine the size of an
8814 - Function: image-size SPEC &optional PIXELS FRAME
8816 Return the size of an image as a pair (WIDTH . HEIGHT).
8818 SPEC is an image specification. PIXELS non-nil means return sizes
8819 measured in pixels, otherwise return sizes measured in canonical
8820 character units (fractions of the width/height of the frame's default
8821 font). FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed.
8822 FRAME nil or omitted means use the selected frame.
8824 ** The function `image-mask-p' can be used to determine if an image
8827 - Function: image-mask-p SPEC &optional FRAME
8829 Return t if image SPEC has a mask bitmap.
8830 FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed. FRAME nil
8831 or omitted means use the selected frame.
8833 ** The function `find-image' can be used to find a usable image
8834 satisfying one of a list of specifications.
8836 ** The STRING argument of `put-image' and `insert-image' is now
8839 ** Image specifications may contain the property `:ascent center' (see
8843 * New Lisp-level Display features in Emacs 21.1
8845 ** The function tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors can be used
8846 to make Emacs avoid displaying text with bold black foreground on TTYs.
8848 Some terminals, notably PC consoles, emulate bold text by displaying
8849 text in brighter colors. On such a console, a bold black foreground
8850 is displayed in a gray color. If this turns out to be hard to read on
8851 your monitor---the problem occurred with the mode line on
8852 laptops---you can instruct Emacs to ignore the text's boldness, and to
8853 just display it black instead.
8855 This situation can't be detected automatically. You will have to put
8858 (tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors t)
8862 ** New face implementation.
8864 Emacs faces have been reimplemented from scratch. They don't use XLFD
8865 font names anymore and face merging now works as expected.
8869 Each face can specify the following display attributes:
8871 1. Font family or fontset alias name.
8873 2. Relative proportionate width, aka character set width or set
8874 width (swidth), e.g. `semi-compressed'.
8876 3. Font height in 1/10pt
8878 4. Font weight, e.g. `bold'.
8880 5. Font slant, e.g. `italic'.
8882 6. Foreground color.
8884 7. Background color.
8886 8. Whether or not characters should be underlined, and in what color.
8888 9. Whether or not characters should be displayed in inverse video.
8890 10. A background stipple, a bitmap.
8892 11. Whether or not characters should be overlined, and in what color.
8894 12. Whether or not characters should be strike-through, and in what
8897 13. Whether or not a box should be drawn around characters, its
8898 color, the width of the box lines, and 3D appearance.
8900 Faces are frame-local by nature because Emacs allows to define the
8901 same named face (face names are symbols) differently for different
8902 frames. Each frame has an alist of face definitions for all named
8903 faces. The value of a named face in such an alist is a Lisp vector
8904 with the symbol `face' in slot 0, and a slot for each of the face
8905 attributes mentioned above.
8907 There is also a global face alist `face-new-frame-defaults'. Face
8908 definitions from this list are used to initialize faces of newly
8911 A face doesn't have to specify all attributes. Those not specified
8912 have a nil value. Faces specifying all attributes are called
8917 The display style of a given character in the text is determined by
8918 combining several faces. This process is called `face merging'. Any
8919 aspect of the display style that isn't specified by overlays or text
8920 properties is taken from the `default' face. Since it is made sure
8921 that the default face is always fully-specified, face merging always
8922 results in a fully-specified face.
8924 *** Face realization.
8926 After all face attributes for a character have been determined by
8927 merging faces of that character, that face is `realized'. The
8928 realization process maps face attributes to what is physically
8929 available on the system where Emacs runs. The result is a `realized
8930 face' in form of an internal structure which is stored in the face
8931 cache of the frame on which it was realized.
8933 Face realization is done in the context of the charset of the
8934 character to display because different fonts and encodings are used
8935 for different charsets. In other words, for characters of different
8936 charsets, different realized faces are needed to display them.
8938 Except for composite characters, faces are always realized for a
8939 specific character set and contain a specific font, even if the face
8940 being realized specifies a fontset. The reason is that the result of
8941 the new font selection stage is better than what can be done with
8942 statically defined font name patterns in fontsets.
8944 In unibyte text, Emacs' charsets aren't applicable; function
8945 `char-charset' reports ASCII for all characters, including those >
8946 0x7f. The X registry and encoding of fonts to use is determined from
8947 the variable `face-default-registry' in this case. The variable is
8948 initialized at Emacs startup time from the font the user specified for
8951 Currently all unibyte text, i.e. all buffers with
8952 `enable-multibyte-characters' nil are displayed with fonts of the same
8953 registry and encoding `face-default-registry'. This is consistent
8954 with the fact that languages can also be set globally, only.
8956 **** Clearing face caches.
8958 The Lisp function `clear-face-cache' can be called to clear face caches
8959 on all frames. If called with a non-nil argument, it will also unload
8964 Font selection tries to find the best available matching font for a
8965 given (charset, face) combination. This is done slightly differently
8966 for faces specifying a fontset, or a font family name.
8968 If the face specifies a fontset name, that fontset determines a
8969 pattern for fonts of the given charset. If the face specifies a font
8970 family, a font pattern is constructed. Charset symbols have a
8971 property `x-charset-registry' for that purpose that maps a charset to
8972 an XLFD registry and encoding in the font pattern constructed.
8974 Available fonts on the system on which Emacs runs are then matched
8975 against the font pattern. The result of font selection is the best
8976 match for the given face attributes in this font list.
8978 Font selection can be influenced by the user.
8980 The user can specify the relative importance he gives the face
8981 attributes width, height, weight, and slant by setting
8982 face-font-selection-order (faces.el) to a list of face attribute
8983 names. The default is (:width :height :weight :slant), and means
8984 that font selection first tries to find a good match for the font
8985 width specified by a face, then---within fonts with that width---tries
8986 to find a best match for the specified font height, etc.
8988 Setting `face-font-family-alternatives' allows the user to specify
8989 alternative font families to try if a family specified by a face
8992 Setting `face-font-registry-alternatives' allows the user to specify
8993 all alternative font registry names to try for a face specifying a
8996 Please note that the interpretations of the above two variables are
8999 Setting face-ignored-fonts allows the user to ignore specific fonts.
9004 Emacs can make use of scalable fonts but doesn't do so by default,
9005 since the use of too many or too big scalable fonts may crash XFree86
9008 To enable scalable font use, set the variable
9009 `scalable-fonts-allowed'. A value of nil, the default, means never use
9010 scalable fonts. A value of t means any scalable font may be used.
9011 Otherwise, the value must be a list of regular expressions. A
9012 scalable font may then be used if it matches a regular expression from
9015 (setq scalable-fonts-allowed '("muleindian-2$"))
9017 allows the use of scalable fonts with registry `muleindian-2'.
9019 *** Functions and variables related to font selection.
9021 - Function: x-family-fonts &optional FAMILY FRAME
9023 Return a list of available fonts of family FAMILY on FRAME. If FAMILY
9024 is omitted or nil, list all families. Otherwise, FAMILY must be a
9025 string, possibly containing wildcards `?' and `*'.
9027 If FRAME is omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Each element of
9028 the result is a vector [FAMILY WIDTH POINT-SIZE WEIGHT SLANT FIXED-P
9029 FULL REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING]. FAMILY is the font family name.
9030 POINT-SIZE is the size of the font in 1/10 pt. WIDTH, WEIGHT, and
9031 SLANT are symbols describing the width, weight and slant of the font.
9032 These symbols are the same as for face attributes. FIXED-P is non-nil
9033 if the font is fixed-pitch. FULL is the full name of the font, and
9034 REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING is a string giving the registry and encoding of
9035 the font. The result list is sorted according to the current setting
9036 of the face font sort order.
9038 - Function: x-font-family-list
9040 Return a list of available font families on FRAME. If FRAME is
9041 omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Value is a list of conses
9042 (FAMILY . FIXED-P) where FAMILY is a font family, and FIXED-P is
9043 non-nil if fonts of that family are fixed-pitch.
9045 - Variable: font-list-limit
9047 Limit for font matching. If an integer > 0, font matching functions
9048 won't load more than that number of fonts when searching for a
9049 matching font. The default is currently 100.
9051 *** Setting face attributes.
9053 For the most part, the new face implementation is interface-compatible
9054 with the old one. Old face attribute related functions are now
9055 implemented in terms of the new functions `set-face-attribute' and
9058 Face attributes are identified by their names which are keyword
9059 symbols. All attributes can be set to `unspecified'.
9061 The following attributes are recognized:
9065 VALUE must be a string specifying the font family, e.g. ``courier'',
9066 or a fontset alias name. If a font family is specified, wild-cards `*'
9067 and `?' are allowed.
9071 VALUE specifies the relative proportionate width of the font to use.
9072 It must be one of the symbols `ultra-condensed', `extra-condensed',
9073 `condensed', `semi-condensed', `normal', `semi-expanded', `expanded',
9074 `extra-expanded', or `ultra-expanded'.
9078 VALUE must be either an integer specifying the height of the font to use
9079 in 1/10 pt, a floating point number specifying the amount by which to
9080 scale any underlying face, or a function, which is called with the old
9081 height (from the underlying face), and should return the new height.
9085 VALUE specifies the weight of the font to use. It must be one of the
9086 symbols `ultra-bold', `extra-bold', `bold', `semi-bold', `normal',
9087 `semi-light', `light', `extra-light', `ultra-light'.
9091 VALUE specifies the slant of the font to use. It must be one of the
9092 symbols `italic', `oblique', `normal', `reverse-italic', or
9095 `:foreground', `:background'
9097 VALUE must be a color name, a string.
9101 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be underlined. If
9102 VALUE is t, underline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is
9103 a string, underline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly
9108 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be overlined. If
9109 VALUE is t, overline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is a
9110 string, overline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't
9115 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be drawn with a line
9116 striking through them. If VALUE is t, use the foreground color of the
9117 face. If VALUE is a string, strike-through with that color. If VALUE
9118 is nil, explicitly don't strike through.
9122 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should have a box drawn
9123 around them. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't draw boxes. If
9124 VALUE is t, draw a box with lines of width 1 in the foreground color
9125 of the face. If VALUE is a string, the string must be a color name,
9126 and the box is drawn in that color with a line width of 1. Otherwise,
9127 VALUE must be a property list of the form `(:line-width WIDTH
9128 :color COLOR :style STYLE)'. If a keyword/value pair is missing from
9129 the property list, a default value will be used for the value, as
9130 specified below. WIDTH specifies the width of the lines to draw; it
9131 defaults to 1. COLOR is the name of the color to draw in, default is
9132 the foreground color of the face for simple boxes, and the background
9133 color of the face for 3D boxes. STYLE specifies whether a 3D box
9134 should be draw. If STYLE is `released-button', draw a box looking
9135 like a released 3D button. If STYLE is `pressed-button' draw a box
9136 that appears like a pressed button. If STYLE is nil, the default if
9137 the property list doesn't contain a style specification, draw a 2D
9142 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be displayed in
9143 inverse video. VALUE must be one of t or nil.
9147 If VALUE is a string, it must be the name of a file of pixmap data.
9148 The directories listed in the `x-bitmap-file-path' variable are
9149 searched. Alternatively, VALUE may be a list of the form (WIDTH
9150 HEIGHT DATA) where WIDTH and HEIGHT are the size in pixels, and DATA
9151 is a string containing the raw bits of the bitmap. VALUE nil means
9152 explicitly don't use a stipple pattern.
9154 For convenience, attributes `:family', `:width', `:height', `:weight',
9155 and `:slant' may also be set in one step from an X font name:
9159 Set font-related face attributes from VALUE. VALUE must be a valid
9160 XLFD font name. If it is a font name pattern, the first matching font
9161 is used--this is for compatibility with the behavior of previous
9164 For compatibility with Emacs 20, keywords `:bold' and `:italic' can
9165 be used to specify that a bold or italic font should be used. VALUE
9166 must be t or nil in that case. A value of `unspecified' is not allowed."
9168 Please see also the documentation of `set-face-attribute' and
9173 VALUE is the name of a face from which to inherit attributes, or a list
9174 of face names. Attributes from inherited faces are merged into the face
9175 like an underlying face would be, with higher priority than underlying faces.
9177 *** Face attributes and X resources
9179 The following X resource names can be used to set face attributes
9182 Face attribute X resource class
9183 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
9184 :family attributeFamily . Face.AttributeFamily
9185 :width attributeWidth Face.AttributeWidth
9186 :height attributeHeight Face.AttributeHeight
9187 :weight attributeWeight Face.AttributeWeight
9188 :slant attributeSlant Face.AttributeSlant
9189 foreground attributeForeground Face.AttributeForeground
9190 :background attributeBackground . Face.AttributeBackground
9191 :overline attributeOverline Face.AttributeOverline
9192 :strike-through attributeStrikeThrough Face.AttributeStrikeThrough
9193 :box attributeBox Face.AttributeBox
9194 :underline attributeUnderline Face.AttributeUnderline
9195 :inverse-video attributeInverse Face.AttributeInverse
9196 :stipple attributeStipple Face.AttributeStipple
9197 or attributeBackgroundPixmap
9198 Face.AttributeBackgroundPixmap
9199 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
9200 :bold attributeBold Face.AttributeBold
9201 :italic attributeItalic . Face.AttributeItalic
9202 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
9204 *** Text property `face'.
9206 The value of the `face' text property can now be a single face
9207 specification or a list of such specifications. Each face
9208 specification can be
9210 1. A symbol or string naming a Lisp face.
9212 2. A property list of the form (KEYWORD VALUE ...) where each
9213 KEYWORD is a face attribute name, and VALUE is an appropriate value
9214 for that attribute. Please see the doc string of `set-face-attribute'
9215 for face attribute names.
9217 3. Conses of the form (FOREGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) or
9218 (BACKGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) where COLOR is a color name. This is
9219 for compatibility with previous Emacs versions.
9221 ** Support functions for colors on text-only terminals.
9223 The function `tty-color-define' can be used to define colors for use
9224 on TTY and MSDOS frames. It maps a color name to a color number on
9225 the terminal. Emacs defines a couple of common color mappings by
9226 default. You can get defined colors with a call to
9227 `defined-colors'. The function `tty-color-clear' can be
9228 used to clear the mapping table.
9230 ** Unified support for colors independent of frame type.
9232 The new functions `defined-colors', `color-defined-p', `color-values',
9233 and `display-color-p' work for any type of frame. On frames whose
9234 type is neither x nor w32, these functions transparently map X-style
9235 color specifications to the closest colors supported by the frame
9236 display. Lisp programs should use these new functions instead of the
9237 old `x-defined-colors', `x-color-defined-p', `x-color-values', and
9238 `x-display-color-p'. (The old function names are still available for
9239 compatibility; they are now aliases of the new names.) Lisp programs
9240 should no more look at the value of the variable window-system to
9241 modify their color-related behavior.
9243 The primitives `color-gray-p' and `color-supported-p' also work for
9246 ** Platform-independent functions to describe display capabilities.
9248 The new functions `display-mouse-p', `display-popup-menus-p',
9249 `display-graphic-p', `display-selections-p', `display-screens',
9250 `display-pixel-width', `display-pixel-height', `display-mm-width',
9251 `display-mm-height', `display-backing-store', `display-save-under',
9252 `display-planes', `display-color-cells', `display-visual-class', and
9253 `display-grayscale-p' describe the basic capabilities of a particular
9254 display. Lisp programs should call these functions instead of testing
9255 the value of the variables `window-system' or `system-type', or calling
9256 platform-specific functions such as `x-display-pixel-width'.
9258 The new function `display-images-p' returns non-nil if a particular
9259 display can display image files.
9261 ** The minibuffer prompt is now actually inserted in the minibuffer.
9263 This makes it possible to scroll through the prompt, if you want to.
9264 To disallow this completely (like previous versions of emacs), customize
9265 the variable `minibuffer-prompt-properties', and turn on the
9266 `Inviolable' option.
9268 The function `minibuffer-prompt-end' returns the current position of the
9269 end of the minibuffer prompt, if the minibuffer is current.
9270 Otherwise, it returns `(point-min)'.
9272 ** New `field' abstraction in buffers.
9274 There is now code to support an abstraction called `fields' in emacs
9275 buffers. A field is a contiguous region of text with the same `field'
9276 property (which can be a text property or an overlay).
9278 Many emacs functions, such as forward-word, forward-sentence,
9279 forward-paragraph, beginning-of-line, etc., stop moving when they come
9280 to the boundary between fields; beginning-of-line and end-of-line will
9281 not let the point move past the field boundary, but other movement
9282 commands continue into the next field if repeated. Stopping at field
9283 boundaries can be suppressed programmatically by binding
9284 `inhibit-field-text-motion' to a non-nil value around calls to these
9287 Now that the minibuffer prompt is inserted into the minibuffer, it is in
9288 a separate field from the user-input part of the buffer, so that common
9289 editing commands treat the user's text separately from the prompt.
9291 The following functions are defined for operating on fields:
9293 - Function: constrain-to-field NEW-POS OLD-POS &optional ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE ONLY-IN-LINE INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY
9295 Return the position closest to NEW-POS that is in the same field as OLD-POS.
9297 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
9298 If NEW-POS is nil, then the current point is used instead, and set to the
9299 constrained position if that is different.
9301 If OLD-POS is at the boundary of two fields, then the allowable
9302 positions for NEW-POS depends on the value of the optional argument
9303 ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE: If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is nil, then NEW-POS is
9304 constrained to the field that has the same `field' char-property
9305 as any new characters inserted at OLD-POS, whereas if ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
9306 is non-nil, NEW-POS is constrained to the union of the two adjacent
9307 fields. Additionally, if two fields are separated by another field with
9308 the special value `boundary', then any point within this special field is
9309 also considered to be `on the boundary'.
9311 If the optional argument ONLY-IN-LINE is non-nil and constraining
9312 NEW-POS would move it to a different line, NEW-POS is returned
9313 unconstrained. This useful for commands that move by line, like
9314 C-n or C-a, which should generally respect field boundaries
9315 only in the case where they can still move to the right line.
9317 If the optional argument INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY is non-nil, and OLD-POS has
9318 a non-nil property of that name, then any field boundaries are ignored.
9320 Field boundaries are not noticed if `inhibit-field-text-motion' is non-nil.
9322 - Function: delete-field &optional POS
9324 Delete the field surrounding POS.
9325 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
9326 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9328 - Function: field-beginning &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
9330 Return the beginning of the field surrounding POS.
9331 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
9332 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9333 If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the beginning of its
9334 field, then the beginning of the *previous* field is returned.
9336 - Function: field-end &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
9338 Return the end of the field surrounding POS.
9339 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
9340 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9341 If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the end of its field,
9342 then the end of the *following* field is returned.
9344 - Function: field-string &optional POS
9346 Return the contents of the field surrounding POS as a string.
9347 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
9348 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9350 - Function: field-string-no-properties &optional POS
9352 Return the contents of the field around POS, without text-properties.
9353 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
9354 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9358 Emacs can now display images. Images are inserted into text by giving
9359 strings or buffer text a `display' text property containing one of
9360 (AREA IMAGE) or IMAGE. The display of the `display' property value
9361 replaces the display of the characters having that property.
9363 If the property value has the form (AREA IMAGE), AREA must be one of
9364 `(margin left-margin)', `(margin right-margin)' or `(margin nil)'. If
9365 AREA is `(margin nil)', IMAGE will be displayed in the text area of a
9366 window, otherwise it will be displayed in the left or right marginal
9369 IMAGE is an image specification.
9371 *** Image specifications
9373 Image specifications are lists of the form `(image PROPS)' where PROPS
9374 is a property list whose keys are keyword symbols. Each
9375 specifications must contain a property `:type TYPE' with TYPE being a
9376 symbol specifying the image type, e.g. `xbm'. Properties not
9377 described below are ignored.
9379 The following is a list of properties all image types share.
9383 ASCENT must be a number in the range 0..100, or the symbol `center'.
9384 If it is a number, it specifies the percentage of the image's height
9385 to use for its ascent.
9387 If not specified, ASCENT defaults to the value 50 which means that the
9388 image will be centered with the base line of the row it appears in.
9390 If ASCENT is `center' the image is vertically centered around a
9391 centerline which is the vertical center of text drawn at the position
9392 of the image, in the manner specified by the text properties and
9393 overlays that apply to the image.
9397 MARGIN must be either a number >= 0 specifying how many pixels to put
9398 as margin around the image, or a pair (X . Y) with X specifying the
9399 horizontal margin and Y specifying the vertical margin. Default is 0.
9403 RELIEF is analogous to the `:relief' attribute of faces. Puts a relief
9408 Apply an image algorithm to the image before displaying it.
9410 ALGO `laplace' or `emboss' means apply a Laplace or ``emboss''
9411 edge-detection algorithm to the image.
9413 ALGO `(edge-detection :matrix MATRIX :color-adjust ADJUST)' means
9414 apply a general edge-detection algorithm. MATRIX must be either a
9415 nine-element list or a nine-element vector of numbers. A pixel at
9416 position x/y in the transformed image is computed from original pixels
9417 around that position. MATRIX specifies, for each pixel in the
9418 neighborhood of x/y, a factor with which that pixel will influence the
9419 transformed pixel; element 0 specifies the factor for the pixel at
9420 x-1/y-1, element 1 the factor for the pixel at x/y-1 etc. as shown
9423 (x-1/y-1 x/y-1 x+1/y-1
9425 x-1/y+1 x/y+1 x+1/y+1)
9427 The resulting pixel is computed from the color intensity of the color
9428 resulting from summing up the RGB values of surrounding pixels,
9429 multiplied by the specified factors, and dividing that sum by the sum
9430 of the factors' absolute values.
9432 Laplace edge-detection currently uses a matrix of
9438 Emboss edge-detection uses a matrix of
9444 ALGO `disabled' means transform the image so that it looks
9449 If MASK is `heuristic' or `(heuristic BG)', build a clipping mask for
9450 the image, so that the background of a frame is visible behind the
9451 image. If BG is not specified, or if BG is t, determine the
9452 background color of the image by looking at the 4 corners of the
9453 image, assuming the most frequently occurring color from the corners is
9454 the background color of the image. Otherwise, BG must be a list `(RED
9455 GREEN BLUE)' specifying the color to assume for the background of the
9458 If MASK is nil, remove a mask from the image, if it has one. Images
9459 in some formats include a mask which can be removed by specifying
9464 Load image from FILE. If FILE is not absolute after expanding it,
9465 search for the image in `data-directory'. Some image types support
9466 building images from data. When this is done, no `:file' property
9467 may be present in the image specification.
9471 Get image data from DATA. (As of this writing, this is not yet
9472 supported for image type `postscript'). Either :file or :data may be
9473 present in an image specification, but not both. All image types
9474 support strings as DATA, some types allow additional types of DATA.
9476 *** Supported image types
9478 **** XBM, image type `xbm'.
9480 XBM images don't require an external library. Additional image
9481 properties supported are:
9485 FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color, or nil
9486 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's foreground color.
9490 BG must be a string specifying the image background color, or nil
9491 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's background color.
9493 XBM images can be constructed from data instead of file. In this
9494 case, the image specification must contain the following properties
9495 instead of a `:file' property.
9499 WIDTH specifies the width of the image in pixels.
9503 HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pixels.
9509 1. a string large enough to hold the bitmap data, i.e. it must
9510 have a size >= (WIDTH + 7) / 8 * HEIGHT
9512 2. a bool-vector of size >= WIDTH * HEIGHT
9514 3. a vector of strings or bool-vectors, one for each line of the
9517 4. a string that's an in-memory XBM file. Neither width nor
9518 height may be specified in this case because these are defined
9521 **** XPM, image type `xpm'
9523 XPM images require the external library `libXpm', package
9524 `xpm-3.4k.tar.gz', version 3.4k or later. Make sure the library is
9525 found when Emacs is configured by supplying appropriate paths via
9526 `--x-includes' and `--x-libraries'.
9528 Additional image properties supported are:
9530 `:color-symbols SYMBOLS'
9532 SYMBOLS must be a list of pairs (NAME . COLOR), with NAME being the
9533 name of color as it appears in an XPM file, and COLOR being an X color
9536 XPM images can be built from memory instead of files. In that case,
9537 add a `:data' property instead of a `:file' property.
9539 The XPM library uses libz in its implementation so that it is able
9540 to display compressed images.
9542 **** PBM, image type `pbm'
9544 PBM images don't require an external library. Color, gray-scale and
9545 mono images are supported. Additional image properties supported for
9550 FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color, or nil
9551 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's foreground color.
9555 BG must be a string specifying the image background color, or nil
9556 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's background color.
9558 **** JPEG, image type `jpeg'
9560 Support for JPEG images requires the external library `libjpeg',
9561 package `jpegsrc.v6a.tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
9564 **** TIFF, image type `tiff'
9566 Support for TIFF images requires the external library `libtiff',
9567 package `tiff-v3.4-tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
9570 **** GIF, image type `gif'
9572 Support for GIF images requires the external library `libungif', package
9573 `libungif-4.1.0', or later.
9575 Additional image properties supported are:
9579 INDEX must be an integer >= 0. Load image number INDEX from a
9580 multi-image GIF file. If INDEX is too large, the image displays
9583 This could be used to implement limited support for animated GIFs.
9584 For example, the following function displays a multi-image GIF file
9585 at point-min in the current buffer, switching between sub-images
9588 (defun show-anim (file max)
9589 "Display multi-image GIF file FILE which contains MAX subimages."
9590 (display-anim (current-buffer) file 0 max t))
9592 (defun display-anim (buffer file idx max first-time)
9595 (let ((img (create-image file nil nil :index idx)))
9598 (goto-char (point-min))
9599 (unless first-time (delete-char 1))
9600 (insert-image img "x"))
9601 (run-with-timer 0.1 nil 'display-anim buffer file (1+ idx) max nil)))
9603 **** PNG, image type `png'
9605 Support for PNG images requires the external library `libpng',
9606 package `libpng-1.0.2.tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
9609 **** Ghostscript, image type `postscript'.
9611 Additional image properties supported are:
9615 WIDTH is width of the image in pt (1/72 inch). WIDTH must be an
9616 integer. This is a required property.
9620 HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pt (1/72 inch). HEIGHT
9621 must be a integer. This is an required property.
9625 BOX must be a list or vector of 4 integers giving the bounding box of
9626 the PS image, analogous to the `BoundingBox' comment found in PS
9627 files. This is an required property.
9629 Part of the Ghostscript interface is implemented in Lisp. See
9634 The variable `image-types' contains a list of those image types
9635 which are supported in the current configuration.
9637 Images are stored in an image cache and removed from the cache when
9638 they haven't been displayed for `image-cache-eviction-delay seconds.
9639 The function `clear-image-cache' can be used to clear the image cache
9640 manually. Images in the cache are compared with `equal', i.e. all
9641 images with `equal' specifications share the same image.
9643 *** Simplified image API, image.el
9645 The new Lisp package image.el contains functions that simplify image
9646 creation and putting images into text. The function `create-image'
9647 can be used to create images. The macro `defimage' can be used to
9648 define an image based on available image types. The functions
9649 `put-image' and `insert-image' can be used to insert an image into a
9654 Windows can now have margins which are used for special text
9657 To give a window margins, either set the buffer-local variables
9658 `left-margin-width' and `right-margin-width', or call
9659 `set-window-margins'. The function `window-margins' can be used to
9660 obtain the current settings. To make `left-margin-width' and
9661 `right-margin-width' take effect, you must set them before displaying
9662 the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force an update
9663 of the display margins.
9665 You can put text in margins by giving it a `display' text property
9666 containing a pair of the form `(LOCATION . VALUE)', where LOCATION is
9667 one of `left-margin' or `right-margin' or nil. VALUE can be either a
9668 string, an image specification or a stretch specification (see later
9673 Emacs displays short help messages in the echo area, when the mouse
9674 moves over a tool-bar item or a piece of text that has a text property
9675 `help-echo'. This feature also applies to strings in the mode line
9676 that have a `help-echo' property.
9678 If the value of the `help-echo' property is a function, that function
9679 is called with three arguments WINDOW, OBJECT and POSITION. WINDOW is
9680 the window in which the help was found.
9682 If OBJECT is a buffer, POS is the position in the buffer where the
9683 `help-echo' text property was found.
9685 If OBJECT is an overlay, that overlay has a `help-echo' property, and
9686 POS is the position in the overlay's buffer under the mouse.
9688 If OBJECT is a string (an overlay string or a string displayed with
9689 the `display' property), POS is the position in that string under the
9692 If the value of the `help-echo' property is neither a function nor a
9693 string, it is evaluated to obtain a help string.
9695 For tool-bar and menu-bar items, their key definition is used to
9696 determine the help to display. If their definition contains a
9697 property `:help FORM', FORM is evaluated to determine the help string.
9698 For tool-bar items without a help form, the caption of the item is
9699 used as help string.
9701 The hook `show-help-function' can be set to a function that displays
9702 the help string differently. For example, enabling a tooltip window
9703 causes the help display to appear there instead of in the echo area.
9705 ** Vertical fractional scrolling.
9707 The display of text in windows can be scrolled smoothly in pixels.
9708 This is useful, for example, for making parts of large images visible.
9710 The function `window-vscroll' returns the current value of vertical
9711 scrolling, a non-negative fraction of the canonical character height.
9712 The function `set-window-vscroll' can be used to set the vertical
9713 scrolling value. Here is an example of how these function might be
9716 (global-set-key [A-down]
9719 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
9720 (+ 0.5 (window-vscroll)))))
9721 (global-set-key [A-up]
9724 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
9725 (- (window-vscroll) 0.5)))))
9727 ** New hook `fontification-functions'.
9729 Functions from `fontification-functions' are called from redisplay
9730 when it encounters a region of text that is not yet fontified. This
9731 variable automatically becomes buffer-local when set. Each function
9732 is called with one argument, POS.
9734 At least one of the hook functions should fontify one or more
9735 characters starting at POS in the current buffer. It should mark them
9736 as fontified by giving them a non-nil value of the `fontified' text
9737 property. It may be reasonable for these functions to check for the
9738 `fontified' property and not put it back on, but they do not have to.
9740 ** Tool bar support.
9742 Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. The frame
9743 parameter `tool-bar-lines' (X resource "toolBar", class "ToolBar")
9744 controls how may lines to reserve for the tool bar. A zero value
9745 suppresses the tool bar. If the value is non-zero and
9746 `auto-resize-tool-bars' is non-nil the tool bar's size will be changed
9747 automatically so that all tool bar items are visible.
9749 *** Tool bar item definitions
9751 Tool bar items are defined using `define-key' with a prefix-key
9752 `tool-bar'. For example `(define-key global-map [tool-bar item1] ITEM)'
9753 where ITEM is a list `(menu-item CAPTION BINDING PROPS...)'.
9755 CAPTION is the caption of the item, If it's not a string, it is
9756 evaluated to get a string. The caption is currently not displayed in
9757 the tool bar, but it is displayed if the item doesn't have a `:help'
9758 property (see below).
9760 BINDING is the tool bar item's binding. Tool bar items with keymaps as
9761 binding are currently ignored.
9763 The following properties are recognized:
9767 FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is enabled
9772 FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is displayed.
9776 FUNCTION is called with one parameter, the same list BINDING in which
9777 FUNCTION is specified as the filter. The value FUNCTION returns is
9778 used instead of BINDING to display this item.
9780 `:button (TYPE SELECTED)'
9782 TYPE must be one of `:radio' or `:toggle'. SELECTED is evaluated
9783 and specifies whether the button is selected (pressed) or not.
9787 IMAGES is either a single image specification or a vector of four
9788 image specifications. If it is a vector, this table lists the
9789 meaning of each of the four elements:
9791 Index Use when item is
9792 ----------------------------------------
9793 0 enabled and selected
9794 1 enabled and deselected
9795 2 disabled and selected
9796 3 disabled and deselected
9798 If IMAGE is a single image specification, a Laplace edge-detection
9799 algorithm is used on that image to draw the image in disabled state.
9801 `:help HELP-STRING'.
9803 Gives a help string to display for the tool bar item. This help
9804 is displayed when the mouse is moved over the item.
9806 The function `toolbar-add-item' is a convenience function for adding
9807 toolbar items generally, and `tool-bar-add-item-from-menu' can be used
9808 to define a toolbar item with a binding copied from an item on the
9811 The default bindings use a menu-item :filter to derive the tool-bar
9812 dynamically from variable `tool-bar-map' which may be set
9813 buffer-locally to override the global map.
9815 *** Tool-bar-related variables.
9817 If `auto-resize-tool-bar' is non-nil, the tool bar will automatically
9818 resize to show all defined tool bar items. It will never grow larger
9819 than 1/4 of the frame's size.
9821 If `auto-raise-tool-bar-buttons' is non-nil, tool bar buttons will be
9822 raised when the mouse moves over them.
9824 You can add extra space between tool bar items by setting
9825 `tool-bar-button-margin' to a positive integer specifying a number of
9826 pixels, or a pair of integers (X . Y) specifying horizontal and
9827 vertical margins . Default is 1.
9829 You can change the shadow thickness of tool bar buttons by setting
9830 `tool-bar-button-relief' to an integer. Default is 3.
9832 *** Tool-bar clicks with modifiers.
9834 You can bind commands to clicks with control, shift, meta etc. on
9837 (define-key global-map [tool-bar shell]
9838 '(menu-item "Shell" shell
9839 :image (image :type xpm :file "shell.xpm")))
9841 is the original tool bar item definition, then
9843 (define-key global-map [tool-bar S-shell] 'some-command)
9845 makes a binding to run `some-command' for a shifted click on the same
9848 ** Mode line changes.
9850 *** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
9852 The mode line can be made mouse-sensitive by displaying strings there
9853 that have a `local-map' text property. There are three ways to display
9854 a string with a `local-map' property in the mode line.
9856 1. The mode line spec contains a variable whose string value has
9857 a `local-map' text property.
9859 2. The mode line spec contains a format specifier (e.g. `%12b'), and
9860 that format specifier has a `local-map' property.
9862 3. The mode line spec contains a list containing `:eval FORM'. FORM
9863 is evaluated. If the result is a string, and that string has a
9864 `local-map' property.
9866 The same mechanism is used to determine the `face' and `help-echo'
9867 properties of strings in the mode line. See `bindings.el' for an
9870 *** If a mode line element has the form `(:eval FORM)', FORM is
9871 evaluated and the result is used as mode line element.
9873 *** You can suppress mode-line display by setting the buffer-local
9874 variable mode-line-format to nil.
9876 *** A headerline can now be displayed at the top of a window.
9878 This mode line's contents are controlled by the new variable
9879 `header-line-format' and `default-header-line-format' which are
9880 completely analogous to `mode-line-format' and
9881 `default-mode-line-format'. A value of nil means don't display a top
9884 The appearance of top mode lines is controlled by the face
9887 The function `coordinates-in-window-p' returns `header-line' for a
9888 position in the header-line.
9890 ** Text property `display'
9892 The `display' text property is used to insert images into text,
9893 replace text with other text, display text in marginal area, and it is
9894 also used to control other aspects of how text displays. The value of
9895 the `display' property should be a display specification, as described
9896 below, or a list or vector containing display specifications.
9898 *** Replacing text, displaying text in marginal areas
9900 To replace the text having the `display' property with some other
9901 text, use a display specification of the form `(LOCATION STRING)'.
9903 If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)', STRING is displayed in the left
9904 marginal area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in
9905 the right marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' STRING
9906 is displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
9907 simpler form STRING as property value.
9909 *** Variable width and height spaces
9911 To display a space of fractional width or height, use a display
9912 specification of the form `(LOCATION STRECH)'. If LOCATION is
9913 `(margin left-margin)', the space is displayed in the left marginal
9914 area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in the right
9915 marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the space is
9916 displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
9917 simpler form STRETCH as property value.
9919 The stretch specification STRETCH itself is a list of the form `(space
9920 PROPS)', where PROPS is a property list which can contain the
9921 properties described below.
9923 The display of the fractional space replaces the display of the
9924 characters having the `display' property.
9928 Specifies that the space width should be WIDTH times the normal
9929 character width. WIDTH can be an integer or floating point number.
9931 - :relative-width FACTOR
9933 Specifies that the width of the stretch should be computed from the
9934 first character in a group of consecutive characters that have the
9935 same `display' property. The computation is done by multiplying the
9936 width of that character by FACTOR.
9940 Specifies that the space should be wide enough to reach HPOS. The
9941 value HPOS is measured in units of the normal character width.
9943 Exactly one of the above properties should be used.
9947 Specifies the height of the space, as HEIGHT, measured in terms of the
9950 - :relative-height FACTOR
9952 The height of the space is computed as the product of the height
9953 of the text having the `display' property and FACTOR.
9957 Specifies that ASCENT percent of the height of the stretch should be
9958 used for the ascent of the stretch, i.e. for the part above the
9959 baseline. The value of ASCENT must be a non-negative number less or
9962 You should not use both `:height' and `:relative-height' together.
9966 A display specification for an image has the form `(LOCATION
9967 . IMAGE)', where IMAGE is an image specification. The image replaces,
9968 in the display, the characters having this display specification in
9969 their `display' text property. If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)',
9970 the image will be displayed in the left marginal area, if it is
9971 `(margin right-margin)' it will be displayed in the right marginal
9972 area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the image will be displayed in
9973 the text. In the latter case you can also use the simpler form IMAGE
9974 as display specification.
9976 *** Other display properties
9978 - (space-width FACTOR)
9980 Specifies that space characters in the text having that property
9981 should be displayed FACTOR times as wide as normal; FACTOR must be an
9986 Display text having this property in a font that is smaller or larger.
9988 If HEIGHT is a list of the form `(+ N)', where N is an integer, that
9989 means to use a font that is N steps larger. If HEIGHT is a list of
9990 the form `(- N)', that means to use a font that is N steps smaller. A
9991 ``step'' is defined by the set of available fonts; each size for which
9992 a font is available counts as a step.
9994 If HEIGHT is a number, that means to use a font that is HEIGHT times
9995 as tall as the frame's default font.
9997 If HEIGHT is a symbol, it is called as a function with the current
9998 height as argument. The function should return the new height to use.
10000 Otherwise, HEIGHT is evaluated to get the new height, with the symbol
10001 `height' bound to the current specified font height.
10005 FACTOR must be a number, specifying a multiple of the current
10006 font's height. If it is positive, that means to display the characters
10007 raised. If it is negative, that means to display them lower down. The
10008 amount of raising or lowering is computed without taking account of the
10009 `height' subproperty.
10011 *** Conditional display properties
10013 All display specifications can be conditionalized. If a specification
10014 has the form `(when CONDITION . SPEC)', the specification SPEC applies
10015 only when CONDITION yields a non-nil value when evaluated. During the
10016 evaluation, `object' is bound to the string or buffer having the
10017 conditional display property; `position' and `buffer-position' are
10018 bound to the position within `object' and the buffer position where
10019 the display property was found, respectively. Both positions can be
10020 different when object is a string.
10022 The normal specification consisting of SPEC only is equivalent to
10025 ** New menu separator types.
10027 Emacs now supports more than one menu separator type. Menu items with
10028 item names consisting of dashes only (including zero dashes) are
10029 treated like before. In addition, the following item names are used
10030 to specify other menu separator types.
10032 - `--no-line' or `--space', or `--:space', or `--:noLine'
10034 No separator lines are drawn, but a small space is inserted where the
10037 - `--single-line' or `--:singleLine'
10039 A single line in the menu's foreground color.
10041 - `--double-line' or `--:doubleLine'
10043 A double line in the menu's foreground color.
10045 - `--single-dashed-line' or `--:singleDashedLine'
10047 A single dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
10049 - `--double-dashed-line' or `--:doubleDashedLine'
10051 A double dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
10053 - `--shadow-etched-in' or `--:shadowEtchedIn'
10055 A single line with 3D sunken appearance. This is the form
10056 displayed for item names consisting of dashes only.
10058 - `--shadow-etched-out' or `--:shadowEtchedOut'
10060 A single line with 3D raised appearance.
10062 - `--shadow-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedInDash'
10064 A single dashed line with 3D sunken appearance.
10066 - `--shadow-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedOutDash'
10068 A single dashed line with 3D raise appearance.
10070 - `--shadow-double-etched-in' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedIn'
10072 Two lines with 3D sunken appearance.
10074 - `--shadow-double-etched-out' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOut'
10076 Two lines with 3D raised appearance.
10078 - `--shadow-double-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedInDash'
10080 Two dashed lines with 3D sunken appearance.
10082 - `--shadow-double-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOutDash'
10084 Two dashed lines with 3D raised appearance.
10086 Under LessTif/Motif, the last four separator types are displayed like
10087 the corresponding single-line separators.
10089 ** New frame parameters for scroll bar colors.
10091 The new frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
10092 `scroll-bar-background' can be used to change scroll bar colors.
10093 Their value must be either a color name, a string, or nil to specify
10094 that scroll bars should use a default color. For toolkit scroll bars,
10095 default colors are toolkit specific. For non-toolkit scroll bars, the
10096 default background is the background color of the frame, and the
10097 default foreground is black.
10099 The X resource name of these parameters are `scrollBarForeground'
10100 (class ScrollBarForeground) and `scrollBarBackground' (class
10101 `ScrollBarBackground').
10103 Setting these parameters overrides toolkit specific X resource
10104 settings for scroll bar colors.
10106 ** You can set `redisplay-dont-pause' to a non-nil value to prevent
10107 display updates from being interrupted when input is pending.
10109 ** Changing a window's width may now change its window start if it
10110 starts on a continuation line. The new window start is computed based
10111 on the window's new width, starting from the start of the continued
10112 line as the start of the screen line with the minimum distance from
10113 the original window start.
10115 ** The variable `hscroll-step' and the functions
10116 `hscroll-point-visible' and `hscroll-window-column' have been removed
10117 now that proper horizontal scrolling is implemented.
10119 ** Windows can now be made fixed-width and/or fixed-height.
10121 A window is fixed-size if its buffer has a buffer-local variable
10122 `window-size-fixed' whose value is not nil. A value of `height' makes
10123 windows fixed-height, a value of `width' makes them fixed-width, any
10124 other non-nil value makes them both fixed-width and fixed-height.
10126 The following code makes all windows displaying the current buffer
10127 fixed-width and fixed-height.
10129 (set (make-local-variable 'window-size-fixed) t)
10131 A call to enlarge-window on a window gives an error if that window is
10132 fixed-width and it is tried to change the window's width, or if the
10133 window is fixed-height, and it is tried to change its height. To
10134 change the size of a fixed-size window, bind `window-size-fixed'
10135 temporarily to nil, for example
10137 (let ((window-size-fixed nil))
10138 (enlarge-window 10))
10140 Likewise, an attempt to split a fixed-height window vertically,
10141 or a fixed-width window horizontally results in a error.
10143 ** The cursor-type frame parameter is now supported on MS-DOS
10144 terminals. When Emacs starts, it by default changes the cursor shape
10145 to a solid box, as it does on Unix. The `cursor-type' frame parameter
10146 overrides this as it does on Unix, except that the bar cursor is
10147 horizontal rather than vertical (since the MS-DOS display doesn't
10148 support a vertical-bar cursor).
10152 * Emacs 20.7 is a bug-fix release with few user-visible changes
10154 ** It is now possible to use CCL-based coding systems for keyboard
10157 ** ange-ftp now handles FTP security extensions, like Kerberos.
10159 ** Rmail has been extended to recognize more forms of digest messages.
10161 ** Now, most coding systems set in keyboard coding system work not
10162 only for character input, but also in incremental search. The
10163 exceptions are such coding systems that handle 2-byte character sets
10164 (e.g euc-kr, euc-jp) and that use ISO's escape sequence
10165 (e.g. iso-2022-jp). They are ignored in incremental search.
10167 ** Support for Macintosh PowerPC-based machines running GNU/Linux has
10171 * Emacs 20.6 is a bug-fix release with one user-visible change
10173 ** Support for ARM-based non-RISCiX machines has been added.
10177 * Emacs 20.5 is a bug-fix release with no user-visible changes.
10179 ** Not new, but not mentioned before:
10180 M-w when Transient Mark mode is enabled disables the mark.
10182 * Changes in Emacs 20.4
10184 ** Init file may be called .emacs.el.
10186 You can now call the Emacs init file `.emacs.el'.
10187 Formerly the name had to be `.emacs'. If you use the name
10188 `.emacs.el', you can byte-compile the file in the usual way.
10190 If both `.emacs' and `.emacs.el' exist, the latter file
10191 is the one that is used.
10193 ** shell-command, and shell-command-on-region, now return
10194 the exit code of the command (unless it is asynchronous).
10195 Also, you can specify a place to put the error output,
10196 separate from the command's regular output.
10197 Interactively, the variable shell-command-default-error-buffer
10198 says where to put error output; set it to a buffer name.
10199 In calls from Lisp, an optional argument ERROR-BUFFER specifies
10202 When you specify a non-nil error buffer (or buffer name), any error
10203 output is inserted before point in that buffer, with \f\n to separate
10204 it from the previous batch of error output. The error buffer is not
10205 cleared, so error output from successive commands accumulates there.
10207 ** Setting the default value of enable-multibyte-characters to nil in
10208 the .emacs file, either explicitly using setq-default, or via Custom,
10209 is now essentially equivalent to using --unibyte: all buffers
10210 created during startup will be made unibyte after loading .emacs.
10212 ** C-x C-f now handles the wildcards * and ? in file names. For
10213 example, typing C-x C-f c*.c RET visits all the files whose names
10214 match c*.c. To visit a file whose name contains * or ?, add the
10215 quoting sequence /: to the beginning of the file name.
10217 ** The M-x commands keep-lines, flush-lines and count-matches
10218 now have the same feature as occur and query-replace:
10219 if the pattern contains any upper case letters, then
10220 they never ignore case.
10222 ** The end-of-line format conversion feature previously mentioned
10223 under `* Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows' actually
10224 applies to all operating systems. Emacs recognizes from the contents
10225 of a file what convention it uses to separate lines--newline, CRLF, or
10226 just CR--and automatically converts the contents to the normal Emacs
10227 convention (using newline to separate lines) for editing. This is a
10228 part of the general feature of coding system conversion.
10230 If you subsequently save the buffer, Emacs converts the text back to
10231 the same format that was used in the file before.
10233 You can turn off end-of-line conversion by setting the variable
10234 `inhibit-eol-conversion' to non-nil, e.g. with Custom in the MULE group.
10236 ** The character set property `prefered-coding-system' has been
10237 renamed to `preferred-coding-system', for the sake of correct spelling.
10238 This is a fairly internal feature, so few programs should be affected.
10240 ** Mode-line display of end-of-line format is changed.
10241 The indication of the end-of-line format of the file visited by a
10242 buffer is now more explicit when that format is not the usual one for
10243 your operating system. For example, the DOS-style end-of-line format
10244 is displayed as "(DOS)" on Unix and GNU/Linux systems. The usual
10245 end-of-line format is still displayed as a single character (colon for
10246 Unix, backslash for DOS and Windows, and forward slash for the Mac).
10248 The values of the variables eol-mnemonic-unix, eol-mnemonic-dos,
10249 eol-mnemonic-mac, and eol-mnemonic-undecided, which are strings,
10250 control what is displayed in the mode line for each end-of-line
10251 format. You can now customize these variables.
10253 ** In the previous version of Emacs, tar-mode didn't work well if a
10254 filename contained non-ASCII characters. Now this is fixed. Such a
10255 filename is decoded by file-name-coding-system if the default value of
10256 enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil.
10258 ** The command temp-buffer-resize-mode toggles a minor mode
10259 in which temporary buffers (such as help buffers) are given
10260 windows just big enough to hold the whole contents.
10262 ** If you use completion.el, you must now run the function
10263 dynamic-completion-mode to enable it. Just loading the file
10264 doesn't have any effect.
10266 ** In Flyspell mode, the default is now to make just one Ispell process,
10267 not one per buffer.
10269 ** If you use iswitchb but do not call (iswitchb-default-keybindings) to
10270 use the default keybindings, you will need to add the following line:
10271 (add-hook 'minibuffer-setup-hook 'iswitchb-minibuffer-setup)
10273 ** Auto-show mode is no longer enabled just by loading auto-show.el.
10274 To control it, set `auto-show-mode' via Custom or use the
10275 `auto-show-mode' command.
10277 ** Handling of X fonts' ascent/descent parameters has been changed to
10278 avoid redisplay problems. As a consequence, compared with previous
10279 versions the line spacing and frame size now differ with some font
10280 choices, typically increasing by a pixel per line. This change
10281 occurred in version 20.3 but was not documented then.
10283 ** If you select the bar cursor style, it uses the frame's
10284 cursor-color, rather than the cursor foreground pixel.
10286 ** In multibyte mode, Rmail decodes incoming MIME messages using the
10287 character set specified in the message. If you want to disable this
10288 feature, set the variable rmail-decode-mime-charset to nil.
10290 ** Not new, but not mentioned previously in NEWS: when you use #! at
10291 the beginning of a file to make it executable and specify an
10292 interpreter program, Emacs looks on the second line for the -*- mode
10293 and variable specification, as well as on the first line.
10295 ** Support for IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters.
10297 The new command M-x codepage-setup creates a special coding system
10298 that can be used to convert text between a specific IBM codepage and
10299 one of the character sets built into Emacs which matches that
10300 codepage. For example, codepage 850 corresponds to Latin-1 character
10301 set, codepage 855 corresponds to Cyrillic-ISO character set, etc.
10303 Windows codepages 1250, 1251 and some others, where Windows deviates
10304 from the corresponding ISO character set, are also supported.
10306 IBM box-drawing characters and other glyphs which don't have
10307 equivalents in the corresponding ISO character set, are converted to
10308 a character defined by dos-unsupported-char-glyph on MS-DOS, and to
10309 `?' on other systems.
10311 IBM codepages are widely used on MS-DOS and MS-Windows, so this
10312 feature is most useful on those platforms, but it can also be used on
10315 Emacs compiled for MS-DOS automatically loads the support for the
10316 current codepage when it starts.
10320 *** When mail is sent using compose-mail (C-x m), and if
10321 `mail-send-nonascii' is set to the new default value `mime',
10322 appropriate MIME headers are added. The headers are added only if
10323 non-ASCII characters are present in the body of the mail, and no other
10324 MIME headers are already present. For example, the following three
10325 headers are added if the coding system used in the *mail* buffer is
10329 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
10330 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
10332 *** The new variable default-sendmail-coding-system specifies the
10333 default way to encode outgoing mail. This has higher priority than
10334 default-buffer-file-coding-system but has lower priority than
10335 sendmail-coding-system and the local value of
10336 buffer-file-coding-system.
10338 You should not set this variable manually. Instead, set
10339 sendmail-coding-system to specify a fixed encoding for all outgoing
10342 *** When you try to send a message that contains non-ASCII characters,
10343 if the coding system specified by those variables doesn't handle them,
10344 Emacs will ask you to select a suitable coding system while showing a
10345 list of possible coding systems.
10349 *** c-default-style can now take an association list that maps major
10350 modes to style names. When this variable is an alist, Java mode no
10351 longer hardcodes a setting to "java" style. See the variable's
10352 docstring for details.
10354 *** It's now possible to put a list as the offset on a syntactic
10355 symbol. The list is evaluated recursively until a non-nil offset is
10356 found. This is useful to combine several lineup functions to act in a
10357 prioritized order on a single line. However, none of the supplied
10358 lineup functions use this feature currently.
10360 *** New syntactic symbol catch-clause, which is used on the "catch" and
10361 "finally" lines in try-catch constructs in C++ and Java.
10363 *** New cleanup brace-catch-brace on c-cleanup-list, which does for
10364 "catch" lines what brace-elseif-brace does for "else if" lines.
10366 *** The braces of Java anonymous inner classes are treated separately
10367 from the braces of other classes in auto-newline mode. Two new
10368 symbols inexpr-class-open and inexpr-class-close may be used on
10369 c-hanging-braces-alist to control the automatic newlines used for
10372 *** Support for the Pike language added, along with new Pike specific
10373 syntactic symbols: inlambda, lambda-intro-cont
10375 *** Support for Java anonymous classes via new syntactic symbol
10376 inexpr-class. New syntactic symbol inexpr-statement for Pike
10377 support and gcc-style statements inside expressions. New lineup
10378 function c-lineup-inexpr-block.
10380 *** New syntactic symbol brace-entry-open which is used in brace lists
10381 (i.e. static initializers) when a list entry starts with an open
10382 brace. These used to be recognized as brace-list-entry's.
10383 c-electric-brace also recognizes brace-entry-open braces
10384 (brace-list-entry's can no longer be electrified).
10386 *** New command c-indent-line-or-region, not bound by default.
10388 *** `#' is only electric when typed in the indentation of a line.
10390 *** Parentheses are now electric (via the new command c-electric-paren)
10391 for auto-reindenting lines when parens are typed.
10393 *** In "gnu" style, inline-open offset is now set to zero.
10395 *** Uniform handling of the inclass syntactic symbol. The indentation
10396 associated with it is now always relative to the class opening brace.
10397 This means that the indentation behavior has changed in some
10398 circumstances, but only if you've put anything besides 0 on the
10399 class-open syntactic symbol (none of the default styles do that).
10403 *** New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
10404 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See the
10405 Gnus manual for the full story.
10407 *** The nndraft backend has returned, but works differently than
10408 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the nndraft
10409 group, which is created automatically.
10411 *** `gnus-alter-header-function' can now be used to alter header
10414 *** `gnus-summary-goto-article' now accept Message-ID's.
10416 *** A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
10417 outside the region: `C-c C-v'.
10419 *** You can now post to component group in nnvirtual groups with
10422 *** `nntp-rlogin-program' -- new variable to ease customization.
10424 *** `C-u C-c C-c' in `gnus-article-edit-mode' will now inhibit
10425 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
10427 *** New element in `gnus-boring-article-headers' -- `long-to'.
10429 *** `M-i' symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
10430 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
10432 *** `L' and `I' in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
10433 `a' to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
10435 *** `gnus-simplify-subject-functions' variable to allow greater
10436 control over simplification.
10438 *** `A T' -- new command for fetching the current thread.
10440 *** `/ T' -- new command for including the current thread in the
10443 *** `M-RET' is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
10445 *** \\1-expressions are now valid in `nnmail-split-methods'.
10447 *** The `custom-face-lookup' function has been removed.
10448 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
10449 rewrite them to use `face-spec-set' instead.
10451 *** Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
10452 `a' forces normal posting method.
10454 *** New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper text
10457 *** For easier debugging of nntp, you can set `nntp-record-commands'
10458 to a non-nil value.
10460 *** nntp now uses ~/.authinfo, a .netrc-like file, for controlling
10461 where and how to send AUTHINFO to NNTP servers.
10463 *** A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
10466 *** A history of where mails have been split is available.
10468 *** A new article date command has been added -- `article-date-iso8601'.
10470 *** Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
10471 `gnus-score-thread-simplify'.
10473 *** A new function for citing in Message has been added --
10474 `message-cite-original-without-signature'.
10476 *** `article-strip-all-blank-lines' -- new article command.
10478 *** A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
10481 *** A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
10482 `gnus-adaptive-word-minimum' variable.
10484 *** The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
10485 updated by the `gnus-start-date-timer' command.
10487 *** Web listserv archives can be read with the nnlistserv backend.
10489 *** Old dejanews archives can now be read by nnweb.
10491 *** `gnus-posting-styles' has been re-activated.
10493 ** Changes to TeX and LaTeX mode
10495 *** The new variable `tex-start-options-string' can be used to give
10496 options for the TeX run. The default value causes TeX to run in
10497 nonstopmode. For an interactive TeX run set it to nil or "".
10499 *** The command `tex-feed-input' sends input to the Tex Shell. In a
10500 TeX buffer it is bound to the keys C-RET, C-c RET, and C-c C-m (some
10501 of these keys may not work on all systems). For instance, if you run
10502 TeX interactively and if the TeX run stops because of an error, you
10503 can continue it without leaving the TeX buffer by typing C-RET.
10505 *** The Tex Shell Buffer is now in `compilation-shell-minor-mode'.
10506 All error-parsing commands of the Compilation major mode are available
10507 but bound to keys that don't collide with the shell. Thus you can use
10508 the Tex Shell for command line executions like a usual shell.
10510 *** The commands `tex-validate-region' and `tex-validate-buffer' check
10511 the matching of braces and $'s. The errors are listed in a *Occur*
10512 buffer and you can use C-c C-c or mouse-2 to go to a particular
10515 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
10517 *** The table of contents buffer can now also display labels and
10518 file boundaries in addition to sections. Use `l', `i', and `c' keys.
10520 *** Labels derived from context (the section heading) are now
10521 lowercase by default. To make the label legal in LaTeX, latin-1
10522 characters will lose their accent. All Mule characters will be
10523 removed from the label.
10525 *** The automatic display of cross reference information can also use
10526 a window instead of the echo area. See variable `reftex-auto-view-crossref'.
10528 *** kpsewhich can be used by RefTeX to find TeX and BibTeX files. See the
10529 customization group `reftex-finding-files'.
10531 *** The option `reftex-bibfile-ignore-list' has been renamed to
10532 `reftex-bibfile-ignore-regexps' and indeed can be fed with regular
10535 *** Multiple Selection buffers are now hidden buffers.
10537 ** New/deleted modes and packages
10539 *** The package snmp-mode.el provides major modes for editing SNMP and
10540 SNMPv2 MIBs. It has entries on `auto-mode-alist'.
10542 *** The package sql.el provides a major mode, M-x sql-mode, for
10543 editing SQL files, and M-x sql-interactive-mode for interacting with
10544 SQL interpreters. It has an entry on `auto-mode-alist'.
10546 *** M-x highlight-changes-mode provides a minor mode displaying buffer
10547 changes with a special face.
10549 *** ispell4.el has been deleted. It got in the way of ispell.el and
10550 this was hard to fix reliably. It has long been obsolete -- use
10551 Ispell 3.1 and ispell.el.
10553 * MS-DOS changes in Emacs 20.4
10555 ** Emacs compiled for MS-DOS now supports MULE features better.
10556 This includes support for display of all ISO 8859-N character sets,
10557 conversion to and from IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters,
10558 and automatic setup of the MULE environment at startup. For details,
10559 check out the section `MS-DOS and MULE' in the manual.
10561 The MS-DOS installation procedure automatically configures and builds
10562 Emacs with input method support if it finds an unpacked Leim
10563 distribution when the config.bat script is run.
10565 ** Formerly, the value of lpr-command did not affect printing on
10566 MS-DOS unless print-region-function was set to nil, but now it
10567 controls whether an external program is invoked or output is written
10568 directly to a printer port. Similarly, in the previous version of
10569 Emacs, the value of ps-lpr-command did not affect PostScript printing
10570 on MS-DOS unless ps-printer-name was set to something other than a
10571 string (eg. t or `pipe'), but now it controls whether an external
10572 program is used. (These changes were made so that configuration of
10573 printing variables would be almost identical across all platforms.)
10575 ** In the previous version of Emacs, PostScript and non-PostScript
10576 output was piped to external programs, but because most print programs
10577 available for MS-DOS and MS-Windows cannot read data from their standard
10578 input, on those systems the data to be output is now written to a
10579 temporary file whose name is passed as the last argument to the external
10582 An exception is made for `print', a standard program on Windows NT,
10583 and `nprint', a standard program on Novell Netware. For both of these
10584 programs, the command line is constructed in the appropriate syntax
10585 automatically, using only the value of printer-name or ps-printer-name
10586 as appropriate--the value of the relevant `-switches' variable is
10587 ignored, as both programs have no useful switches.
10589 ** The value of the variable dos-printer (cf. dos-ps-printer), if it has
10590 a value, overrides the value of printer-name (cf. ps-printer-name), on
10591 MS-DOS and MS-Windows only. This has been true since version 20.3, but
10592 was not documented clearly before.
10594 ** All the Emacs games now work on MS-DOS terminals.
10595 This includes Tetris and Snake.
10597 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.4
10599 ** New functions line-beginning-position and line-end-position
10600 return the position of the beginning or end of the current line.
10601 They both accept an optional argument, which has the same
10602 meaning as the argument to beginning-of-line or end-of-line.
10604 ** find-file and allied functions now have an optional argument
10605 WILDCARD. If this is non-nil, they do wildcard processing,
10606 and visit all files that match the wildcard pattern.
10608 ** Changes in the file-attributes function.
10610 *** The file size returned by file-attributes may be an integer or a float.
10611 It is an integer if the size fits in a Lisp integer, float otherwise.
10613 *** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
10614 the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a cons cell containing two
10617 ** The new function directory-files-and-attributes returns a list of
10618 files in a directory and their attributes. It accepts the same
10619 arguments as directory-files and has similar semantics, except that
10620 file names and attributes are returned.
10622 ** The new function file-attributes-lessp is a helper function for
10623 sorting the list generated by directory-files-and-attributes. It
10624 accepts two arguments, each a list of a file name and its attributes.
10625 It compares the file names of each according to string-lessp and
10626 returns the result.
10628 ** The new function file-expand-wildcards expands a wildcard-pattern
10629 to produce a list of existing files that match the pattern.
10631 ** New functions for base64 conversion:
10633 The function base64-encode-region converts a part of the buffer
10634 into the base64 code used in MIME. base64-decode-region
10635 performs the opposite conversion. Line-breaking is supported
10638 Functions base64-encode-string and base64-decode-string do a similar
10639 job on the text in a string. They return the value as a new string.
10642 The new function process-running-child-p
10643 will tell you if a subprocess has given control of its
10644 terminal to its own child process.
10646 ** interrupt-process and such functions have a new feature:
10647 when the second argument is `lambda', they send a signal
10648 to the running child of the subshell, if any, but if the shell
10649 itself owns its terminal, no signal is sent.
10651 ** There are new widget types `plist' and `alist' which can
10652 be used for customizing variables whose values are plists or alists.
10654 ** easymenu.el now understands `:key-sequence' and `:style button'.
10655 :included is an alias for :visible.
10657 easy-menu-add-item now understands the values returned by
10658 easy-menu-remove-item and easy-menu-item-present-p. This can be used
10659 to move or copy menu entries.
10661 ** Multibyte editing changes
10663 *** The definitions of sref and char-bytes are changed. Now, sref is
10664 an alias of aref and char-bytes always returns 1. This change is to
10665 make some Emacs Lisp code which works on 20.2 and earlier also
10666 work on the latest Emacs. Such code uses a combination of sref and
10667 char-bytes in a loop typically as below:
10668 (setq char (sref str idx)
10669 idx (+ idx (char-bytes idx)))
10670 The byte-compiler now warns that this is obsolete.
10672 If you want to know how many bytes a specific multibyte character
10673 (say, CH) occupies in a multibyte buffer, use this code:
10674 (charset-bytes (char-charset ch))
10676 *** In multibyte mode, when you narrow a buffer to some region, and the
10677 region is preceded or followed by non-ASCII codes, inserting or
10678 deleting at the head or the end of the region may signal this error:
10680 Byte combining across boundary of accessible buffer text inhibited
10682 This is to avoid some bytes being combined together into a character
10683 across the boundary.
10685 *** The functions find-charset-region and find-charset-string include
10686 `unknown' in the returned list in the following cases:
10687 o The current buffer or the target string is unibyte and
10688 contains 8-bit characters.
10689 o The current buffer or the target string is multibyte and
10690 contains invalid characters.
10692 *** The functions decode-coding-region and encode-coding-region remove
10693 text properties of the target region. Ideally, they should correctly
10694 preserve text properties, but for the moment, it's hard. Removing
10695 text properties is better than preserving them in a less-than-correct
10698 *** prefer-coding-system sets EOL conversion of default coding systems.
10699 If the argument to prefer-coding-system specifies a certain type of
10700 end of line conversion, the default coding systems set by
10701 prefer-coding-system will specify that conversion type for end of line.
10703 *** The new function thai-compose-string can be used to properly
10704 compose Thai characters in a string.
10706 ** The primitive `define-prefix-command' now takes an optional third
10707 argument NAME, which should be a string. It supplies the menu name
10708 for the created keymap. Keymaps created in order to be displayed as
10709 menus should always use the third argument.
10711 ** The meanings of optional second arguments for read-char,
10712 read-event, and read-char-exclusive are flipped. Now the second
10713 arguments are INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. These functions use the current
10714 input method (if any) if and only if INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD is non-nil.
10716 ** The new function clear-this-command-keys empties out the contents
10717 of the vector that (this-command-keys) returns. This is useful in
10718 programs that read passwords, to prevent the passwords from echoing
10719 inadvertently as part of the next command in certain cases.
10721 ** The new macro `with-temp-message' displays a temporary message in
10722 the echo area, while executing some Lisp code. Like `progn', it
10723 returns the value of the last form, but it also restores the previous
10724 echo area contents.
10726 (with-temp-message MESSAGE &rest BODY)
10728 ** The function `require' now takes an optional third argument
10729 NOERROR. If it is non-nil, then there is no error if the
10730 requested feature cannot be loaded.
10732 ** In the function modify-face, an argument of (nil) for the
10733 foreground color, background color or stipple pattern
10734 means to clear out that attribute.
10736 ** The `outer-window-id' frame property of an X frame
10737 gives the window number of the outermost X window for the frame.
10739 ** Temporary buffers made with with-output-to-temp-buffer are now
10740 read-only by default, and normally use the major mode Help mode
10741 unless you put them in some other non-Fundamental mode before the
10742 end of with-output-to-temp-buffer.
10744 ** The new functions gap-position and gap-size return information on
10745 the gap of the current buffer.
10747 ** The new functions position-bytes and byte-to-position provide a way
10748 to convert between character positions and byte positions in the
10751 ** vc.el defines two new macros, `edit-vc-file' and `with-vc-file', to
10752 facilitate working with version-controlled files from Lisp programs.
10753 These macros check out a given file automatically if needed, and check
10754 it back in after any modifications have been made.
10756 * Installation Changes in Emacs 20.3
10758 ** The default value of load-path now includes most subdirectories of
10759 the site-specific directories /usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp and
10760 /usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp, in addition to those
10761 directories themselves. Both immediate subdirectories and
10762 subdirectories multiple levels down are added to load-path.
10764 Not all subdirectories are included, though. Subdirectories whose
10765 names do not start with a letter or digit are excluded.
10766 Subdirectories named RCS or CVS are excluded. Also, a subdirectory
10767 which contains a file named `.nosearch' is excluded. You can use
10768 these methods to prevent certain subdirectories from being searched.
10770 Emacs finds these subdirectories and adds them to load-path when it
10771 starts up. While it would be cleaner to find the subdirectories each
10772 time Emacs loads a file, that would be much slower.
10774 This feature is an incompatible change. If you have stored some Emacs
10775 Lisp files in a subdirectory of the site-lisp directory specifically
10776 to prevent them from being used, you will need to rename the
10777 subdirectory to start with a non-alphanumeric character, or create a
10778 `.nosearch' file in it, in order to continue to achieve the desired
10781 ** Emacs no longer includes an old version of the C preprocessor from
10782 GCC. This was formerly used to help compile Emacs with C compilers
10783 that had limits on the significant length of an identifier, but in
10784 fact we stopped supporting such compilers some time ago.
10786 * Changes in Emacs 20.3
10788 ** The new command C-x z (repeat) repeats the previous command
10789 including its argument. If you repeat the z afterward,
10790 it repeats the command additional times; thus, you can
10791 perform many repetitions with one keystroke per repetition.
10793 ** Emacs now supports "selective undo" which undoes only within a
10794 specified region. To do this, set point and mark around the desired
10795 region and type C-u C-x u (or C-u C-_). You can then continue undoing
10796 further, within the same region, by repeating the ordinary undo
10797 command C-x u or C-_. This will keep undoing changes that were made
10798 within the region you originally specified, until either all of them
10799 are undone, or it encounters a change which crosses the edge of that
10802 In Transient Mark mode, undoing when a region is active requests
10805 ** If you specify --unibyte when starting Emacs, then all buffers are
10806 unibyte, except when a Lisp program specifically creates a multibyte
10807 buffer. Setting the environment variable EMACS_UNIBYTE has the same
10808 effect. The --no-unibyte option overrides EMACS_UNIBYTE and directs
10809 Emacs to run normally in multibyte mode.
10811 The option --unibyte does not affect the reading of Emacs Lisp files,
10812 though. If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode, use
10813 -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line. That will force Emacs to
10814 load that file in unibyte mode, regardless of how Emacs was started.
10816 ** toggle-enable-multibyte-characters no longer has a key binding and
10817 no longer appears in the menu bar. We've realized that changing the
10818 enable-multibyte-characters variable in an existing buffer is
10819 something that most users not do.
10821 ** You can specify a coding system to use for the next cut or paste
10822 operations through the window system with the command C-x RET X.
10823 The coding system can make a difference for communication with other
10826 C-x RET x specifies a coding system for all subsequent cutting and
10827 pasting operations.
10829 ** You can specify the printer to use for commands that do printing by
10830 setting the variable `printer-name'. Just what a printer name looks
10831 like depends on your operating system. You can specify a different
10832 printer for the Postscript printing commands by setting
10835 ** Emacs now supports on-the-fly spell checking by the means of a
10836 minor mode. It is called M-x flyspell-mode. You don't have to remember
10837 any other special commands to use it, and you will hardly notice it
10838 except when you make a spelling error. Flyspell works by highlighting
10839 incorrect words as soon as they are completed or as soon as the cursor
10842 Flyspell mode works with whichever dictionary you have selected for
10843 Ispell in Emacs. In TeX mode, it understands TeX syntax so as not
10844 to be confused by TeX commands.
10846 You can correct a misspelled word by editing it into something
10847 correct. You can also correct it, or accept it as correct, by
10848 clicking on the word with Mouse-2; that gives you a pop-up menu
10849 of various alternative replacements and actions.
10851 Flyspell mode also proposes "automatic" corrections. M-TAB replaces
10852 the current misspelled word with a possible correction. If several
10853 corrections are made possible, M-TAB cycles through them in
10854 alphabetical order, or in order of decreasing likelihood if
10855 flyspell-sort-corrections is nil.
10857 Flyspell mode also flags an error when a word is repeated, if
10858 flyspell-mark-duplications-flag is non-nil.
10860 ** Changes in input method usage.
10862 Now you can use arrow keys (right, left, down, up) for selecting among
10863 the alternatives just the same way as you do by C-f, C-b, C-n, and C-p
10866 You can use the ENTER key to accept the current conversion.
10868 If you type TAB to display a list of alternatives, you can select one
10869 of the alternatives with Mouse-2.
10871 The meaning of the variable `input-method-verbose-flag' is changed so
10872 that you can set it to t, nil, `default', or `complex-only'.
10874 If the value is nil, extra guidance is never given.
10876 If the value is t, extra guidance is always given.
10878 If the value is `complex-only', extra guidance is always given only
10879 when you are using complex input methods such as chinese-py.
10881 If the value is `default' (this is the default), extra guidance is
10882 given in the following case:
10883 o When you are using a complex input method.
10884 o When you are using a simple input method but not in the minibuffer.
10886 If you are using Emacs through a very slow line, setting
10887 input-method-verbose-flag to nil or to complex-only is a good choice,
10888 and if you are using an input method you are not familiar with,
10889 setting it to t is helpful.
10891 The old command select-input-method is now called set-input-method.
10893 In the language environment "Korean", you can use the following
10895 Shift-SPC toggle-korean-input-method
10896 C-F9 quail-hangul-switch-symbol-ksc
10897 F9 quail-hangul-switch-hanja
10898 These key bindings are canceled when you switch to another language
10901 ** The minibuffer history of file names now records the specified file
10902 names, not the entire minibuffer input. For example, if the
10903 minibuffer starts out with /usr/foo/, you might type in /etc/passwd to
10906 /usr/foo//etc/passwd
10908 which stands for the file /etc/passwd.
10910 Formerly, this used to put /usr/foo//etc/passwd in the history list.
10911 Now this puts just /etc/passwd in the history list.
10913 ** If you are root, Emacs sets backup-by-copying-when-mismatch to t
10914 at startup, so that saving a file will be sure to preserve
10915 its owner and group.
10917 ** find-func.el can now also find the place of definition of Emacs
10918 Lisp variables in user-loaded libraries.
10920 ** C-x r t (string-rectangle) now deletes the existing rectangle
10921 contents before inserting the specified string on each line.
10923 ** There is a new command delete-whitespace-rectangle
10924 which deletes whitespace starting from a particular column
10925 in all the lines on a rectangle. The column is specified
10926 by the left edge of the rectangle.
10928 ** You can now store a number into a register with C-u NUMBER C-x r n REG,
10929 increment it by INC with C-u INC C-x r + REG (to increment by one, omit
10930 C-u INC), and insert it in the buffer with C-x r g REG. This is useful
10931 for writing keyboard macros.
10933 ** The new command M-x speedbar displays a frame in which directories,
10934 files, and tags can be displayed, manipulated, and jumped to. The
10935 frame defaults to 20 characters in width, and is the same height as
10936 the frame that it was started from. Some major modes define
10937 additional commands for the speedbar, including Rmail, GUD/GDB, and
10940 ** query-replace-regexp is now bound to C-M-%.
10942 ** In Transient Mark mode, when the region is active, M-x
10943 query-replace and the other replace commands now operate on the region
10946 ** M-x write-region, when used interactively, now asks for
10947 confirmation before overwriting an existing file. When you call
10948 the function from a Lisp program, a new optional argument CONFIRM
10949 says whether to ask for confirmation in this case.
10951 ** If you use find-file-literally and the file is already visited
10952 non-literally, the command asks you whether to revisit the file
10953 literally. If you say no, it signals an error.
10955 ** Major modes defined with the "derived mode" feature
10956 now use the proper name for the mode hook: WHATEVER-mode-hook.
10957 Formerly they used the name WHATEVER-mode-hooks, but that is
10958 inconsistent with Emacs conventions.
10960 ** shell-command-on-region (and shell-command) reports success or
10961 failure if the command produces no output.
10963 ** Set focus-follows-mouse to nil if your window system or window
10964 manager does not transfer focus to another window when you just move
10967 ** mouse-menu-buffer-maxlen has been renamed to
10968 mouse-buffer-menu-maxlen to be consistent with the other related
10969 function and variable names.
10971 ** The new variable auto-coding-alist specifies coding systems for
10972 reading specific files. This has higher priority than
10973 file-coding-system-alist.
10975 ** If you set the variable unibyte-display-via-language-environment to
10976 t, then Emacs displays non-ASCII characters are displayed by
10977 converting them to the equivalent multibyte characters according to
10978 the current language environment. As a result, they are displayed
10979 according to the current fontset.
10981 ** C-q's handling of codes in the range 0200 through 0377 is changed.
10983 The codes in the range 0200 through 0237 are inserted as one byte of
10984 that code regardless of the values of nonascii-translation-table and
10985 nonascii-insert-offset.
10987 For the codes in the range 0240 through 0377, if
10988 enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil and nonascii-translation-table
10989 nor nonascii-insert-offset can't convert them to valid multibyte
10990 characters, they are converted to Latin-1 characters.
10992 ** If you try to find a file that is not read-accessible, you now get
10993 an error, rather than an empty buffer and a warning.
10995 ** In the minibuffer history commands M-r and M-s, an upper case
10996 letter in the regular expression forces case-sensitive search.
10998 ** In the *Help* buffer, cross-references to commands and variables
10999 are inferred and hyperlinked. Use C-h m in Help mode for the relevant
11002 ** M-x apropos-command, with a prefix argument, no longer looks for
11003 user option variables--instead it looks for noninteractive functions.
11005 Meanwhile, the command apropos-variable normally searches for
11006 user option variables; with a prefix argument, it looks at
11007 all variables that have documentation.
11009 ** When you type a long line in the minibuffer, and the minibuffer
11010 shows just one line, automatically scrolling works in a special way
11011 that shows you overlap with the previous line of text. The variable
11012 minibuffer-scroll-overlap controls how many characters of overlap
11013 it should show; the default is 20.
11015 Meanwhile, Resize Minibuffer mode is still available; in that mode,
11016 the minibuffer grows taller (up to a point) as needed to show the whole
11019 ** The new command M-x customize-changed-options lets you customize
11020 all the options whose meanings or default values have changed in
11021 recent Emacs versions. You specify a previous Emacs version number as
11022 argument, and the command creates a customization buffer showing all
11023 the customizable options which were changed since that version.
11024 Newly added options are included as well.
11026 If you don't specify a particular version number argument,
11027 then the customization buffer shows all the customizable options
11028 for which Emacs versions of changes are recorded.
11030 This function is also bound to the Changed Options entry in the
11033 ** When you run M-x grep with a prefix argument, it figures out
11034 the tag around point and puts that into the default grep command.
11036 ** The new command M-* (pop-tag-mark) pops back through a history of
11037 buffer positions from which M-. or other tag-finding commands were
11040 ** The new variable comment-padding specifies the number of spaces
11041 that `comment-region' will insert before the actual text of the comment.
11044 ** In Fortran mode the characters `.', `_' and `$' now have symbol
11045 syntax, not word syntax. Fortran mode now supports `imenu' and has
11046 new commands fortran-join-line (M-^) and fortran-narrow-to-subprogram
11047 (C-x n d). M-q can be used to fill a statement or comment block
11050 ** GUD now supports jdb, the Java debugger, and pdb, the Python debugger.
11052 ** If you set the variable add-log-keep-changes-together to a non-nil
11053 value, the command `C-x 4 a' will automatically notice when you make
11054 two entries in one day for one file, and combine them.
11056 ** You can use the command M-x diary-mail-entries to mail yourself a
11057 reminder about upcoming diary entries. See the documentation string
11058 for a sample shell script for calling this function automatically
11063 *** All you need to do to enable use of the Desktop package, is to set
11064 the variable desktop-enable to t with Custom.
11066 *** Minor modes are now restored. Which minor modes are restored
11067 and how modes are restored is controlled by `desktop-minor-mode-table'.
11069 ** There is no need to do anything special, now, to enable Gnus to
11070 read and post multi-lingual articles.
11072 ** Outline mode has now support for showing hidden outlines when
11073 doing an isearch. In order for this to happen search-invisible should
11074 be set to open (the default). If an isearch match is inside a hidden
11075 outline the outline is made visible. If you continue pressing C-s and
11076 the match moves outside the formerly invisible outline, the outline is
11077 made invisible again.
11079 ** Mail reading and sending changes
11081 *** The Rmail e command now switches to displaying the whole header of
11082 the message before it lets you edit the message. This is so that any
11083 changes you make in the header will not be lost if you subsequently
11086 *** The w command in Rmail, which writes the message body into a file,
11087 now works in the summary buffer as well. (The command to delete the
11088 summary buffer is now Q.) The default file name for the w command, if
11089 the message has no subject, is stored in the variable
11090 rmail-default-body-file.
11092 *** Most of the commands and modes that operate on mail and netnews no
11093 longer depend on the value of mail-header-separator. Instead, they
11094 handle whatever separator the buffer happens to use.
11096 *** If you set mail-signature to a value which is not t, nil, or a string,
11097 it should be an expression. When you send a message, this expression
11098 is evaluated to insert the signature.
11100 *** The new Lisp library feedmail.el (version 8) enhances processing of
11101 outbound email messages. It works in coordination with other email
11102 handling packages (e.g., rmail, VM, gnus) and is responsible for
11103 putting final touches on messages and actually submitting them for
11104 transmission. Users of the emacs program "fakemail" might be
11105 especially interested in trying feedmail.
11107 feedmail is not enabled by default. See comments at the top of
11108 feedmail.el for set-up instructions. Among the bigger features
11109 provided by feedmail are:
11111 **** you can park outgoing messages into a disk-based queue and
11112 stimulate sending some or all of them later (handy for laptop users);
11113 there is also a queue for draft messages
11115 **** you can get one last look at the prepped outbound message and
11116 be prompted for confirmation
11118 **** does smart filling of address headers
11120 **** can generate a MESSAGE-ID: line and a DATE: line; the date can be
11121 the time the message was written or the time it is being sent; this
11122 can make FCC copies more closely resemble copies that recipients get
11124 **** you can specify an arbitrary function for actually transmitting
11125 the message; included in feedmail are interfaces for /bin/[r]mail,
11126 /usr/lib/sendmail, and Emacs Lisp smtpmail; it's easy to write a new
11127 function for something else (10-20 lines of Lisp code).
11131 *** The Dired function dired-do-toggle, which toggles marked and unmarked
11132 files, is now bound to "t" instead of "T".
11134 *** dired-at-point has been added to ffap.el. It allows one to easily
11135 run Dired on the directory name at point.
11137 *** Dired has a new command: %g. It searches the contents of
11138 files in the directory and marks each file that contains a match
11139 for a specified regexp.
11143 *** New option vc-ignore-vc-files lets you turn off version control
11146 *** VC Dired has been completely rewritten. It is now much
11147 faster, especially for CVS, and works very similar to ordinary
11150 VC Dired is invoked by typing C-x v d and entering the name of the
11151 directory to display. By default, VC Dired gives you a recursive
11152 listing of all files at or below the given directory which are
11153 currently locked (for CVS, all files not up-to-date are shown).
11155 You can change the listing format by setting vc-dired-recurse to nil,
11156 then it shows only the given directory, and you may also set
11157 vc-dired-terse-display to nil, then it shows all files under version
11158 control plus the names of any subdirectories, so that you can type `i'
11159 on such lines to insert them manually, as in ordinary Dired.
11161 All Dired commands operate normally in VC Dired, except for `v', which
11162 is redefined as the version control prefix. That means you may type
11163 `v l', `v =' etc. to invoke `vc-print-log', `vc-diff' and the like on
11164 the file named in the current Dired buffer line. `v v' invokes
11165 `vc-next-action' on this file, or on all files currently marked.
11167 The new command `v t' (vc-dired-toggle-terse-mode) allows you to
11168 toggle between terse display (only locked files) and full display (all
11169 VC files plus subdirectories). There is also a special command,
11170 `* l', to mark all files currently locked.
11172 Giving a prefix argument to C-x v d now does the same thing as in
11173 ordinary Dired: it allows you to supply additional options for the ls
11174 command in the minibuffer, to fine-tune VC Dired's output.
11176 *** Under CVS, if you merge changes from the repository into a working
11177 file, and CVS detects conflicts, VC now offers to start an ediff
11178 session to resolve them.
11180 Alternatively, you can use the new command `vc-resolve-conflicts' to
11181 resolve conflicts in a file at any time. It works in any buffer that
11182 contains conflict markers as generated by rcsmerge (which is what CVS
11185 *** You can now transfer changes between branches, using the new
11186 command vc-merge (C-x v m). It is implemented for RCS and CVS. When
11187 you invoke it in a buffer under version-control, you can specify
11188 either an entire branch or a pair of versions, and the changes on that
11189 branch or between the two versions are merged into the working file.
11190 If this results in any conflicts, they may be resolved interactively,
11193 ** Changes in Font Lock
11195 *** The face and variable previously known as font-lock-reference-face
11196 are now called font-lock-constant-face to better reflect their typical
11197 use for highlighting constants and labels. (Its face properties are
11198 unchanged.) The variable font-lock-reference-face remains for now for
11199 compatibility reasons, but its value is font-lock-constant-face.
11201 ** Frame name display changes
11203 *** The command set-frame-name lets you set the name of the current
11204 frame. You can use the new command select-frame-by-name to select and
11205 raise a frame; this is mostly useful on character-only terminals, or
11206 when many frames are invisible or iconified.
11208 *** On character-only terminal (not a window system), changing the
11209 frame name is now reflected on the mode line and in the Buffers/Frames
11212 ** Comint (subshell) changes
11214 *** In Comint modes, the commands to kill, stop or interrupt a
11215 subjob now also kill pending input. This is for compatibility
11216 with ordinary shells, where the signal characters do this.
11218 *** There are new commands in Comint mode.
11220 C-c C-x fetches the "next" line from the input history;
11221 that is, the line after the last line you got.
11222 You can use this command to fetch successive lines, one by one.
11224 C-c SPC accumulates lines of input. More precisely, it arranges to
11225 send the current line together with the following line, when you send
11226 the following line.
11228 C-c C-a if repeated twice consecutively now moves to the process mark,
11229 which separates the pending input from the subprocess output and the
11230 previously sent input.
11232 C-c M-r now runs comint-previous-matching-input-from-input;
11233 it searches for a previous command, using the current pending input
11234 as the search string.
11236 *** New option compilation-scroll-output can be set to scroll
11237 automatically in compilation-mode windows.
11241 *** Multiline macros are now handled, both as they affect indentation,
11242 and as recognized syntax. New syntactic symbol cpp-macro-cont is
11243 assigned to second and subsequent lines of a multiline macro
11246 *** A new style "user" which captures all non-hook-ified
11247 (i.e. top-level) .emacs file variable settings and customizations.
11248 Style "cc-mode" is an alias for "user" and is deprecated. "gnu"
11249 style is still the default however.
11251 *** "java" style now conforms to Sun's JDK coding style.
11253 *** There are new commands c-beginning-of-defun, c-end-of-defun which
11254 are alternatives which you could bind to C-M-a and C-M-e if you prefer
11255 them. They do not have key bindings by default.
11257 *** New and improved implementations of M-a (c-beginning-of-statement)
11258 and M-e (c-end-of-statement).
11260 *** C++ namespace blocks are supported, with new syntactic symbols
11261 namespace-open, namespace-close, and innamespace.
11263 *** File local variable settings of c-file-style and c-file-offsets
11264 makes the style variables local to that buffer only.
11266 *** New indentation functions c-lineup-close-paren,
11267 c-indent-one-line-block, c-lineup-dont-change.
11269 *** Improvements (hopefully!) to the way CC Mode is loaded. You
11270 should now be able to do a (require 'cc-mode) to get the entire
11271 package loaded properly for customization in your .emacs file. A new
11272 variable c-initialize-on-load controls this and is t by default.
11274 ** Changes to hippie-expand.
11276 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-skip-space'. If
11277 non-nil, trailing spaces may be included in the abbreviation to search for,
11278 which then gives the same behavior as the original `dabbrev-expand'.
11280 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-as-symbol'. If
11281 non-nil, characters of syntax '_' is considered part of the word when
11282 expanding dynamically.
11284 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-no-restriction'. If
11285 non-nil, narrowed buffers are widened before they are searched.
11287 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-only-buffers'. If
11288 non-empty, buffers searched are restricted to the types specified in
11289 this list. Useful for example when constructing new special-purpose
11290 expansion functions with `make-hippie-expand-function'.
11292 *** Text properties of the expansion are no longer copied.
11294 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
11296 *** Any titleword matching a regexp in the new variable
11297 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore (case sensitive) is ignored during
11298 automatic key generation. This replaces variable
11299 bibtex-autokey-titleword-first-ignore, which only checked for matches
11300 against the first word in the title.
11302 *** Autokey generation now uses all words from the title, not just
11303 capitalized words. To avoid conflicts with existing customizations,
11304 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore is set up such that words starting with
11305 lowerkey characters will still be ignored. Thus, if you want to use
11306 lowercase words from the title, you will have to overwrite the
11307 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore standard setting.
11309 *** Case conversion of names and title words for automatic key
11310 generation is more flexible. Variable bibtex-autokey-preserve-case is
11311 replaced by bibtex-autokey-titleword-case-convert and
11312 bibtex-autokey-name-case-convert.
11314 ** Changes in vcursor.el.
11316 *** Support for character terminals is available: there is a new keymap
11317 and the vcursor will appear as an arrow between buffer text. A
11318 variable `vcursor-interpret-input' allows input from the vcursor to be
11319 entered exactly as if typed. Numerous functions, including
11320 `vcursor-compare-windows', have been rewritten to improve consistency
11321 in the selection of windows and corresponding keymaps.
11323 *** vcursor options can now be altered with M-x customize under the
11324 Editing group once the package is loaded.
11326 *** Loading vcursor now does not define keys by default, as this is
11327 generally a bad side effect. Use M-x customize to set
11328 vcursor-key-bindings to t to restore the old behavior.
11330 *** vcursor-auto-disable can be `copy', which turns off copying from the
11331 vcursor, but doesn't disable it, after any non-vcursor command.
11335 *** You can now spell check comments and strings in the current
11336 buffer with M-x ispell-comments-and-strings. Comments and strings
11337 are identified by syntax tables in effect.
11339 *** Generic region skipping implemented.
11340 A single buffer can be broken into a number of regions where text will
11341 and will not be checked. The definitions of the regions can be user
11342 defined. New applications and improvements made available by this
11345 o URLs are automatically skipped
11346 o EMail message checking is vastly improved.
11348 *** Ispell can highlight the erroneous word even on non-window terminals.
11350 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
11352 RefTeX has been updated in order to make it more usable with very
11353 large projects (like a several volume math book). The parser has been
11354 re-written from scratch. To get maximum speed from RefTeX, check the
11355 section `Optimizations' in the manual.
11357 *** New recursive parser.
11359 The old version of RefTeX created a single large buffer containing the
11360 entire multifile document in order to parse the document. The new
11361 recursive parser scans the individual files.
11363 *** Parsing only part of a document.
11365 Reparsing of changed document parts can now be made faster by enabling
11366 partial scans. To use this feature, read the documentation string of
11367 the variable `reftex-enable-partial-scans' and set the variable to t.
11369 (setq reftex-enable-partial-scans t)
11371 *** Storing parsing information in a file.
11373 This can improve startup times considerably. To turn it on, use
11375 (setq reftex-save-parse-info t)
11377 *** Using multiple selection buffers
11379 If the creation of label selection buffers is too slow (this happens
11380 for large documents), you can reuse these buffers by setting
11382 (setq reftex-use-multiple-selection-buffers t)
11384 *** References to external documents.
11386 The LaTeX package `xr' allows to cross-reference labels in external
11387 documents. RefTeX can provide information about the external
11388 documents as well. To use this feature, set up the \externaldocument
11389 macros required by the `xr' package and rescan the document with
11390 RefTeX. The external labels can then be accessed with the `x' key in
11391 the selection buffer provided by `reftex-reference' (bound to `C-c )').
11392 The `x' key also works in the table of contents buffer.
11394 *** Many more labeled LaTeX environments are recognized by default.
11396 The built-in command list now covers all the standard LaTeX commands,
11397 and all of the major packages included in the LaTeX distribution.
11399 Also, RefTeX now understands the \appendix macro and changes
11400 the enumeration of sections in the *toc* buffer accordingly.
11402 *** Mouse support for selection and *toc* buffers
11404 The mouse can now be used to select items in the selection and *toc*
11405 buffers. See also the new option `reftex-highlight-selection'.
11407 *** New keymaps for selection and table of contents modes.
11409 The selection processes for labels and citation keys, and the table of
11410 contents buffer now have their own keymaps: `reftex-select-label-map',
11411 `reftex-select-bib-map', `reftex-toc-map'. The selection processes
11412 have a number of new keys predefined. In particular, TAB lets you
11413 enter a label with completion. Check the on-the-fly help (press `?'
11414 at the selection prompt) or read the Info documentation to find out
11417 *** Support for the varioref package
11419 The `v' key in the label selection buffer toggles \ref versus \vref.
11423 Three new hooks can be used to redefine the way labels, references,
11424 and citations are created. These hooks are
11425 `reftex-format-label-function', `reftex-format-ref-function',
11426 `reftex-format-cite-function'.
11428 *** Citations outside LaTeX
11430 The command `reftex-citation' may also be used outside LaTeX (e.g. in
11431 a mail buffer). See the Info documentation for details.
11433 *** Short context is no longer fontified.
11435 The short context in the label menu no longer copies the
11436 fontification from the text in the buffer. If you prefer it to be
11439 (setq reftex-refontify-context t)
11441 ** file-cache-minibuffer-complete now accepts a prefix argument.
11442 With a prefix argument, it does not try to do completion of
11443 the file name within its directory; it only checks for other
11444 directories that contain the same file name.
11446 Thus, given the file name Makefile, and assuming that a file
11447 Makefile.in exists in the same directory, ordinary
11448 file-cache-minibuffer-complete will try to complete Makefile to
11449 Makefile.in and will therefore never look for other directories that
11450 have Makefile. A prefix argument tells it not to look for longer
11451 names such as Makefile.in, so that instead it will look for other
11452 directories--just as if the name were already complete in its present
11455 ** New modes and packages
11457 *** There is a new alternative major mode for Perl, Cperl mode.
11458 It has many more features than Perl mode, and some people prefer
11459 it, but some do not.
11461 *** There is a new major mode, M-x vhdl-mode, for editing files of VHDL
11464 *** M-x which-function-mode enables a minor mode that displays the
11465 current function name continuously in the mode line, as you move
11466 around in a buffer.
11468 Which Function mode is effective in major modes which support Imenu.
11470 *** Gametree is a major mode for editing game analysis trees. The author
11471 uses it for keeping notes about his postal Chess games, but it should
11472 be helpful for other two-player games as well, as long as they have an
11473 established system of notation similar to Chess.
11475 *** The new minor mode checkdoc-minor-mode provides Emacs Lisp
11476 documentation string checking for style and spelling. The style
11477 guidelines are found in the Emacs Lisp programming manual.
11479 *** The net-utils package makes some common networking features
11480 available in Emacs. Some of these functions are wrappers around
11481 system utilities (ping, nslookup, etc); others are implementations of
11482 simple protocols (finger, whois) in Emacs Lisp. There are also
11483 functions to make simple connections to TCP/IP ports for debugging and
11486 *** highlight-changes-mode is a minor mode that uses colors to
11487 identify recently changed parts of the buffer text.
11489 *** The new package `midnight' lets you specify things to be done
11490 within Emacs at midnight--by default, kill buffers that you have not
11491 used in a considerable time. To use this feature, customize
11492 the user option `midnight-mode' to t.
11494 *** The file generic-x.el defines a number of simple major modes.
11496 apache-generic-mode: For Apache and NCSA httpd configuration files
11497 samba-generic-mode: Samba configuration files
11498 fvwm-generic-mode: For fvwm initialization files
11499 x-resource-generic-mode: For X resource files
11500 hosts-generic-mode: For hosts files (.rhosts, /etc/hosts, etc)
11501 mailagent-rules-generic-mode: For mailagent .rules files
11502 javascript-generic-mode: For JavaScript files
11503 vrml-generic-mode: For VRML files
11504 java-manifest-generic-mode: For Java MANIFEST files
11505 java-properties-generic-mode: For Java property files
11506 mailrc-generic-mode: For .mailrc files
11508 Platform-specific modes:
11510 prototype-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V prototype files
11511 pkginfo-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V pkginfo files
11512 alias-generic-mode: For C shell alias files
11513 inf-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INF files
11514 ini-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INI files
11515 reg-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Registry files
11516 bat-generic-mode: For MS-Windows BAT scripts
11517 rc-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Resource files
11518 rul-generic-mode: For InstallShield scripts
11520 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 since the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
11522 ** If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode,
11523 use -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line.
11524 That will force Emacs to read that file in unibyte mode.
11525 Otherwise, the file will be loaded and byte-compiled in multibyte mode.
11527 Thus, each lisp file is read in a consistent way regardless of whether
11528 you started Emacs with --unibyte, so that a Lisp program gives
11529 consistent results regardless of how Emacs was started.
11531 ** The new function assoc-default is useful for searching an alist,
11532 and using a default value if the key is not found there. You can
11533 specify a comparison predicate, so this function is useful for
11534 searching comparing a string against an alist of regular expressions.
11536 ** The functions unibyte-char-to-multibyte and
11537 multibyte-char-to-unibyte convert between unibyte and multibyte
11538 character codes, in a way that is appropriate for the current language
11541 ** The functions read-event, read-char and read-char-exclusive now
11542 take two optional arguments. PROMPT, if non-nil, specifies a prompt
11543 string. SUPPRESS-INPUT-METHOD, if non-nil, says to disable the
11544 current input method for reading this one event.
11546 ** Two new variables print-escape-nonascii and print-escape-multibyte
11547 now control whether to output certain characters as
11548 backslash-sequences. print-escape-nonascii applies to single-byte
11549 non-ASCII characters; print-escape-multibyte applies to multibyte
11550 characters. Both of these variables are used only when printing
11551 in readable fashion (prin1 uses them, princ does not).
11553 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 before the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
11555 ** Compiled Emacs Lisp files made with the modified "MBSK" version
11556 of Emacs 20.2 do not work in Emacs 20.3.
11558 ** Buffer positions are now measured in characters, as they were
11559 in Emacs 19 and before. This means that (forward-char 1)
11560 always increases point by 1.
11562 The function chars-in-region now just subtracts its arguments. It is
11563 considered obsolete. The function char-boundary-p has been deleted.
11565 See below for additional changes relating to multibyte characters.
11567 ** defcustom, defface and defgroup now accept the keyword `:version'.
11568 Use this to specify in which version of Emacs a certain variable's
11569 default value changed. For example,
11571 (defcustom foo-max 34 "*Maximum number of foo's allowed."
11576 (defgroup foo-group nil "The foo group."
11579 If an entire new group is added or the variables in it have the
11580 default values changed, then just add a `:version' to that group. It
11581 is recommended that new packages added to the distribution contain a
11582 `:version' in the top level group.
11584 This information is used to control the customize-changed-options command.
11586 ** It is now an error to change the value of a symbol whose name
11587 starts with a colon--if it is interned in the standard obarray.
11589 However, setting such a symbol to its proper value, which is that
11590 symbol itself, is not an error. This is for the sake of programs that
11591 support previous Emacs versions by explicitly setting these variables
11594 If you set the variable keyword-symbols-constant-flag to nil,
11595 this error is suppressed, and you can set these symbols to any
11598 ** There is a new debugger command, R.
11599 It evaluates an expression like e, but saves the result
11600 in the buffer *Debugger-record*.
11602 ** Frame-local variables.
11604 You can now make a variable local to various frames. To do this, call
11605 the function make-variable-frame-local; this enables frames to have
11606 local bindings for that variable.
11608 These frame-local bindings are actually frame parameters: you create a
11609 frame-local binding in a specific frame by calling
11610 modify-frame-parameters and specifying the variable name as the
11613 Buffer-local bindings take precedence over frame-local bindings.
11614 Thus, if the current buffer has a buffer-local binding, that binding is
11615 active; otherwise, if the selected frame has a frame-local binding,
11616 that binding is active; otherwise, the default binding is active.
11618 It would not be hard to implement window-local bindings, but it is not
11619 clear that this would be very useful; windows tend to come and go in a
11620 very transitory fashion, so that trying to produce any specific effect
11621 through a window-local binding would not be very robust.
11623 ** `sregexq' and `sregex' are two new functions for constructing
11624 "symbolic regular expressions." These are Lisp expressions that, when
11625 evaluated, yield conventional string-based regexps. The symbolic form
11626 makes it easier to construct, read, and maintain complex patterns.
11627 See the documentation in sregex.el.
11629 ** parse-partial-sexp's return value has an additional element which
11630 is used to pass information along if you pass it to another call to
11631 parse-partial-sexp, starting its scan where the first call ended.
11632 The contents of this field are not yet finalized.
11634 ** eval-region now accepts a fourth optional argument READ-FUNCTION.
11635 If it is non-nil, that function is used instead of `read'.
11637 ** unload-feature by default removes the feature's functions from
11638 known hooks to avoid trouble, but a package providing FEATURE can
11639 define a hook FEATURE-unload-hook to be run by unload-feature instead.
11641 ** read-from-minibuffer no longer returns the argument DEFAULT-VALUE
11642 when the user enters empty input. It now returns the null string, as
11643 it did in Emacs 19. The default value is made available in the
11644 history via M-n, but it is not applied here as a default.
11646 The other, more specialized minibuffer-reading functions continue to
11647 return the default value (not the null string) when the user enters
11650 ** The new variable read-buffer-function controls which routine to use
11651 for selecting buffers. For example, if you set this variable to
11652 `iswitchb-read-buffer', iswitchb will be used to read buffer names.
11653 Other functions can also be used if they accept the same arguments as
11654 `read-buffer' and return the selected buffer name as a string.
11656 ** The new function read-passwd reads a password from the terminal,
11657 echoing a period for each character typed. It takes three arguments:
11658 a prompt string, a flag which says "read it twice to make sure", and a
11659 default password to use if the user enters nothing.
11661 ** The variable fill-nobreak-predicate gives major modes a way to
11662 specify not to break a line at certain places. Its value is a
11663 function which is called with no arguments, with point located at the
11664 place where a break is being considered. If the function returns
11665 non-nil, then the line won't be broken there.
11667 ** window-end now takes an optional second argument, UPDATE.
11668 If this is non-nil, then the function always returns an accurate
11669 up-to-date value for the buffer position corresponding to the
11670 end of the window, even if this requires computation.
11672 ** other-buffer now takes an optional argument FRAME
11673 which specifies which frame's buffer list to use.
11674 If it is nil, that means use the selected frame's buffer list.
11676 ** The new variable buffer-display-time, always local in every buffer,
11677 holds the value of (current-time) as of the last time that a window
11678 was directed to display this buffer.
11680 ** It is now meaningful to compare two window-configuration objects
11681 with `equal'. Two window-configuration objects are equal if they
11682 describe equivalent arrangements of windows, in the same frame--in
11683 other words, if they would give the same results if passed to
11684 set-window-configuration.
11686 ** compare-window-configurations is a new function that compares two
11687 window configurations loosely. It ignores differences in saved buffer
11688 positions and scrolling, and considers only the structure and sizes of
11689 windows and the choice of buffers to display.
11691 ** The variable minor-mode-overriding-map-alist allows major modes to
11692 override the key bindings of a minor mode. The elements of this alist
11693 look like the elements of minor-mode-map-alist: (VARIABLE . KEYMAP).
11695 If the VARIABLE in an element of minor-mode-overriding-map-alist has a
11696 non-nil value, the paired KEYMAP is active, and totally overrides the
11697 map (if any) specified for the same variable in minor-mode-map-alist.
11699 minor-mode-overriding-map-alist is automatically local in all buffers,
11700 and it is meant to be set by major modes.
11702 ** The function match-string-no-properties is like match-string
11703 except that it discards all text properties from the result.
11705 ** The function load-average now accepts an optional argument
11706 USE-FLOATS. If it is non-nil, the load average values are returned as
11707 floating point numbers, rather than as integers to be divided by 100.
11709 ** The new variable temporary-file-directory specifies the directory
11710 to use for creating temporary files. The default value is determined
11711 in a reasonable way for your operating system; on GNU and Unix systems
11712 it is based on the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables.
11716 *** easymenu.el now uses the new menu item format and supports the
11717 keywords :visible and :filter. The existing keyword :keys is now
11720 The variable `easy-menu-precalculate-equivalent-keybindings' controls
11721 a new feature which calculates keyboard equivalents for the menu when
11722 you define the menu. The default is t. If you rarely use menus, you
11723 can set the variable to nil to disable this precalculation feature;
11724 then the calculation is done only if you use the menu bar.
11726 *** A new format for menu items is supported.
11728 In a keymap, a key binding that has the format
11729 (STRING . REAL-BINDING) or (STRING HELP-STRING . REAL-BINDING)
11730 defines a menu item. Now a menu item definition may also be a list that
11731 starts with the symbol `menu-item'.
11734 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) or
11735 (menu-item ITEM-NAME REAL-BINDING . ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST)
11736 where ITEM-NAME is an expression which evaluates to the menu item
11737 string, and ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST has the form of a property list.
11738 The supported properties include
11740 :enable FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
11742 :visible FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
11743 item should appear in the menu.
11745 FILTER-FN is a function of one argument,
11746 which will be REAL-BINDING.
11747 It should return a binding to use instead.
11749 DESCRIPTION is a string that describes an equivalent keyboard
11750 binding for REAL-BINDING. DESCRIPTION is expanded with
11751 `substitute-command-keys' before it is used.
11752 :key-sequence KEY-SEQUENCE
11753 KEY-SEQUENCE is a key-sequence for an equivalent
11756 This means that the command normally has no
11757 keyboard equivalent.
11758 :help HELP HELP is the extra help string (not currently used).
11759 :button (TYPE . SELECTED)
11760 TYPE is :toggle or :radio.
11761 SELECTED is a form, to be evaluated, and its
11762 value says whether this button is currently selected.
11764 Buttons are at the moment only simulated by prefixes in the menu.
11765 Eventually ordinary X-buttons may be supported.
11767 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) defines unselectable item.
11771 *** The new event type `mouse-wheel' is generated by a wheel on a
11772 mouse (such as the MS Intellimouse). The event contains a delta that
11773 corresponds to the amount and direction that the wheel is rotated,
11774 which is typically used to implement a scroll or zoom. The format is:
11776 (mouse-wheel POSITION DELTA)
11778 where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
11779 same format as a mouse-click event, and DELTA is a signed number
11780 indicating the number of increments by which the wheel was rotated. A
11781 negative DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated backwards, towards
11782 the user, and a positive DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated
11783 forward, away from the user.
11785 As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
11787 *** The new event type `drag-n-drop' is generated when a group of
11788 files is selected in an application outside of Emacs, and then dragged
11789 and dropped onto an Emacs frame. The event contains a list of
11790 filenames that were dragged and dropped, which are then typically
11791 loaded into Emacs. The format is:
11793 (drag-n-drop POSITION FILES)
11795 where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
11796 same format as a mouse-click event, and FILES is the list of filenames
11797 that were dragged and dropped.
11799 As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
11801 ** Changes relating to multibyte characters.
11803 *** The variable enable-multibyte-characters is now read-only;
11804 any attempt to set it directly signals an error. The only way
11805 to change this value in an existing buffer is with set-buffer-multibyte.
11807 *** In a string constant, `\ ' now stands for "nothing at all". You
11808 can use it to terminate a hex escape which is followed by a character
11809 that could otherwise be read as part of the hex escape.
11811 *** String indices are now measured in characters, as they were
11812 in Emacs 19 and before.
11814 The function chars-in-string has been deleted.
11815 The function concat-chars has been renamed to `string'.
11817 *** The function set-buffer-multibyte sets the flag in the current
11818 buffer that says whether the buffer uses multibyte representation or
11819 unibyte representation. If the argument is nil, it selects unibyte
11820 representation. Otherwise it selects multibyte representation.
11822 This function does not change the contents of the buffer, viewed
11823 as a sequence of bytes. However, it does change the contents
11824 viewed as characters; a sequence of two bytes which is treated as
11825 one character when the buffer uses multibyte representation
11826 will count as two characters using unibyte representation.
11828 This function sets enable-multibyte-characters to record which
11829 representation is in use. It also adjusts various data in the buffer
11830 (including its markers, overlays and text properties) so that they are
11831 consistent with the new representation.
11833 *** string-make-multibyte takes a string and converts it to multibyte
11834 representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care
11835 about the representation, because Emacs converts when necessary;
11836 however, it makes a difference when you compare strings.
11838 The conversion of non-ASCII characters works by adding the value of
11839 nonascii-insert-offset to each character, or by translating them
11840 using the table nonascii-translation-table.
11842 *** string-make-unibyte takes a string and converts it to unibyte
11843 representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care about the
11844 representation, but it makes a difference when you compare strings.
11846 The conversion from multibyte to unibyte representation
11847 loses information; the only time Emacs performs it automatically
11848 is when inserting a multibyte string into a unibyte buffer.
11850 *** string-as-multibyte takes a string, and returns another string
11851 which contains the same bytes, but treats them as multibyte.
11853 *** string-as-unibyte takes a string, and returns another string
11854 which contains the same bytes, but treats them as unibyte.
11856 *** The new function compare-strings lets you compare
11857 portions of two strings. Unibyte strings are converted to multibyte,
11858 so that a unibyte string can match a multibyte string.
11859 You can specify whether to ignore case or not.
11861 *** assoc-ignore-case now uses compare-strings so that
11862 it can treat unibyte and multibyte strings as equal.
11864 *** Regular expression operations and buffer string searches now
11865 convert the search pattern to multibyte or unibyte to accord with the
11866 buffer or string being searched.
11868 One consequence is that you cannot always use \200-\377 inside of
11869 [...] to match all non-ASCII characters. This does still work when
11870 searching or matching a unibyte buffer or string, but not when
11871 searching or matching a multibyte string. Unfortunately, there is no
11872 obvious choice of syntax to use within [...] for that job. But, what
11873 you want is just to match all non-ASCII characters, the regular
11874 expression [^\0-\177] works for it.
11876 *** Structure of coding system changed.
11878 All coding systems (including aliases and subsidiaries) are named
11879 by symbols; the symbol's `coding-system' property is a vector
11880 which defines the coding system. Aliases share the same vector
11881 as the principal name, so that altering the contents of this
11882 vector affects the principal name and its aliases. You can define
11883 your own alias name of a coding system by the function
11884 define-coding-system-alias.
11886 The coding system definition includes a property list of its own. Use
11887 the new functions `coding-system-get' and `coding-system-put' to
11888 access such coding system properties as post-read-conversion,
11889 pre-write-conversion, character-translation-table-for-decode,
11890 character-translation-table-for-encode, mime-charset, and
11891 safe-charsets. For instance, (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1
11892 'mime-charset) gives the corresponding MIME-charset parameter
11895 Among the coding system properties listed above, safe-charsets is new.
11896 The value of this property is a list of character sets which this
11897 coding system can correctly encode and decode. For instance:
11898 (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1 'safe-charsets) => (ascii latin-iso8859-1)
11900 Here, "correctly encode" means that the encoded character sets can
11901 also be handled safely by systems other than Emacs as far as they
11902 are capable of that coding system. Though, Emacs itself can encode
11903 the other character sets and read it back correctly.
11905 *** The new function select-safe-coding-system can be used to find a
11906 proper coding system for encoding the specified region or string.
11907 This function requires a user interaction.
11909 *** The new functions find-coding-systems-region and
11910 find-coding-systems-string are helper functions used by
11911 select-safe-coding-system. They return a list of all proper coding
11912 systems to encode a text in some region or string. If you don't want
11913 a user interaction, use one of these functions instead of
11914 select-safe-coding-system.
11916 *** The explicit encoding and decoding functions, such as
11917 decode-coding-region and encode-coding-string, now set
11918 last-coding-system-used to reflect the actual way encoding or decoding
11921 *** The new function detect-coding-with-language-environment can be
11922 used to detect a coding system of text according to priorities of
11923 coding systems used by some specific language environment.
11925 *** The functions detect-coding-region and detect-coding-string always
11926 return a list if the arg HIGHEST is nil. Thus, if only ASCII
11927 characters are found, they now return a list of single element
11928 `undecided' or its subsidiaries.
11930 *** The new functions coding-system-change-eol-conversion and
11931 coding-system-change-text-conversion can be used to get a different
11932 coding system than what specified only in how end-of-line or text is
11935 *** The new function set-selection-coding-system can be used to set a
11936 coding system for communicating with other X clients.
11938 *** The function `map-char-table' now passes as argument only valid
11939 character codes, plus generic characters that stand for entire
11940 character sets or entire subrows of a character set. In other words,
11941 each time `map-char-table' calls its FUNCTION argument, the key value
11942 either will be a valid individual character code, or will stand for a
11943 range of characters.
11945 *** The new function `char-valid-p' can be used for checking whether a
11946 Lisp object is a valid character code or not.
11948 *** The new function `charset-after' returns a charset of a character
11949 in the current buffer at position POS.
11951 *** Input methods are now implemented using the variable
11952 input-method-function. If this is non-nil, its value should be a
11953 function; then, whenever Emacs reads an input event that is a printing
11954 character with no modifier bits, it calls that function, passing the
11955 event as an argument. Often this function will read more input, first
11956 binding input-method-function to nil.
11958 The return value should be a list of the events resulting from input
11959 method processing. These events will be processed sequentially as
11960 input, before resorting to unread-command-events. Events returned by
11961 the input method function are not passed to the input method function,
11962 not even if they are printing characters with no modifier bits.
11964 The input method function is not called when reading the second and
11965 subsequent events of a key sequence.
11967 *** You can customize any language environment by using
11968 set-language-environment-hook and exit-language-environment-hook.
11970 The hook `exit-language-environment-hook' should be used to undo
11971 customizations that you made with set-language-environment-hook. For
11972 instance, if you set up a special key binding for a specific language
11973 environment by set-language-environment-hook, you should set up
11974 exit-language-environment-hook to restore the normal key binding.
11976 * Changes in Emacs 20.1
11978 ** Emacs has a new facility for customization of its many user
11979 options. It is called M-x customize. With this facility you can look
11980 at the many user options in an organized way; they are grouped into a
11983 M-x customize also knows what sorts of values are legitimate for each
11984 user option and ensures that you don't use invalid values.
11986 With M-x customize, you can set options either for the present Emacs
11987 session or permanently. (Permanent settings are stored automatically
11988 in your .emacs file.)
11990 ** Scroll bars are now on the left side of the window.
11991 You can change this with M-x customize-option scroll-bar-mode.
11993 ** The mode line no longer includes the string `Emacs'.
11994 This makes more space in the mode line for other information.
11996 ** When you select a region with the mouse, it is highlighted
11997 immediately afterward. At that time, if you type the DELETE key, it
12000 The BACKSPACE key, and the ASCII character DEL, do not do this; they
12001 delete the character before point, as usual.
12003 ** In an incremental search the whole current match is highlighted
12004 on terminals which support this. (You can disable this feature
12005 by setting search-highlight to nil.)
12007 ** In the minibuffer, in some cases, you can now use M-n to
12008 insert the default value into the minibuffer as text. In effect,
12009 the default value (if the minibuffer routines know it) is tacked
12010 onto the history "in the future". (The more normal use of the
12011 history list is to use M-p to insert minibuffer input used in the
12014 ** In Text mode, now only blank lines separate paragraphs.
12015 This makes it possible to get the full benefit of Adaptive Fill mode
12016 in Text mode, and other modes derived from it (such as Mail mode).
12017 TAB in Text mode now runs the command indent-relative; this
12018 makes a practical difference only when you use indented paragraphs.
12020 As a result, the old Indented Text mode is now identical to Text mode,
12021 and is an alias for it.
12023 If you want spaces at the beginning of a line to start a paragraph,
12024 use the new mode, Paragraph Indent Text mode.
12026 ** Scrolling changes
12028 *** Scroll commands to scroll a whole screen now preserve the screen
12029 position of the cursor, if scroll-preserve-screen-position is non-nil.
12031 In this mode, if you scroll several screens back and forth, finishing
12032 on the same screen where you started, the cursor goes back to the line
12035 *** If you set scroll-conservatively to a small number, then when you
12036 move point a short distance off the screen, Emacs will scroll the
12037 screen just far enough to bring point back on screen, provided that
12038 does not exceed `scroll-conservatively' lines.
12040 *** The new variable scroll-margin says how close point can come to the
12041 top or bottom of a window. It is a number of screen lines; if point
12042 comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of the window, Emacs
12043 recenters the window.
12045 ** International character set support (MULE)
12047 Emacs now supports a wide variety of international character sets,
12048 including European variants of the Latin alphabet, as well as Chinese,
12049 Devanagari (Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopian, Greek, IPA, Japanese,
12050 Korean, Lao, Russian, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. These
12051 features have been merged from the modified version of Emacs known as
12052 MULE (for "MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs")
12054 Users of these scripts have established many more-or-less standard
12055 coding systems for storing files. Emacs uses a single multibyte
12056 character encoding within Emacs buffers; it can translate from a wide
12057 variety of coding systems when reading a file and can translate back
12058 into any of these coding systems when saving a file.
12060 Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used,
12061 generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs
12062 supports various "input methods", typically one for each script or
12063 language, to make it possible to type them.
12065 The Emacs internal multibyte encoding represents a non-ASCII
12066 character as a sequence of bytes in the range 0200 through 0377.
12068 The new prefix key C-x RET is used for commands that pertain
12069 to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods.
12071 You can disable multibyte character support as follows:
12073 (setq-default enable-multibyte-characters nil)
12075 Calling the function standard-display-european turns off multibyte
12076 characters, unless you specify a non-nil value for the second
12077 argument, AUTO. This provides compatibility for people who are
12078 already using standard-display-european to continue using unibyte
12079 characters for their work until they want to change.
12083 An input method is a kind of character conversion which is designed
12084 specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language
12085 has its own input method (though sometimes several languages which use
12086 the same characters can share one input method). Some languages
12087 support several input methods.
12089 The simplest kind of input method works by mapping ASCII letters into
12090 another alphabet. This is how the Greek and Russian input methods
12093 A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of
12094 characters into one letter. Many European input methods use
12095 composition to produce a single non-ASCII letter from a sequence which
12096 consists of a letter followed by diacritics. For example, a' is one
12097 sequence of two characters that might be converted into a single
12100 The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed
12101 by conversion. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way.
12102 First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone
12103 marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are
12104 mapped into one syllable sign--most often a "composite character".
12106 None of these methods works very well for Chinese and Japanese, so
12107 they are handled specially. First you input a whole word using
12108 phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs
12109 converts it into one or more characters using a large dictionary.
12111 Since there is more than one way to represent a phonetically spelled
12112 word using Chinese characters, Emacs can only guess which one to use;
12113 typically these input methods give you a way to say "guess again" if
12114 the first guess is wrong.
12116 *** The command C-x RET m (toggle-enable-multibyte-characters)
12117 turns multibyte character support on or off for the current buffer.
12119 If multibyte character support is turned off in a buffer, then each
12120 byte is a single character, even codes 0200 through 0377--exactly as
12121 they did in Emacs 19.34. This includes the features for support for
12122 the European characters, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2.
12124 However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to
12125 use ISO Latin-1 or ISO Latin-2; the Emacs multibyte character set
12126 includes all the characters in these character sets, and Emacs can
12127 translate automatically to and from either one.
12129 *** Visiting a file in unibyte mode.
12131 Turning off multibyte character support in the buffer after visiting a
12132 file with multibyte code conversion will display the multibyte
12133 sequences already in the buffer, byte by byte. This is probably not
12136 If you want to edit a file of unibyte characters (Latin-1, for
12137 example), you can do it by specifying `no-conversion' as the coding
12138 system when reading the file. This coding system also turns off
12139 multibyte characters in that buffer.
12141 If you turn off multibyte character support entirely, this turns off
12142 character conversion as well.
12144 *** Displaying international characters on X Windows.
12146 A font for X typically displays just one alphabet or script.
12147 Therefore, displaying the entire range of characters Emacs supports
12148 requires using many fonts.
12150 Therefore, Emacs now supports "fontsets". Each fontset is a
12151 collection of fonts, each assigned to a range of character codes.
12153 A fontset has a name, like a font. Individual fonts are defined by
12154 the X server; fontsets are defined within Emacs itself. But once you
12155 have defined a fontset, you can use it in a face or a frame just as
12156 you would use a font.
12158 If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it
12159 specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot
12160 display that character. It will display an empty box instead.
12162 The fontset height and width are determined by the ASCII characters
12163 (that is, by the font in the fontset which is used for ASCII
12166 *** Defining fontsets.
12168 Emacs does not use any fontset by default. Its default font is still
12169 chosen as in previous versions. You can tell Emacs to use a fontset
12170 with the `-fn' option or the `Font' X resource.
12172 Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value
12173 of standard-fontset-spec. This fontset's short name is
12174 `fontset-standard'. Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the
12175 standard fontset are created automatically.
12177 If you specify a default ASCII font with the `Font' resource or `-fn'
12178 argument, a fontset is generated from it. This works by replacing the
12179 FOUNDARY, FAMILY, ADD_STYLE, and AVERAGE_WIDTH fields of the font name
12180 with `*' then using this to specify a fontset. This fontset's short
12181 name is `fontset-startup'.
12183 Emacs checks resources of the form Fontset-N where N is 0, 1, 2...
12184 The resource value should have this form:
12185 FONTSET-NAME, [CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME]...
12186 FONTSET-NAME should have the form of a standard X font name, except:
12187 * most fields should be just the wild card "*".
12188 * the CHARSET_REGISTRY field should be "fontset"
12189 * the CHARSET_ENCODING field can be any nickname of the fontset.
12190 The construct CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME can be repeated any number
12191 of times; each time specifies the font for one character set.
12192 CHARSET-NAME should be the name of a character set, and FONT-NAME
12193 should specify an actual font to use for that character set.
12195 Each of these fontsets has an alias which is made from the
12196 last two font name fields, CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING.
12197 You can refer to the fontset by that alias or by its full name.
12199 For any character sets that you don't mention, Emacs tries to choose a
12200 font by substituting into FONTSET-NAME. For instance, with the
12201 following resource,
12202 Emacs*Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24
12203 the font for ASCII is generated as below:
12204 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1
12205 Here is the substitution rule:
12206 Change CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING to that of the charset
12207 defined in the variable x-charset-registries. For instance, ASCII has
12208 the entry (ascii . "ISO8859-1") in this variable. Then, reduce
12209 sequences of wild cards -*-...-*- with a single wildcard -*-.
12210 (This is to prevent use of auto-scaled fonts.)
12212 The function which processes the fontset resource value to create the
12213 fontset is called create-fontset-from-fontset-spec. You can also call
12214 that function explicitly to create a fontset.
12216 With the X resource Emacs.Font, you can specify a fontset name just
12217 like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset
12218 name in a wildcard resource like Emacs*Font--that tries to specify the
12219 fontset for other purposes including menus, and they cannot handle
12222 *** The command M-x set-language-environment sets certain global Emacs
12223 defaults for a particular choice of language.
12225 Selecting a language environment typically specifies a default input
12226 method and which coding systems to recognize automatically when
12227 visiting files. However, it does not try to reread files you have
12228 already visited; the text in those buffers is not affected. The
12229 language environment may also specify a default choice of coding
12230 system for new files that you create.
12232 It makes no difference which buffer is current when you use
12233 set-language-environment, because these defaults apply globally to the
12234 whole Emacs session.
12236 For example, M-x set-language-environment RET Latin-1 RET
12237 chooses the Latin-1 character set. In the .emacs file, you can do this
12238 with (set-language-environment "Latin-1").
12240 *** The command C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system)
12241 specifies the file coding system for the current buffer. This
12242 specifies what sort of character code translation to do when saving
12243 the file. As an argument, you must specify the name of one of the
12244 coding systems that Emacs supports.
12246 *** The command C-x RET c (universal-coding-system-argument)
12247 lets you specify a coding system when you read or write a file.
12248 This command uses the minibuffer to read a coding system name.
12249 After you exit the minibuffer, the specified coding system
12250 is used for *the immediately following command*.
12252 So if the immediately following command is a command to read or
12253 write a file, it uses the specified coding system for that file.
12255 If the immediately following command does not use the coding system,
12256 then C-x RET c ultimately has no effect.
12258 For example, C-x RET c iso-8859-1 RET C-x C-f temp RET
12259 visits the file `temp' treating it as ISO Latin-1.
12261 *** You can specify the coding system for a file using the -*-
12262 construct. Include `coding: CODINGSYSTEM;' inside the -*-...-*-
12263 to specify use of coding system CODINGSYSTEM. You can also
12264 specify the coding system in a local variable list at the end
12267 *** The command C-x RET t (set-terminal-coding-system) specifies
12268 the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a character
12269 code for terminal output, all characters output to the terminal are
12270 translated into that character code.
12272 This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built in
12273 various countries to support the languages of those countries.
12275 By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all.
12277 *** The command C-x RET k (set-keyboard-coding-system) specifies
12278 the coding system for keyboard input.
12280 Character code translation of keyboard input is useful for terminals
12281 with keys that send non-ASCII graphic characters--for example,
12282 some terminals designed for ISO Latin-1 or subsets of it.
12284 By default, keyboard input is not translated at all.
12286 Character code translation of keyboard input is similar to using an
12287 input method, in that both define sequences of keyboard input that
12288 translate into single characters. However, input methods are designed
12289 to be convenient for interactive use, while the code translations are
12290 designed to work with terminals.
12292 *** The command C-x RET p (set-buffer-process-coding-system)
12293 specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess.
12294 This command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess
12295 has its own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify
12296 translation to and from a particular subprocess by giving the command
12297 in the corresponding buffer.
12299 By default, process input and output are not translated at all.
12301 *** The variable file-name-coding-system specifies the coding system
12302 to use for encoding file names before operating on them.
12303 It is also used for decoding file names obtained from the system.
12305 *** The command C-\ (toggle-input-method) activates or deactivates
12306 an input method. If no input method has been selected before, the
12307 command prompts for you to specify the language and input method you
12310 C-u C-\ (select-input-method) lets you switch to a different input
12311 method. C-h C-\ (or C-h I) describes the current input method.
12313 *** Some input methods remap the keyboard to emulate various keyboard
12314 layouts commonly used for particular scripts. How to do this
12315 remapping properly depends on your actual keyboard layout. To specify
12316 which layout your keyboard has, use M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout.
12318 *** The command C-h C (describe-coding-system) displays
12319 the coding systems currently selected for various purposes, plus
12320 related information.
12322 *** The command C-h h (view-hello-file) displays a file called
12323 HELLO, which has examples of text in many languages, using various
12326 *** The command C-h L (describe-language-support) displays
12327 information about the support for a particular language.
12328 You specify the language as an argument.
12330 *** The mode line now contains a letter or character that identifies
12331 the coding system used in the visited file. It normally follows the
12334 A dash indicates the default state of affairs: no code conversion
12335 (except CRLF => newline if appropriate). `=' means no conversion
12336 whatsoever. The ISO 8859 coding systems are represented by digits
12337 1 through 9. Other coding systems are represented by letters:
12339 A alternativnyj (Russian)
12341 C cn-gb-2312 (Chinese)
12342 C iso-2022-cn (Chinese)
12343 D in-is13194-devanagari (Indian languages)
12344 E euc-japan (Japanese)
12345 I iso-2022-cjk or iso-2022-ss2 (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
12346 J junet (iso-2022-7) or old-jis (iso-2022-jp-1978-irv) (Japanese)
12347 K euc-korea (Korean)
12350 S shift_jis (Japanese)
12353 V viscii or vscii (Vietnamese)
12354 i iso-2022-lock (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
12355 k iso-2022-kr (Korean)
12356 v viqr (Vietnamese)
12359 When you are using a character-only terminal (not a window system),
12360 two additional characters appear in between the dash and the file
12361 coding system. These two characters describe the coding system for
12362 keyboard input, and the coding system for terminal output.
12364 *** The new variable rmail-file-coding-system specifies the code
12365 conversion to use for RMAIL files. The default value is nil.
12367 When you read mail with Rmail, each message is decoded automatically
12368 into Emacs' internal format. This has nothing to do with
12369 rmail-file-coding-system. That variable controls reading and writing
12370 Rmail files themselves.
12372 *** The new variable sendmail-coding-system specifies the code
12373 conversion for outgoing mail. The default value is nil.
12375 Actually, there are three different ways of specifying the coding system
12378 - If you use C-x RET f in the mail buffer, that takes priority.
12379 - Otherwise, if you set sendmail-coding-system non-nil, that specifies it.
12380 - Otherwise, the default coding system for new files is used,
12381 if that is non-nil. That comes from your language environment.
12382 - Otherwise, Latin-1 is used.
12384 *** The command C-h t (help-with-tutorial) accepts a prefix argument
12385 to specify the language for the tutorial file. Currently, English,
12386 Japanese, Korean and Thai are supported. We welcome additional
12389 ** An easy new way to visit a file with no code or format conversion
12390 of any kind: Use M-x find-file-literally. There is also a command
12391 insert-file-literally which inserts a file into the current buffer
12392 without any conversion.
12394 ** C-q's handling of octal character codes is changed.
12395 You can now specify any number of octal digits.
12396 RET terminates the digits and is discarded;
12397 any other non-digit terminates the digits and is then used as input.
12399 ** There are new commands for looking up Info documentation for
12400 functions, variables and file names used in your programs.
12402 Type M-x info-lookup-symbol to look up a symbol in the buffer at point.
12403 Type M-x info-lookup-file to look up a file in the buffer at point.
12405 Precisely which Info files are used to look it up depends on the major
12406 mode. For example, in C mode, the GNU libc manual is used.
12408 ** M-TAB in most programming language modes now runs the command
12409 complete-symbol. This command performs completion on the symbol name
12410 in the buffer before point.
12412 With a numeric argument, it performs completion based on the set of
12413 symbols documented in the Info files for the programming language that
12416 With no argument, it does completion based on the current tags tables,
12417 just like the old binding of M-TAB (complete-tag).
12419 ** File locking works with NFS now.
12421 The lock file for FILENAME is now a symbolic link named .#FILENAME,
12422 in the same directory as FILENAME.
12424 This means that collision detection between two different machines now
12425 works reasonably well; it also means that no file server or directory
12426 can become a bottleneck.
12428 The new method does have drawbacks. It means that collision detection
12429 does not operate when you edit a file in a directory where you cannot
12430 create new files. Collision detection also doesn't operate when the
12431 file server does not support symbolic links. But these conditions are
12432 rare, and the ability to have collision detection while using NFS is
12433 so useful that the change is worth while.
12435 When Emacs or a system crashes, this may leave behind lock files which
12436 are stale. So you may occasionally get warnings about spurious
12437 collisions. When you determine that the collision is spurious, just
12438 tell Emacs to go ahead anyway.
12440 ** If you wish to use Show Paren mode to display matching parentheses,
12441 it is no longer sufficient to load paren.el. Instead you must call
12444 ** If you wish to use Delete Selection mode to replace a highlighted
12445 selection when you insert new text, it is no longer sufficient to load
12446 delsel.el. Instead you must call the function delete-selection-mode.
12448 ** If you wish to use Partial Completion mode to complete partial words
12449 within symbols or filenames, it is no longer sufficient to load
12450 complete.el. Instead you must call the function partial-completion-mode.
12452 ** If you wish to use uniquify to rename buffers for you,
12453 it is no longer sufficient to load uniquify.el. You must also
12454 set uniquify-buffer-name-style to one of the non-nil legitimate values.
12456 ** Changes in View mode.
12458 *** Several new commands are available in View mode.
12459 Do H in view mode for a list of commands.
12461 *** There are two new commands for entering View mode:
12462 view-file-other-frame and view-buffer-other-frame.
12464 *** Exiting View mode does a better job of restoring windows to their
12467 *** New customization variable view-scroll-auto-exit. If non-nil,
12468 scrolling past end of buffer makes view mode exit.
12470 *** New customization variable view-exits-all-viewing-windows. If
12471 non-nil, view-mode will at exit restore all windows viewing buffer,
12472 not just the selected window.
12474 *** New customization variable view-read-only. If non-nil, visiting a
12475 read-only file automatically enters View mode, and toggle-read-only
12476 turns View mode on or off.
12478 *** New customization variable view-remove-frame-by-deleting controls
12479 how to remove a not needed frame at view mode exit. If non-nil,
12480 delete the frame, if nil make an icon of it.
12482 ** C-x v l, the command to print a file's version control log,
12483 now positions point at the entry for the file's current branch version.
12485 ** C-x v =, the command to compare a file with the last checked-in version,
12486 has a new feature. If the file is currently not locked, so that it is
12487 presumably identical to the last checked-in version, the command now asks
12488 which version to compare with.
12490 ** When using hideshow.el, incremental search can temporarily show hidden
12491 blocks if a match is inside the block.
12493 The block is hidden again if the search is continued and the next match
12494 is outside the block. By customizing the variable
12495 isearch-hide-immediately you can choose to hide all the temporarily
12496 shown blocks only when exiting from incremental search.
12498 By customizing the variable hs-isearch-open you can choose what kind
12499 of blocks to temporarily show during isearch: comment blocks, code
12500 blocks, all of them or none.
12502 ** The new command C-x 4 0 (kill-buffer-and-window) kills the
12503 current buffer and deletes the selected window. It asks for
12504 confirmation first.
12506 ** C-x C-w, which saves the buffer into a specified file name,
12507 now changes the major mode according to that file name.
12508 However, the mode will not be changed if
12509 (1) a local variables list or the `-*-' line specifies a major mode, or
12510 (2) the current major mode is a "special" mode,
12511 not suitable for ordinary files, or
12512 (3) the new file name does not particularly specify any mode.
12514 This applies to M-x set-visited-file-name as well.
12516 However, if you set change-major-mode-with-file-name to nil, then
12517 these commands do not change the major mode.
12519 ** M-x occur changes.
12521 *** If the argument to M-x occur contains upper case letters,
12522 it performs a case-sensitive search.
12524 *** In the *Occur* buffer made by M-x occur,
12525 if you type g or M-x revert-buffer, this repeats the search
12526 using the same regular expression and the same buffer as before.
12528 ** In Transient Mark mode, the region in any one buffer is highlighted
12529 in just one window at a time. At first, it is highlighted in the
12530 window where you set the mark. The buffer's highlighting remains in
12531 that window unless you select to another window which shows the same
12532 buffer--then the highlighting moves to that window.
12534 ** The feature to suggest key bindings when you use M-x now operates
12535 after the command finishes. The message suggesting key bindings
12536 appears temporarily in the echo area. The previous echo area contents
12537 come back after a few seconds, in case they contain useful information.
12539 ** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
12540 selected buffers, so that the default for C-x b is now based on the
12541 buffers recently selected in the selected frame.
12543 ** Outline mode changes.
12545 *** Outline mode now uses overlays (this is the former noutline.el).
12547 *** Incremental searches skip over invisible text in Outline mode.
12549 ** When a minibuffer window is active but not the selected window, if
12550 you try to use the minibuffer, you used to get a nested minibuffer.
12551 Now, this not only gives an error, it also cancels the minibuffer that
12552 was already active.
12554 The motive for this change is so that beginning users do not
12555 unknowingly move away from minibuffers, leaving them active, and then
12556 get confused by it.
12558 If you want to be able to have recursive minibuffers, you must
12559 set enable-recursive-minibuffers to non-nil.
12561 ** Changes in dynamic abbrevs.
12563 *** Expanding dynamic abbrevs with M-/ is now smarter about case
12564 conversion. If the expansion has mixed case not counting the first
12565 character, and the abbreviation matches the beginning of the expansion
12566 including case, then the expansion is copied verbatim.
12568 The expansion is also copied verbatim if the abbreviation itself has
12569 mixed case. And using SPC M-/ to copy an additional word always
12570 copies it verbatim except when the previous copied word is all caps.
12572 *** The values of `dabbrev-case-replace' and `dabbrev-case-fold-search'
12573 are no longer Lisp expressions. They have simply three possible
12576 `dabbrev-case-replace' has these three values: nil (don't preserve
12577 case), t (do), or `case-replace' (do like M-x query-replace).
12578 `dabbrev-case-fold-search' has these three values: nil (don't ignore
12579 case), t (do), or `case-fold-search' (do like search).
12581 ** Minibuffer history lists are truncated automatically now to a
12582 certain length. The variable history-length specifies how long they
12583 can be. The default value is 30.
12585 ** Changes in Mail mode.
12587 *** The key C-x m no longer runs the `mail' command directly.
12588 Instead, it runs the command `compose-mail', which invokes the mail
12589 composition mechanism you have selected with the variable
12590 `mail-user-agent'. The default choice of user agent is
12591 `sendmail-user-agent', which gives behavior compatible with the old
12594 C-x 4 m now runs compose-mail-other-window, and C-x 5 m runs
12595 compose-mail-other-frame.
12597 *** While composing a reply to a mail message, from Rmail, you can use
12598 the command C-c C-r to cite just the region from the message you are
12599 replying to. This copies the text which is the selected region in the
12600 buffer that shows the original message.
12602 *** The command C-c C-i inserts a file at the end of the message,
12603 with separator lines around the contents.
12605 *** The command M-x expand-mail-aliases expands all mail aliases
12606 in suitable mail headers. Emacs automatically extracts mail alias
12607 definitions from your mail alias file (e.g., ~/.mailrc). You do not
12608 need to expand mail aliases yourself before sending mail.
12610 *** New features in the mail-complete command.
12612 **** The mail-complete command now inserts the user's full name,
12613 for local users or if that is known. The variable mail-complete-style
12614 controls the style to use, and whether to do this at all.
12615 Its values are like those of mail-from-style.
12617 **** The variable mail-passwd-command lets you specify a shell command
12618 to run to fetch a set of password-entries that add to the ones in
12621 **** The variable mail-passwd-file now specifies a list of files to read
12622 to get the list of user ids. By default, one file is used:
12625 ** You can "quote" a file name to inhibit special significance of
12626 special syntax, by adding `/:' to the beginning. Thus, if you have a
12627 directory named `/foo:', you can prevent it from being treated as a
12628 reference to a remote host named `foo' by writing it as `/:/foo:'.
12630 Emacs uses this new construct automatically when necessary, such as
12631 when you start it with a working directory whose name might otherwise
12632 be taken to be magic.
12634 ** There is a new command M-x grep-find which uses find to select
12635 files to search through, and grep to scan them. The output is
12636 available in a Compile mode buffer, as with M-x grep.
12638 M-x grep now uses the -e option if the grep program supports that.
12639 (-e prevents problems if the search pattern starts with a dash.)
12641 ** In Dired, the & command now flags for deletion the files whose names
12642 suggest they are probably not needed in the long run.
12644 In Dired, * is now a prefix key for mark-related commands.
12646 new key dired.el binding old key
12647 ------- ---------------- -------
12648 * c dired-change-marks c
12650 * * dired-mark-executables * (binding deleted)
12651 * / dired-mark-directories / (binding deleted)
12652 * @ dired-mark-symlinks @ (binding deleted)
12654 * DEL dired-unmark-backward DEL
12655 * ? dired-unmark-all-files C-M-?
12656 * ! dired-unmark-all-marks
12657 * % dired-mark-files-regexp % m
12658 * C-n dired-next-marked-file M-}
12659 * C-p dired-prev-marked-file M-{
12663 *** When Rmail cannot convert your incoming mail into Babyl format, it
12664 saves the new mail in the file RMAILOSE.n, where n is an integer
12665 chosen to make a unique name. This way, Rmail will not keep crashing
12666 each time you run it.
12668 *** In Rmail, the variable rmail-summary-line-count-flag now controls
12669 whether to include the line count in the summary. Non-nil means yes.
12671 *** In Rmail summary buffers, d and C-d (the commands to delete
12672 messages) now take repeat counts as arguments. A negative argument
12673 means to move in the opposite direction.
12675 *** In Rmail, the t command now takes an optional argument which lets
12676 you specify whether to show the message headers in full or pruned.
12678 *** In Rmail, the new command w (rmail-output-body-to-file) writes
12679 just the body of the current message into a file, without the headers.
12680 It takes the file name from the message subject, by default, but you
12681 can edit that file name in the minibuffer before it is actually used
12686 *** nntp.el has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
12688 *** Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
12691 *** Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like
12692 `and', `or', `not', and parent redirection.
12694 *** Article washing status can be displayed in the
12697 *** gnus.el has been split into many smaller files.
12699 *** Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID.
12701 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
12703 *** New variables for specifying what score and adapt files
12704 are to be considered home score and adapt files. See
12705 `gnus-home-score-file' and `gnus-home-adapt-files'.
12707 *** Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics.
12709 *** Article editing has been revamped and is now usable.
12711 *** Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions.
12712 See `gnus-signature-separator' and `gnus-signature-limit'.
12714 *** Summary pick mode has been made to look more nn-like.
12715 Line numbers are displayed and the `.' command can be
12716 used to pick articles.
12718 *** Commands for moving the .newsrc.eld from one server to
12719 another have been added.
12721 `M-x gnus-change-server'
12723 *** A way to specify that "uninteresting" fields be suppressed when
12724 generating lines in buffers.
12726 *** Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with
12729 *** Scoring can be done on words using the new score type `w'.
12731 *** Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis:
12733 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
12735 *** Scores can be decayed.
12737 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
12739 *** Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The
12740 Date is normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first.
12742 *** A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
12745 `M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups'
12747 *** A new command for reading collections of documents
12748 (nndoc with nnvirtual on top) has been added -- `C-M-d'.
12750 *** Process mark sets can be pushed and popped.
12752 *** A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post
12753 even when the NNTP server doesn't allow posting.
12755 *** A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
12756 (DejaNews, Alta Vista, InReference) has been added.
12758 Use the `G w' command in the group buffer to create such
12761 *** Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard
12762 sorting functions, and each topic can be sorted independently.
12764 See the commands under the `T S' submap.
12766 *** Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently.
12768 See the commands under the `G P' submap.
12770 *** Cached articles can be pulled into the groups.
12772 Use the `Y c' command.
12774 *** Score files are now applied in a more reliable order.
12776 *** Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated.
12778 `M-x nnmail-split-history'
12780 *** More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk
12781 from incoming mail before saving the mail.
12783 See `nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook'.
12785 *** The nnml mail backend now understands compressed article files.
12787 *** To enable Gnus to read/post multi-lingual articles, you must execute
12788 the following code, for instance, in your .emacs.
12790 (add-hook 'gnus-startup-hook 'gnus-mule-initialize)
12792 Then, when you start Gnus, it will decode non-ASCII text automatically
12793 and show appropriate characters. (Note: if you are using gnus-mime
12794 from the SEMI package, formerly known as TM, you should NOT add this
12795 hook to gnus-startup-hook; gnus-mime has its own method of handling
12798 Since it is impossible to distinguish all coding systems
12799 automatically, you may need to specify a choice of coding system for a
12800 particular news group. This can be done by:
12802 (gnus-mule-add-group NEWSGROUP 'CODING-SYSTEM)
12804 Here NEWSGROUP should be a string which names a newsgroup or a tree
12805 of newsgroups. If NEWSGROUP is "XXX.YYY", all news groups under
12806 "XXX.YYY" (including "XXX.YYY.ZZZ") will use the specified coding
12807 system. CODING-SYSTEM specifies which coding system to use (for both
12808 for reading and posting).
12810 CODING-SYSTEM can also be a cons cell of the form
12811 (READ-CODING-SYSTEM . POST-CODING-SYSTEM)
12812 Then READ-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you read messages from the
12813 newsgroups, while POST-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you post messages
12816 Emacs knows the right coding systems for certain newsgroups by
12817 default. Here are some of these default settings:
12819 (gnus-mule-add-group "fj" 'iso-2022-7)
12820 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text" 'hz-gb-2312)
12821 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.hk" 'hz-gb-2312)
12822 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text.big5" 'cn-big5)
12823 (gnus-mule-add-group "soc.culture.vietnamese" '(nil . viqr))
12825 When you reply by mail to an article, these settings are ignored;
12826 the mail is encoded according to sendmail-coding-system, as usual.
12828 ** CC mode changes.
12830 *** If you edit primarily one style of C (or C++, Objective-C, Java)
12831 code, you may want to make the CC Mode style variables have global
12832 values so that you can set them directly in your .emacs file. To do
12833 this, set c-style-variables-are-local-p to nil in your .emacs file.
12834 Note that this only takes effect if you do it *before* cc-mode.el is
12837 If you typically edit more than one style of C (or C++, Objective-C,
12838 Java) code in a single Emacs session, you may want to make the CC Mode
12839 style variables have buffer local values. By default, all buffers
12840 share the same style variable settings; to make them buffer local, set
12841 c-style-variables-are-local-p to t in your .emacs file. Note that you
12842 must do this *before* CC Mode is loaded.
12844 *** The new variable c-indentation-style holds the C style name
12845 of the current buffer.
12847 *** The variable c-block-comments-indent-p has been deleted, because
12848 it is no longer necessary. C mode now handles all the supported styles
12849 of block comments, with no need to say which one you will use.
12851 *** There is a new indentation style "python", which specifies the C
12852 style that the Python developers like.
12854 *** There is a new c-cleanup-list option: brace-elseif-brace.
12855 This says to put ...} else if (...) {... on one line,
12856 just as brace-else-brace says to put ...} else {... on one line.
12858 ** VC Changes [new]
12860 *** In vc-retrieve-snapshot (C-x v r), if you don't specify a snapshot
12861 name, it retrieves the *latest* versions of all files in the current
12862 directory and its subdirectories (aside from files already locked).
12864 This feature is useful if your RCS directory is a link to a common
12865 master directory, and you want to pick up changes made by other
12868 You can do the same thing for an individual file by typing C-u C-x C-q
12869 RET in a buffer visiting that file.
12871 *** VC can now handle files under CVS that are being "watched" by
12872 other developers. Such files are made read-only by CVS. To get a
12873 writable copy, type C-x C-q in a buffer visiting such a file. VC then
12874 calls "cvs edit", which notifies the other developers of it.
12876 *** vc-version-diff (C-u C-x v =) now suggests reasonable defaults for
12877 version numbers, based on the current state of the file.
12879 ** Calendar changes.
12881 *** A new function, list-holidays, allows you list holidays or
12882 subclasses of holidays for ranges of years. Related menu items allow
12883 you do this for the year of the selected date, or the
12884 following/previous years.
12886 *** There is now support for the Baha'i calendar system. Use `pb' in
12887 the *Calendar* buffer to display the current Baha'i date. The Baha'i
12888 calendar, or "Badi calendar" is a system of 19 months with 19 days
12889 each, and 4 intercalary days (5 during a Gregorian leap year). The
12890 calendar begins May 23, 1844, with each of the months named after a
12891 supposed attribute of God.
12893 ** ps-print changes
12895 There are some new user variables and subgroups for customizing the page
12898 *** Headers & Footers (subgroup)
12900 Some printer systems print a header page and force the first page to
12901 be printed on the back of the header page when using duplex. If your
12902 printer system has this behavior, set variable
12903 `ps-banner-page-when-duplexing' to t.
12905 If variable `ps-banner-page-when-duplexing' is non-nil, it prints a
12906 blank page as the very first printed page. So, it behaves as if the
12907 very first character of buffer (or region) were a form feed ^L (\014).
12909 The variable `ps-spool-config' specifies who is responsible for
12910 setting duplex mode and page size. Valid values are:
12912 lpr-switches duplex and page size are configured by `ps-lpr-switches'.
12913 Don't forget to set `ps-lpr-switches' to select duplex
12914 printing for your printer.
12916 setpagedevice duplex and page size are configured by ps-print using the
12917 setpagedevice PostScript operator.
12919 nil duplex and page size are configured by ps-print *not* using
12920 the setpagedevice PostScript operator.
12922 The variable `ps-spool-tumble' specifies how the page images on
12923 opposite sides of a sheet are oriented with respect to each other. If
12924 `ps-spool-tumble' is nil, ps-print produces output suitable for
12925 bindings on the left or right. If `ps-spool-tumble' is non-nil,
12926 ps-print produces output suitable for bindings at the top or bottom.
12927 This variable takes effect only if `ps-spool-duplex' is non-nil.
12928 The default value is nil.
12930 The variable `ps-header-frame-alist' specifies a header frame
12931 properties alist. Valid frame properties are:
12933 fore-color Specify the foreground frame color.
12934 Value should be a float number between 0.0 (black
12935 color) and 1.0 (white color), or a string which is a
12936 color name, or a list of 3 float numbers which
12937 correspond to the Red Green Blue color scale, each
12938 float number between 0.0 (dark color) and 1.0 (bright
12939 color). The default is 0 ("black").
12941 back-color Specify the background frame color (similar to fore-color).
12942 The default is 0.9 ("gray90").
12944 shadow-color Specify the shadow color (similar to fore-color).
12945 The default is 0 ("black").
12947 border-color Specify the border color (similar to fore-color).
12948 The default is 0 ("black").
12950 border-width Specify the border width.
12951 The default is 0.4.
12953 Any other property is ignored.
12955 Don't change this alist directly; instead use Custom, or the
12956 `ps-value', `ps-get', `ps-put' and `ps-del' functions (see there for
12959 Ps-print can also print footers. The footer variables are:
12960 `ps-print-footer', `ps-footer-offset', `ps-print-footer-frame',
12961 `ps-footer-font-family', `ps-footer-font-size', `ps-footer-line-pad',
12962 `ps-footer-lines', `ps-left-footer', `ps-right-footer' and
12963 `ps-footer-frame-alist'. These variables are similar to those
12964 controlling headers.
12966 *** Color management (subgroup)
12968 If `ps-print-color-p' is non-nil, the buffer's text will be printed in
12971 *** Face Management (subgroup)
12973 If you need to print without worrying about face background colors,
12974 set the variable `ps-use-face-background' which specifies if face
12975 background should be used. Valid values are:
12977 t always use face background color.
12978 nil never use face background color.
12979 (face...) list of faces whose background color will be used.
12981 *** N-up printing (subgroup)
12983 The variable `ps-n-up-printing' specifies the number of pages per
12986 The variable `ps-n-up-margin' specifies the margin in points (pt)
12987 between the sheet border and the n-up printing.
12989 If variable `ps-n-up-border-p' is non-nil, a border is drawn around
12992 The variable `ps-n-up-filling' specifies how the page matrix is filled
12993 on each sheet of paper. Following are the valid values for
12994 `ps-n-up-filling' with a filling example using a 3x4 page matrix:
12996 `left-top' 1 2 3 4 `left-bottom' 9 10 11 12
13000 `right-top' 4 3 2 1 `right-bottom' 12 11 10 9
13004 `top-left' 1 4 7 10 `bottom-left' 3 6 9 12
13008 `top-right' 10 7 4 1 `bottom-right' 12 9 6 3
13012 Any other value is treated as `left-top'.
13014 *** Zebra stripes (subgroup)
13016 The variable `ps-zebra-color' controls the zebra stripes grayscale or
13019 The variable `ps-zebra-stripe-follow' specifies how zebra stripes
13020 continue on next page. Visually, valid values are (the character `+'
13021 to the right of each column indicates that a line is printed):
13023 `nil' `follow' `full' `full-follow'
13024 Current Page -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
13025 1 XXXXX + 1 XXXXXXXX + 1 XXXXXX + 1 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13026 2 XXXXX + 2 XXXXXXXX + 2 XXXXXX + 2 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13027 3 XXXXX + 3 XXXXXXXX + 3 XXXXXX + 3 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13031 7 XXXXX + 7 XXXXXXXX + 7 XXXXXX + 7 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13032 8 XXXXX + 8 XXXXXXXX + 8 XXXXXX + 8 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13033 9 XXXXX + 9 XXXXXXXX + 9 XXXXXX + 9 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13036 -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
13037 Next Page -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
13038 12 XXXXX + 12 + 10 XXXXXX + 10 +
13039 13 XXXXX + 13 XXXXXXXX + 11 XXXXXX + 11 +
13040 14 XXXXX + 14 XXXXXXXX + 12 XXXXXX + 12 +
13041 15 + 15 XXXXXXXX + 13 + 13 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13042 16 + 16 + 14 + 14 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13043 17 + 17 + 15 + 15 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
13044 18 XXXXX + 18 + 16 XXXXXX + 16 +
13045 19 XXXXX + 19 XXXXXXXX + 17 XXXXXX + 17 +
13046 20 XXXXX + 20 XXXXXXXX + 18 XXXXXX + 18 +
13049 -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
13051 Any other value is treated as `nil'.
13054 *** Printer management (subgroup)
13056 The variable `ps-printer-name-option' determines the option used by
13057 some utilities to indicate the printer name; it's used only when
13058 `ps-printer-name' is a non-empty string. If you're using the lpr
13059 utility to print, for example, `ps-printer-name-option' should be set
13062 The variable `ps-manual-feed' indicates if the printer requires manual
13063 paper feeding. If it's nil, automatic feeding takes place. If it's
13064 non-nil, manual feeding takes place.
13066 The variable `ps-end-with-control-d' specifies whether C-d (\x04)
13067 should be inserted at end of the generated PostScript. Non-nil means
13070 *** Page settings (subgroup)
13072 If variable `ps-warn-paper-type' is nil, it's *not* treated as an
13073 error if the PostScript printer doesn't have a paper with the size
13074 indicated by `ps-paper-type'; the default paper size will be used
13075 instead. If `ps-warn-paper-type' is non-nil, an error is signaled if
13076 the PostScript printer doesn't support a paper with the size indicated
13077 by `ps-paper-type'. This is used when `ps-spool-config' is set to
13080 The variable `ps-print-upside-down' determines the orientation for
13081 printing pages: nil means `normal' printing, non-nil means
13082 `upside-down' printing (that is, the page is rotated by 180 degrees).
13084 The variable `ps-selected-pages' specifies which pages to print. If
13085 it's nil, all pages are printed. If it's a list, list elements may be
13086 integers specifying a single page to print, or cons cells (FROM . TO)
13087 specifying to print from page FROM to TO. Invalid list elements, that
13088 is integers smaller than one, or elements whose FROM is greater than
13089 its TO, are ignored.
13091 The variable `ps-even-or-odd-pages' specifies how to print even/odd
13092 pages. Valid values are:
13094 nil print all pages.
13096 `even-page' print only even pages.
13098 `odd-page' print only odd pages.
13100 `even-sheet' print only even sheets.
13101 That is, if `ps-n-up-printing' is 1, it behaves like
13102 `even-page', but for values greater than 1, it'll
13103 print only the even sheet of paper.
13105 `odd-sheet' print only odd sheets.
13106 That is, if `ps-n-up-printing' is 1, it behaves like
13107 `odd-page'; but for values greater than 1, it'll print
13108 only the odd sheet of paper.
13110 Any other value is treated as nil.
13112 If you set `ps-selected-pages' (see there for documentation), pages
13113 are filtered by `ps-selected-pages', and then by
13114 `ps-even-or-odd-pages'. For example, if we have:
13116 (setq ps-selected-pages '(1 4 (6 . 10) (12 . 16) 20))
13118 and we combine this with `ps-even-or-odd-pages' and
13119 `ps-n-up-printing', we get:
13121 `ps-n-up-printing' = 1:
13122 `ps-even-or-odd-pages' PAGES PRINTED
13123 nil 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20
13124 even-page 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20
13125 odd-page 1, 7, 9, 13, 15
13126 even-sheet 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20
13127 odd-sheet 1, 7, 9, 13, 15
13129 `ps-n-up-printing' = 2:
13130 `ps-even-or-odd-pages' PAGES PRINTED
13131 nil 1/4, 6/7, 8/9, 10/12, 13/14, 15/16, 20
13132 even-page 4/6, 8/10, 12/14, 16/20
13133 odd-page 1/7, 9/13, 15
13134 even-sheet 6/7, 10/12, 15/16
13135 odd-sheet 1/4, 8/9, 13/14, 20
13137 *** Miscellany (subgroup)
13139 The variable `ps-error-handler-message' specifies where error handler
13140 messages should be sent.
13142 It is also possible to add a user-defined PostScript prologue code in
13143 front of all generated prologue code by setting the variable
13144 `ps-user-defined-prologue'.
13146 The variable `ps-line-number-font' specifies the font for line numbers.
13148 The variable `ps-line-number-font-size' specifies the font size in
13149 points for line numbers.
13151 The variable `ps-line-number-color' specifies the color for line
13152 numbers. See `ps-zebra-color' for documentation.
13154 The variable `ps-line-number-step' specifies the interval in which
13155 line numbers are printed. For example, if `ps-line-number-step' is set
13156 to 2, the printing will look like:
13168 integer an integer specifying the interval in which line numbers are
13169 printed. If it's smaller than or equal to zero, 1
13172 `zebra' specifies that only the line number of the first line in a
13173 zebra stripe is to be printed.
13175 Any other value is treated as `zebra'.
13177 The variable `ps-line-number-start' specifies the starting point in
13178 the interval given by `ps-line-number-step'. For example, if
13179 `ps-line-number-step' is set to 3, and `ps-line-number-start' is set to
13180 3, the output will look like:
13194 The variable `ps-postscript-code-directory' specifies the directory
13195 where the PostScript prologue file used by ps-print is found.
13197 The variable `ps-line-spacing' determines the line spacing in points,
13198 for ordinary text, when generating PostScript (similar to
13201 The variable `ps-paragraph-spacing' determines the paragraph spacing,
13202 in points, for ordinary text, when generating PostScript (similar to
13205 The variable `ps-paragraph-regexp' specifies the paragraph delimiter.
13207 The variable `ps-begin-cut-regexp' and `ps-end-cut-regexp' specify the
13208 start and end of a region to cut out when printing.
13210 ** hideshow changes.
13212 *** now supports hiding of blocks of single line comments (like // for
13215 *** Support for java-mode added.
13217 *** When doing `hs-hide-all' it is now possible to also hide the comments
13218 in the file if `hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all' is set.
13220 *** The new function `hs-hide-initial-comment' hides the comments at
13221 the beginning of the files. Finally those huge RCS logs don't stay in your
13222 way! This is run by default when entering the `hs-minor-mode'.
13224 *** Now uses overlays instead of `selective-display', so is more
13225 robust and a lot faster.
13227 *** A block beginning can span multiple lines.
13229 *** The new variable `hs-show-hidden-short-form' if t, directs hideshow
13230 to show only the beginning of a block when it is hidden. See the
13231 documentation for more details.
13233 ** Changes in Enriched mode.
13235 *** When you visit a file in enriched-mode, Emacs will make sure it is
13236 filled to the current fill-column. This behavior is now independent
13237 of the size of the window. When you save the file, the fill-column in
13238 use is stored as well, so that the whole buffer need not be refilled
13239 the next time unless the fill-column is different.
13241 *** use-hard-newlines is now a minor mode. When it is enabled, Emacs
13242 distinguishes between hard and soft newlines, and treats hard newlines
13243 as paragraph boundaries. Otherwise all newlines inserted are marked
13244 as soft, and paragraph boundaries are determined solely from the text.
13250 The variables font-lock-face-attributes, font-lock-display-type and
13251 font-lock-background-mode are now obsolete; the recommended way to specify the
13252 faces to use for Font Lock mode is with M-x customize-group on the new custom
13253 group font-lock-highlighting-faces. If you set font-lock-face-attributes in
13254 your ~/.emacs file, Font Lock mode will respect its value. However, you should
13255 consider converting from setting that variable to using M-x customize.
13257 You can still use X resources to specify Font Lock face appearances.
13259 *** Maximum decoration
13261 Fontification now uses the maximum level of decoration supported by
13262 default. Previously, fontification used a mode-specific default level
13263 of decoration, which is typically the minimum level of decoration
13264 supported. You can set font-lock-maximum-decoration to nil
13265 to get the old behavior.
13269 Support is now provided for Java, Objective-C, AWK and SIMULA modes.
13271 Note that Font Lock mode can be turned on without knowing exactly what modes
13272 support Font Lock mode, via the command global-font-lock-mode.
13274 *** Configurable support
13276 Support for C, C++, Objective-C and Java can be more easily configured for
13277 additional types and classes via the new variables c-font-lock-extra-types,
13278 c++-font-lock-extra-types, objc-font-lock-extra-types and, you guessed it,
13279 java-font-lock-extra-types. These value of each of these variables should be a
13280 list of regexps matching the extra type names. For example, the default value
13281 of c-font-lock-extra-types is ("\\sw+_t") which means fontification follows the
13282 convention that C type names end in _t. This results in slower fontification.
13284 Of course, you can change the variables that specify fontification in whatever
13285 way you wish, typically by adding regexps. However, these new variables make
13286 it easier to make specific and common changes for the fontification of types.
13288 *** Adding highlighting patterns to existing support
13290 You can use the new function font-lock-add-keywords to add your own
13291 highlighting patterns, such as for project-local or user-specific constructs,
13294 For example, to highlight `FIXME:' words in C comments, put:
13296 (font-lock-add-keywords 'c-mode '(("\\<FIXME:" 0 font-lock-warning-face t)))
13302 Font Lock now defines two new faces, font-lock-builtin-face and
13303 font-lock-warning-face. These are intended to highlight builtin keywords,
13304 distinct from a language's normal keywords, and objects that should be brought
13305 to user attention, respectively. Various modes now use these new faces.
13307 *** Changes to fast-lock support mode
13309 The fast-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now process
13310 cache files silently. You can use the new variable fast-lock-verbose, in the
13311 same way as font-lock-verbose, to control this feature.
13313 *** Changes to lazy-lock support mode
13315 The lazy-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now fontify
13316 according to the true syntactic context relative to other lines. You can use
13317 the new variable lazy-lock-defer-contextually to control this feature. If
13318 non-nil, changes to the buffer will cause subsequent lines in the buffer to be
13319 refontified after lazy-lock-defer-time seconds of idle time. If nil, then only
13320 the modified lines will be refontified; this is the same as the previous Lazy
13321 Lock mode behavior and the behavior of Font Lock mode.
13323 This feature is useful in modes where strings or comments can span lines.
13324 For example, if a string or comment terminating character is deleted, then if
13325 this feature is enabled subsequent lines in the buffer will be correctly
13326 refontified to reflect their new syntactic context. Previously, only the line
13327 containing the deleted character would be refontified and you would have to use
13328 the command M-o M-o (font-lock-fontify-block) to refontify some lines.
13330 As a consequence of this new feature, two other variables have changed:
13332 Variable `lazy-lock-defer-driven' is renamed `lazy-lock-defer-on-scrolling'.
13333 Variable `lazy-lock-defer-time' can now only be a time, i.e., a number.
13334 Buffer modes for which on-the-fly deferral applies can be specified via the
13335 new variable `lazy-lock-defer-on-the-fly'.
13337 If you set these variables in your ~/.emacs, then you may have to change those
13340 ** Ada mode changes.
13342 *** There is now better support for using find-file.el with Ada mode.
13343 If you switch between spec and body, the cursor stays in the same
13344 procedure (modulo overloading). If a spec has no body file yet, but
13345 you try to switch to its body file, Ada mode now generates procedure
13348 *** There are two new commands:
13349 - `ada-make-local' : invokes gnatmake on the current buffer
13350 - `ada-check-syntax' : check syntax of current buffer.
13352 The user options `ada-compiler-make', `ada-make-options',
13353 `ada-language-version', `ada-compiler-syntax-check', and
13354 `ada-compile-options' are used within these commands.
13356 *** Ada mode can now work with Outline minor mode. The outline level
13357 is calculated from the indenting, not from syntactic constructs.
13358 Outlining does not work if your code is not correctly indented.
13360 *** The new function `ada-gnat-style' converts the buffer to the style of
13361 formatting used in GNAT. It places two blanks after a comment start,
13362 places one blank between a word end and an opening '(', and puts one
13363 space between a comma and the beginning of a word.
13365 ** Scheme mode changes.
13367 *** Scheme mode indentation now uses many of the facilities of Lisp
13368 mode; therefore, the variables to customize it are the variables used
13369 for Lisp mode which have names starting with `lisp-'. The variables
13370 with names starting with `scheme-' which used to do this no longer
13373 If you want to use different indentation for Scheme and Lisp, this is
13374 still possible, but now you must do it by adding a hook to
13375 scheme-mode-hook, which could work by setting the `lisp-' indentation
13376 variables as buffer-local variables.
13378 *** DSSSL mode is a variant of Scheme mode, for editing DSSSL scripts.
13379 Use M-x dsssl-mode.
13381 ** Changes to the emacsclient program
13383 *** If a socket can't be found, and environment variables LOGNAME or
13384 USER are set, emacsclient now looks for a socket based on the UID
13385 associated with the name. That is an emacsclient running as root
13386 can connect to an Emacs server started by a non-root user.
13388 *** The emacsclient program now accepts an option --no-wait which tells
13389 it to return immediately without waiting for you to "finish" the
13392 *** The new option --alternate-editor allows to specify an editor to
13393 use if Emacs is not running. The environment variable
13394 ALTERNATE_EDITOR can be used for the same effect; the command line
13395 option takes precedence.
13397 ** M-x eldoc-mode enables a minor mode in which the echo area
13398 constantly shows the parameter list for function being called at point
13399 (in Emacs Lisp and Lisp Interaction modes only).
13401 ** C-x n d now runs the new command narrow-to-defun,
13402 which narrows the accessible parts of the buffer to just
13405 ** Emacs now handles the `--' argument in the standard way; all
13406 following arguments are treated as ordinary file names.
13408 ** On MSDOS and Windows, the bookmark file is now called _emacs.bmk,
13409 and the saved desktop file is now called _emacs.desktop (truncated if
13412 ** When you kill a buffer that visits a file,
13413 if there are any registers that save positions in the file,
13414 these register values no longer become completely useless.
13415 If you try to go to such a register with C-x j, then you are
13416 asked whether to visit the file again. If you say yes,
13417 it visits the file and then goes to the same position.
13419 ** When you visit a file that changes frequently outside Emacs--for
13420 example, a log of output from a process that continues to run--it may
13421 be useful for Emacs to revert the file without querying you whenever
13422 you visit the file afresh with C-x C-f.
13424 You can request this behavior for certain files by setting the
13425 variable revert-without-query to a list of regular expressions. If a
13426 file's name matches any of these regular expressions, find-file and
13427 revert-buffer revert the buffer without asking for permission--but
13428 only if you have not edited the buffer text yourself.
13430 ** set-default-font has been renamed to set-frame-font
13431 since it applies only to the current frame.
13433 ** In TeX mode, you can use the variable tex-main-file to specify the
13434 file for tex-file to run TeX on. (By default, tex-main-file is nil,
13435 and tex-file runs TeX on the current visited file.)
13437 This is useful when you are editing a document that consists of
13438 multiple files. In each of the included files, you can set up a local
13439 variable list which specifies the top-level file of your document for
13440 tex-main-file. Then tex-file will run TeX on the whole document
13441 instead of just the file you are editing.
13445 RefTeX mode is a new minor mode with special support for \label, \ref
13446 and \cite macros in LaTeX documents. RefTeX distinguishes labels of
13447 different environments (equation, figure, ...) and has full support for
13448 multifile documents. To use it, select a buffer with a LaTeX document and
13449 turn the mode on with M-x reftex-mode. Here are the main user commands:
13452 Creates a label semi-automatically. RefTeX is context sensitive and
13453 knows which kind of label is needed.
13455 C-c ) reftex-reference
13456 Offers in a menu all labels in the document, along with context of the
13457 label definition. The selected label is referenced as \ref{LABEL}.
13459 C-c [ reftex-citation
13460 Prompts for a regular expression and displays a list of matching BibTeX
13461 database entries. The selected entry is cited with a \cite{KEY} macro.
13463 C-c & reftex-view-crossref
13464 Views the cross reference of a \ref or \cite command near point.
13467 Shows a table of contents of the (multifile) document. From there you
13468 can quickly jump to every section.
13470 Under X, RefTeX installs a "Ref" menu in the menu bar, with additional
13471 commands. Press `?' to get help when a prompt mentions this feature.
13472 Full documentation and customization examples are in the file
13473 reftex.el. You can use the finder to view the file documentation:
13474 C-h p --> tex --> reftex.el
13476 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
13478 *** Info documentation is now available.
13480 *** Don't allow parentheses in string constants anymore. This confused
13481 both the BibTeX program and Emacs BibTeX mode.
13483 *** Renamed variable bibtex-mode-user-optional-fields to
13484 bibtex-user-optional-fields.
13486 *** Removed variable bibtex-include-OPTannote
13487 (use bibtex-user-optional-fields instead).
13489 *** New interactive functions to copy and kill fields and complete
13490 entries to the BibTeX kill ring, from where they can be yanked back by
13491 appropriate functions.
13493 *** New interactive functions for repositioning and marking of
13494 entries. They are bound by default to C-M-l and C-M-h.
13496 *** New hook bibtex-clean-entry-hook. It is called after entry has
13499 *** New variable bibtex-field-delimiters, which replaces variables
13500 bibtex-field-{left|right}-delimiter.
13502 *** New variable bibtex-entry-delimiters to determine how entries
13503 shall be delimited.
13505 *** Allow preinitialization of fields. See documentation of
13506 bibtex-user-optional-fields, bibtex-entry-field-alist, and
13507 bibtex-include-OPTkey for details.
13509 *** Book and InBook entries require either an author or an editor
13510 field. This is now supported by bibtex.el. Alternative fields are
13511 prefixed with `ALT'.
13513 *** New variable bibtex-entry-format, which replaces variable
13514 bibtex-clean-entry-zap-empty-opts and allows specification of many
13515 formatting options performed on cleaning an entry (see variable
13518 *** Even more control on how automatic keys are generated. See
13519 documentation of bibtex-generate-autokey for details. Transcriptions
13520 for foreign languages other than German are now handled, too.
13522 *** New boolean user option bibtex-comma-after-last-field to decide if
13523 comma should be inserted at end of last field.
13525 *** New boolean user option bibtex-align-at-equal-sign to determine if
13526 alignment should be made at left side of field contents or at equal
13527 signs. New user options to control entry layout (e.g. indentation).
13529 *** New function bibtex-fill-entry to realign entries.
13531 *** New function bibtex-reformat to reformat region or buffer.
13533 *** New function bibtex-convert-alien to convert a BibTeX database
13534 from alien sources.
13536 *** New function bibtex-complete-key (similar to bibtex-complete-string)
13537 to complete prefix to a key defined in buffer. Mainly useful in
13540 *** New function bibtex-count-entries to count entries in buffer or
13543 *** Added support for imenu.
13545 *** The function `bibtex-validate' now checks current region instead
13546 of buffer if mark is active. Now it shows all errors of buffer in a
13547 `compilation mode' buffer. You can use the normal commands (e.g.
13548 `next-error') for compilation modes to jump to errors.
13550 *** New variable `bibtex-string-file-path' to determine where the files
13551 from `bibtex-string-files' are searched.
13553 ** Iso Accents mode now supports Latin-3 as an alternative.
13555 ** The command next-error now opens blocks hidden by hideshow.
13557 ** The function using-unix-filesystems has been replaced by the
13558 functions add-untranslated-filesystem and remove-untranslated-filesystem.
13559 Each of these functions takes the name of a drive letter or directory
13562 When a filesystem is added as untranslated, all files on it are read
13563 and written in binary mode (no cr/lf translation is performed).
13565 ** browse-url changes
13567 *** New methods for: Grail (browse-url-generic), MMM (browse-url-mmm),
13568 Lynx in a separate xterm (browse-url-lynx-xterm) or in an Emacs window
13569 (browse-url-lynx-emacs), remote W3 (browse-url-w3-gnudoit), generic
13570 non-remote-controlled browsers (browse-url-generic) and associated
13571 customization variables.
13573 *** New commands `browse-url-of-region' and `browse-url'.
13575 *** URLs marked up with <URL:...> (RFC1738) work if broken across
13576 lines. Browsing methods can be associated with URL regexps
13577 (e.g. mailto: URLs) via `browse-url-browser-function'.
13579 ** Changes in Ediff
13581 *** Clicking Mouse-2 on a brief command description in Ediff control panel
13582 pops up the Info file for this command.
13584 *** There is now a variable, ediff-autostore-merges, which controls whether
13585 the result of a merge is saved in a file. By default, this is done only when
13586 merge is done from a session group (eg, when merging files in two different
13589 *** Since Emacs 19.31 (this hasn't been announced before), Ediff can compare
13590 and merge groups of files residing in different directories, or revisions of
13591 files in the same directory.
13593 *** Since Emacs 19.31, Ediff can apply multi-file patches interactively.
13594 The patches must be in the context format or GNU unified format. (The bug
13595 related to the GNU format has now been fixed.)
13597 ** Changes in Viper
13599 *** The startup file is now .viper instead of .vip
13600 *** All variable/function names have been changed to start with viper-
13602 *** C-\ now simulates the meta-key in all Viper states.
13603 *** C-z in Insert state now escapes to Vi for the duration of the next
13604 Viper command. In Vi and Insert states, C-z behaves as before.
13605 *** C-c \ escapes to Vi for one command if Viper is in Insert or Emacs states.
13606 *** _ is no longer the meta-key in Vi state.
13607 *** The variable viper-insert-state-cursor-color can be used to change cursor
13608 color when Viper is in insert state.
13609 *** If search lands the cursor near the top or the bottom of the window,
13610 Viper pulls the window up or down to expose more context. The variable
13611 viper-adjust-window-after-search controls this behavior.
13615 *** In C, C++, Objective C and Java, Etags tags global variables by
13616 default. The resulting tags files are inflated by 30% on average.
13617 Use --no-globals to turn this feature off. Etags can also tag
13618 variables which are members of structure-like constructs, but it does
13619 not by default. Use --members to turn this feature on.
13621 *** C++ member functions are now recognized as tags.
13623 *** Java is tagged like C++. In addition, "extends" and "implements"
13624 constructs are tagged. Files are recognized by the extension .java.
13626 *** Etags can now handle programs written in Postscript. Files are
13627 recognized by the extensions .ps and .pdb (Postscript with C syntax).
13628 In Postscript, tags are lines that start with a slash.
13630 *** Etags now handles Objective C and Objective C++ code. The usual C and
13631 C++ tags are recognized in these languages; in addition, etags
13632 recognizes special Objective C syntax for classes, class categories,
13633 methods and protocols.
13635 *** Etags also handles Cobol. Files are recognized by the extension
13636 .cobol. The tagged lines are those containing a word that begins in
13637 column 8 and ends in a full stop, i.e. anything that could be a
13640 *** Regexps in Etags now support intervals, as in ed or grep. The syntax of
13641 an interval is \{M,N\}, and it means to match the preceding expression
13642 at least M times and as many as N times.
13644 ** The format for specifying a custom format for time-stamp to insert
13645 in files has changed slightly.
13647 With the new enhancements to the functionality of format-time-string,
13648 time-stamp-format will change to be eventually compatible with it.
13649 This conversion is being done in two steps to maintain compatibility
13650 with old time-stamp-format values.
13652 In the new scheme, alternate case is signified by the number-sign
13653 (`#') modifier, rather than changing the case of the format character.
13654 This feature is as yet incompletely implemented for compatibility
13657 In the old time-stamp-format, all numeric fields defaulted to their
13658 natural width. (With format-time-string, each format has a
13659 fixed-width default.) In this version, you can specify the colon
13660 (`:') modifier to a numeric conversion to mean "give me the historical
13661 time-stamp-format width default." Do not use colon if you are
13662 specifying an explicit width, as in "%02d".
13664 Numbers are no longer truncated to the requested width, except in the
13665 case of "%02y", which continues to give a two-digit year. Digit
13666 truncation probably wasn't being used for anything else anyway.
13668 The new formats will work with old versions of Emacs. New formats are
13669 being recommended now to allow time-stamp-format to change in the
13670 future to be compatible with format-time-string. The new forms being
13671 recommended now will continue to work then.
13673 See the documentation string for the variable time-stamp-format for
13676 ** There are some additional major modes:
13678 dcl-mode, for editing VMS DCL files.
13679 m4-mode, for editing files of m4 input.
13680 meta-mode, for editing MetaFont and MetaPost source files.
13682 ** In Shell mode, the command shell-copy-environment-variable lets you
13683 copy the value of a specified environment variable from the subshell
13686 ** New Lisp packages include:
13688 *** battery.el displays battery status for laptops.
13690 *** M-x bruce (named after Lenny Bruce) is a program that might
13691 be used for adding some indecent words to your email.
13693 *** M-x crisp-mode enables an emulation for the CRiSP editor.
13695 *** M-x dirtrack arranges for better tracking of directory changes
13698 *** The new library elint.el provides for linting of Emacs Lisp code.
13699 See the documentation for `elint-initialize', `elint-current-buffer'
13702 *** M-x expand-add-abbrevs defines a special kind of abbrev which is
13703 meant for programming constructs. These abbrevs expand like ordinary
13704 ones, when you type SPC, but only at the end of a line and not within
13705 strings or comments.
13707 These abbrevs can act as templates: you can define places within an
13708 abbrev for insertion of additional text. Once you expand the abbrev,
13709 you can then use C-x a p and C-x a n to move back and forth to these
13710 insertion points. Thus you can conveniently insert additional text
13713 *** filecache.el remembers the location of files so that you
13714 can visit them by short forms of their names.
13716 *** find-func.el lets you find the definition of the user-loaded
13717 Emacs Lisp function at point.
13719 *** M-x handwrite converts text to a "handwritten" picture.
13721 *** M-x iswitchb-buffer is a command for switching to a buffer, much like
13722 switch-buffer, but it reads the argument in a more helpful way.
13724 *** M-x landmark implements a neural network for landmark learning.
13726 *** M-x locate provides a convenient interface to the `locate' program.
13728 *** M4 mode is a new mode for editing files of m4 input.
13730 *** mantemp.el creates C++ manual template instantiations
13731 from the GCC error messages which indicate which instantiations are needed.
13733 *** mouse-copy.el provides a one-click copy and move feature.
13734 You can drag a region with M-mouse-1, and it is automatically
13735 inserted at point. M-Shift-mouse-1 deletes the text from its
13736 original place after inserting the copy.
13738 *** mouse-drag.el lets you do scrolling by dragging Mouse-2
13741 You click the mouse and move; that distance either translates into the
13742 velocity to scroll (with mouse-drag-throw) or the distance to scroll
13743 (with mouse-drag-drag). Horizontal scrolling is enabled when needed.
13745 Enable mouse-drag with:
13746 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-throw)
13748 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-drag)
13750 *** mspools.el is useful for determining which mail folders have
13751 mail waiting to be read in them. It works with procmail.
13753 *** Octave mode is a major mode for editing files of input for Octave.
13754 It comes with a facility for communicating with an Octave subprocess.
13758 The ogonek package provides functions for changing the coding of
13759 Polish diacritic characters in buffers. Codings known from various
13760 platforms are supported such as ISO8859-2, Mazovia, IBM Latin2, and
13761 TeX. For example, you can change the coding from Mazovia to
13762 ISO8859-2. Another example is a change of coding from ISO8859-2 to
13763 prefix notation (in which `/a' stands for the aogonek character, for
13764 instance) and vice versa.
13766 To use this package load it using
13767 M-x load-library [enter] ogonek
13768 Then, you may get an explanation by calling one of
13769 M-x ogonek-jak -- in Polish
13770 M-x ogonek-how -- in English
13771 The info specifies the commands and variables provided as well as the
13772 ways of customization in `.emacs'.
13774 *** Interface to ph.
13776 Emacs provides a client interface to CCSO Nameservers (ph/qi)
13778 The CCSO nameserver is used in many universities to provide directory
13779 services about people. ph.el provides a convenient Emacs interface to
13782 *** uce.el is useful for replying to unsolicited commercial email.
13784 *** vcursor.el implements a "virtual cursor" feature.
13785 You can move the virtual cursor with special commands
13786 while the real cursor does not move.
13788 *** webjump.el is a "hot list" package which you can set up
13789 for visiting your favorite web sites.
13791 *** M-x winner-mode is a minor mode which saves window configurations,
13792 so you can move back to other configurations that you have recently used.
13796 Movemail no longer needs to be installed setuid root in order for POP
13797 mail retrieval to function properly. This is because it no longer
13798 supports the RPOP (reserved-port POP) protocol; instead, it uses the
13799 user's POP password to authenticate to the mail server.
13801 This change was made earlier, but not reported in NEWS before.
13803 * Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows.
13805 ** Changes in handling MS-DOS/MS-Windows text files.
13807 Emacs handles three different conventions for representing
13808 end-of-line: CRLF for MSDOS, LF for Unix and GNU, and CR (used on the
13809 Macintosh). Emacs determines which convention is used in a specific
13810 file based on the contents of that file (except for certain special
13811 file names), and when it saves the file, it uses the same convention.
13813 To save the file and change the end-of-line convention, you can use
13814 C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system) to specify a different
13815 coding system for the buffer. Then, when you save the file, the newly
13816 specified coding system will take effect. For example, to save with
13817 LF, specify undecided-unix (or some other ...-unix coding system); to
13818 save with CRLF, specify undecided-dos.
13820 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 20.1
13822 ** Byte-compiled files made with Emacs 20 will, in general, work in
13823 Emacs 19 as well, as long as the source code runs in Emacs 19. And
13824 vice versa: byte-compiled files made with Emacs 19 should also run in
13825 Emacs 20, as long as the program itself works in Emacs 20.
13827 ** Windows-specific functions and variables have been renamed
13828 to start with w32- instead of win32-.
13830 In hacker language, calling something a "win" is a form of praise. We
13831 don't want to praise a non-free Microsoft system, so we don't call it
13834 ** Basic Lisp changes
13836 *** A symbol whose name starts with a colon now automatically
13837 evaluates to itself. Therefore such a symbol can be used as a constant.
13839 *** The defined purpose of `defconst' has been changed. It should now
13840 be used only for values that should not be changed whether by a program
13843 The actual behavior of defconst has not been changed.
13845 *** There are new macros `when' and `unless'
13847 (when CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION (progn BODY...))
13848 (unless CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION nil BODY...)
13850 *** Emacs now defines functions caar, cadr, cdar and cddr with their
13851 usual Lisp meanings. For example, caar returns the car of the car of
13854 *** equal, when comparing strings, now ignores their text properties.
13856 *** The new function `functionp' tests whether an object is a function.
13858 *** arrayp now returns t for char-tables and bool-vectors.
13860 *** Certain primitives which use characters (as integers) now get an
13861 error if the integer is not a valid character code. These primitives
13862 include insert-char, char-to-string, and the %c construct in the
13865 *** The `require' function now insists on adding a suffix, either .el
13866 or .elc, to the file name. Thus, (require 'foo) will not use a file
13867 whose name is just foo. It insists on foo.el or foo.elc.
13869 *** The `autoload' function, when the file name does not contain
13870 either a directory name or the suffix .el or .elc, insists on
13871 adding one of these suffixes.
13873 *** string-to-number now takes an optional second argument BASE
13874 which specifies the base to use when converting an integer.
13875 If BASE is omitted, base 10 is used.
13877 We have not implemented other radices for floating point numbers,
13878 because that would be much more work and does not seem useful.
13880 *** substring now handles vectors as well as strings.
13882 *** The Common Lisp function eql is no longer defined normally.
13883 You must load the `cl' library to define it.
13885 *** The new macro `with-current-buffer' lets you evaluate an expression
13886 conveniently with a different current buffer. It looks like this:
13888 (with-current-buffer BUFFER BODY-FORMS...)
13890 BUFFER is the expression that says which buffer to use.
13891 BODY-FORMS say what to do in that buffer.
13893 *** The new primitive `save-current-buffer' saves and restores the
13894 choice of current buffer, like `save-excursion', but without saving or
13895 restoring the value of point or the mark. `with-current-buffer'
13896 works using `save-current-buffer'.
13898 *** The new macro `with-temp-file' lets you do some work in a new buffer and
13899 write the output to a specified file. Like `progn', it returns the value
13902 *** The new macro `with-temp-buffer' lets you do some work in a new buffer,
13903 which is discarded after use. Like `progn', it returns the value of the
13904 last form. If you wish to return the buffer contents, use (buffer-string)
13907 *** The new function split-string takes a string, splits it at certain
13908 characters, and returns a list of the substrings in between the
13911 For example, (split-string "foo bar lose" " +") returns ("foo" "bar" "lose").
13913 *** The new macro with-output-to-string executes some Lisp expressions
13914 with standard-output set up so that all output feeds into a string.
13915 Then it returns that string.
13917 For example, if the current buffer name is `foo',
13919 (with-output-to-string
13920 (princ "The buffer is ")
13921 (princ (buffer-name)))
13923 returns "The buffer is foo".
13925 ** Non-ASCII characters are now supported, if enable-multibyte-characters
13928 These characters have character codes above 256. When inserted in the
13929 buffer or stored in a string, they are represented as multibyte
13930 characters that occupy several buffer positions each.
13932 *** When enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, a single character in
13933 a buffer or string can be two or more bytes (as many as four).
13935 Buffers and strings are still made up of unibyte elements;
13936 character positions and string indices are always measured in bytes.
13937 Therefore, moving forward one character can increase the buffer
13938 position by 2, 3 or 4. The function forward-char moves by whole
13939 characters, and therefore is no longer equivalent to
13940 (lambda (n) (goto-char (+ (point) n))).
13942 ASCII characters (codes 0 through 127) are still single bytes, always.
13943 Sequences of byte values 128 through 255 are used to represent
13944 non-ASCII characters. These sequences are called "multibyte
13947 The first byte of a multibyte character is always in the range 128
13948 through 159 (octal 0200 through 0237). These values are called
13949 "leading codes". The second and subsequent bytes are always in the
13950 range 160 through 255 (octal 0240 through 0377). The first byte, the
13951 leading code, determines how many bytes long the sequence is.
13953 *** The function forward-char moves over characters, and therefore
13954 (forward-char 1) may increase point by more than 1 if it moves over a
13955 multibyte character. Likewise, delete-char always deletes a
13956 character, which may be more than one buffer position.
13958 This means that some Lisp programs, which assume that a character is
13959 always one buffer position, need to be changed.
13961 However, all ASCII characters are always one buffer position.
13963 *** The regexp [\200-\377] no longer matches all non-ASCII characters,
13964 because when enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, these characters
13965 have codes that are not in the range octal 200 to octal 377. However,
13966 the regexp [^\000-\177] does match all non-ASCII characters,
13969 *** The function char-boundary-p returns non-nil if position POS is
13970 between two characters in the buffer (not in the middle of a
13973 When the value is non-nil, it says what kind of character follows POS:
13975 0 if POS is at an ASCII character or at the end of range,
13976 1 if POS is before a 2-byte length multi-byte form,
13977 2 if POS is at a head of 3-byte length multi-byte form,
13978 3 if POS is at a head of 4-byte length multi-byte form,
13979 4 if POS is at a head of multi-byte form of a composite character.
13981 *** The function char-bytes returns how many bytes the character CHAR uses.
13983 *** Strings can contain multibyte characters. The function
13984 `length' returns the string length counting bytes, which may be
13985 more than the number of characters.
13987 You can include a multibyte character in a string constant by writing
13988 it literally. You can also represent it with a hex escape,
13989 \xNNNNNNN..., using as many digits as necessary. Any character which
13990 is not a valid hex digit terminates this construct. If you want to
13991 follow it with a character that is a hex digit, write backslash and
13992 newline in between; that will terminate the hex escape.
13994 *** The function concat-chars takes arguments which are characters
13995 and returns a string containing those characters.
13997 *** The function sref access a multibyte character in a string.
13998 (sref STRING INDX) returns the character in STRING at INDEX. INDEX
13999 counts from zero. If INDEX is at a position in the middle of a
14000 character, sref signals an error.
14002 *** The function chars-in-string returns the number of characters
14003 in a string. This is less than the length of the string, if the
14004 string contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
14006 *** The function chars-in-region returns the number of characters
14007 in a region from BEG to END. This is less than (- END BEG) if the
14008 region contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
14010 *** The function string-to-list converts a string to a list of
14011 the characters in it. string-to-vector converts a string
14012 to a vector of the characters in it.
14014 *** The function store-substring alters part of the contents
14015 of a string. You call it as follows:
14017 (store-substring STRING IDX OBJ)
14019 This says to alter STRING, by storing OBJ starting at index IDX in
14020 STRING. OBJ may be either a character or a (smaller) string.
14021 This function really does alter the contents of STRING.
14022 Since it is impossible to change the length of an existing string,
14023 it is an error if OBJ doesn't fit within STRING's actual length.
14025 *** char-width returns the width (in columns) of the character CHAR,
14026 if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
14028 *** string-width returns the width (in columns) of the text in STRING,
14029 if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
14031 *** truncate-string-to-width shortens a string, if necessary,
14032 to fit within a certain number of columns. (Of course, it does
14033 not alter the string that you give it; it returns a new string
14034 which contains all or just part of the existing string.)
14036 (truncate-string-to-width STR END-COLUMN &optional START-COLUMN PADDING)
14038 This returns the part of STR up to column END-COLUMN.
14040 The optional argument START-COLUMN specifies the starting column.
14041 If this is non-nil, then the first START-COLUMN columns of the string
14042 are not included in the resulting value.
14044 The optional argument PADDING, if non-nil, is a padding character to be added
14045 at the beginning and end the resulting string, to extend it to exactly
14046 WIDTH columns. If PADDING is nil, that means do not pad; then, if STRING
14047 is narrower than WIDTH, the value is equal to STRING.
14049 If PADDING and START-COLUMN are both non-nil, and if there is no clean
14050 place in STRING that corresponds to START-COLUMN (because one
14051 character extends across that column), then the padding character
14052 PADDING is added one or more times at the beginning of the result
14053 string, so that its columns line up as if it really did start at
14054 column START-COLUMN.
14056 *** When the functions in the list after-change-functions are called,
14057 the third argument is the number of bytes in the pre-change text, not
14058 necessarily the number of characters. It is, in effect, the
14059 difference in buffer position between the beginning and the end of the
14060 changed text, before the change.
14062 *** The characters Emacs uses are classified in various character
14063 sets, each of which has a name which is a symbol. In general there is
14064 one character set for each script, not for each language.
14066 **** The function charsetp tests whether an object is a character set name.
14068 **** The variable charset-list holds a list of character set names.
14070 **** char-charset, given a character code, returns the name of the character
14071 set that the character belongs to. (The value is a symbol.)
14073 **** split-char, given a character code, returns a list containing the
14074 name of the character set, followed by one or two byte-values
14075 which identify the character within that character set.
14077 **** make-char, given a character set name and one or two subsequent
14078 byte-values, constructs a character code. This is roughly the
14079 opposite of split-char.
14081 **** find-charset-region returns a list of the character sets
14082 of all the characters between BEG and END.
14084 **** find-charset-string returns a list of the character sets
14085 of all the characters in a string.
14087 *** Here are the Lisp facilities for working with coding systems
14088 and specifying coding systems.
14090 **** The function coding-system-list returns a list of all coding
14091 system names (symbols). With optional argument t, it returns a list
14092 of all distinct base coding systems, not including variants.
14093 (Variant coding systems are those like latin-1-dos, latin-1-unix
14094 and latin-1-mac which specify the end-of-line conversion as well
14095 as what to do about code conversion.)
14097 **** coding-system-p tests a symbol to see if it is a coding system
14098 name. It returns t if so, nil if not.
14100 **** file-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
14101 for certain file names. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
14102 except that the PATTERN is matched against the file name.
14104 Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
14105 which file names the element applies to. PATTERN should be a regexp
14106 to match against a file name.
14108 VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
14109 a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
14110 decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
14111 to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
14112 systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
14113 specifies the coding system for encoding.
14115 If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
14116 or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
14118 **** The variable network-coding-system-alist specifies
14119 the coding system to use for network sockets.
14121 Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
14122 which network sockets the element applies to. PATTERN should be
14123 either a port number or a regular expression matching some network
14126 VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
14127 a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
14128 decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
14129 to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
14130 systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
14131 specifies the coding system for encoding.
14133 If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
14134 or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
14136 **** process-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
14137 for certain subprocess. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
14138 except that the PATTERN is matched against the program name used to
14139 start the subprocess.
14141 **** The variable default-process-coding-system specifies the coding
14142 systems to use for subprocess (and net connection) input and output,
14143 when nothing else specifies what to do. The value is a cons cell
14144 (OUTPUT-CODING . INPUT-CODING). OUTPUT-CODING applies to output
14145 to the subprocess, and INPUT-CODING applies to input from it.
14147 **** The variable coding-system-for-write, if non-nil, specifies the
14148 coding system to use for writing a file, or for output to a synchronous
14151 It also applies to any asynchronous subprocess or network connection,
14152 but in a different way: the value of coding-system-for-write when you
14153 start the subprocess or connection affects that subprocess or
14154 connection permanently or until overridden.
14156 The variable coding-system-for-write takes precedence over
14157 file-coding-system-alist, process-coding-system-alist and
14158 network-coding-system-alist, and all other methods of specifying a
14159 coding system for output. But most of the time this variable is nil.
14160 It exists so that Lisp programs can bind it to a specific coding
14161 system for one operation at a time.
14163 **** coding-system-for-read applies similarly to input from
14164 files, subprocesses or network connections.
14166 **** The function process-coding-system tells you what
14167 coding systems(s) an existing subprocess is using.
14168 The value is a cons cell,
14169 (DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM . ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM)
14170 where DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for decoding output from
14171 the subprocess, and ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for encoding
14172 input to the subprocess.
14174 **** The function set-process-coding-system can be used to
14175 change the coding systems in use for an existing subprocess.
14177 ** Emacs has a new facility to help users manage the many
14178 customization options. To make a Lisp program work with this facility,
14179 you need to use the new macros defgroup and defcustom.
14181 You use defcustom instead of defvar, for defining a user option
14182 variable. The difference is that you specify two additional pieces of
14183 information (usually): the "type" which says what values are
14184 legitimate, and the "group" which specifies the hierarchy for
14187 Thus, instead of writing
14189 (defvar foo-blurgoze nil
14190 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely.")
14192 you would now write this:
14194 (defcustom foo-blurgoze nil
14195 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely."
14199 The type `boolean' means that this variable has only
14200 two meaningful states: nil and non-nil. Other type values
14201 describe other possibilities; see the manual for Custom
14202 for a description of them.
14204 The "group" argument is used to specify a group which the option
14205 should belong to. You define a new group like this:
14207 (defgroup ispell nil
14208 "Spell checking using Ispell."
14211 The "group" argument in defgroup specifies the parent group. The root
14212 group is called `emacs'; it should not contain any variables itself,
14213 but only other groups. The immediate subgroups of `emacs' correspond
14214 to the keywords used by C-h p. Under these subgroups come
14215 second-level subgroups that belong to individual packages.
14217 Each Emacs package should have its own set of groups. A simple
14218 package should have just one group; a more complex package should
14219 have a hierarchy of its own groups. The sole or root group of a
14220 package should be a subgroup of one or more of the "keyword"
14221 first-level subgroups.
14223 ** New `widget' library for inserting UI components in buffers.
14225 This library, used by the new custom library, is documented in a
14226 separate manual that accompanies Emacs.
14230 The easy-mmode package provides macros and functions that make
14231 developing minor modes easier. Roughly, the programmer has to code
14232 only the functionality of the minor mode. All the rest--toggles,
14233 predicate, and documentation--can be done in one call to the macro
14234 `easy-mmode-define-minor-mode' (see the documentation). See also
14235 `easy-mmode-define-keymap'.
14237 ** Text property changes
14239 *** The `intangible' property now works on overlays as well as on a
14242 *** The new functions next-char-property-change and
14243 previous-char-property-change scan through the buffer looking for a
14244 place where either a text property or an overlay might change. The
14245 functions take two arguments, POSITION and LIMIT. POSITION is the
14246 starting position for the scan. LIMIT says where to stop the scan.
14248 If no property change is found before LIMIT, the value is LIMIT. If
14249 LIMIT is nil, scan goes to the beginning or end of the accessible part
14250 of the buffer. If no property change is found, the value is the
14251 position of the beginning or end of the buffer.
14253 *** In the `local-map' text property or overlay property, the property
14254 value can now be a symbol whose function definition is a keymap. This
14255 is an alternative to using the keymap itself.
14257 ** Changes in invisibility features
14259 *** Isearch can now temporarily show parts of the buffer which are
14260 hidden by an overlay with a invisible property, when the search match
14261 is inside that portion of the buffer. To enable this the overlay
14262 should have a isearch-open-invisible property which is a function that
14263 would be called having the overlay as an argument, the function should
14264 make the overlay visible.
14266 During incremental search the overlays are shown by modifying the
14267 invisible and intangible properties, if beside this more actions are
14268 needed the overlay should have a isearch-open-invisible-temporary
14269 which is a function. The function is called with 2 arguments: one is
14270 the overlay and the second is nil when it should show the overlay and
14271 t when it should hide it.
14273 *** add-to-invisibility-spec, remove-from-invisibility-spec
14275 Modes that use overlays to hide portions of a buffer should set the
14276 invisible property of the overlay to the mode's name (or another symbol)
14277 and modify the `buffer-invisibility-spec' to include that symbol.
14278 Use `add-to-invisibility-spec' and `remove-from-invisibility-spec' to
14279 manipulate the `buffer-invisibility-spec'.
14280 Here is an example of how to do this:
14282 ;; If we want to display an ellipsis:
14283 (add-to-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
14284 ;; If you don't want ellipsis:
14285 (add-to-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
14288 (overlay-put (make-overlay beginning end) 'invisible 'my-symbol)
14291 ;; When done with the overlays:
14292 (remove-from-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
14293 ;; Or respectively:
14294 (remove-from-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
14296 ** Changes in syntax parsing.
14298 *** The syntax-directed buffer-scan functions (such as
14299 `parse-partial-sexp', `forward-word' and similar functions) can now
14300 obey syntax information specified by text properties, if the variable
14301 `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil.
14303 If the value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is nil, the behavior
14304 is as before: the syntax-table of the current buffer is always
14305 used to determine the syntax of the character at the position.
14307 When `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil, the syntax of a
14308 character in the buffer is calculated thus:
14310 a) if the `syntax-table' text-property of that character
14311 is a cons, this cons becomes the syntax-type;
14313 Valid values of `syntax-table' text-property are: nil, a valid
14314 syntax-table, and a valid syntax-table element, i.e.,
14315 a cons cell of the form (SYNTAX-CODE . MATCHING-CHAR).
14317 b) if the character's `syntax-table' text-property
14318 is a syntax table, this syntax table is used
14319 (instead of the syntax-table of the current buffer) to
14320 determine the syntax type of the character.
14322 c) otherwise the syntax-type is determined by the syntax-table
14323 of the current buffer.
14325 *** The meaning of \s in regular expressions is also affected by the
14326 value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties'. The details are the same as
14327 for the syntax-directed buffer-scan functions.
14329 *** There are two new syntax-codes, `!' and `|' (numeric values 14
14330 and 15). A character with a code `!' starts a comment which is ended
14331 only by another character with the same code (unless quoted). A
14332 character with a code `|' starts a string which is ended only by
14333 another character with the same code (unless quoted).
14335 These codes are mainly meant for use as values of the `syntax-table'
14338 *** The function `parse-partial-sexp' has new semantics for the sixth
14339 arg COMMENTSTOP. If it is `syntax-table', parse stops after the start
14340 of a comment or a string, or after end of a comment or a string.
14342 *** The state-list which the return value from `parse-partial-sexp'
14343 (and can also be used as an argument) now has an optional ninth
14344 element: the character address of the start of last comment or string;
14345 nil if none. The fourth and eighth elements have special values if the
14346 string/comment is started by a "!" or "|" syntax-code.
14348 *** Since new features of `parse-partial-sexp' allow a complete
14349 syntactic parsing, `font-lock' no longer supports
14350 `font-lock-comment-start-regexp'.
14352 ** Changes in face features
14354 *** The face functions are now unconditionally defined in Emacs, even
14355 if it does not support displaying on a device that supports faces.
14357 *** The function face-documentation returns the documentation string
14358 of a face (or nil if it doesn't have one).
14360 *** The function face-bold-p returns t if a face should be bold.
14361 set-face-bold-p sets that flag.
14363 *** The function face-italic-p returns t if a face should be italic.
14364 set-face-italic-p sets that flag.
14366 *** You can now specify foreground and background colors for text
14367 by adding elements of the form (foreground-color . COLOR-NAME)
14368 and (background-color . COLOR-NAME) to the list of faces in
14369 the `face' property (either the character's text property or an
14372 This means that you no longer need to create named faces to use
14373 arbitrary colors in a Lisp package.
14375 ** Changes in file-handling functions
14377 *** File-access primitive functions no longer discard an extra redundant
14378 directory name from the beginning of the file name. In other words,
14379 they no longer do anything special with // or /~. That conversion
14380 is now done only in substitute-in-file-name.
14382 This makes it possible for a Lisp program to open a file whose name
14385 *** If copy-file is unable to set the date of the output file,
14386 it now signals an error with the condition file-date-error.
14388 *** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
14389 the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a list of integers.
14391 *** insert-file-contents can now read from a special file,
14392 as long as the arguments VISIT and REPLACE are nil.
14394 *** The RAWFILE arg to find-file-noselect, if non-nil, now suppresses
14395 character code conversion as well as other things.
14397 Meanwhile, this feature does work with remote file names
14398 (formerly it did not).
14400 *** Lisp packages which create temporary files should use the TMPDIR
14401 environment variable to decide which directory to put them in.
14403 *** interpreter-mode-alist elements now specify regexps
14404 instead of constant strings.
14406 *** expand-file-name no longer treats `//' or `/~' specially. It used
14407 to delete all the text of a file name up through the first slash of
14408 any `//' or `/~' sequence. Now it passes them straight through.
14410 substitute-in-file-name continues to treat those sequences specially,
14411 in the same way as before.
14413 *** The variable `format-alist' is more general now.
14414 The FROM-FN and TO-FN in a format definition can now be strings
14415 which specify shell commands to use as filters to perform conversion.
14417 *** The new function access-file tries to open a file, and signals an
14418 error if that fails. If the open succeeds, access-file does nothing
14419 else, and returns nil.
14421 *** The function insert-directory now signals an error if the specified
14422 directory cannot be listed.
14424 ** Changes in minibuffer input
14426 *** The functions read-buffer, read-variable, read-command, read-string
14427 read-file-name, read-from-minibuffer and completing-read now take an
14428 additional argument which specifies the default value. If this
14429 argument is non-nil, it should be a string; that string is used in two
14432 It is returned if the user enters empty input.
14433 It is available through the history command M-n.
14435 *** The functions read-string, read-from-minibuffer,
14436 read-no-blanks-input and completing-read now take an additional
14437 argument INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. If this is non-nil, then the
14438 minibuffer inherits the current input method and the setting of
14439 enable-multibyte-characters from the previously current buffer.
14441 In an interactive spec, you can use M instead of s to read an
14442 argument in this way.
14444 *** All minibuffer input functions discard text properties
14445 from the text you enter in the minibuffer, unless the variable
14446 minibuffer-allow-text-properties is non-nil.
14448 ** Echo area features
14450 *** Clearing the echo area now runs the normal hook
14451 echo-area-clear-hook. Note that the echo area can be used while the
14452 minibuffer is active; in that case, the minibuffer is still active
14453 after the echo area is cleared.
14455 *** The function current-message returns the message currently displayed
14456 in the echo area, or nil if there is none.
14458 ** Keyboard input features
14460 *** tty-erase-char is a new variable that reports which character was
14461 set up as the terminal's erase character when time Emacs was started.
14463 *** num-nonmacro-input-events is the total number of input events
14464 received so far from the terminal. It does not count those generated
14465 by keyboard macros.
14467 ** Frame-related changes
14469 *** make-frame runs the normal hook before-make-frame-hook just before
14470 creating a frame, and just after creating a frame it runs the abnormal
14471 hook after-make-frame-functions with the new frame as arg.
14473 *** The new hook window-configuration-change-hook is now run every time
14474 the window configuration has changed. The frame whose configuration
14475 has changed is the selected frame when the hook is run.
14477 *** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
14478 selected buffers, in its buffer-list frame parameter, so that the
14479 value of other-buffer is now based on the buffers recently displayed
14480 in the selected frame.
14482 *** The value of the frame parameter vertical-scroll-bars
14483 is now `left', `right' or nil. A non-nil value specifies
14484 which side of the window to put the scroll bars on.
14486 ** X Windows features
14488 *** You can examine X resources for other applications by binding
14489 x-resource-class around a call to x-get-resource. The usual value of
14490 x-resource-class is "Emacs", which is the correct value for Emacs.
14492 *** In menus, checkboxes and radio buttons now actually work.
14493 The menu displays the current status of the box or button.
14495 *** The function x-list-fonts now takes an optional fourth argument
14496 MAXIMUM which sets a limit on how many matching fonts to return.
14497 A smaller value of MAXIMUM makes the function faster.
14499 If the only question is whether *any* font matches the pattern,
14500 it is good to supply 1 for this argument.
14502 ** Subprocess features
14504 *** A reminder: it is no longer necessary for subprocess filter
14505 functions and sentinels to do save-match-data, because Emacs does this
14508 *** The new function shell-command-to-string executes a shell command
14509 and returns the output from the command as a string.
14511 *** The new function process-contact returns t for a child process,
14512 and (HOSTNAME SERVICE) for a net connection.
14514 ** An error in running pre-command-hook or post-command-hook
14515 does clear the variable to nil. The documentation was wrong before.
14517 ** In define-key-after, if AFTER is t, the new binding now always goes
14518 at the end of the keymap. If the keymap is a menu, this means it
14519 goes after the other menu items.
14521 ** If you have a program that makes several changes in the same area
14522 of the buffer, you can use the macro combine-after-change-calls
14523 around that Lisp code to make it faster when after-change hooks
14526 The macro arranges to call the after-change functions just once for a
14527 series of several changes--if that seems safe.
14529 Don't alter the variables after-change-functions and
14530 after-change-function within the body of a combine-after-change-calls
14533 ** If you define an abbrev (with define-abbrev) whose EXPANSION
14534 is not a string, then the abbrev does not expand in the usual sense,
14535 but its hook is still run.
14537 ** Normally, the Lisp debugger is not used (even if you have enabled it)
14538 for errors that are handled by condition-case.
14540 If you set debug-on-signal to a non-nil value, then the debugger is called
14541 regardless of whether there is a handler for the condition. This is
14542 useful for debugging problems that happen inside of a condition-case.
14544 This mode of operation seems to be unreliable in other ways. Errors that
14545 are normal and ought to be handled, perhaps in timers or process
14546 filters, will instead invoke the debugger. So don't say you weren't
14549 ** The new variable ring-bell-function lets you specify your own
14550 way for Emacs to "ring the bell".
14552 ** If run-at-time's TIME argument is t, the action is repeated at
14553 integral multiples of REPEAT from the epoch; this is useful for
14554 functions like display-time.
14556 ** You can use the function locate-library to find the precise file
14557 name of a Lisp library. This isn't new, but wasn't documented before.
14559 ** Commands for entering view mode have new optional arguments that
14560 can be used from Lisp. Low-level entrance to and exit from view mode
14561 is done by functions view-mode-enter and view-mode-exit.
14563 ** batch-byte-compile-file now makes Emacs return a nonzero status code
14564 if there is an error in compilation.
14566 ** pop-to-buffer, switch-to-buffer-other-window and
14567 switch-to-buffer-other-frame now accept an additional optional
14568 argument NORECORD, much like switch-to-buffer. If it is non-nil,
14569 they don't put the buffer at the front of the buffer list.
14571 ** If your .emacs file leaves the *scratch* buffer non-empty,
14572 Emacs does not display the startup message, so as to avoid changing
14573 the *scratch* buffer.
14575 ** The new function regexp-opt returns an efficient regexp to match a string.
14576 The arguments are STRINGS and (optionally) PAREN. This function can be used
14577 where regexp matching or searching is intensively used and speed is important,
14578 e.g., in Font Lock mode.
14580 ** The variable buffer-display-count is local to each buffer,
14581 and is incremented each time the buffer is displayed in a window.
14582 It starts at 0 when the buffer is created.
14584 ** The new function compose-mail starts composing a mail message
14585 using the user's chosen mail composition agent (specified with the
14586 variable mail-user-agent). It has variants compose-mail-other-window
14587 and compose-mail-other-frame.
14589 ** The `user-full-name' function now takes an optional parameter which
14590 can either be a number (the UID) or a string (the login name). The
14591 full name of the specified user will be returned.
14593 ** Lisp packages that load files of customizations, or any other sort
14594 of user profile, should obey the variable init-file-user in deciding
14595 where to find it. They should load the profile of the user name found
14596 in that variable. If init-file-user is nil, meaning that the -q
14597 option was used, then Lisp packages should not load the customization
14600 ** format-time-string now allows you to specify the field width
14601 and type of padding. This works as in printf: you write the field
14602 width as digits in the middle of a %-construct. If you start
14603 the field width with 0, it means to pad with zeros.
14605 For example, %S normally specifies the number of seconds since the
14606 minute; %03S means to pad this with zeros to 3 positions, %_3S to pad
14607 with spaces to 3 positions. Plain %3S pads with zeros, because that
14608 is how %S normally pads to two positions.
14610 ** thing-at-point now supports a new kind of "thing": url.
14612 ** imenu.el changes.
14614 You can now specify a function to be run when selecting an
14615 item from menu created by imenu.
14617 An example of using this feature: if we define imenu items for the
14618 #include directives in a C file, we can open the included file when we
14619 select one of those items.
14621 * For older news, see the file ONEWS
14623 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
14624 Copyright information:
14626 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,
14627 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
14629 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
14630 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
14631 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
14632 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
14634 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
14635 of this document, or of portions of it,
14636 under the above conditions, provided also that they
14637 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
14641 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"
14644 arch-tag: 1aca9dfa-2ac4-4d14-bebf-0007cee12793