1 @c -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
2 @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
3 @c Copyright (C) 1985-1987, 1993-1995, 1997, 2000-2016 Free Software
6 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
8 @chapter Controlling the Display
10 Since only part of a large buffer fits in the window, Emacs has to
11 show only a part of it. This chapter describes commands and variables
12 that let you specify which part of the text you want to see, and how
13 the text is displayed.
16 * Scrolling:: Commands to move text up and down in a window.
17 * Recentering:: A scroll command that centers the current line.
18 * Auto Scrolling:: Redisplay scrolls text automatically when needed.
19 * Horizontal Scrolling:: Moving text left and right in a window.
20 * Narrowing:: Restricting display and editing to a portion
22 * View Mode:: Viewing read-only buffers.
23 * Follow Mode:: Follow mode lets two windows scroll as one.
24 * Faces:: How to change the display style using faces.
25 * Colors:: Specifying colors for faces.
26 * Standard Faces:: The main predefined faces.
27 * Text Scale:: Increasing or decreasing text size in a buffer.
28 * Font Lock:: Minor mode for syntactic highlighting using faces.
29 * Highlight Interactively:: Tell Emacs what text to highlight.
30 * Fringes:: Enabling or disabling window fringes.
31 * Displaying Boundaries:: Displaying top and bottom of the buffer.
32 * Useless Whitespace:: Showing possibly spurious trailing whitespace.
33 * Selective Display:: Hiding lines with lots of indentation.
34 * Optional Mode Line:: Optional mode line display features.
35 * Text Display:: How text characters are normally displayed.
36 * Cursor Display:: Features for displaying the cursor.
37 * Line Truncation:: Truncating lines to fit the screen width instead
38 of continuing them to multiple screen lines.
39 * Visual Line Mode:: Word wrap and screen line-based editing.
40 * Display Custom:: Information on variables for customizing display.
47 If a window is too small to display all the text in its buffer, it
48 displays only a portion of it. @dfn{Scrolling} commands change which
49 portion of the buffer is displayed.
51 Scrolling forward or up advances the portion of the buffer
52 displayed in the window; equivalently, it moves the buffer text
53 upwards relative to the window. Scrolling backward or down
54 displays an earlier portion of the buffer, and moves the text
55 downwards relative to the window.
57 In Emacs, scrolling up or down refers to the direction that
58 the text moves in the window, @emph{not} the direction that the window
59 moves relative to the text. This terminology was adopted by Emacs
60 before the modern meaning of ``scrolling up'' and ``scrolling down''
61 became widespread. Hence, the strange result that @key{PageDown}
62 scrolls up in the Emacs sense.
64 The portion of a buffer displayed in a window always contains point.
65 If you move point past the bottom or top of the window, scrolling
66 occurs automatically to bring it back onscreen (@pxref{Auto
67 Scrolling}). You can also scroll explicitly with these commands:
73 Scroll forward by nearly a full window (@code{scroll-up-command}).
77 Scroll backward (@code{scroll-down-command}).
86 @findex scroll-up-command
87 @findex scroll-down-command
88 @kbd{C-v} (@code{scroll-up-command}) scrolls forward by nearly the
89 whole window height. The effect is to take the two lines at the
90 bottom of the window and put them at the top, followed by lines that
91 were not previously visible. If point was in the text that scrolled
92 off the top, it ends up on the window's new topmost line. The
93 @key{next} (or @key{PageDown}) key is equivalent to @kbd{C-v}.
95 @kbd{M-v} (@code{scroll-down-command}) scrolls backward in a similar
96 way. The @key{prior} (or @key{PageUp}) key is equivalent to
99 @vindex next-screen-context-lines
100 The number of lines of overlap left by these scroll commands is
101 controlled by the variable @code{next-screen-context-lines}, whose
102 default value is 2. You can supply the commands with a numeric prefix
103 argument, @var{n}, to scroll by @var{n} lines; Emacs attempts to leave
104 point unchanged, so that the text and point move up or down together.
105 @kbd{C-v} with a negative argument is like @kbd{M-v} and vice versa.
107 @vindex scroll-error-top-bottom
108 By default, these commands signal an error (by beeping or flashing
109 the screen) if no more scrolling is possible, because the window has
110 reached the beginning or end of the buffer. If you change the
111 variable @code{scroll-error-top-bottom} to @code{t}, the command moves
112 point to the farthest possible position. If point is already there,
113 the command signals an error.
115 @vindex scroll-preserve-screen-position
116 @cindex @code{scroll-command} property
117 Some users like scroll commands to keep point at the same screen
118 position, so that scrolling back to the same screen conveniently
119 returns point to its original position. You can enable this behavior
120 via the variable @code{scroll-preserve-screen-position}. If the value
121 is @code{t}, Emacs adjusts point to keep the cursor at the same screen
122 position whenever a scroll command moves it off-window, rather than
123 moving it to the topmost or bottommost line. With any other
124 non-@code{nil} value, Emacs adjusts point this way even if the scroll
125 command leaves point in the window. This variable affects all the
126 scroll commands documented in this section, as well as scrolling with
127 the mouse wheel (@pxref{Mouse Commands}); in general, it affects any
128 command that has a non-@code{nil} @code{scroll-command} property.
129 @xref{Property Lists,,, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
131 @vindex fast-but-imprecise-scrolling
132 Sometimes, particularly when you hold down keys such as @kbd{C-v}
133 and @kbd{M-v}, activating keyboard auto-repeat, Emacs fails to keep up
134 with the rapid rate of scrolling requested; the display doesn't update
135 and Emacs can become unresponsive to input for quite a long time. You
136 can counter this sluggishness by setting the variable
137 @code{fast-but-imprecise-scrolling} to a non-@code{nil} value. This
138 instructs the scrolling commands not to fontify (@pxref{Font Lock})
139 any unfontified text they scroll over, instead to assume it has the
140 default face. This can cause Emacs to scroll to somewhat wrong buffer
141 positions when the faces in use are not all the same size, even with
142 single (i.e., without auto-repeat) scrolling operations.
146 @findex scroll-up-line
147 @findex scroll-down-line
148 The commands @kbd{M-x scroll-up} and @kbd{M-x scroll-down} behave
149 similarly to @code{scroll-up-command} and @code{scroll-down-command},
150 except they do not obey @code{scroll-error-top-bottom}. Prior to
151 Emacs 24, these were the default commands for scrolling up and down.
152 The commands @kbd{M-x scroll-up-line} and @kbd{M-x scroll-down-line}
153 scroll the current window by one line at a time. If you intend to use
154 any of these commands, you might want to give them key bindings
155 (@pxref{Init Rebinding}).
162 Scroll the selected window so the current line is the center-most text
163 line; on subsequent consecutive invocations, make the current line the
164 top line, the bottom line, and so on in cyclic order. Possibly
165 redisplay the screen too (@code{recenter-top-bottom}).
168 Scroll the selected window so the current line is the center-most text
169 line. Possibly redisplay the screen too.
172 Scroll heuristically to bring useful information onto the screen
173 (@code{reposition-window}).
177 @findex recenter-top-bottom
178 The @kbd{C-l} (@code{recenter-top-bottom}) command @dfn{recenters}
179 the selected window, scrolling it so that the current screen line is
180 exactly in the center of the window, or as close to the center as
183 Typing @kbd{C-l} twice in a row (@kbd{C-l C-l}) scrolls the window
184 so that point is on the topmost screen line. Typing a third @kbd{C-l}
185 scrolls the window so that point is on the bottom-most screen line.
186 Each successive @kbd{C-l} cycles through these three positions.
188 @vindex recenter-positions
189 You can change the cycling order by customizing the list variable
190 @code{recenter-positions}. Each list element should be the symbol
191 @code{top}, @code{middle}, or @code{bottom}, or a number; an integer
192 means to move the line to the specified screen line, while a
193 floating-point number between 0.0 and 1.0 specifies a percentage of
194 the screen space from the top of the window. The default,
195 @code{(middle top bottom)}, is the cycling order described above.
196 Furthermore, if you change the variable @code{scroll-margin} to a
197 non-zero value @var{n}, @kbd{C-l} always leaves at least @var{n}
198 screen lines between point and the top or bottom of the window
199 (@pxref{Auto Scrolling}).
201 You can also give @kbd{C-l} a prefix argument. A plain prefix
202 argument, @kbd{C-u C-l}, simply recenters point. A positive argument
203 @var{n} puts point @var{n} lines down from the top of the window. An
204 argument of zero puts point on the topmost line. A negative argument
205 @var{-n} puts point @var{n} lines from the bottom of the window. When
206 given an argument, @kbd{C-l} does not clear the screen or cycle
207 through different screen positions.
209 @vindex recenter-redisplay
210 If the variable @code{recenter-redisplay} has a non-@code{nil}
211 value, each invocation of @kbd{C-l} also clears and redisplays the
212 screen; the special value @code{tty} (the default) says to do this on
213 text-terminal frames only. Redisplaying is useful in case the screen
214 becomes garbled for any reason (@pxref{Screen Garbled}).
217 The more primitive command @kbd{M-x recenter} behaves like
218 @code{recenter-top-bottom}, but does not cycle among screen positions.
221 @findex reposition-window
222 @kbd{C-M-l} (@code{reposition-window}) scrolls the current window
223 heuristically in a way designed to get useful information onto the
224 screen. For example, in a Lisp file, this command tries to get the
225 entire current defun onto the screen if possible.
228 @section Automatic Scrolling
230 @cindex automatic scrolling
231 Emacs performs @dfn{automatic scrolling} when point moves out of the
232 visible portion of the text. Normally, automatic scrolling centers
233 point vertically in the window, but there are several ways to alter
236 @vindex scroll-conservatively
237 If you set @code{scroll-conservatively} to a small number @var{n},
238 then moving point just a little off the screen (no more than @var{n}
239 lines) causes Emacs to scroll just enough to bring point back on
240 screen; if doing so fails to make point visible, Emacs scrolls just
241 far enough to center point in the window. If you set
242 @code{scroll-conservatively} to a large number (larger than 100),
243 automatic scrolling never centers point, no matter how far point
244 moves; Emacs always scrolls text just enough to bring point into view,
245 either at the top or bottom of the window depending on the scroll
246 direction. By default, @code{scroll-conservatively} is@tie{}0, which
247 means to always center point in the window.
250 Another way to control automatic scrolling is to customize the
251 variable @code{scroll-step}. Its value determines the number of lines
252 by which to automatically scroll, when point moves off the screen. If
253 scrolling by that number of lines fails to bring point back into view,
254 point is centered instead. The default value is zero, which (by
255 default) causes point to always be centered after scrolling.
257 @cindex aggressive scrolling
258 @vindex scroll-up-aggressively
259 @vindex scroll-down-aggressively
260 A third way to control automatic scrolling is to customize the
261 variables @code{scroll-up-aggressively} and
262 @code{scroll-down-aggressively}, which directly specify the vertical
263 position of point after scrolling. The value of
264 @code{scroll-up-aggressively} should be either @code{nil} (the
265 default), or a floating point number @var{f} between 0 and 1. The
266 latter means that when point goes below the bottom window edge (i.e.,
267 scrolling forward), Emacs scrolls the window so that point is @var{f}
268 parts of the window height from the bottom window edge. Thus, larger
269 @var{f} means more aggressive scrolling: more new text is brought into
270 view. The default value, @code{nil}, is equivalent to 0.5.
272 Likewise, @code{scroll-down-aggressively} is used when point goes
273 above the bottom window edge (i.e., scrolling backward). The value
274 specifies how far point should be from the top margin of the window
275 after scrolling. Thus, as with @code{scroll-up-aggressively}, a
276 larger value is more aggressive.
278 Note that the variables @code{scroll-conservatively},
279 @code{scroll-step}, and @code{scroll-up-aggressively} /
280 @code{scroll-down-aggressively} control automatic scrolling in
281 contradictory ways. Therefore, you should pick no more than one of
282 these methods to customize automatic scrolling. In case you customize
283 multiple variables, the order of priority is:
284 @code{scroll-conservatively}, then @code{scroll-step}, and finally
285 @code{scroll-up-aggressively} / @code{scroll-down-aggressively}.
287 @vindex scroll-margin
288 The variable @code{scroll-margin} restricts how close point can come
289 to the top or bottom of a window (even if aggressive scrolling
290 specifies a fraction @var{f} that is larger than the window portion
291 between the top and the bottom margins). Its value is a number of screen
292 lines; if point comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of
293 the window, Emacs performs automatic scrolling. By default,
294 @code{scroll-margin} is 0.
296 @node Horizontal Scrolling
297 @section Horizontal Scrolling
298 @cindex horizontal scrolling
300 @vindex auto-hscroll-mode
301 @dfn{Horizontal scrolling} means shifting all the lines sideways
302 within a window, so that some of the text near the left margin is not
303 displayed. When the text in a window is scrolled horizontally, text
304 lines are truncated rather than continued (@pxref{Line Truncation}).
305 If a window shows truncated lines, Emacs performs automatic horizontal
306 scrolling whenever point moves off the left or right edge of the
307 screen. To disable automatic horizontal scrolling, set the variable
308 @code{auto-hscroll-mode} to @code{nil}. Note that when the automatic
309 horizontal scrolling is turned off, if point moves off the edge of the
310 screen, the cursor disappears to indicate that. (On text terminals,
311 the cursor is left at the edge instead.)
313 @vindex hscroll-margin
314 The variable @code{hscroll-margin} controls how close point can get
315 to the window's left and right edges before automatic scrolling
316 occurs. It is measured in columns. For example, if the value is 5,
317 then moving point within 5 columns of an edge causes horizontal
318 scrolling away from that edge.
321 The variable @code{hscroll-step} determines how many columns to
322 scroll the window when point gets too close to the edge. Zero, the
323 default value, means to center point horizontally within the window.
324 A positive integer value specifies the number of columns to scroll by.
325 A floating-point number specifies the fraction of the window's width
328 You can also perform explicit horizontal scrolling with the
333 Scroll text in current window to the left (@code{scroll-left}).
335 Scroll to the right (@code{scroll-right}).
342 @kbd{C-x <} (@code{scroll-left}) scrolls text in the selected window
343 to the left by the full width of the window, less two columns. (In
344 other words, the text in the window moves left relative to the
345 window.) With a numeric argument @var{n}, it scrolls by @var{n}
348 If the text is scrolled to the left, and point moves off the left
349 edge of the window, the cursor will freeze at the left edge of the
350 window, until point moves back to the displayed portion of the text.
351 This is independent of the current setting of
352 @code{auto-hscroll-mode}, which, for text scrolled to the left, only
353 affects the behavior at the right edge of the window.
355 @kbd{C-x >} (@code{scroll-right}) scrolls similarly to the right.
356 The window cannot be scrolled any farther to the right once it is
357 displayed normally, with each line starting at the window's left
358 margin; attempting to do so has no effect. This means that you don't
359 have to calculate the argument precisely for @w{@kbd{C-x >}}; any
360 sufficiently large argument will restore the normal display.
362 If you use those commands to scroll a window horizontally, that sets
363 a lower bound for automatic horizontal scrolling. Automatic scrolling
364 will continue to scroll the window, but never farther to the right
365 than the amount you previously set by @code{scroll-left}.
372 @cindex accessible portion
374 @dfn{Narrowing} means focusing in on some portion of the buffer,
375 making the rest temporarily inaccessible. The portion which you can
376 still get to is called the @dfn{accessible portion}. Canceling the
377 narrowing, which makes the entire buffer once again accessible, is
378 called @dfn{widening}. The bounds of narrowing in effect in a buffer
379 are called the buffer's @dfn{restriction}.
381 Narrowing can make it easier to concentrate on a single subroutine or
382 paragraph by eliminating clutter. It can also be used to limit the
383 range of operation of a replace command or repeating keyboard macro.
387 Narrow down to between point and mark (@code{narrow-to-region}).
389 Widen to make the entire buffer accessible again (@code{widen}).
391 Narrow down to the current page (@code{narrow-to-page}).
393 Narrow down to the current defun (@code{narrow-to-defun}).
396 When you have narrowed down to a part of the buffer, that part appears
397 to be all there is. You can't see the rest, you can't move into it
398 (motion commands won't go outside the accessible part), you can't change
399 it in any way. However, it is not gone, and if you save the file all
400 the inaccessible text will be saved. The word @samp{Narrow} appears in
401 the mode line whenever narrowing is in effect.
404 @findex narrow-to-region
405 The primary narrowing command is @kbd{C-x n n} (@code{narrow-to-region}).
406 It sets the current buffer's restrictions so that the text in the current
407 region remains accessible, but all text before the region or after the
408 region is inaccessible. Point and mark do not change.
411 @findex narrow-to-page
413 @findex narrow-to-defun
414 Alternatively, use @kbd{C-x n p} (@code{narrow-to-page}) to narrow
415 down to the current page. @xref{Pages}, for the definition of a page.
416 @kbd{C-x n d} (@code{narrow-to-defun}) narrows down to the defun
417 containing point (@pxref{Defuns}).
421 The way to cancel narrowing is to widen with @kbd{C-x n w}
422 (@code{widen}). This makes all text in the buffer accessible again.
424 You can get information on what part of the buffer you are narrowed down
425 to using the @kbd{C-x =} command. @xref{Position Info}.
427 Because narrowing can easily confuse users who do not understand it,
428 @code{narrow-to-region} is normally a disabled command. Attempting to use
429 this command asks for confirmation and gives you the option of enabling it;
430 if you enable the command, confirmation will no longer be required for
431 it. @xref{Disabling}.
438 @kindex s @r{(View mode)}
439 @kindex SPC @r{(View mode)}
440 @kindex DEL @r{(View mode)}
441 View mode is a minor mode that lets you scan a buffer by sequential
442 screenfuls. It provides commands for scrolling through the buffer
443 conveniently but not for changing it. Apart from the usual Emacs
444 cursor motion commands, you can type @key{SPC} to scroll forward one
445 windowful, @kbd{S-@key{SPC}} or @key{DEL} to scroll backward, and @kbd{s} to
446 start an incremental search.
448 @kindex q @r{(View mode)}
449 @kindex e @r{(View mode)}
452 Typing @kbd{q} (@code{View-quit}) disables View mode, and switches
453 back to the buffer and position before View mode was enabled. Typing
454 @kbd{e} (@code{View-exit}) disables View mode, keeping the current
459 @kbd{M-x view-buffer} prompts for an existing Emacs buffer, switches
460 to it, and enables View mode. @kbd{M-x view-file} prompts for a file
461 and visits it with View mode enabled.
468 @cindex windows, synchronizing
469 @cindex synchronizing windows
471 @dfn{Follow mode} is a minor mode that makes two windows, both
472 showing the same buffer, scroll as a single tall virtual window.
473 To use Follow mode, go to a frame with just one window, split it into
474 two side-by-side windows using @kbd{C-x 3}, and then type @kbd{M-x
475 follow-mode}. From then on, you can edit the buffer in either of the
476 two windows, or scroll either one; the other window follows it.
478 In Follow mode, if you move point outside the portion visible in one
479 window and into the portion visible in the other window, that selects
480 the other window---again, treating the two as if they were parts of
483 To turn off Follow mode, type @kbd{M-x follow-mode} a second time.
489 Emacs can display text in several different styles, called
490 @dfn{faces}. Each face can specify various @dfn{face attributes},
491 such as the font, height, weight, slant, foreground and background
492 color, and underlining or overlining. Most major modes assign faces
493 to the text automatically, via Font Lock mode. @xref{Font Lock}, for
494 more information about how these faces are assigned.
496 @findex list-faces-display
497 To see what faces are currently defined, and what they look like,
498 type @kbd{M-x list-faces-display}. With a prefix argument, this
499 prompts for a regular expression, and displays only faces with names
500 matching that regular expression (@pxref{Regexps}).
502 @vindex frame-background-mode
503 It's possible for a given face to look different in different
504 frames. For instance, some text terminals do not support all face
505 attributes, particularly font, height, and width, and some support a
506 limited range of colors. In addition, most Emacs faces are defined so
507 that their attributes are different on light and dark frame
508 backgrounds, for reasons of legibility. By default, Emacs
509 automatically chooses which set of face attributes to display on each
510 frame, based on the frame's current background color. However, you
511 can override this by giving the variable @code{frame-background-mode}
512 a non-@code{nil} value. A value of @code{dark} makes Emacs treat all
513 frames as if they have a dark background, whereas a value of
514 @code{light} makes it treat all frames as if they have a light
517 @cindex background color
519 You can customize a face to alter its attributes, and save those
520 customizations for future Emacs sessions. @xref{Face Customization},
523 The @code{default} face is the default for displaying text, and all
524 of its attributes are specified. Its background color is also used as
525 the frame's background color. @xref{Colors}.
528 Another special face is the @code{cursor} face. On graphical
529 displays, the background color of this face is used to draw the text
530 cursor. None of the other attributes of this face have any effect;
531 the foreground color for text under the cursor is taken from the
532 background color of the underlying text. On text terminals, the
533 appearance of the text cursor is determined by the terminal, not by
534 the @code{cursor} face.
536 You can also use X resources to specify attributes of any particular
537 face. @xref{Resources}.
539 Emacs can display variable-width fonts, but some Emacs commands,
540 particularly indentation commands, do not account for variable
541 character display widths. Therefore, we recommend not using
542 variable-width fonts for most faces, particularly those assigned by
546 @section Colors for Faces
550 Faces can have various foreground and background colors. When you
551 specify a color for a face---for instance, when customizing the face
552 (@pxref{Face Customization})---you can use either a @dfn{color name}
553 or an @dfn{RGB triplet}.
555 @findex list-colors-display
556 @vindex list-colors-sort
557 A color name is a pre-defined name, such as @samp{dark orange} or
558 @samp{medium sea green}. To view a list of color names, type @kbd{M-x
559 list-colors-display}. To control the order in which colors are shown,
560 customize @code{list-colors-sort}. If you run this command on a
561 graphical display, it shows the full range of color names known to
562 Emacs (these are the standard X11 color names, defined in X's
563 @file{rgb.txt} file). If you run the command on a text terminal, it
564 shows only a small subset of colors that can be safely displayed on
565 such terminals. However, Emacs understands X11 color names even on
566 text terminals; if a face is given a color specified by an X11 color
567 name, it is displayed using the closest-matching terminal color.
569 An RGB triplet is a string of the form @samp{#RRGGBB}. Each of the
570 R, G, and B components is a hexadecimal number specifying the
571 component's relative intensity, one to four digits long (usually two
572 digits are used). The components must have the same number of digits.
573 For hexadecimal values A to F, either upper or lower case are
576 The @kbd{M-x list-colors-display} command also shows the equivalent
577 RGB triplet for each named color. For instance, @samp{medium sea
578 green} is equivalent to @samp{#3CB371}.
580 @cindex face colors, setting
581 @findex set-face-foreground
582 @findex set-face-background
583 You can change the foreground and background colors of a face with
584 @kbd{M-x set-face-foreground} and @kbd{M-x set-face-background}.
585 These commands prompt in the minibuffer for a face name and a color,
586 with completion, and then set that face to use the specified color.
587 They affect the face colors on all frames, but their effects do not
588 persist for future Emacs sessions, unlike using the customization
589 buffer or X resources. You can also use frame parameters to set
590 foreground and background colors for a specific frame; @xref{Frame
594 @section Standard Faces
595 @cindex standard faces
597 Here are the standard faces for specifying text appearance. You can
598 apply them to specific text when you want the effects they produce.
602 This face is used for ordinary text that doesn't specify any face.
603 Its background color is used as the frame's background color.
605 This face uses a bold variant of the default font.
607 This face uses an italic variant of the default font.
609 This face uses a bold italic variant of the default font.
611 This face underlines text.
613 This face forces use of a fixed-width font. It's reasonable to
614 customize this face to use a different fixed-width font, if you like,
615 but you should not make it a variable-width font.
616 @item fixed-pitch-serif
617 This face is like @code{fixed-pitch}, except the font has serifs and
618 looks more like traditional typewriting.
619 @cindex variable-pitch face
621 This face forces use of a variable-width font.
624 This face is used for making the text less noticeable than the surrounding
625 ordinary text. Usually this can be achieved by using shades of gray in
626 contrast with either black or white default foreground color.
629 Here's an incomplete list of faces used to highlight parts of the
630 text temporarily for specific purposes. (Many other modes define
631 their own faces for this purpose.)
635 This face is used for text highlighting in various contexts, such as
636 when the mouse cursor is moved over a hyperlink.
638 This face is used to highlight the current Isearch match
639 (@pxref{Incremental Search}).
641 This face is used to highlight the current Query Replace match
644 This face is used to highlight lazy matches for Isearch and Query
645 Replace (matches other than the current one).
647 This face is used for displaying an active region (@pxref{Mark}).
648 When Emacs is built with GTK support, its colors are taken from the
650 @item secondary-selection
651 This face is used for displaying a secondary X selection (@pxref{Secondary
653 @item trailing-whitespace
654 The face for highlighting excess spaces and tabs at the end of a line
655 when @code{show-trailing-whitespace} is non-@code{nil} (@pxref{Useless
658 The face for displaying control characters and escape sequences
659 (@pxref{Text Display}).
661 The face for displaying no-break space characters (@pxref{Text
664 The face for displaying no-break hyphen characters (@pxref{Text
668 The following faces control the appearance of parts of the Emacs
673 @cindex mode-line face
674 @cindex faces for mode lines
675 This face is used for the mode line of the currently selected window,
676 and for menu bars when toolkit menus are not used. By default, it's
677 drawn with shadows for a raised effect on graphical displays, and
678 drawn as the inverse of the default face on non-windowed terminals.
679 @item mode-line-inactive
680 @cindex mode-line-inactive face
681 Like @code{mode-line}, but used for mode lines of the windows other
682 than the selected one (if @code{mode-line-in-non-selected-windows} is
683 non-@code{nil}). This face inherits from @code{mode-line}, so changes
684 in that face affect mode lines in all windows.
685 @item mode-line-highlight
686 @cindex mode-line-highlight face
687 Like @code{highlight}, but used for mouse-sensitive portions of text
688 on mode lines. Such portions of text typically pop up tooltips
689 (@pxref{Tooltips}) when the mouse pointer hovers above them.
690 @item mode-line-buffer-id
691 @cindex mode-line-buffer-id face
692 This face is used for buffer identification parts in the mode line.
694 @cindex header-line face
695 Similar to @code{mode-line} for a window's header line, which appears
696 at the top of a window just as the mode line appears at the bottom.
697 Most windows do not have a header line---only some special modes, such
698 Info mode, create one.
699 @item vertical-border
700 @cindex vertical-border face
701 This face is used for the vertical divider between windows on text
703 @item minibuffer-prompt
704 @cindex @code{minibuffer-prompt} face
705 @vindex minibuffer-prompt-properties
706 This face is used for the prompt strings displayed in the minibuffer.
707 By default, Emacs automatically adds this face to the value of
708 @code{minibuffer-prompt-properties}, which is a list of text
709 properties (@pxref{Text Properties,,, elisp, the Emacs Lisp Reference
710 Manual}) used to display the prompt text. (This variable takes effect
711 when you enter the minibuffer.)
713 @cindex @code{fringe} face
714 The face for the fringes to the left and right of windows on graphic
715 displays. (The fringes are the narrow portions of the Emacs frame
716 between the text area and the window's right and left borders.)
719 The @code{:background} attribute of this face specifies the color of
720 the text cursor. @xref{Cursor Display}.
722 This face is used for tooltip text. By default, if Emacs is built
723 with GTK support, tooltips are drawn via GTK and this face has no
724 effect. @xref{Tooltips}.
726 This face determines the color of the mouse pointer.
729 The following faces likewise control the appearance of parts of the
730 Emacs frame, but only on text terminals, or when Emacs is built on X
731 with no toolkit support. (For all other cases, the appearance of the
732 respective frame elements is determined by system-wide settings.)
736 This face determines the visual appearance of the scroll bar.
739 This face determines the color of tool bar icons. @xref{Tool Bars}.
741 @cindex menu bar appearance
742 @cindex @code{menu} face, no effect if customized
743 @cindex customization of @code{menu} face
744 This face determines the colors and font of Emacs's menus. @xref{Menu
746 @item tty-menu-enabled-face
747 @cindex faces for text-mode menus
748 @cindex TTY menu faces
749 This face is used to display enabled menu items on text-mode
751 @item tty-menu-disabled-face
752 This face is used to display disabled menu items on text-mode
754 @item tty-menu-selected-face
755 This face is used to display on text-mode terminals the menu item that
756 would be selected if you click a mouse or press @key{RET}.
762 @cindex adjust buffer face height
763 @findex text-scale-adjust
768 To increase the height of the default face in the current buffer,
769 type @kbd{C-x C-+} or @kbd{C-x C-=}. To decrease it, type @kbd{C-x
770 C--}. To restore the default (global) face height, type @kbd{C-x
771 C-0}. These keys are all bound to the same command,
772 @code{text-scale-adjust}, which looks at the last key typed to
773 determine which action to take.
775 The final key of these commands may be repeated without the leading
776 @kbd{C-x}. For instance, @kbd{C-x C-= C-= C-=} increases the face
777 height by three steps. Each step scales the text height by a factor
778 of 1.2; to change this factor, customize the variable
779 @code{text-scale-mode-step}. A numeric argument of 0
780 to the @code{text-scale-adjust} command restores the default height,
781 the same as typing @kbd{C-x C-0}.
783 @cindex increase buffer face height
784 @findex text-scale-increase
785 @cindex decrease buffer face height
786 @findex text-scale-decrease
787 The commands @code{text-scale-increase} and
788 @code{text-scale-decrease} increase or decrease the height of the
789 default face, just like @kbd{C-x C-+} and @kbd{C-x C--} respectively.
790 You may find it convenient to bind to these commands, rather than
791 @code{text-scale-adjust}.
793 @cindex set buffer face height
794 @findex text-scale-set
795 The command @code{text-scale-set} scales the height of the default
796 face in the current buffer to an absolute level specified by its
799 @findex text-scale-mode
800 The above commands automatically enable the minor mode
801 @code{text-scale-mode} if the current font scaling is other than 1,
802 and disable it otherwise.
805 @section Font Lock mode
806 @cindex Font Lock mode
807 @cindex mode, Font Lock
808 @cindex syntax highlighting and coloring
810 Font Lock mode is a minor mode, always local to a particular buffer,
811 which assigns faces to (or @dfn{fontifies}) the text in the buffer.
812 Each buffer's major mode tells Font Lock mode which text to fontify;
813 for instance, programming language modes fontify syntactically
814 relevant constructs like comments, strings, and function names.
816 @findex font-lock-mode
817 Font Lock mode is enabled by default. To toggle it in the current
818 buffer, type @kbd{M-x font-lock-mode}. A positive numeric argument
819 unconditionally enables Font Lock mode, and a negative or zero
820 argument disables it.
822 @findex global-font-lock-mode
823 @vindex global-font-lock-mode
824 Type @kbd{M-x global-font-lock-mode} to toggle Font Lock mode in all
825 buffers. To impose this setting for future Emacs sessions, customize
826 the variable @code{global-font-lock-mode} (@pxref{Easy
827 Customization}), or add the following line to your init file:
830 (global-font-lock-mode 0)
834 If you have disabled Global Font Lock mode, you can still enable Font
835 Lock for specific major modes by adding the function
836 @code{font-lock-mode} to the mode hooks (@pxref{Hooks}). For example,
837 to enable Font Lock mode for editing C files, you can do this:
840 (add-hook 'c-mode-hook 'font-lock-mode)
843 Font Lock mode uses several specifically named faces to do its job,
844 including @code{font-lock-string-face}, @code{font-lock-comment-face},
845 and others. The easiest way to find them all is to use @kbd{M-x
846 customize-group @key{RET} font-lock-faces @key{RET}}. You can then
847 use that customization buffer to customize the appearance of these
848 faces. @xref{Face Customization}.
850 @vindex font-lock-maximum-decoration
851 You can customize the variable @code{font-lock-maximum-decoration}
852 to alter the amount of fontification applied by Font Lock mode, for
853 major modes that support this feature. The value should be a number
854 (with 1 representing a minimal amount of fontification; some modes
855 support levels as high as 3); or @code{t}, meaning ``as high as
856 possible'' (the default). To be effective for a given file buffer,
857 the customization of @code{font-lock-maximum-decoration} should be
858 done @emph{before} the file is visited; if you already have the file
859 visited in a buffer when you customize this variable, kill the buffer
860 and visit the file again after the customization.
862 You can also specify different numbers for particular major modes; for
863 example, to use level 1 for C/C++ modes, and the default level
864 otherwise, use the value
867 '((c-mode . 1) (c++-mode . 1)))
870 @cindex incorrect fontification
871 @cindex parenthesis in column zero and fontification
872 @cindex brace in column zero and fontification
873 Comment and string fontification (or ``syntactic'' fontification)
874 relies on analysis of the syntactic structure of the buffer text. For
875 the sake of speed, some modes, including Lisp mode, rely on a special
876 convention: an open-parenthesis or open-brace in the leftmost column
877 always defines the beginning of a defun, and is thus always outside
878 any string or comment. Therefore, you should avoid placing an
879 open-parenthesis or open-brace in the leftmost column, if it is inside
880 a string or comment. @xref{Left Margin Paren}, for details.
882 @findex font-lock-add-keywords
883 Font Lock highlighting patterns already exist for most modes, but
884 you may want to fontify additional patterns. You can use the function
885 @code{font-lock-add-keywords}, to add your own highlighting patterns
886 for a particular mode. For example, to highlight @samp{FIXME:} words
887 in C comments, use this:
890 (add-hook 'c-mode-hook
892 (font-lock-add-keywords nil
893 '(("\\<\\(FIXME\\):" 1
894 font-lock-warning-face t)))))
897 @findex font-lock-remove-keywords
899 To remove keywords from the font-lock highlighting patterns, use the
900 function @code{font-lock-remove-keywords}. @xref{Search-based
901 Fontification,,, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
903 @cindex just-in-time (JIT) font-lock
904 @cindex background syntax highlighting
905 Fontifying large buffers can take a long time. To avoid large
906 delays when a file is visited, Emacs initially fontifies only the
907 visible portion of a buffer. As you scroll through the buffer, each
908 portion that becomes visible is fontified as soon as it is displayed;
909 this type of Font Lock is called @dfn{Just-In-Time} (or @dfn{JIT})
910 Lock. You can control how JIT Lock behaves, including telling it to
911 perform fontification while idle, by customizing variables in the
912 customization group @samp{jit-lock}. @xref{Specific Customization}.
914 @node Highlight Interactively
915 @section Interactive Highlighting
916 @cindex highlighting by matching
917 @cindex interactive highlighting
918 @cindex Highlight Changes mode
920 @findex highlight-changes-mode
921 Highlight Changes mode is a minor mode that @dfn{highlights} the parts
922 of the buffer that were changed most recently, by giving that text a
923 different face. To enable or disable Highlight Changes mode, use
924 @kbd{M-x highlight-changes-mode}.
928 Hi Lock mode is a minor mode that highlights text that matches
929 regular expressions you specify. For example, you can use it to
930 highlight all the references to a certain variable in a program source
931 file, highlight certain parts in a voluminous output of some program,
932 or highlight certain names in an article. To enable or disable Hi
933 Lock mode, use the command @kbd{M-x hi-lock-mode}. To enable Hi Lock
934 mode for all buffers, use @kbd{M-x global-hi-lock-mode} or place
935 @code{(global-hi-lock-mode 1)} in your @file{.emacs} file.
937 Hi Lock mode works like Font Lock mode (@pxref{Font Lock}), except
938 that you specify explicitly the regular expressions to highlight. You
939 control them with the commands described below. (The key bindings
940 below that begin with @kbd{C-x w} are deprecated in favor of the
941 global @kbd{M-s h} bindings, and will be removed in some future Emacs
945 @item M-s h r @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
946 @itemx C-x w h @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
949 @findex highlight-regexp
950 Highlight text that matches @var{regexp} using face @var{face}
951 (@code{highlight-regexp}). The highlighting will remain as long as
952 the buffer is loaded. For example, to highlight all occurrences of
953 the word ``whim'' using the default face (a yellow background)
954 @kbd{M-s h r whim @key{RET} @key{RET}}. Any face can be used for
955 highlighting, Hi Lock provides several of its own and these are
956 pre-loaded into a list of default values. While being prompted
957 for a face use @kbd{M-n} and @kbd{M-p} to cycle through them.
959 @vindex hi-lock-auto-select-face
960 Setting the option @code{hi-lock-auto-select-face} to a non-@code{nil}
961 value causes this command (and other Hi Lock commands that read faces)
962 to automatically choose the next face from the default list without
965 You can use this command multiple times, specifying various regular
966 expressions to highlight in different ways.
968 @item M-s h u @var{regexp} @key{RET}
969 @itemx C-x w r @var{regexp} @key{RET}
972 @findex unhighlight-regexp
973 Unhighlight @var{regexp} (@code{unhighlight-regexp}).
975 If you invoke this from the menu, you select the expression to
976 unhighlight from a list. If you invoke this from the keyboard, you
977 use the minibuffer. It will show the most recently added regular
978 expression; use @kbd{M-n} to show the next older expression and
979 @kbd{M-p} to select the next newer expression. (You can also type the
980 expression by hand, with completion.) When the expression you want to
981 unhighlight appears in the minibuffer, press @kbd{@key{RET}} to exit
982 the minibuffer and unhighlight it.
984 @item M-s h l @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
985 @itemx C-x w l @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
988 @findex highlight-lines-matching-regexp
989 @cindex lines, highlighting
990 @cindex highlighting lines of text
991 Highlight entire lines containing a match for @var{regexp}, using face
992 @var{face} (@code{highlight-lines-matching-regexp}).
994 @item M-s h p @var{phrase} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
995 @itemx C-x w p @var{phrase} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
998 @findex highlight-phrase
999 @cindex phrase, highlighting
1000 @cindex highlighting phrase
1001 Highlight matches of @var{phrase}, using face @var{face}
1002 (@code{highlight-phrase}). @var{phrase} can be any regexp,
1003 but spaces will be replaced by matches to whitespace and
1004 initial lower-case letters will become case insensitive.
1010 @findex highlight-symbol-at-point
1011 @cindex symbol, highlighting
1012 @cindex highlighting symbol at point
1013 Highlight the symbol found near point, using the next available face
1014 (@code{highlight-symbol-at-point}).
1020 @findex hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns
1021 Insert all the current highlighting regexp/face pairs into the buffer
1022 at point, with comment delimiters to prevent them from changing your
1023 program. (This key binding runs the
1024 @code{hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns} command.)
1026 These patterns are extracted from the comments, if appropriate, if you
1027 invoke @kbd{M-x hi-lock-find-patterns}, or if you visit the file while
1028 Hi Lock mode is enabled (since that runs @code{hi-lock-find-patterns}).
1034 @findex hi-lock-find-patterns
1035 Extract regexp/face pairs from comments in the current buffer
1036 (@code{hi-lock-find-patterns}). Thus, you can enter patterns
1037 interactively with @code{highlight-regexp}, store them into the file
1038 with @code{hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns}, edit them (perhaps
1039 including different faces for different parenthesized parts of the
1040 match), and finally use this command (@code{hi-lock-find-patterns}) to
1041 have Hi Lock highlight the edited patterns.
1043 @vindex hi-lock-file-patterns-policy
1044 The variable @code{hi-lock-file-patterns-policy} controls whether Hi
1045 Lock mode should automatically extract and highlight patterns found in a
1046 file when it is visited. Its value can be @code{nil} (never highlight),
1047 @code{ask} (query the user), or a function. If it is a function,
1048 @code{hi-lock-find-patterns} calls it with the patterns as argument; if
1049 the function returns non-@code{nil}, the patterns are used. The default
1050 is @code{ask}. Note that patterns are always highlighted if you call
1051 @code{hi-lock-find-patterns} directly, regardless of the value of this
1054 @vindex hi-lock-exclude-modes
1055 Also, @code{hi-lock-find-patterns} does nothing if the current major
1056 mode's symbol is a member of the list @code{hi-lock-exclude-modes}.
1060 @section Window Fringes
1063 @findex set-fringe-style
1065 @vindex fringe-mode @r{(variable)}
1066 On graphical displays, each Emacs window normally has narrow
1067 @dfn{fringes} on the left and right edges. The fringes are used to
1068 display symbols that provide information about the text in the window.
1069 You can type @kbd{M-x fringe-mode} to disable the fringes, or modify
1070 their width. This command affects fringes in all frames; to modify
1071 fringes on the selected frame only, use @kbd{M-x set-fringe-style}.
1072 You can make your changes to the fringes permanent by customizing the
1073 variable @code{fringe-mode}.
1075 The most common use of the fringes is to indicate a continuation
1076 line (@pxref{Continuation Lines}). When one line of text is split
1077 into multiple screen lines, the left fringe shows a curving arrow for
1078 each screen line except the first, indicating that this is not the
1079 real beginning. The right fringe shows a curving arrow for each
1080 screen line except the last, indicating that this is not the real
1081 end. If the line's direction is right-to-left (@pxref{Bidirectional
1082 Editing}), the meanings of the curving arrows in the fringes are
1085 The fringes indicate line truncation (@pxref{Line Truncation}) with
1086 short horizontal arrows meaning there's more text on this line which
1087 is scrolled horizontally out of view. Clicking the mouse on one of
1088 the arrows scrolls the display horizontally in the direction of the
1091 The fringes can also indicate other things, such as buffer
1092 boundaries (@pxref{Displaying Boundaries}), and where a program you
1093 are debugging is executing (@pxref{Debuggers}).
1095 @vindex overflow-newline-into-fringe
1096 The fringe is also used for drawing the cursor, if the current line
1097 is exactly as wide as the window and point is at the end of the line.
1098 To disable this, change the variable
1099 @code{overflow-newline-into-fringe} to @code{nil}; this causes Emacs
1100 to continue or truncate lines that are exactly as wide as the window.
1102 If you customize @code{fringe-mode} to remove the fringes on one or
1103 both sides of the window display, the features that display on the
1104 fringe are not available. Indicators of line continuation and
1105 truncation are an exception: when fringes are not available, Emacs
1106 uses the leftmost and rightmost character cells to indicate
1107 continuation and truncation with special ASCII characters, see
1108 @ref{Continuation Lines}, and @ref{Line Truncation}. This reduces the
1109 width available for displaying text on each line, because the
1110 character cells used for truncation and continuation indicators are
1111 reserved for that purpose. Since buffer text can include
1112 bidirectional text, and thus both left-to-right and right-to-left
1113 paragraphs (@pxref{Bidirectional Editing}), removing only one of the
1114 fringes still reserves two character cells, one on each side of the
1115 window, for truncation and continuation indicators, because these
1116 indicators are displayed on opposite sides of the window in
1117 right-to-left paragraphs.
1119 @node Displaying Boundaries
1120 @section Displaying Boundaries
1122 @vindex indicate-buffer-boundaries
1123 On graphical displays, Emacs can indicate the buffer boundaries in
1124 the fringes. If you enable this feature, the first line and the last
1125 line are marked with angle images in the fringes. This can be
1126 combined with up and down arrow images which say whether it is
1127 possible to scroll the window.
1129 The buffer-local variable @code{indicate-buffer-boundaries} controls
1130 how the buffer boundaries and window scrolling is indicated in the
1131 fringes. If the value is @code{left} or @code{right}, both angle and
1132 arrow bitmaps are displayed in the left or right fringe, respectively.
1134 If value is an alist (@pxref{Association Lists,,, elisp, the Emacs
1135 Lisp Reference Manual}), each element @code{(@var{indicator} .
1136 @var{position})} specifies the position of one of the indicators. The
1137 @var{indicator} must be one of @code{top}, @code{bottom}, @code{up},
1138 @code{down}, or @code{t} which specifies the default position for the
1139 indicators not present in the alist. The @var{position} is one of
1140 @code{left}, @code{right}, or @code{nil} which specifies not to show
1143 For example, @code{((top . left) (t . right))} places the top angle
1144 bitmap in left fringe, the bottom angle bitmap in right fringe, and
1145 both arrow bitmaps in right fringe. To show just the angle bitmaps in
1146 the left fringe, but no arrow bitmaps, use @code{((top . left)
1149 @node Useless Whitespace
1150 @section Useless Whitespace
1152 @cindex trailing whitespace
1153 @cindex whitespace, trailing
1154 @vindex show-trailing-whitespace
1155 It is easy to leave unnecessary spaces at the end of a line, or
1156 empty lines at the end of a buffer, without realizing it. In most
1157 cases, this @dfn{trailing whitespace} has no effect, but sometimes it
1160 @cindex trailing-whitespace face
1161 You can make trailing whitespace at the end of a line visible by
1162 setting the buffer-local variable @code{show-trailing-whitespace} to
1163 @code{t}. Then Emacs displays trailing whitespace, using the face
1164 @code{trailing-whitespace}.
1166 This feature does not apply when point is at the end of the line
1167 containing the whitespace. Strictly speaking, that is trailing
1168 whitespace nonetheless, but displaying it specially in that case
1169 looks ugly while you are typing in new text. In this special case,
1170 the location of point is enough to show you that the spaces are
1173 @findex delete-trailing-whitespace
1174 @vindex delete-trailing-lines
1175 Type @kbd{M-x delete-trailing-whitespace} to delete all trailing
1176 whitespace. This command deletes all extra spaces at the end of each
1177 line in the buffer, and all empty lines at the end of the buffer; to
1178 ignore the latter, change the variable @code{delete-trailing-lines} to
1179 @code{nil}. If the region is active, the command instead deletes
1180 extra spaces at the end of each line in the region.
1182 @vindex indicate-empty-lines
1183 @cindex unused lines
1184 @cindex fringes, and unused line indication
1185 On graphical displays, Emacs can indicate unused lines at the end of
1186 the window with a small image in the left fringe (@pxref{Fringes}).
1187 The image appears for screen lines that do not correspond to any
1188 buffer text, so blank lines at the end of the buffer stand out because
1189 they lack this image. To enable this feature, set the buffer-local
1190 variable @code{indicate-empty-lines} to a non-@code{nil} value. You
1191 can enable or disable this feature for all new buffers by setting the
1192 default value of this variable, e.g., @code{(setq-default
1193 indicate-empty-lines t)}.
1195 @cindex Whitespace mode
1196 @cindex mode, Whitespace
1197 @findex whitespace-mode
1198 @vindex whitespace-style
1199 @findex whitespace-toggle-options
1200 Whitespace mode is a buffer-local minor mode that lets you
1201 visualize many kinds of whitespace in the buffer, by either
1202 drawing the whitespace characters with a special face or displaying
1203 them as special glyphs. To toggle this mode, type @kbd{M-x
1204 whitespace-mode}. The kinds of whitespace visualized are determined
1205 by the list variable @code{whitespace-style}. Individual elements in
1206 that list can be toggled on or off in the current buffer by typing
1207 @w{@kbd{M-x whitespace-toggle-options}}. Here is a partial list
1208 of possible elements (see the variable's documentation for the full
1213 Enable all visualizations which use special faces. This element has a
1214 special meaning: if it is absent from the list, none of the other
1215 visualizations take effect except @code{space-mark}, @code{tab-mark},
1216 and @code{newline-mark}.
1219 Highlight trailing whitespace.
1222 Highlight tab characters.
1225 Highlight space and non-breaking space characters.
1228 @vindex whitespace-line-column
1229 Highlight lines longer than 80 columns. To change the column limit,
1230 customize the variable @code{whitespace-line-column}.
1236 Highlight empty lines.
1239 @vindex whitespace-big-indent-regexp
1240 Highlight too-deep indentation. By default any sequence of at least 4
1241 consecutive TAB characters or 32 consecutive SPC characters is
1242 highlighted. To change that, customize the regular expression
1243 @code{whitespace-big-indent-regexp}.
1246 Draw space and non-breaking characters with a special glyph.
1249 Draw tab characters with a special glyph.
1252 Draw newline characters with a special glyph.
1255 @findex global-whitespace-toggle-options
1256 @findex global-whitespace-mode
1257 Global Whitespace mode is a global minor mode that lets you visualize
1258 whitespace in all buffers. To toggle individual features, use
1259 @kbd{M-x global-whitespace-toggle-options}.
1261 @node Selective Display
1262 @section Selective Display
1263 @cindex selective display
1264 @findex set-selective-display
1267 Emacs has the ability to hide lines indented more than a given
1268 number of columns. You can use this to get an overview of a part of a
1271 To hide lines in the current buffer, type @kbd{C-x $}
1272 (@code{set-selective-display}) with a numeric argument @var{n}. Then
1273 lines with at least @var{n} columns of indentation disappear from the
1274 screen. The only indication of their presence is that three dots
1275 (@samp{@dots{}}) appear at the end of each visible line that is
1276 followed by one or more hidden ones.
1278 The commands @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} move across the hidden lines as
1279 if they were not there.
1281 The hidden lines are still present in the buffer, and most editing
1282 commands see them as usual, so you may find point in the middle of the
1283 hidden text. When this happens, the cursor appears at the end of the
1284 previous line, after the three dots. If point is at the end of the
1285 visible line, before the newline that ends it, the cursor appears before
1288 To make all lines visible again, type @kbd{C-x $} with no argument.
1290 @vindex selective-display-ellipses
1291 If you set the variable @code{selective-display-ellipses} to
1292 @code{nil}, the three dots do not appear at the end of a line that
1293 precedes hidden lines. Then there is no visible indication of the
1294 hidden lines. This variable becomes local automatically when set.
1296 See also @ref{Outline Mode} for another way to hide part of
1297 the text in a buffer.
1299 @node Optional Mode Line
1300 @section Optional Mode Line Features
1302 @cindex buffer size display
1303 @cindex display of buffer size
1304 @findex size-indication-mode
1305 The buffer percentage @var{pos} indicates the percentage of the
1306 buffer above the top of the window. You can additionally display the
1307 size of the buffer by typing @kbd{M-x size-indication-mode} to turn on
1308 Size Indication mode. The size will be displayed immediately
1309 following the buffer percentage like this:
1312 @var{pos} of @var{size}
1316 Here @var{size} is the human readable representation of the number of
1317 characters in the buffer, which means that @samp{k} for 10^3, @samp{M}
1318 for 10^6, @samp{G} for 10^9, etc., are used to abbreviate.
1320 @cindex line number display
1321 @cindex display of line number
1322 @findex line-number-mode
1323 The current line number of point appears in the mode line when Line
1324 Number mode is enabled. Use the command @kbd{M-x line-number-mode} to
1325 turn this mode on and off; normally it is on. The line number appears
1326 after the buffer percentage @var{pos}, with the letter @samp{L} to
1327 indicate what it is.
1329 @cindex Column Number mode
1330 @cindex mode, Column Number
1331 @findex column-number-mode
1332 Similarly, you can display the current column number by turning on
1333 Column number mode with @kbd{M-x column-number-mode}. The column
1334 number is indicated by the letter @samp{C}. However, when both of
1335 these modes are enabled, the line and column numbers are displayed in
1336 parentheses, the line number first, rather than with @samp{L} and
1337 @samp{C}. For example: @samp{(561,2)}. @xref{Minor Modes}, for more
1338 information about minor modes and about how to use these commands.
1340 @cindex narrowing, and line number display
1341 If you have narrowed the buffer (@pxref{Narrowing}), the displayed
1342 line number is relative to the accessible portion of the buffer.
1343 Thus, it isn't suitable as an argument to @code{goto-line}. (Use
1344 @code{what-line} command to see the line number relative to the whole
1347 @vindex line-number-display-limit
1348 If the buffer is very large (larger than the value of
1349 @code{line-number-display-limit}), Emacs won't compute the line
1350 number, because that would be too slow; therefore, the line number
1351 won't appear on the mode-line. To remove this limit, set
1352 @code{line-number-display-limit} to @code{nil}.
1354 @vindex line-number-display-limit-width
1355 Line-number computation can also be slow if the lines in the buffer
1356 are too long. For this reason, Emacs doesn't display line numbers if
1357 the average width, in characters, of lines near point is larger than
1358 the value of @code{line-number-display-limit-width}. The default
1359 value is 200 characters.
1361 @findex display-time
1362 @cindex time (on mode line)
1363 Emacs can optionally display the time and system load in all mode
1364 lines. To enable this feature, type @kbd{M-x display-time} or customize
1365 the option @code{display-time-mode}. The information added to the mode
1366 line looks like this:
1369 @var{hh}:@var{mm}pm @var{l.ll}
1373 @vindex display-time-24hr-format
1374 Here @var{hh} and @var{mm} are the hour and minute, followed always by
1375 @samp{am} or @samp{pm}. @var{l.ll} is the average number, collected
1376 for the last few minutes, of processes in the whole system that were
1377 either running or ready to run (i.e., were waiting for an available
1378 processor). (Some fields may be missing if your operating system
1379 cannot support them.) If you prefer time display in 24-hour format,
1380 set the variable @code{display-time-24hr-format} to @code{t}.
1382 @cindex mail (on mode line)
1383 @vindex display-time-use-mail-icon
1384 @vindex display-time-mail-face
1385 @vindex display-time-mail-file
1386 @vindex display-time-mail-directory
1387 The word @samp{Mail} appears after the load level if there is mail
1388 for you that you have not read yet. On graphical displays, you can
1389 use an icon instead of @samp{Mail} by customizing
1390 @code{display-time-use-mail-icon}; this may save some space on the
1391 mode line. You can customize @code{display-time-mail-face} to make
1392 the mail indicator prominent. Use @code{display-time-mail-file} to
1393 specify the mail file to check, or set
1394 @code{display-time-mail-directory} to specify the directory to check
1395 for incoming mail (any nonempty regular file in the directory is
1396 considered to be newly arrived mail).
1398 @cindex battery status (on mode line)
1399 @findex display-battery-mode
1400 @vindex display-battery-mode
1401 @vindex battery-mode-line-format
1402 When running Emacs on a laptop computer, you can display the battery
1403 charge on the mode-line, by using the command
1404 @code{display-battery-mode} or customizing the variable
1405 @code{display-battery-mode}. The variable
1406 @code{battery-mode-line-format} determines the way the battery charge
1407 is displayed; the exact mode-line message depends on the operating
1408 system, and it usually shows the current battery charge as a
1409 percentage of the total charge.
1411 @cindex mode line, 3D appearance
1412 @cindex attributes of mode line, changing
1413 @cindex non-integral number of lines in a window
1414 On graphical displays, the mode line is drawn as a 3D box. If you
1415 don't like this effect, you can disable it by customizing the
1416 @code{mode-line} face and setting its @code{box} attribute to
1417 @code{nil}. @xref{Face Customization}.
1419 @cindex non-selected windows, mode line appearance
1420 By default, the mode line of nonselected windows is displayed in a
1421 different face, called @code{mode-line-inactive}. Only the selected
1422 window is displayed in the @code{mode-line} face. This helps show
1423 which window is selected. When the minibuffer is selected, since
1424 it has no mode line, the window from which you activated the minibuffer
1425 has its mode line displayed using @code{mode-line}; as a result,
1426 ordinary entry to the minibuffer does not change any mode lines.
1428 @vindex mode-line-in-non-selected-windows
1429 You can disable use of @code{mode-line-inactive} by setting variable
1430 @code{mode-line-in-non-selected-windows} to @code{nil}; then all mode
1431 lines are displayed in the @code{mode-line} face.
1433 @vindex eol-mnemonic-unix
1434 @vindex eol-mnemonic-dos
1435 @vindex eol-mnemonic-mac
1436 @vindex eol-mnemonic-undecided
1437 You can customize the mode line display for each of the end-of-line
1438 formats by setting each of the variables @code{eol-mnemonic-unix},
1439 @code{eol-mnemonic-dos}, @code{eol-mnemonic-mac}, and
1440 @code{eol-mnemonic-undecided} to the strings you prefer.
1443 @section How Text Is Displayed
1444 @cindex characters (in text)
1445 @cindex printing character
1447 Most characters are @dfn{printing characters}: when they appear in a
1448 buffer, they are displayed literally on the screen. Printing
1449 characters include @acronym{ASCII} numbers, letters, and punctuation
1450 characters, as well as many non-@acronym{ASCII} characters.
1453 @cindex control characters on display
1454 The @acronym{ASCII} character set contains non-printing @dfn{control
1455 characters}. Two of these are displayed specially: the newline
1456 character (Unicode code point @code{U+000A}) is displayed by starting
1457 a new line, while the tab character (@code{U+0009}) is displayed as a
1458 space that extends to the next tab stop column (normally every 8
1459 columns). The number of spaces per tab is controlled by the
1460 buffer-local variable @code{tab-width}, which must have an integer
1461 value between 1 and 1000, inclusive. Note that how the tab character
1462 in the buffer is displayed has nothing to do with the definition of
1463 @key{TAB} as a command.
1465 Other @acronym{ASCII} control characters, whose codes are below
1466 @code{U+0020} (octal 40, decimal 32), are displayed as a caret
1467 (@samp{^}) followed by the non-control version of the character, with
1468 the @code{escape-glyph} face. For instance, the @samp{control-A}
1469 character, @code{U+0001}, is displayed as @samp{^A}.
1471 @cindex octal escapes
1473 The raw bytes with codes @code{U+0080} (octal 200) through
1474 @code{U+009F} (octal 237) are displayed as @dfn{octal escape
1475 sequences}, with the @code{escape-glyph} face. For instance,
1476 character code @code{U+0098} (octal 230) is displayed as @samp{\230}.
1477 If you change the buffer-local variable @code{ctl-arrow} to
1478 @code{nil}, the @acronym{ASCII} control characters are also displayed
1479 as octal escape sequences instead of caret escape sequences.
1481 @vindex nobreak-char-display
1482 @cindex non-breaking space
1483 @cindex non-breaking hyphen
1485 @cindex escape-glyph face
1486 @cindex nobreak-space face
1487 Some non-@acronym{ASCII} characters have the same appearance as an
1488 @acronym{ASCII} space or hyphen (minus) character. Such characters
1489 can cause problems if they are entered into a buffer without your
1490 realization, e.g., by yanking; for instance, source code compilers
1491 typically do not treat non-@acronym{ASCII} spaces as whitespace
1492 characters. To deal with this problem, Emacs displays such characters
1493 specially: it displays @code{U+00A0} (no-break space) with the
1494 @code{nobreak-space} face, and it displays @code{U+00AD} (soft
1495 hyphen), @code{U+2010} (hyphen), and @code{U+2011} (non-breaking
1496 hyphen) with the @code{nobreak-hyphen} face. To disable this, change
1497 the variable @code{nobreak-char-display} to @code{nil}. If you give
1498 this variable a non-@code{nil} and non-@code{t} value, Emacs instead
1499 displays such characters as a highlighted backslash followed by a
1502 You can customize the way any particular character code is displayed
1503 by means of a display table. @xref{Display Tables,, Display Tables,
1504 elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
1506 @cindex glyphless characters
1507 @cindex characters with no font glyphs
1508 @cindex glyphless-char face
1509 On graphical displays, some characters may have no glyphs in any of
1510 the fonts available to Emacs. These @dfn{glyphless characters} are
1511 normally displayed as boxes containing the hexadecimal character code.
1512 Similarly, on text terminals, characters that cannot be displayed
1513 using the terminal encoding (@pxref{Terminal Coding}) are normally
1514 displayed as question signs. You can control the display method by
1515 customizing the variable @code{glyphless-char-display-control}. You
1516 can also customize the @code{glyphless-char} face to make these
1517 characters more prominent on display. @xref{Glyphless Chars,,
1518 Glyphless Character Display, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual},
1521 @cindex curly quotes
1522 @cindex curved quotes
1523 @cindex escape-glyph face
1524 If the curved quotes @samp{‘}, @samp{’}, @samp{“}, and @samp{”} are
1525 known to look just like @acronym{ASCII} characters, they are shown
1526 with the @code{escape-glyph} face. Curved quotes that cannot be
1527 displayed are shown as their @acronym{ASCII} approximations @samp{`},
1528 @samp{'}, and @samp{"} with the @code{escape-glyph} face.
1530 @node Cursor Display
1531 @section Displaying the Cursor
1534 @vindex visible-cursor
1535 On a text terminal, the cursor's appearance is controlled by the
1536 terminal, largely out of the control of Emacs. Some terminals offer
1537 two different cursors: a visible static cursor, and a very
1538 visible blinking cursor. By default, Emacs uses the very visible
1539 cursor, and switches to it when you start or resume Emacs. If the
1540 variable @code{visible-cursor} is @code{nil} when Emacs starts or
1541 resumes, it uses the normal cursor.
1545 On a graphical display, many more properties of the text cursor can
1546 be altered. To customize its color, change the @code{:background}
1547 attribute of the face named @code{cursor} (@pxref{Face
1548 Customization}). (The other attributes of this face have no effect;
1549 the text shown under the cursor is drawn using the frame's background
1550 color.) To change its shape, customize the buffer-local variable
1551 @code{cursor-type}; possible values are @code{box} (the default),
1552 @code{hollow} (a hollow box), @code{bar} (a vertical bar), @code{(bar
1553 . @var{n})} (a vertical bar @var{n} pixels wide), @code{hbar} (a
1554 horizontal bar), @code{(hbar . @var{n})} (a horizontal bar @var{n}
1555 pixels tall), or @code{nil} (no cursor at all).
1557 @findex blink-cursor-mode
1558 @cindex cursor, blinking
1559 @cindex blinking cursor
1560 @vindex blink-cursor-mode
1561 @vindex blink-cursor-blinks
1562 @vindex blink-cursor-alist
1563 By default, the cursor stops blinking after 10 blinks, if Emacs does
1564 not get any input during that time; any input event restarts the
1565 count. You can customize the variable @code{blink-cursor-blinks} to
1566 control that: its value says how many times to blink without input
1567 before stopping. Setting that variable to a zero or negative value
1568 will make the cursor blink forever. To disable cursor blinking
1569 altogether, change the variable @code{blink-cursor-mode} to @code{nil}
1570 (@pxref{Easy Customization}), or add the line
1573 (blink-cursor-mode 0)
1577 to your init file. Alternatively, you can change how the cursor
1578 looks when it blinks off by customizing the list variable
1579 @code{blink-cursor-alist}. Each element in the list should have the
1580 form @code{(@var{on-type} . @var{off-type})}; this means that if the
1581 cursor is displayed as @var{on-type} when it blinks on (where
1582 @var{on-type} is one of the cursor types described above), then it is
1583 displayed as @var{off-type} when it blinks off.
1585 @vindex x-stretch-cursor
1586 @cindex wide block cursor
1587 Some characters, such as tab characters, are extra wide. When
1588 the cursor is positioned over such a character, it is normally drawn
1589 with the default character width. You can make the cursor stretch to
1590 cover wide characters, by changing the variable
1591 @code{x-stretch-cursor} to a non-@code{nil} value.
1593 @cindex cursor in non-selected windows
1594 @vindex cursor-in-non-selected-windows
1595 The cursor normally appears in non-selected windows as a
1596 non-blinking hollow box. (For a bar cursor, it instead appears as a
1597 thinner bar.) To turn off cursors in non-selected windows, change the
1598 variable @code{cursor-in-non-selected-windows} to @code{nil}.
1600 @findex hl-line-mode
1601 @findex global-hl-line-mode
1602 @cindex highlight current line
1603 To make the cursor even more visible, you can use HL Line mode, a
1604 minor mode that highlights the line containing point. Use @kbd{M-x
1605 hl-line-mode} to enable or disable it in the current buffer. @kbd{M-x
1606 global-hl-line-mode} enables or disables the same mode globally.
1608 @node Line Truncation
1609 @section Line Truncation
1612 @cindex line truncation, and fringes
1613 As an alternative to continuation (@pxref{Continuation Lines}),
1614 Emacs can display long lines by @dfn{truncation}. This means that all
1615 the characters that do not fit in the width of the screen or window do
1616 not appear at all. On graphical displays, a small straight arrow in
1617 the fringe indicates truncation at either end of the line. On text
1618 terminals, this is indicated with @samp{$} signs in the leftmost
1619 and/or rightmost columns.
1621 @vindex truncate-lines
1622 @findex toggle-truncate-lines
1623 Horizontal scrolling automatically causes line truncation
1624 (@pxref{Horizontal Scrolling}). You can explicitly enable line
1625 truncation for a particular buffer with the command @kbd{M-x
1626 toggle-truncate-lines}. This works by locally changing the variable
1627 @code{truncate-lines}. If that variable is non-@code{nil}, long lines
1628 are truncated; if it is @code{nil}, they are continued onto multiple
1629 screen lines. Setting the variable @code{truncate-lines} in any way
1630 makes it local to the current buffer; until that time, the default
1631 value, which is normally @code{nil}, is in effect.
1633 If a split window becomes too narrow, Emacs may automatically enable
1634 line truncation. @xref{Split Window}, for the variable
1635 @code{truncate-partial-width-windows} which controls this.
1637 @node Visual Line Mode
1638 @section Visual Line Mode
1641 Another alternative to ordinary line continuation is to use
1642 @dfn{word wrap}. Here, each long logical line is divided into two or
1643 more screen lines, like in ordinary line continuation. However, Emacs
1644 attempts to wrap the line at word boundaries near the right window
1645 edge. This makes the text easier to read, as wrapping does not occur
1646 in the middle of words.
1648 @cindex mode, Visual Line
1649 @cindex Visual Line mode
1650 @findex visual-line-mode
1651 @findex global-visual-line-mode
1652 Word wrap is enabled by Visual Line mode, an optional minor mode.
1653 To turn on Visual Line mode in the current buffer, type @kbd{M-x
1654 visual-line-mode}; repeating this command turns it off. You can also
1655 turn on Visual Line mode using the menu bar: in the Options menu,
1656 select the @samp{Line Wrapping in this Buffer} submenu, followed by
1657 the @samp{Word Wrap (Visual Line Mode)} menu item. While Visual Line
1658 mode is enabled, the mode-line shows the string @samp{wrap} in the
1659 mode display. The command @kbd{M-x global-visual-line-mode} toggles
1660 Visual Line mode in all buffers.
1662 @findex beginning-of-visual-line
1663 @findex end-of-visual-line
1664 @findex next-logical-line
1665 @findex previous-logical-line
1666 In Visual Line mode, some editing commands work on screen lines
1667 instead of logical lines: @kbd{C-a} (@code{beginning-of-visual-line})
1668 moves to the beginning of the screen line, @kbd{C-e}
1669 (@code{end-of-visual-line}) moves to the end of the screen line, and
1670 @kbd{C-k} (@code{kill-visual-line}) kills text to the end of the
1673 To move by logical lines, use the commands @kbd{M-x
1674 next-logical-line} and @kbd{M-x previous-logical-line}. These move
1675 point to the next logical line and the previous logical line
1676 respectively, regardless of whether Visual Line mode is enabled. If
1677 you use these commands frequently, it may be convenient to assign key
1678 bindings to them. @xref{Init Rebinding}.
1680 By default, word-wrapped lines do not display fringe indicators.
1681 Visual Line mode is often used to edit files that contain many long
1682 logical lines, so having a fringe indicator for each wrapped line
1683 would be visually distracting. You can change this by customizing the
1684 variable @code{visual-line-fringe-indicators}.
1686 @node Display Custom
1687 @section Customization of Display
1689 This section describes variables that control miscellaneous aspects
1690 of the appearance of the Emacs screen. Beginning users can skip it.
1692 @vindex visible-bell
1693 If the variable @code{visible-bell} is non-@code{nil}, Emacs attempts
1694 to make the whole screen blink when it would normally make an audible bell
1695 sound. This variable has no effect if your terminal does not have a way
1696 to make the screen blink.
1698 @vindex echo-keystrokes
1699 The variable @code{echo-keystrokes} controls the echoing of multi-character
1700 keys; its value is the number of seconds of pause required to cause echoing
1701 to start, or zero, meaning don't echo at all. The value takes effect when
1702 there is something to echo. @xref{Echo Area}.
1704 @cindex mouse pointer
1705 @cindex hourglass pointer display
1706 @vindex display-hourglass
1707 @vindex hourglass-delay
1708 On graphical displays, Emacs displays the mouse pointer as an
1709 hourglass if Emacs is busy. To disable this feature, set the variable
1710 @code{display-hourglass} to @code{nil}. The variable
1711 @code{hourglass-delay} determines the number of seconds of busy
1712 time before the hourglass is shown; the default is 1.
1714 @vindex make-pointer-invisible
1715 If the mouse pointer lies inside an Emacs frame, Emacs makes it
1716 invisible each time you type a character to insert text, to prevent it
1717 from obscuring the text. (To be precise, the hiding occurs when you
1718 type a self-inserting character. @xref{Inserting Text}.) Moving
1719 the mouse pointer makes it visible again. To disable this feature,
1720 set the variable @code{make-pointer-invisible} to @code{nil}.
1722 @vindex underline-minimum-offset
1723 @vindex x-underline-at-descent-line
1724 On graphical displays, the variable @code{underline-minimum-offset}
1725 determines the minimum distance between the baseline and underline, in
1726 pixels, for underlined text. By default, the value is 1; increasing
1727 it may improve the legibility of underlined text for certain fonts.
1728 (However, Emacs will never draw the underline below the current line
1729 area.) The variable @code{x-underline-at-descent-line} determines how
1730 to draw underlined text. The default is @code{nil}, which means to
1731 draw it at the baseline level of the font; if you change it to
1732 @code{nil}, Emacs draws the underline at the same height as the font's
1735 @vindex overline-margin
1736 The variable @code{overline-margin} specifies the vertical position
1737 of an overline above the text, including the height of the overline
1738 itself, in pixels; the default is 2.
1740 @findex tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors
1741 On some text terminals, bold face and inverse video together result
1742 in text that is hard to read. Call the function
1743 @code{tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors} with a non-@code{nil}
1744 argument to suppress the effect of bold-face in this case.