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1 ;;; help-fns.el --- Complex help functions
3 ;; Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
4 ;; Free Software Foundation, Inc.
6 ;; Maintainer: FSF
7 ;; Keywords: help, internal
9 ;; This file is part of GNU Emacs.
11 ;; GNU Emacs is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
12 ;; it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
13 ;; the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
14 ;; any later version.
16 ;; GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
17 ;; but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
18 ;; MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
19 ;; GNU General Public License for more details.
21 ;; You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
22 ;; along with GNU Emacs; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the
23 ;; Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
24 ;; Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
26 ;;; Commentary:
28 ;; This file contains those help commands which are complicated, and
29 ;; which may not be used in every session. For example
30 ;; `describe-function' will probably be heavily used when doing elisp
31 ;; programming, but not if just editing C files. Simpler help commands
32 ;; are in help.el
34 ;;; Code:
36 (require 'help-mode)
39 ;;;###autoload
40 (defun help-with-tutorial (&optional arg)
41 "Select the Emacs learn-by-doing tutorial.
42 If there is a tutorial version written in the language
43 of the selected language environment, that version is used.
44 If there's no tutorial in that language, `TUTORIAL' is selected.
45 With ARG, you are asked to choose which language."
46 (interactive "P")
47 (let ((lang (if arg
48 (let ((minibuffer-setup-hook minibuffer-setup-hook))
49 (add-hook 'minibuffer-setup-hook
50 'minibuffer-completion-help)
51 (read-language-name 'tutorial "Language: " "English"))
52 (if (get-language-info current-language-environment 'tutorial)
53 current-language-environment
54 "English")))
55 file filename)
56 (setq filename (get-language-info lang 'tutorial))
57 (setq file (expand-file-name (concat "~/" filename)))
58 (delete-other-windows)
59 (if (get-file-buffer file)
60 (switch-to-buffer (get-file-buffer file))
61 (switch-to-buffer (create-file-buffer file))
62 (setq buffer-file-name file)
63 (setq default-directory (expand-file-name "~/"))
64 (setq buffer-auto-save-file-name nil)
65 (insert-file-contents (expand-file-name filename data-directory))
66 (goto-char (point-min))
67 (search-forward "\n<<")
68 (beginning-of-line)
69 ;; Convert the <<...>> line to the proper [...] line,
70 ;; or just delete the <<...>> line if a [...] line follows.
71 (cond ((save-excursion
72 (forward-line 1)
73 (looking-at "\\["))
74 (delete-region (point) (progn (forward-line 1) (point))))
75 ((looking-at "<<Blank lines inserted.*>>")
76 (replace-match "[Middle of page left blank for didactic purposes. Text continues below]"))
78 (looking-at "<<")
79 (replace-match "[")
80 (search-forward ">>")
81 (replace-match "]")))
82 (beginning-of-line)
83 (let ((n (- (window-height (selected-window))
84 (count-lines (point-min) (point))
85 6)))
86 (if (< n 8)
87 (progn
88 ;; For a short gap, we don't need the [...] line,
89 ;; so delete it.
90 (delete-region (point) (progn (end-of-line) (point)))
91 (newline n))
92 ;; Some people get confused by the large gap.
93 (newline (/ n 2))
95 ;; Skip the [...] line (don't delete it).
96 (forward-line 1)
97 (newline (- n (/ n 2)))))
98 (goto-char (point-min))
99 (set-buffer-modified-p nil))))
101 ;;;###autoload
102 (defun locate-library (library &optional nosuffix path interactive-call)
103 "Show the precise file name of Emacs library LIBRARY.
104 This command searches the directories in `load-path' like `\\[load-library]'
105 to find the file that `\\[load-library] RET LIBRARY RET' would load.
106 Optional second arg NOSUFFIX non-nil means don't add suffixes `load-suffixes'
107 to the specified name LIBRARY.
109 If the optional third arg PATH is specified, that list of directories
110 is used instead of `load-path'.
112 When called from a program, the file name is normaly returned as a
113 string. When run interactively, the argument INTERACTIVE-CALL is t,
114 and the file name is displayed in the echo area."
115 (interactive (list (completing-read "Locate library: "
116 'locate-file-completion
117 (cons load-path load-suffixes))
118 nil nil
120 (let ((file (locate-file library
121 (or path load-path)
122 (append (unless nosuffix load-suffixes) '("")))))
123 (if interactive-call
124 (if file
125 (message "Library is file %s" (abbreviate-file-name file))
126 (message "No library %s in search path" library)))
127 file))
130 ;; Functions
132 ;;;###autoload
133 (defun describe-function (function)
134 "Display the full documentation of FUNCTION (a symbol)."
135 (interactive
136 (let ((fn (function-called-at-point))
137 (enable-recursive-minibuffers t)
138 val)
139 (setq val (completing-read (if fn
140 (format "Describe function (default %s): " fn)
141 "Describe function: ")
142 obarray 'fboundp t nil nil (symbol-name fn)))
143 (list (if (equal val "")
144 fn (intern val)))))
145 (if (null function)
146 (message "You didn't specify a function")
147 (help-setup-xref (list #'describe-function function) (interactive-p))
148 (save-excursion
149 (with-output-to-temp-buffer (help-buffer)
150 (prin1 function)
151 ;; Use " is " instead of a colon so that
152 ;; it is easier to get out the function name using forward-sexp.
153 (princ " is ")
154 (describe-function-1 function)
155 (print-help-return-message)
156 (with-current-buffer standard-output
157 ;; Return the text we displayed.
158 (buffer-string))))))
160 (defun help-split-fundoc (doc def)
161 "Split a function docstring DOC into the actual doc and the usage info.
162 Return (USAGE . DOC) or nil if there's no usage info.
163 DEF is the function whose usage we're looking for in DOC."
164 ;; Functions can get the calling sequence at the end of the doc string.
165 ;; In cases where `function' has been fset to a subr we can't search for
166 ;; function's name in the doc string so we use `fn' as the anonymous
167 ;; function name instead.
168 (when (and doc (string-match "\n\n(fn\\(\\( .*\\)?)\\)\\'" doc))
169 (cons (format "(%s%s"
170 ;; Replace `fn' with the actual function name.
171 (if (consp def) "anonymous" def)
172 (match-string 1 doc))
173 (substring doc 0 (match-beginning 0)))))
175 (defun help-add-fundoc-usage (doc arglist)
176 "Add the usage info to the docstring DOC.
177 If DOC already has a usage info, then just return DOC unchanged.
178 The usage info is built from ARGLIST. DOC can be nil."
179 (unless (stringp doc) (setq doc "Not documented"))
180 (if (string-match "\n\n(fn\\(\\( .*\\)?)\\)\\'" doc)
182 (format "%s%s%s" doc
183 (if (string-match "\n?\n\\'" doc)
184 (if (< (- (match-end 0) (match-beginning 0)) 2) "\n")
185 "\n\n")
186 (help-make-usage 'fn arglist))))
188 (defun help-function-arglist (def)
189 ;; Handle symbols aliased to other symbols.
190 (if (and (symbolp def) (fboundp def)) (setq def (indirect-function def)))
191 ;; If definition is a macro, find the function inside it.
192 (if (eq (car-safe def) 'macro) (setq def (cdr def)))
193 (cond
194 ((byte-code-function-p def) (aref def 0))
195 ((eq (car-safe def) 'lambda) (nth 1 def))
196 ((and (eq (car-safe def) 'autoload) (not (eq (nth 4 def) 'keymap)))
197 "[Arg list not available until function definition is loaded.]")
198 (t t)))
200 (defun help-make-usage (function arglist)
201 (cons (if (symbolp function) function 'anonymous)
202 (mapcar (lambda (arg)
203 (if (not (symbolp arg))
204 (if (and (consp arg) (symbolp (car arg)))
205 ;; CL style default values for optional args.
206 (cons (intern (upcase (symbol-name (car arg))))
207 (cdr arg))
208 arg)
209 (let ((name (symbol-name arg)))
210 (if (string-match "\\`&" name) arg
211 (intern (upcase name))))))
212 arglist)))
214 ;;;###autoload
215 (defun describe-function-1 (function)
216 (let* ((def (if (symbolp function)
217 (symbol-function function)
218 function))
219 file-name string
220 (beg (if (commandp def) "an interactive " "a ")))
221 (setq string
222 (cond ((or (stringp def)
223 (vectorp def))
224 "a keyboard macro")
225 ((subrp def)
226 (if (eq 'unevalled (cdr (subr-arity def)))
227 (concat beg "special form")
228 (concat beg "built-in function")))
229 ((byte-code-function-p def)
230 (concat beg "compiled Lisp function"))
231 ((symbolp def)
232 (while (symbolp (symbol-function def))
233 (setq def (symbol-function def)))
234 (format "an alias for `%s'" def))
235 ((eq (car-safe def) 'lambda)
236 (concat beg "Lisp function"))
237 ((eq (car-safe def) 'macro)
238 "a Lisp macro")
239 ((eq (car-safe def) 'autoload)
240 (setq file-name (nth 1 def))
241 (format "%s autoloaded %s"
242 (if (commandp def) "an interactive" "an")
243 (if (eq (nth 4 def) 'keymap) "keymap"
244 (if (nth 4 def) "Lisp macro" "Lisp function"))
246 ((keymapp def)
247 (let ((is-full nil)
248 (elts (cdr-safe def)))
249 (while elts
250 (if (char-table-p (car-safe elts))
251 (setq is-full t
252 elts nil))
253 (setq elts (cdr-safe elts)))
254 (if is-full
255 "a full keymap"
256 "a sparse keymap")))
257 (t "")))
258 (princ string)
259 (with-current-buffer standard-output
260 (save-excursion
261 (save-match-data
262 (if (re-search-backward "alias for `\\([^`']+\\)'" nil t)
263 (help-xref-button 1 'help-function def)))))
264 (or file-name
265 (setq file-name (symbol-file function)))
266 (when (equal file-name "loaddefs.el")
267 ;; Find the real def site of the preloaded function.
268 ;; This is necessary only for defaliases.
269 (let ((location
270 (condition-case nil
271 (find-function-search-for-symbol function nil "loaddefs.el")
272 (error nil))))
273 (when location
274 (with-current-buffer (car location)
275 (goto-char (cdr location))
276 (when (re-search-backward
277 "^;;; Generated autoloads from \\(.*\\)" nil t)
278 (setq file-name (match-string 1)))))))
279 (cond
280 (file-name
281 (princ " in `")
282 ;; We used to add .el to the file name,
283 ;; but that's completely wrong when the user used load-file.
284 (princ file-name)
285 (princ "'")
286 ;; Make a hyperlink to the library.
287 (with-current-buffer standard-output
288 (save-excursion
289 (re-search-backward "`\\([^`']+\\)'" nil t)
290 (help-xref-button 1 'help-function-def function file-name)))))
291 (princ ".")
292 (terpri)
293 (when (commandp function)
294 (let* ((remapped (command-remapping function))
295 (keys (where-is-internal
296 (or remapped function) overriding-local-map nil nil)))
297 (when remapped
298 (princ "It is remapped to `")
299 (princ (symbol-name remapped))
300 (princ "'"))
301 (when keys
302 (princ (if remapped " which is bound to " "It is bound to "))
303 ;; FIXME: This list can be very long (f.ex. for self-insert-command).
304 (princ (mapconcat 'key-description keys ", ")))
305 (when (or remapped keys)
306 (princ ".")
307 (terpri))))
308 (let* ((arglist (help-function-arglist def))
309 (doc (documentation function))
310 (usage (help-split-fundoc doc function)))
311 ;; If definition is a keymap, skip arglist note.
312 (unless (keymapp def)
313 (princ (cond
314 (usage (setq doc (cdr usage)) (car usage))
315 ((listp arglist) (help-make-usage function arglist))
316 ((stringp arglist) arglist)
317 ;; Maybe the arglist is in the docstring of the alias.
318 ((let ((fun function))
319 (while (and (symbolp fun)
320 (setq fun (symbol-function fun))
321 (not (setq usage (help-split-fundoc
322 (documentation fun)
323 function)))))
324 usage)
325 (car usage))
326 ((or (stringp def)
327 (vectorp def))
328 (format "\nMacro: %s" (format-kbd-macro def)))
329 (t "[Missing arglist. Please make a bug report.]")))
330 (terpri))
331 (let ((obsolete (and
332 ;; function might be a lambda construct.
333 (symbolp function)
334 (get function 'byte-obsolete-info))))
335 (when obsolete
336 (terpri)
337 (princ "This function is obsolete")
338 (if (nth 2 obsolete) (princ (format " since %s" (nth 2 obsolete))))
339 (princ ";") (terpri)
340 (princ (if (stringp (car obsolete)) (car obsolete)
341 (format "use `%s' instead." (car obsolete))))
342 (terpri)))
343 (terpri)
344 (princ (or doc "Not documented.")))))
347 ;; Variables
349 ;;;###autoload
350 (defun variable-at-point ()
351 "Return the bound variable symbol found around point.
352 Return 0 if there is no such symbol."
353 (condition-case ()
354 (with-syntax-table emacs-lisp-mode-syntax-table
355 (save-excursion
356 (or (not (zerop (skip-syntax-backward "_w")))
357 (eq (char-syntax (following-char)) ?w)
358 (eq (char-syntax (following-char)) ?_)
359 (forward-sexp -1))
360 (skip-chars-forward "'")
361 (let ((obj (read (current-buffer))))
362 (or (and (symbolp obj) (boundp obj) obj)
363 0))))
364 (error 0)))
366 ;;;###autoload
367 (defun describe-variable (variable &optional buffer)
368 "Display the full documentation of VARIABLE (a symbol).
369 Returns the documentation as a string, also.
370 If VARIABLE has a buffer-local value in BUFFER (default to the current buffer),
371 it is displayed along with the global value."
372 (interactive
373 (let ((v (variable-at-point))
374 (enable-recursive-minibuffers t)
375 val)
376 (setq val (completing-read (if (symbolp v)
377 (format
378 "Describe variable (default %s): " v)
379 "Describe variable: ")
380 obarray 'boundp t nil nil
381 (if (symbolp v) (symbol-name v))))
382 (list (if (equal val "")
383 v (intern val)))))
384 (unless (buffer-live-p buffer) (setq buffer (current-buffer)))
385 (if (not (symbolp variable))
386 (message "You did not specify a variable")
387 (save-excursion
388 (let* ((valvoid (not (with-current-buffer buffer (boundp variable))))
389 ;; Extract the value before setting up the output buffer,
390 ;; in case `buffer' *is* the output buffer.
391 (val (unless valvoid (buffer-local-value variable buffer))))
392 (help-setup-xref (list #'describe-variable variable buffer)
393 (interactive-p))
394 (with-output-to-temp-buffer (help-buffer)
395 (with-current-buffer buffer
396 (prin1 variable)
397 (if valvoid
398 (princ " is void")
399 (with-current-buffer standard-output
400 (princ "'s value is ")
401 (terpri)
402 (let ((from (point)))
403 (pp val)
404 (help-xref-on-pp from (point))
405 (if (< (point) (+ from 20))
406 (delete-region (1- from) from)))))
407 (terpri)
408 (when (local-variable-p variable)
409 (princ (format "Local in buffer %s; " (buffer-name)))
410 (if (not (default-boundp variable))
411 (princ "globally void")
412 (let ((val (default-value variable)))
413 (with-current-buffer standard-output
414 (princ "global value is ")
415 (terpri)
416 ;; Fixme: pp can take an age if you happen to
417 ;; ask for a very large expression. We should
418 ;; probably print it raw once and check it's a
419 ;; sensible size before prettyprinting. -- fx
420 (let ((from (point)))
421 (pp val)
422 (help-xref-on-pp from (point))
423 (if (< (point) (+ from 20))
424 (delete-region (1- from) from))))))
425 (terpri))
426 (terpri)
427 (with-current-buffer standard-output
428 (when (> (count-lines (point-min) (point-max)) 10)
429 ;; Note that setting the syntax table like below
430 ;; makes forward-sexp move over a `'s' at the end
431 ;; of a symbol.
432 (set-syntax-table emacs-lisp-mode-syntax-table)
433 (goto-char (point-min))
434 (if valvoid
435 (forward-line 1)
436 (forward-sexp 1)
437 (delete-region (point) (progn (end-of-line) (point)))
438 (insert " value is shown below.\n\n")
439 (save-excursion
440 (insert "\n\nValue:"))))
441 ;; Add a note for variables that have been make-var-buffer-local.
442 (when (and (local-variable-if-set-p variable)
443 (or (not (local-variable-p variable))
444 (with-temp-buffer
445 (local-variable-if-set-p variable))))
446 (save-excursion
447 (forward-line -1)
448 (insert "Automatically becomes buffer-local when set in any fashion.\n"))))
449 ;; Mention if it's an alias
450 (let* ((alias (condition-case nil
451 (indirect-variable variable)
452 (error variable)))
453 (obsolete (get variable 'byte-obsolete-variable))
454 (doc (or (documentation-property variable 'variable-documentation)
455 (documentation-property alias 'variable-documentation))))
456 (unless (eq alias variable)
457 (princ (format "This variable is an alias for `%s'." alias))
458 (terpri)
459 (terpri))
460 (when obsolete
461 (princ "This variable is obsolete")
462 (if (cdr obsolete) (princ (format " since %s" (cdr obsolete))))
463 (princ ";") (terpri)
464 (princ (if (stringp (car obsolete)) (car obsolete)
465 (format "use `%s' instead." (car obsolete))))
466 (terpri)
467 (terpri))
468 (princ (or doc "Not documented as a variable.")))
469 ;; Make a link to customize if this variable can be customized.
470 (if (custom-variable-p variable)
471 (let ((customize-label "customize"))
472 (terpri)
473 (terpri)
474 (princ (concat "You can " customize-label " this variable."))
475 (with-current-buffer standard-output
476 (save-excursion
477 (re-search-backward
478 (concat "\\(" customize-label "\\)") nil t)
479 (help-xref-button 1 'help-customize-variable variable)))))
480 ;; Make a hyperlink to the library if appropriate. (Don't
481 ;; change the format of the buffer's initial line in case
482 ;; anything expects the current format.)
483 (let ((file-name (symbol-file (cons 'defvar variable))))
484 (when (equal file-name "loaddefs.el")
485 ;; Find the real def site of the preloaded variable.
486 (let ((location
487 (condition-case nil
488 (find-variable-noselect variable file-name)
489 (error nil))))
490 (when location
491 (with-current-buffer (car location)
492 (goto-char (cdr location))
493 (when (re-search-backward
494 "^;;; Generated autoloads from \\(.*\\)" nil t)
495 (setq file-name (match-string 1)))))))
496 (when file-name
497 (princ "\n\nDefined in `")
498 (princ file-name)
499 (princ "'.")
500 (with-current-buffer standard-output
501 (save-excursion
502 (re-search-backward "`\\([^`']+\\)'" nil t)
503 (help-xref-button 1 'help-variable-def
504 variable file-name)))))
506 (print-help-return-message)
507 (save-excursion
508 (set-buffer standard-output)
509 ;; Return the text we displayed.
510 (buffer-string))))))))
513 ;;;###autoload
514 (defun describe-syntax (&optional buffer)
515 "Describe the syntax specifications in the syntax table of BUFFER.
516 The descriptions are inserted in a help buffer, which is then displayed.
517 BUFFER defaults to the current buffer."
518 (interactive)
519 (setq buffer (or buffer (current-buffer)))
520 (help-setup-xref (list #'describe-syntax buffer) (interactive-p))
521 (with-output-to-temp-buffer (help-buffer)
522 (let ((table (with-current-buffer buffer (syntax-table))))
523 (with-current-buffer standard-output
524 (describe-vector table 'internal-describe-syntax-value)
525 (while (setq table (char-table-parent table))
526 (insert "\nThe parent syntax table is:")
527 (describe-vector table 'internal-describe-syntax-value))))))
529 (defun help-describe-category-set (value)
530 (insert (cond
531 ((null value) "default")
532 ((char-table-p value) "deeper char-table ...")
533 (t (condition-case err
534 (category-set-mnemonics value)
535 (error "invalid"))))))
537 ;;;###autoload
538 (defun describe-categories (&optional buffer)
539 "Describe the category specifications in the current category table.
540 The descriptions are inserted in a buffer, which is then displayed."
541 (interactive)
542 (setq buffer (or buffer (current-buffer)))
543 (help-setup-xref (list #'describe-categories buffer) (interactive-p))
544 (with-output-to-temp-buffer (help-buffer)
545 (let ((table (with-current-buffer buffer (category-table))))
546 (with-current-buffer standard-output
547 (describe-vector table 'help-describe-category-set)
548 (let ((docs (char-table-extra-slot table 0)))
549 (if (or (not (vectorp docs)) (/= (length docs) 95))
550 (insert "Invalid first extra slot in this char table\n")
551 (insert "Meanings of mnemonic characters are:\n")
552 (dotimes (i 95)
553 (let ((elt (aref docs i)))
554 (when elt
555 (insert (+ i ?\ ) ": " elt "\n"))))
556 (while (setq table (char-table-parent table))
557 (insert "\nThe parent category table is:")
558 (describe-vector table 'help-describe-category-set))))))))
560 (provide 'help-fns)
562 ;;; help-fns.el ends here