1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
2 @c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000,
3 @c 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
5 @node Programs, Building, Text, Top
6 @chapter Editing Programs
9 @cindex program editing
11 Emacs provides many features to facilitate editing programs. Some
16 Find or move over top-level definitions (@pxref{Defuns}).
18 Apply the usual indentation conventions of the language
19 (@pxref{Program Indent}).
21 Balance parentheses (@pxref{Parentheses}).
23 Insert, kill or align comments (@pxref{Comments}).
25 Highlight program syntax (@pxref{Font Lock}).
28 This chapter describes these features and many more.
31 * Program Modes:: Major modes for editing programs.
32 * Defuns:: Commands to operate on major top-level parts
34 * Program Indent:: Adjusting indentation to show the nesting.
35 * Parentheses:: Commands that operate on parentheses.
36 * Comments:: Inserting, killing, and aligning comments.
37 * Documentation:: Getting documentation of functions you plan to call.
38 * Hideshow:: Displaying blocks selectively.
39 * Symbol Completion:: Completion on symbol names of your program or language.
40 * Glasses:: Making identifiersLikeThis more readable.
41 * Misc for Programs:: Other Emacs features useful for editing programs.
42 * C Modes:: Special commands of C, C++, Objective-C,
44 * Asm Mode:: Asm mode and its special features.
46 * Fortran:: Fortran mode and its special features.
51 @section Major Modes for Programming Languages
52 @cindex modes for programming languages
54 Emacs has specialized major modes for various programming languages.
55 @xref{Major Modes}. A programming language major mode typically
56 specifies the syntax of expressions, the customary rules for
57 indentation, how to do syntax highlighting for the language, and how
58 to find the beginning of a function definition. It often customizes
59 or provides facilities for compiling and debugging programs as well.
61 Ideally, Emacs should provide a major mode for each programming
62 language that you might want to edit; if it doesn't have a mode for
63 your favorite language, you can contribute one. But often the mode
64 for one language can serve for other syntactically similar languages.
65 The major mode for language @var{l} is called @code{@var{l}-mode},
66 and you can select it by typing @kbd{M-x @var{l}-mode @key{RET}}.
67 @xref{Choosing Modes}.
83 @cindex Shell-script mode
85 @cindex PostScript mode
88 The existing programming language major modes include Lisp, Scheme (a
89 variant of Lisp) and the Scheme-based DSSSL expression language, Ada,
90 ASM, AWK, C, C++, Delphi (Object Pascal), Fortran (free format and fixed
91 format), Icon, IDL (CORBA), IDLWAVE, Java, Metafont (@TeX{}'s
92 companion for font creation), Modula2, Objective-C, Octave, Pascal,
93 Perl, Pike, PostScript, Prolog, Python, Simula, Tcl, and VHDL. An
94 alternative mode for Perl is called CPerl mode. Modes are available for
95 the scripting languages of the common GNU and Unix shells, VMS DCL, and
96 MS-DOS/MS-Windows @samp{BAT} files. There are also major modes for
97 editing makefiles, DNS master files, and various sorts of configuration
100 @kindex DEL @r{(programming modes)}
101 @findex c-electric-backspace
102 In most programming languages, indentation should vary from line to
103 line to illustrate the structure of the program. So the major modes
104 for programming languages arrange for @key{TAB} to update the
105 indentation of the current line. They also rebind @key{DEL} to treat
106 a tab as if it were the equivalent number of spaces; this lets you
107 delete one column of indentation without worrying whether the
108 whitespace consists of spaces or tabs. Use @kbd{C-b C-d} to delete a
109 tab character before point, in these modes.
111 Separate manuals are available for the modes for Ada (@pxref{Top, , Ada
112 Mode, ada-mode, Ada Mode}), C/C++/Objective C/Java/Corba IDL/Pike/AWK
113 (@pxref{Top, , CC Mode, ccmode, CC Mode}) and the IDLWAVE modes
114 (@pxref{Top, , IDLWAVE, idlwave, IDLWAVE User Manual}). For Fortran
117 @ref{Fortran,,, emacs-xtra, Specialized Emacs Features}.
126 @vindex lisp-mode-hook
127 @vindex emacs-lisp-mode-hook
128 @vindex lisp-interaction-mode-hook
129 @vindex scheme-mode-hook
130 Turning on a major mode runs a normal hook called the @dfn{mode
131 hook}, which is the value of a Lisp variable. Each major mode has a
132 mode hook, and the hook's name is always made from the mode command's
133 name by adding @samp{-hook}. For example, turning on C mode runs the
134 hook @code{c-mode-hook}, while turning on Lisp mode runs the hook
135 @code{lisp-mode-hook}. The purpose of the mode hook is to give you a
136 place to set up customizations for that major mode. @xref{Hooks}.
139 @section Top-Level Definitions, or Defuns
141 In Emacs, a major definition at the top level in the buffer,
142 something like a function, is called a @dfn{defun}. The name comes
143 from Lisp, but in Emacs we use it for all languages.
146 * Left Margin Paren:: An open-paren or similar opening delimiter
147 starts a defun if it is at the left margin.
148 * Moving by Defuns:: Commands to move over or mark a major definition.
149 * Imenu:: Making buffer indexes as menus.
150 * Which Function:: Which Function mode shows which function you are in.
153 @node Left Margin Paren
154 @subsection Left Margin Convention
156 @cindex open-parenthesis in leftmost column
157 @cindex ( in leftmost column
158 Emacs assumes by default that any opening delimiter found at the
159 left margin is the start of a top-level definition, or defun. You can
160 override this default by setting this user option:
162 @defvar open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start
163 If this user option is set to @code{t} (the default), opening
164 parentheses or braces at column zero always start defuns. When it's
165 @code{nil}, defuns are found by searching for parens or braces at the
166 outermost level. Some major modes, including C and related modes, set
167 @code{open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start} buffer-locally to
171 In modes where @code{open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start} is
172 @code{t}, @strong{don't put an opening delimiter at the left margin
173 unless it is a defun start}. For instance, never put an
174 open-parenthesis at the left margin in a Lisp file unless it is the
175 start of a top-level list.
177 If you don't follow this convention, not only will you have trouble
178 when you explicitly use the commands for motion by defuns; other
179 features that use them will also give you trouble. This includes
180 the indentation commands (@pxref{Program Indent}) and Font Lock
181 mode (@pxref{Font Lock}).
183 The most likely problem case is when you want an opening delimiter
184 at the start of a line inside a string. To avoid trouble, put an
185 escape character (@samp{\}, in Emacs Lisp, @samp{/} in some other Lisp
186 dialects) before the opening delimiter. This will not affect the
187 contents of the string, but will prevent that opening delimiter from
188 starting a defun. Here's an example:
196 To help you catch violations of this convention, Font Lock mode
197 highlights confusing opening delimiters (those that ought to be
200 In the earliest days, the original Emacs found defuns by moving
201 upward a level of parentheses or braces until there were no more
202 levels to go up. This always required scanning all the way back to
203 the beginning of the buffer, even for a small function. To speed up
204 the operation, we changed Emacs to assume that any opening delimiter
205 at the left margin is the start of a defun. This heuristic is nearly
206 always right, and avoids the need to scan back to the beginning of the
207 buffer. However, now that modern computers are so powerful, this
208 scanning is rarely slow enough to annoy, so we've provided a way to
209 disable the heuristic.
211 @node Moving by Defuns
212 @subsection Moving by Defuns
215 These commands move point or set up the region based on top-level
216 major definitions, also called @dfn{defuns}.
220 Move to beginning of current or preceding defun
221 (@code{beginning-of-defun}).
223 Move to end of current or following defun (@code{end-of-defun}).
225 Put region around whole current or following defun (@code{mark-defun}).
228 @cindex move to beginning or end of function
229 @cindex function, move to beginning or end
233 @findex beginning-of-defun
236 The commands to move to the beginning and end of the current defun
237 are @kbd{C-M-a} (@code{beginning-of-defun}) and @kbd{C-M-e}
238 (@code{end-of-defun}). If you repeat one of these commands, or use a
239 positive numeric argument, each repetition moves to the next defun in
240 the direction of motion.
242 @kbd{C-M-a} with a negative argument @minus{}@var{n} moves forward
243 @var{n} times to the next beginning of a defun. This is not exactly
244 the same place that @kbd{C-M-e} with argument @var{n} would move to;
245 the end of this defun is not usually exactly the same place as the
246 beginning of the following defun. (Whitespace, comments, and perhaps
247 declarations can separate them.) Likewise, @kbd{C-M-e} with a
248 negative argument moves back to an end of a defun, which is not quite
249 the same as @kbd{C-M-a} with a positive argument.
251 @kindex C-M-h @r{(C mode)}
252 @findex c-mark-function
253 To operate on the current defun, use @kbd{C-M-h} (@code{mark-defun})
254 which puts point at the beginning and mark at the end of the current
255 defun. This is the easiest way to get ready to kill the defun in
256 order to move it to a different place in the file. If you use the
257 command while point is between defuns, it uses the following defun.
258 Successive uses of @kbd{C-M-h}, or using it in Transient Mark mode
259 when the mark is active, extends the end of the region to include one
260 more defun each time.
262 In C mode, @kbd{C-M-h} runs the function @code{c-mark-function},
263 which is almost the same as @code{mark-defun}; the difference is that
264 it backs up over the argument declarations, function name and returned
265 data type so that the entire C function is inside the region. This is
266 an example of how major modes adjust the standard key bindings so that
267 they do their standard jobs in a way better fitting a particular
268 language. Other major modes may replace any or all of these key
269 bindings for that purpose.
273 @cindex index of buffer definitions
274 @cindex buffer definitions index
277 The Imenu facility offers a way to find the major definitions in
278 a file by name. It is also useful in text formatter major modes,
279 where it treats each chapter, section, etc., as a definition.
280 (@xref{Tags}, for a more powerful feature that handles multiple files
284 If you type @kbd{M-x imenu}, it reads the name of a definition using
285 the minibuffer, then moves point to that definition. You can use
286 completion to specify the name; the command always displays the whole
289 @findex imenu-add-menubar-index
290 Alternatively, you can bind the command @code{imenu} to a mouse
291 click. Then it displays mouse menus for you to select a definition
292 name. You can also add the buffer's index to the menu bar by calling
293 @code{imenu-add-menubar-index}. If you want to have this menu bar
294 item available for all buffers in a certain major mode, you can do
295 this by adding @code{imenu-add-menubar-index} to its mode hook. But
296 if you have done that, you will have to wait a little while each time
297 you visit a file in that mode, while Emacs finds all the definitions
300 @vindex imenu-auto-rescan
301 When you change the contents of a buffer, if you add or delete
302 definitions, you can update the buffer's index based on the
303 new contents by invoking the @samp{*Rescan*} item in the menu.
304 Rescanning happens automatically if you set @code{imenu-auto-rescan} to
305 a non-@code{nil} value. There is no need to rescan because of small
308 @vindex imenu-sort-function
309 You can customize the way the menus are sorted by setting the
310 variable @code{imenu-sort-function}. By default, names are ordered as
311 they occur in the buffer; if you want alphabetic sorting, use the
312 symbol @code{imenu--sort-by-name} as the value. You can also
313 define your own comparison function by writing Lisp code.
315 Imenu provides the information to guide Which Function mode
317 (@pxref{Which Function}).
322 The Speedbar can also use it (@pxref{Speedbar}).
325 @subsection Which Function Mode
326 @cindex current function name in mode line
328 Which Function mode is a minor mode that displays the current
329 function name in the mode line, updating it as you move around in a
332 @findex which-function-mode
333 @vindex which-func-modes
334 To enable (or disable) Which Function mode, use the command @kbd{M-x
335 which-function-mode}. This command is global; it applies to all
336 buffers, both existing ones and those yet to be created. However, it
337 takes effect only in certain major modes, those listed in the value of
338 @code{which-func-modes}. If the value is @code{t}, then Which Function
339 mode applies to all major modes that know how to support it---in other
340 words, all the major modes that support Imenu.
343 @section Indentation for Programs
344 @cindex indentation for programs
346 The best way to keep a program properly indented is to use Emacs to
347 reindent it as you change it. Emacs has commands to indent properly
348 either a single line, a specified number of lines, or all of the lines
349 inside a single parenthetical grouping.
352 * Basic Indent:: Indenting a single line.
353 * Multi-line Indent:: Commands to reindent many lines at once.
354 * Lisp Indent:: Specifying how each Lisp function should be indented.
355 * C Indent:: Extra features for indenting C and related modes.
356 * Custom C Indent:: Controlling indentation style for C and related modes.
359 @cindex pretty-printer
360 Emacs also provides a Lisp pretty-printer in the library @code{pp}.
361 This program reformats a Lisp object with indentation chosen to look nice.
364 @subsection Basic Program Indentation Commands
366 The basic indentation commands indent a single line according to the
367 usual conventions of the language you are editing.
371 Adjust indentation of current line.
373 Insert a newline, then adjust indentation of following line
374 (@code{newline-and-indent}).
377 @kindex TAB @r{(programming modes)}
378 @findex c-indent-command
379 @findex indent-line-function
380 @findex indent-for-tab-command
381 The basic indentation command is @key{TAB}, which gives the current line
382 the correct indentation as determined from the previous lines. The
383 function that @key{TAB} runs depends on the major mode; it is
384 @code{lisp-indent-line}
385 in Lisp mode, @code{c-indent-command} in C mode, etc. These functions
386 understand the syntax and conventions of different languages, but they all do
387 conceptually the same job: @key{TAB} in any programming-language major mode
388 inserts or deletes whitespace at the beginning of the current line,
389 independent of where point is in the line. If point was inside the
390 whitespace at the beginning of the line, @key{TAB} puts it at the end of
391 that whitespace; otherwise, @key{TAB} keeps point fixed with respect to
392 the characters around it.
394 Use @kbd{C-q @key{TAB}} to insert a tab character at point.
397 @findex newline-and-indent
398 When entering lines of new code, use @kbd{C-j}
399 (@code{newline-and-indent}), which inserts a newline and then adjusts
400 indentation after it. (It also deletes any trailing whitespace which
401 remains before the new newline.) Thus, @kbd{C-j} at the end of a line
402 creates a blank line with appropriate indentation. In programming
403 language modes, it is equivalent to @key{RET} @key{TAB}.
405 @key{TAB} indents a line that starts within a parenthetical grouping
406 under the preceding line within the grouping, or the text after the
407 parenthesis. Therefore, if you manually give one of these lines a
408 nonstandard indentation, the lines below will tend to follow it. This
409 behavior is convenient in cases where you have overridden the standard
410 result of @key{TAB} because you find it unaesthetic for a particular
413 In some modes, an open-parenthesis, open-brace or other opening
414 delimiter at the left margin is assumed by Emacs (including the
415 indentation routines) to be the start of a function. This speeds up
416 indentation commands. If you will be editing text which contains
417 opening delimiters in column zero that aren't the beginning of a
418 functions, even inside strings or comments, you must set
419 @code{open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start}. @xref{Left Margin
420 Paren}, for more information on this.
422 Normally, lines are indented with tabs and spaces. If you want Emacs
423 to use spaces only, set @code{indent-tabs-mode} (@pxref{Just Spaces}).
425 @node Multi-line Indent
426 @subsection Indenting Several Lines
428 When you wish to reindent several lines of code which have been
429 altered or moved to a different level in the parenthesis structure,
430 you have several commands available.
434 Reindent all the lines within one parenthetical grouping (@code{indent-pp-sexp}).
436 Reindent all lines in the region (@code{indent-region}).
438 Shift an entire parenthetical grouping rigidly sideways so that its
439 first line is properly indented.
440 @item M-x indent-code-rigidly
441 Shift all the lines in the region rigidly sideways, but do not alter
442 lines that start inside comments and strings.
446 @findex indent-pp-sexp
447 You can reindent the contents of a single parenthetical grouping by
448 positioning point before the beginning of it and typing @kbd{C-M-q}
449 (@code{indent-pp-sexp} in Lisp mode, @code{c-indent-exp} in C mode; also
450 bound to other suitable commands in other modes). The indentation of
451 the line where the grouping starts is not changed; therefore this
452 changes only the relative indentation within the grouping, not its
453 overall indentation. To correct that as well, type @key{TAB} first.
455 Another way to specify the range to be reindented is with the
456 region. The command @kbd{C-M-\} (@code{indent-region}) applies
457 @key{TAB} to every line whose first character is between point and
461 If you like the relative indentation within a grouping, but not the
462 indentation of its first line, you can type @kbd{C-u @key{TAB}} to
463 reindent the whole grouping as a rigid unit. (This works in Lisp
464 modes and C and related modes.) @key{TAB} with a numeric argument
465 reindents the current line as usual, then reindents by the same amount
466 all the lines in the parenthetical grouping starting on the current
467 line. It is clever, though, and does not alter lines that start
468 inside strings. Neither does it alter C preprocessor lines when in C
469 mode, but it does reindent any continuation lines that may be attached
472 @findex indent-code-rigidly
473 You can also perform this operation on the region, using the command
474 @kbd{M-x indent-code-rigidly}. It rigidly shifts all the lines in the
475 region sideways, like @code{indent-rigidly} does (@pxref{Indentation
476 Commands}). It doesn't alter the indentation of lines that start
477 inside a string, unless the region also starts inside that string.
478 The prefix arg specifies the number of columns to indent.
481 @subsection Customizing Lisp Indentation
482 @cindex customizing Lisp indentation
484 The indentation pattern for a Lisp expression can depend on the function
485 called by the expression. For each Lisp function, you can choose among
486 several predefined patterns of indentation, or define an arbitrary one with
489 The standard pattern of indentation is as follows: the second line of the
490 expression is indented under the first argument, if that is on the same
491 line as the beginning of the expression; otherwise, the second line is
492 indented underneath the function name. Each following line is indented
493 under the previous line whose nesting depth is the same.
495 @vindex lisp-indent-offset
496 If the variable @code{lisp-indent-offset} is non-@code{nil}, it overrides
497 the usual indentation pattern for the second line of an expression, so that
498 such lines are always indented @code{lisp-indent-offset} more columns than
501 @vindex lisp-body-indent
502 Certain functions override the standard pattern. Functions whose
503 names start with @code{def} treat the second lines as the start of
504 a @dfn{body}, by indenting the second line @code{lisp-body-indent}
505 additional columns beyond the open-parenthesis that starts the
508 @cindex @code{lisp-indent-function} property
509 You can override the standard pattern in various ways for individual
510 functions, according to the @code{lisp-indent-function} property of
511 the function name. Normally you would use this for macro definitions
512 and specify it using the @code{declare} construct (@pxref{Defining
513 Macros,,, elisp, the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}).
516 @subsection Commands for C Indentation
518 Here are special features for indentation in C mode and related modes:
522 @kindex C-c C-q @r{(C mode)}
523 @findex c-indent-defun
524 Reindent the current top-level function definition or aggregate type
525 declaration (@code{c-indent-defun}).
528 @kindex C-M-q @r{(C mode)}
530 Reindent each line in the balanced expression that follows point
531 (@code{c-indent-exp}). A prefix argument inhibits warning messages
532 about invalid syntax.
535 @findex c-indent-command
536 Reindent the current line, and/or in some cases insert a tab character
537 (@code{c-indent-command}).
539 @vindex c-tab-always-indent
540 If @code{c-tab-always-indent} is @code{t}, this command always reindents
541 the current line and does nothing else. This is the default.
543 If that variable is @code{nil}, this command reindents the current line
544 only if point is at the left margin or in the line's indentation;
545 otherwise, it inserts a tab (or the equivalent number of spaces,
546 if @code{indent-tabs-mode} is @code{nil}).
548 Any other value (not @code{nil} or @code{t}) means always reindent the
549 line, and also insert a tab if within a comment or a string.
552 To reindent the whole current buffer, type @kbd{C-x h C-M-\}. This
553 first selects the whole buffer as the region, then reindents that
556 To reindent the current block, use @kbd{C-M-u C-M-q}. This moves
557 to the front of the block and then reindents it all.
559 @node Custom C Indent
560 @subsection Customizing C Indentation
561 @cindex style (for indentation)
563 C mode and related modes use a flexible mechanism for customizing
564 indentation. C mode indents a source line in two steps: first it
565 classifies the line syntactically according to its contents and
566 context; second, it determines the indentation offset associated by
567 your selected @dfn{style} with the syntactic construct and adds this
568 onto the indentation of the @dfn{anchor statement}.
571 @item C-c . @key{RET} @var{style} @key{RET}
572 Select a predefined style @var{style} (@code{c-set-style}).
575 A @dfn{style} is a named collection of customizations that can be
576 used in C mode and the related modes. @ref{Styles,,, ccmode, The CC
577 Mode Manual}, for a complete description. Emacs comes with several
578 predefined styles, including @code{gnu}, @code{k&r}, @code{bsd},
579 @code{stroustrup}, @code{linux}, @code{python}, @code{java},
580 @code{whitesmith}, @code{ellemtel}, and @code{awk}. Some of these
581 styles are primarily intended for one language, but any of them can be
582 used with any of the languages supported by these modes. To find out
583 what a style looks like, select it and reindent some code, e.g., by
584 typing @key{C-M-q} at the start of a function definition.
586 @kindex C-c . @r{(C mode)}
588 To choose a style for the current buffer, use the command @w{@kbd{C-c
589 .}}. Specify a style name as an argument (case is not significant).
590 This command affects the current buffer only, and it affects only
591 future invocations of the indentation commands; it does not reindent
592 the code already in the buffer. To reindent the whole buffer in the
593 new style, you can type @kbd{C-x h C-M-\}.
595 @vindex c-default-style
596 You can also set the variable @code{c-default-style} to specify the
597 default style for various major modes. Its value should be either the
598 style's name (a string) or an alist, in which each element specifies
599 one major mode and which indentation style to use for it. For
603 (setq c-default-style
604 '((java-mode . "java") (awk-mode . "awk") (other . "gnu")))
608 specifies explicit choices for Java and AWK modes, and the default
609 @samp{gnu} style for the other C-like modes. (These settings are
610 actually the defaults.) This variable takes effect when you select
611 one of the C-like major modes; thus, if you specify a new default
612 style for Java mode, you can make it take effect in an existing Java
613 mode buffer by typing @kbd{M-x java-mode} there.
615 The @code{gnu} style specifies the formatting recommended by the GNU
616 Project for C; it is the default, so as to encourage use of our
619 @xref{Indentation Engine Basics,,, ccmode, the CC Mode Manual}, and
620 @ref{Customizing Indentation,,, ccmode, the CC Mode Manual}, for more
621 information on customizing indentation for C and related modes,
622 including how to override parts of an existing style and how to define
626 @section Commands for Editing with Parentheses
629 @cindex unbalanced parentheses and quotes
630 This section describes the commands and features that take advantage
631 of the parenthesis structure in a program, or help you keep it
634 When talking about these facilities, the term ``parenthesis'' also
635 includes braces, brackets, or whatever delimiters are defined to match
636 in pairs. The major mode controls which delimiters are significant,
637 through the syntax table (@pxref{Syntax}). In Lisp, only parentheses
638 count; in C, these commands apply to braces and brackets too.
640 You can use @kbd{M-x check-parens} to find any unbalanced
641 parentheses and unbalanced string quotes in the buffer.
644 * Expressions:: Expressions with balanced parentheses.
645 * Moving by Parens:: Commands for moving up, down and across
646 in the structure of parentheses.
647 * Matching:: Insertion of a close-delimiter flashes matching open.
651 @subsection Expressions with Balanced Parentheses
655 @cindex balanced expression
656 These commands deal with balanced expressions, also called
657 @dfn{sexps}@footnote{The word ``sexp'' is used to refer to an
658 expression in Lisp.}.
662 Move forward over a balanced expression (@code{forward-sexp}).
664 Move backward over a balanced expression (@code{backward-sexp}).
666 Kill balanced expression forward (@code{kill-sexp}).
668 Transpose expressions (@code{transpose-sexps}).
671 Put mark after following expression (@code{mark-sexp}).
674 Each programming language major mode customizes the definition of
675 balanced expressions to suit that language. Balanced expressions
676 typically include symbols, numbers, and string constants, as well as
677 any pair of matching delimiters and their contents. Some languages
678 have obscure forms of expression syntax that nobody has bothered to
682 By convention, the keys for these commands are all Control-Meta
683 characters. They usually act on expressions just as the corresponding
684 Meta characters act on words. For instance, the command @kbd{C-M-b}
685 moves backward over a balanced expression, just as @kbd{M-b} moves
691 @findex backward-sexp
692 To move forward over a balanced expression, use @kbd{C-M-f}
693 (@code{forward-sexp}). If the first significant character after point
694 is an opening delimiter (@samp{(} in Lisp; @samp{(}, @samp{[} or
695 @samp{@{} in C), @kbd{C-M-f} moves past the matching closing
696 delimiter. If the character begins a symbol, string, or number,
697 @kbd{C-M-f} moves over that.
699 The command @kbd{C-M-b} (@code{backward-sexp}) moves backward over a
700 balanced expression. The detailed rules are like those above for
701 @kbd{C-M-f}, but with directions reversed. If there are prefix
702 characters (single-quote, backquote and comma, in Lisp) preceding the
703 expression, @kbd{C-M-b} moves back over them as well. The balanced
704 expression commands move across comments as if they were whitespace,
707 @kbd{C-M-f} or @kbd{C-M-b} with an argument repeats that operation the
708 specified number of times; with a negative argument, it moves in the
711 @cindex killing expressions
714 Killing a whole balanced expression can be done with @kbd{C-M-k}
715 (@code{kill-sexp}). @kbd{C-M-k} kills the characters that @kbd{C-M-f}
718 @cindex transposition of expressions
720 @findex transpose-sexps
721 A somewhat random-sounding command which is nevertheless handy is
722 @kbd{C-M-t} (@code{transpose-sexps}), which drags the previous
723 balanced expression across the next one. An argument serves as a
724 repeat count, moving the previous expression over that many following
725 ones. A negative argument drags the previous balanced expression
726 backwards across those before it (thus canceling out the effect of
727 @kbd{C-M-t} with a positive argument). An argument of zero, rather
728 than doing nothing, transposes the balanced expressions ending at or
729 after point and the mark.
732 @kindex C-M-@key{SPC}
734 To set the region around the next balanced expression in the buffer,
735 use @kbd{C-M-@@} (@code{mark-sexp}), which sets mark at the same place
736 that @kbd{C-M-f} would move to. @kbd{C-M-@@} takes arguments like
737 @kbd{C-M-f}. In particular, a negative argument is useful for putting
738 the mark at the beginning of the previous balanced expression. The
739 alias @kbd{C-M-@key{SPC}} is equivalent to @kbd{C-M-@@}. When you
740 repeat this command, or use it in Transient Mark mode when the mark is
741 active, it extends the end of the region by one sexp each time.
743 In languages that use infix operators, such as C, it is not possible
744 to recognize all balanced expressions as such because there can be
745 multiple possibilities at a given position. For example, C mode does
746 not treat @samp{foo + bar} as a single expression, even though it
747 @emph{is} one C expression; instead, it recognizes @samp{foo} as one
748 expression and @samp{bar} as another, with the @samp{+} as punctuation
749 between them. Both @samp{foo + bar} and @samp{foo} are legitimate
750 choices for ``the expression following point'' when point is at the
751 @samp{f}, so the expression commands must perforce choose one or the
752 other to operate on. Note that @samp{(foo + bar)} is recognized as a
753 single expression in C mode, because of the parentheses.
755 @node Moving by Parens
756 @subsection Moving in the Parenthesis Structure
758 @cindex parenthetical groupings
759 @cindex parentheses, moving across
760 @cindex matching parenthesis and braces, moving to
761 @cindex braces, moving across
762 @cindex list commands
763 The Emacs commands for handling parenthetical groupings see nothing
764 except parentheses (or whatever characters must balance in the
765 language you are working with), and the escape characters that might
766 be used to quote those. They are mainly intended for editing
767 programs, but can be useful for editing any text that has parentheses.
768 They are sometimes called ``list'' commands because in Lisp these
773 Move forward over a parenthetical group (@code{forward-list}).
775 Move backward over a parenthetical group (@code{backward-list}).
777 Move up in parenthesis structure (@code{backward-up-list}).
779 Move down in parenthesis structure (@code{down-list}).
785 @findex backward-list
786 The ``list'' commands @kbd{C-M-n} (@code{forward-list}) and
787 @kbd{C-M-p} (@code{backward-list}) move over one (or @var{n})
788 parenthetical groupings, skipping blithely over any amount of text
789 that doesn't include meaningful parentheses (symbols, strings, etc.).
792 @findex backward-up-list
793 @kbd{C-M-n} and @kbd{C-M-p} try to stay at the same level in the
794 parenthesis structure. To move @emph{up} one (or @var{n}) levels, use
795 @kbd{C-M-u} (@code{backward-up-list}). @kbd{C-M-u} moves backward up
796 past one unmatched opening delimiter. A positive argument serves as a
797 repeat count; a negative argument reverses the direction of motion, so
798 that the command moves forward and up one or more levels.
802 To move @emph{down} in the parenthesis structure, use @kbd{C-M-d}
803 (@code{down-list}). In Lisp mode, where @samp{(} is the only opening
804 delimiter, this is nearly the same as searching for a @samp{(}. An
805 argument specifies the number of levels to go down.
808 @subsection Automatic Display Of Matching Parentheses
809 @cindex matching parentheses
810 @cindex parentheses, displaying matches
812 The Emacs parenthesis-matching feature is designed to show
813 automatically how parentheses (and other matching delimiters) match in
814 the text. Whenever you type a self-inserting character that is a
815 closing delimiter, the cursor moves momentarily to the location of the
816 matching opening delimiter, provided that is on the screen. If it is
817 not on the screen, Emacs displays some of the text near it in the echo
818 area. Either way, you can tell which grouping you are closing off.
820 If the opening delimiter and closing delimiter are mismatched---such
821 as in @samp{[x)}---a warning message is displayed in the echo area.
823 @vindex blink-matching-paren
824 @vindex blink-matching-paren-distance
825 @vindex blink-matching-delay
826 Three variables control parenthesis match display:
828 @code{blink-matching-paren} turns the feature on or off: @code{nil}
829 disables it, but the default is @code{t} to enable match display.
831 @code{blink-matching-delay} says how many seconds to leave the
832 cursor on the matching opening delimiter, before bringing it back to
833 the real location of point; the default is 1, but on some systems it
834 is useful to specify a fraction of a second.
836 @code{blink-matching-paren-distance} specifies how many characters
837 back to search to find the matching opening delimiter. If the match
838 is not found in that distance, scanning stops, and nothing is displayed.
839 This is to prevent the scan for the matching delimiter from wasting
840 lots of time when there is no match. The default is 25600.
842 @cindex Show Paren mode
843 @cindex highlighting matching parentheses
844 @findex show-paren-mode
845 Show Paren mode provides a more powerful kind of automatic matching.
846 Whenever point is after a closing delimiter, that delimiter and its
847 matching opening delimiter are both highlighted; otherwise, if point
848 is before an opening delimiter, the matching closing delimiter is
849 highlighted. (There is no need to highlight the opening delimiter in
850 that case, because the cursor appears on top of that character.) Use
851 the command @kbd{M-x show-paren-mode} to enable or disable this mode.
853 Show Paren mode uses the faces @code{show-paren-match} and
854 @code{show-paren-mismatch} to highlight parentheses; you can customize
855 them to control how highlighting looks. @xref{Face Customization}.
858 @section Manipulating Comments
861 Because comments are such an important part of programming, Emacs
862 provides special commands for editing and inserting comments. It can
863 also do spell checking on comments with Flyspell Prog mode
867 * Comment Commands:: Inserting, killing, and aligning comments.
868 * Multi-Line Comments:: Commands for adding and editing multi-line comments.
869 * Options for Comments::Customizing the comment features.
872 @node Comment Commands
873 @subsection Comment Commands
874 @cindex indentation for comments
875 @cindex alignment for comments
877 The comment commands in this table insert, kill and align comments.
878 They are described in this section and following sections.
882 Insert or realign comment on current line; alternatively, comment or
883 uncomment the region (@code{comment-dwim}).
885 Kill comment on current line (@code{comment-kill}).
887 Set comment column (@code{comment-set-column}).
890 Like @key{RET} followed by inserting and aligning a comment
891 (@code{comment-indent-new-line}). @xref{Multi-Line Comments}.
892 @item @kbd{M-x comment-region}
893 @itemx @kbd{C-c C-c} (in C-like modes)
894 Add or remove comment delimiters on all the lines in the region.
899 The command to create or align a comment is @kbd{M-;}
900 (@code{comment-dwim}). The word ``dwim'' is an acronym for ``Do What
901 I Mean''; it indicates that this command can be used for many
902 different jobs relating to comments, depending on the situation where
905 If there is no comment already on the line, @kbd{M-;} inserts a new
906 comment, aligned at a specific column called the @dfn{comment column}.
907 The new comment begins with the string Emacs thinks comments should
908 start with (the value of @code{comment-start}; see below). Point is
909 after that string, so you can insert the text of the comment right
910 away. If the major mode has specified a string to terminate comments,
911 @kbd{M-;} inserts that after point, to keep the syntax valid.
913 If the text of the line extends past the comment column, this
914 command aligns the comment start string to a suitable boundary
915 (usually, at least one space is inserted).
917 You can also use @kbd{M-;} to align an existing comment. If a line
918 already contains the comment-start string, @kbd{M-;} realigns it to
919 the conventional alignment and moves point after it. (Exception:
920 comments starting in column 0 are not moved.) Even when an existing
921 comment is properly aligned, @kbd{M-;} is still useful for moving
922 directly to the start of the text inside the comment.
926 @kbd{C-u M-;} kills any comment on the current line, along with the
927 whitespace before it. To reinsert the comment on another line, move
928 to the end of that line, do @kbd{C-y}, and then do @kbd{M-;} to
931 Note that @kbd{C-u M-;} is not a distinct key; it is @kbd{M-;}
932 (@code{comment-dwim}) with a prefix argument. That command is
933 programmed so that when it receives a prefix argument it calls
934 @code{comment-kill}. However, @code{comment-kill} is a valid command
935 in its own right, and you can bind it directly to a key if you wish.
937 @kbd{M-;} does two other jobs when used with an active region in
938 Transient Mark mode (@pxref{Transient Mark}). Then it either adds or
939 removes comment delimiters on each line of the region. (If every line
940 is a comment, it removes comment delimiters from each; otherwise, it
941 adds comment delimiters to each.) If you are not using Transient Mark
942 mode, then you should use the commands @code{comment-region} and
943 @code{uncomment-region} to do these jobs (@pxref{Multi-Line Comments}),
944 or else enable Transient Mark mode momentarily (@pxref{Momentary Mark}).
945 A prefix argument used in these circumstances specifies how many
946 comment delimiters to add or how many to delete.
948 Some major modes have special rules for aligning certain kinds of
949 comments in certain contexts. For example, in Lisp code, comments which
950 start with two semicolons are indented as if they were lines of code,
951 instead of at the comment column. Comments which start with three
952 semicolons are supposed to start at the left margin and are often used
953 for sectioning purposes. Emacs understands
954 these conventions by indenting a double-semicolon comment using @key{TAB},
955 and by not changing the indentation of a triple-semicolon comment at all.
958 ;; This function is just an example.
959 ;;; Here either two or three semicolons are appropriate.
961 ;;; And now, the first part of the function:
962 ;; The following line adds one.
963 (1+ x)) ; This line adds one.
966 For C-like modes, you can configure the exact effect of @kbd{M-;}
967 more flexibly than for most buffers by setting the variables
968 @code{c-indent-comment-alist} and
969 @code{c-indent-comments-syntactically-p}. For example, on a line
970 ending in a closing brace, @kbd{M-;} puts the comment one space after
971 the brace rather than at @code{comment-column}. For full details see
972 @ref{Comment Commands,,, ccmode, The CC Mode Manual}.
974 @node Multi-Line Comments
975 @subsection Multiple Lines of Comments
979 @cindex blank lines in programs
980 @findex comment-indent-new-line
982 If you are typing a comment and wish to continue it on another line,
983 you can use the command @kbd{C-M-j} or @kbd{M-j}
984 (@code{comment-indent-new-line}). If @code{comment-multi-line}
985 (@pxref{Options for Comments}) is non-@code{nil}, it moves to a new
986 line within the comment. Otherwise it closes the comment and starts a
987 new comment on a new line. When Auto Fill mode is on, going past the
988 fill column while typing a comment causes the comment to be continued
989 in just this fashion.
991 @kindex C-c C-c (C mode)
992 @findex comment-region
993 To turn existing lines into comment lines, use the @kbd{M-x
994 comment-region} command (or type @kbd{C-c C-c} in C-like modes). It
995 adds comment delimiters to the lines that start in the region, thus
996 commenting them out. With a negative argument, it does the
997 opposite---it deletes comment delimiters from the lines in the region.
999 With a positive argument, @code{comment-region} duplicates the last
1000 character of the comment start sequence it adds; the argument
1001 specifies how many copies of the character to insert. Thus, in Lisp
1002 mode, @kbd{C-u 2 M-x comment-region} adds @samp{;;} to each line.
1003 Duplicating the comment delimiter is a way of calling attention to the
1004 comment. It can also affect how the comment is aligned or indented.
1005 In Lisp, for proper indentation, you should use an argument of two or
1006 three, if between defuns; if within a defun, it must be three.
1008 You can configure C Mode such that when you type a @samp{/} at the
1009 start of a line in a multi-line block comment, this closes the
1010 comment. Enable the @code{comment-close-slash} clean-up for this.
1011 @xref{Clean-ups,,, ccmode, The CC Mode Manual}.
1013 @node Options for Comments
1014 @subsection Options Controlling Comments
1016 @vindex comment-column
1018 @findex comment-set-column
1019 The @dfn{comment column}, the column at which Emacs tries to place
1020 comments, is stored in the variable @code{comment-column}. You can
1021 set it to a number explicitly. Alternatively, the command @kbd{C-x ;}
1022 (@code{comment-set-column}) sets the comment column to the column
1023 point is at. @kbd{C-u C-x ;} sets the comment column to match the
1024 last comment before point in the buffer, and then does a @kbd{M-;} to
1025 align the current line's comment under the previous one.
1027 The variable @code{comment-column} is per-buffer: setting the variable
1028 in the normal fashion affects only the current buffer, but there is a
1029 default value which you can change with @code{setq-default}.
1030 @xref{Locals}. Many major modes initialize this variable for the
1033 @vindex comment-start-skip
1034 The comment commands recognize comments based on the regular
1035 expression that is the value of the variable @code{comment-start-skip}.
1036 Make sure this regexp does not match the null string. It may match more
1037 than the comment starting delimiter in the strictest sense of the word;
1038 for example, in C mode the value of the variable is
1039 @c This stops M-q from breaking the line inside that @code.
1040 @code{@w{"/\\*+ *\\|//+ *"}}, which matches extra stars and spaces
1041 after the @samp{/*} itself, and accepts C++ style comments also.
1042 (Note that @samp{\\} is needed in Lisp syntax to include a @samp{\} in
1043 the string, which is needed to deny the first star its special meaning
1044 in regexp syntax. @xref{Regexp Backslash}.)
1046 @vindex comment-start
1048 When a comment command makes a new comment, it inserts the value of
1049 @code{comment-start} to begin it. The value of @code{comment-end} is
1050 inserted after point, so that it will follow the text that you will
1051 insert into the comment. When @code{comment-end} is non-empty, it
1052 should start with a space. For example, in C mode,
1053 @code{comment-start} has the value @w{@code{"/* "}} and
1054 @code{comment-end} has the value @w{@code{" */"}}.
1056 @vindex comment-padding
1057 The variable @code{comment-padding} specifies how many spaces
1058 @code{comment-region} should insert on each line between the comment
1059 delimiter and the line's original text. The default is 1, to insert
1060 one space. @code{nil} means 0. Alternatively, @code{comment-padding}
1061 can hold the actual string to insert.
1063 @vindex comment-multi-line
1064 The variable @code{comment-multi-line} controls how @kbd{C-M-j}
1065 (@code{indent-new-comment-line}) behaves when used inside a comment.
1066 Specifically, when @code{comment-multi-line} is @code{nil}, the
1067 command inserts a comment terminator, begins a new line, and finally
1068 inserts a comment starter. Otherwise it does not insert the
1069 terminator and starter, so it effectively continues the current
1070 comment across multiple lines. In languages that allow multi-line
1071 comments, the choice of value for this variable is a matter of taste.
1072 The default for this variable depends on the major mode.
1074 @vindex comment-indent-function
1075 The variable @code{comment-indent-function} should contain a function
1076 that will be called to compute the alignment for a newly inserted
1077 comment or for aligning an existing comment. It is set differently by
1078 various major modes. The function is called with no arguments, but with
1079 point at the beginning of the comment, or at the end of a line if a new
1080 comment is to be inserted. It should return the column in which the
1081 comment ought to start. For example, in Lisp mode, the indent hook
1082 function bases its decision on how many semicolons begin an existing
1083 comment, and on the code in the preceding lines.
1086 @section Documentation Lookup
1088 Emacs provides several features you can use to look up the
1089 documentation of functions, variables and commands that you plan to
1090 use in your program.
1093 * Info Lookup:: Looking up library functions and commands
1095 * Man Page:: Looking up man pages of library functions and commands.
1096 * Lisp Doc:: Looking up Emacs Lisp functions, etc.
1100 @subsection Info Documentation Lookup
1102 @findex info-lookup-symbol
1103 @findex info-lookup-file
1105 For many major modes, that apply to languages that have
1106 documentation in Info, you can use @kbd{C-h S}
1107 (@code{info-lookup-symbol}) to view the Info documentation for a
1108 symbol used in the program. You specify the symbol with the
1109 minibuffer; the default is the symbol appearing in the buffer at
1110 point. For example, in C mode this looks for the symbol in the C
1111 Library Manual. The command only works if the appropriate manual's
1112 Info files are installed.
1114 The major mode determines where to look for documentation for the
1115 symbol---which Info files to look in, and which indices to search.
1116 You can also use @kbd{M-x info-lookup-file} to look for documentation
1119 If you use @kbd{C-h S} in a major mode that does not support it,
1120 it asks you to specify the ``symbol help mode.'' You should enter
1121 a command such as @code{c-mode} that would select a major
1122 mode which @kbd{C-h S} does support.
1125 @subsection Man Page Lookup
1128 On Unix, the main form of on-line documentation was the @dfn{manual
1129 page} or @dfn{man page}. In the GNU operating system, we aim to
1130 replace man pages with better-organized manuals that you can browse
1131 with Info (@pxref{Misc Help}). This process is not finished, so it is
1132 still useful to read manual pages.
1134 @findex manual-entry
1135 You can read the man page for an operating system command, library
1136 function, or system call, with the @kbd{M-x man} command. It
1137 runs the @code{man} program to format the man page; if the system
1138 permits, it runs @code{man} asynchronously, so that you can keep on
1139 editing while the page is being formatted. (On MS-DOS and MS-Windows
1140 3, you cannot edit while Emacs waits for @code{man} to finish.) The
1141 result goes in a buffer named @samp{*Man @var{topic}*}. These buffers
1142 use a special major mode, Man mode, that facilitates scrolling and
1143 jumping to other manual pages. For details, type @kbd{C-h m} while in
1146 @cindex sections of manual pages
1147 Each man page belongs to one of ten or more @dfn{sections}, each
1148 named by a digit or by a digit and a letter. Sometimes there are
1149 multiple man pages with the same name in different sections. To read
1150 a man page from a specific section, type
1151 @samp{@var{topic}(@var{section})} or @samp{@var{section} @var{topic}}
1152 when @kbd{M-x manual-entry} prompts for the topic. For example, to
1153 read the man page for the C library function @code{chmod} (as opposed
1154 to a command of the same name), type @kbd{M-x manual-entry @key{RET}
1155 chmod(2) @key{RET}}. (@code{chmod} is a system call, so it is in
1158 @vindex Man-switches
1159 If you do not specify a section, the results depend on how the
1160 @code{man} program works on your system. Some of them display only
1161 the first man page they find. Others display all man pages that have
1162 the specified name, so you can move between them with the @kbd{M-n}
1163 and @kbd{M-p} keys@footnote{On some systems, the @code{man} program
1164 accepts a @samp{-a} command-line option which tells it to display all
1165 the man pages for the specified topic. If you want this behavior, you
1166 can add this option to the value of the variable @code{Man-switches}.}.
1167 The mode line shows how many manual pages are present in the Man buffer.
1169 @vindex Man-fontify-manpage-flag
1170 By default, Emacs highlights the text in man pages. For a long man
1171 page, highlighting can take substantial time. You can turn off
1172 highlighting of man pages by setting the variable
1173 @code{Man-fontify-manpage-flag} to @code{nil}.
1175 @findex Man-fontify-manpage
1176 If you insert the text of a man page into an Emacs buffer in some
1177 other fashion, you can use the command @kbd{M-x Man-fontify-manpage} to
1178 perform the same conversions that @kbd{M-x manual-entry} does.
1181 @cindex manual pages, on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
1182 An alternative way of reading manual pages is the @kbd{M-x woman}
1183 command@footnote{The name of the command, @code{woman}, is an acronym
1184 for ``w/o (without) man,'' since it doesn't use the @code{man}
1185 program.}. Unlike @kbd{M-x man}, it does not run any external
1186 programs to format and display the man pages; instead it does the job
1187 in Emacs Lisp, so it works on systems such as MS-Windows, where the
1188 @code{man} program (and other programs it uses) are not generally
1191 @kbd{M-x woman} prompts for a name of a manual page, and provides
1192 completion based on the list of manual pages that are installed on
1193 your machine; the list of available manual pages is computed
1194 automatically the first time you invoke @code{woman}. The word at
1195 point in the current buffer is used to suggest the default for the
1196 name the manual page.
1198 With a numeric argument, @kbd{M-x woman} recomputes the list of the
1199 manual pages used for completion. This is useful if you add or delete
1202 If you type a name of a manual page and @kbd{M-x woman} finds that
1203 several manual pages by the same name exist in different sections, it
1204 pops up a window with possible candidates asking you to choose one of
1207 For more information about setting up and using @kbd{M-x woman}, see
1208 @ref{Top, WoMan, Browse UN*X Manual Pages WithOut Man, woman, The WoMan
1212 @subsection Emacs Lisp Documentation Lookup
1214 As you edit Lisp code to be run in Emacs, you can use the commands
1215 @kbd{C-h f} (@code{describe-function}) and @kbd{C-h v}
1216 (@code{describe-variable}) to view documentation of functions and
1217 variables that you want to use. These commands use the minibuffer to
1218 read the name of a function or variable to document, and display the
1219 documentation in a window. Their default arguments are based on the
1220 code in the neighborhood of point. For @kbd{C-h f}, the default is
1221 the function called in the innermost list containing point. @kbd{C-h
1222 v} uses the symbol name around or adjacent to point as its default.
1226 A more automatic but less powerful method is Eldoc mode. This minor
1227 mode constantly displays in the echo area the argument list for the
1228 function being called at point. (In other words, it finds the
1229 function call that point is contained in, and displays the argument
1230 list of that function.) If point is over a documented variable, it
1231 shows the first line of the variable's docstring. Eldoc mode applies
1232 in Emacs Lisp and Lisp Interaction modes, and perhaps a few others
1233 that provide special support for looking up doc strings. Use the
1234 command @kbd{M-x eldoc-mode} to enable or disable this feature.
1237 @section Hideshow minor mode
1239 @findex hs-minor-mode
1240 Hideshow minor mode provides selective display of portions of a
1241 program, known as @dfn{blocks}. You can use @kbd{M-x hs-minor-mode}
1242 to enable or disable this mode, or add @code{hs-minor-mode} to the
1243 mode hook for certain major modes in order to enable it automatically
1246 Just what constitutes a block depends on the major mode. In C mode
1247 or C++ mode, they are delimited by braces, while in Lisp mode and
1248 similar modes they are delimited by parentheses. Multi-line comments
1249 also count as blocks.
1252 @findex hs-hide-block
1254 @findex hs-show-block
1255 @findex hs-show-region
1256 @findex hs-hide-level
1257 @findex hs-minor-mode
1260 @kindex C-c @@ C-M-h
1261 @kindex C-c @@ C-M-s
1267 Hide the current block (@code{hs-hide-block}).
1269 Show the current block (@code{hs-show-block}).
1271 Either hide or show the current block (@code{hs-toggle-hiding}).
1273 Either hide or show the block you click on (@code{hs-mouse-toggle-hiding}).
1275 Hide all top-level blocks (@code{hs-hide-all}).
1277 Show everything in the buffer (@code{hs-show-all}).
1279 Hide all blocks @var{n} levels below this block
1280 (@code{hs-hide-level}).
1283 @vindex hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all
1284 @vindex hs-isearch-open
1285 @vindex hs-special-modes-alist
1286 These variables exist for customizing Hideshow mode.
1289 @item hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all
1290 Non-@code{nil} says that @kbd{hs-hide-all} should hide comments too.
1292 @item hs-isearch-open
1293 Specifies what kind of hidden blocks incremental search should make
1294 visible. The value should be one of these four symbols:
1298 Open only code blocks.
1302 Open both code blocks and comments.
1304 Open neither code blocks nor comments.
1307 @item hs-special-modes-alist
1308 A list of elements, each specifying how to initialize Hideshow
1309 variables for one major mode. See the variable's documentation string
1310 for more information.
1313 @node Symbol Completion
1314 @section Completion for Symbol Names
1315 @cindex completion (symbol names)
1317 In Emacs, completion is something you normally do in the minibuffer.
1318 But one kind of completion is available in all buffers: completion for
1322 The character @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} runs a command to complete the
1323 partial symbol before point against the set of meaningful symbol
1324 names. This command inserts at point any additional characters that
1325 it can determine from the partial name. (If your window manager
1326 defines @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} to switch windows, you can type
1327 @kbd{@key{ESC} @key{TAB}} or @kbd{C-M-i}.)
1329 If the partial name in the buffer has multiple possible completions
1330 that differ in the very next character, so that it is impossible to
1331 complete even one more character, @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} displays a list of
1332 all possible completions in another window.
1334 @cindex tags-based completion
1335 @cindex Info index completion
1336 @findex complete-symbol
1337 In most programming language major modes, @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} runs the
1338 command @code{complete-symbol}, which provides two kinds of completion.
1339 Normally it does completion based on a tags table (@pxref{Tags}); with a
1340 numeric argument (regardless of the value), it does completion based on
1341 the names listed in the Info file indexes for your language. Thus, to
1342 complete the name of a symbol defined in your own program, use
1343 @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} with no argument; to complete the name of a standard
1344 library function, use @kbd{C-u M-@key{TAB}}. Of course, Info-based
1345 completion works only if there is an Info file for the standard library
1346 functions of your language, and only if it is installed at your site.
1348 @cindex Lisp symbol completion
1349 @cindex completion (Lisp symbols)
1350 @findex lisp-complete-symbol
1351 In Emacs-Lisp mode, the name space for completion normally consists of
1352 nontrivial symbols present in Emacs---those that have function
1353 definitions, values or properties. However, if there is an
1354 open-parenthesis immediately before the beginning of the partial symbol,
1355 only symbols with function definitions are considered as completions.
1356 The command which implements this is @code{lisp-complete-symbol}.
1358 In Text mode and related modes, @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} completes words
1359 based on the spell-checker's dictionary. @xref{Spelling}.
1362 @section Glasses minor mode
1363 @cindex Glasses mode
1364 @cindex identifiers, making long ones readable
1365 @cindex StudlyCaps, making them readable
1366 @findex glasses-mode
1368 Glasses minor mode makes @samp{unreadableIdentifiersLikeThis}
1369 readable by altering the way they display. It knows two different
1370 ways to do this: by displaying underscores between a lower-case letter
1371 and the following capital letter, and by emboldening the capital
1372 letters. It does not alter the buffer text, only the way they
1373 display, so you can use it even on read-only buffers. You can use the
1374 command @kbd{M-x glasses-mode} to enable or disable the mode in the
1375 current buffer; you can also add @code{glasses-mode} to the mode hook
1376 of the programming language major modes in which you normally want
1377 to use Glasses mode.
1379 @node Misc for Programs
1380 @section Other Features Useful for Editing Programs
1382 A number of Emacs commands that aren't designed specifically for
1383 editing programs are useful for that nonetheless.
1385 The Emacs commands that operate on words, sentences and paragraphs
1386 are useful for editing code. Most symbols names contain words
1387 (@pxref{Words}); sentences can be found in strings and comments
1388 (@pxref{Sentences}). Paragraphs in the strict sense can be found in
1389 program code (in long comments), but the paragraph commands are useful
1390 in other places too, because programming language major modes define
1391 paragraphs to begin and end at blank lines (@pxref{Paragraphs}).
1392 Judicious use of blank lines to make the program clearer will also
1393 provide useful chunks of text for the paragraph commands to work on.
1394 Auto Fill mode, if enabled in a programming language major mode,
1395 indents the new lines which it creates.
1397 The selective display feature is useful for looking at the overall
1398 structure of a function (@pxref{Selective Display}). This feature
1399 hides the lines that are indented more than a specified amount.
1400 Programming modes often support Outline minor mode (@pxref{Outline
1401 Mode}). The Foldout package provides folding-editor features
1404 The ``automatic typing'' features may be useful for writing programs.
1405 @xref{Top,,Autotyping, autotype, Autotyping}.
1408 @section C and Related Modes
1413 @cindex CORBA IDL mode
1414 @cindex Objective C mode
1420 @cindex mode, Objective C
1421 @cindex mode, CORBA IDL
1425 This section gives a brief description of the special features
1426 available in C, C++, Objective-C, Java, CORBA IDL, Pike and AWK modes.
1427 (These are called ``C mode and related modes.'') @xref{Top, , CC Mode,
1428 ccmode, CC Mode}, for a more extensive description of these modes
1429 and their special features.
1432 * Motion in C:: Commands to move by C statements, etc.
1433 * Electric C:: Colon and other chars can automatically reindent.
1434 * Hungry Delete:: A more powerful DEL command.
1435 * Other C Commands:: Filling comments, viewing expansion of macros,
1436 and other neat features.
1440 @subsection C Mode Motion Commands
1442 This section describes commands for moving point, in C mode and
1446 @item M-x c-beginning-of-defun
1447 @itemx M-x c-end-of-defun
1448 @findex c-beginning-of-defun
1449 @findex c-end-of-defun
1450 Move point to the beginning or end of the current function or
1451 top-level definition. These are found by searching for the least
1452 enclosing braces. (By contrast, @code{beginning-of-defun} and
1453 @code{end-of-defun} search for braces in column zero.) If you are
1454 editing code where the opening brace of a function isn't placed in
1455 column zero, you may wish to bind @code{C-M-a} and @code{C-M-e} to
1456 these commands. @xref{Moving by Defuns}.
1459 @kindex C-c C-u @r{(C mode)}
1460 @findex c-up-conditional
1461 Move point back to the containing preprocessor conditional, leaving the
1462 mark behind. A prefix argument acts as a repeat count. With a negative
1463 argument, move point forward to the end of the containing
1464 preprocessor conditional.
1466 @samp{#elif} is equivalent to @samp{#else} followed by @samp{#if}, so
1467 the function will stop at a @samp{#elif} when going backward, but not
1471 @kindex C-c C-p @r{(C mode)}
1472 @findex c-backward-conditional
1473 Move point back over a preprocessor conditional, leaving the mark
1474 behind. A prefix argument acts as a repeat count. With a negative
1475 argument, move forward.
1478 @kindex C-c C-n @r{(C mode)}
1479 @findex c-forward-conditional
1480 Move point forward across a preprocessor conditional, leaving the mark
1481 behind. A prefix argument acts as a repeat count. With a negative
1482 argument, move backward.
1485 @kindex M-a (C mode)
1486 @findex c-beginning-of-statement
1487 Move point to the beginning of the innermost C statement
1488 (@code{c-beginning-of-statement}). If point is already at the beginning
1489 of a statement, move to the beginning of the preceding statement. With
1490 prefix argument @var{n}, move back @var{n} @minus{} 1 statements.
1492 In comments or in strings which span more than one line, this command
1493 moves by sentences instead of statements.
1496 @kindex M-e (C mode)
1497 @findex c-end-of-statement
1498 Move point to the end of the innermost C statement or sentence; like
1499 @kbd{M-a} except that it moves in the other direction
1500 (@code{c-end-of-statement}).
1504 @subsection Electric C Characters
1506 In C mode and related modes, certain printing characters are
1507 @dfn{electric}---in addition to inserting themselves, they also
1508 reindent the current line, and optionally also insert newlines. The
1509 ``electric'' characters are @kbd{@{}, @kbd{@}}, @kbd{:}, @kbd{#},
1510 @kbd{;}, @kbd{,}, @kbd{<}, @kbd{>}, @kbd{/}, @kbd{*}, @kbd{(}, and
1513 You might find electric indentation inconvenient if you are editing
1514 chaotically indented code. If you are new to CC Mode, you might find
1515 it disconcerting. You can toggle electric action with the command
1516 @kbd{C-c C-l}; when it is enabled, @samp{/l} appears in the mode line
1517 after the mode name:
1521 @kindex C-c C-l @r{(C mode)}
1522 @findex c-toggle-electric-state
1523 Toggle electric action (@code{c-toggle-electric-state}). With a
1524 prefix argument, this command enables electric action if the argument
1525 is positive, disables it if it is negative.
1528 Electric characters insert newlines only when, in addition to the
1529 electric state, the @dfn{auto-newline} feature is enabled (indicated
1530 by @samp{/la} in the mode line after the mode name). You can turn
1531 this feature on or off with the command @kbd{C-c C-a}:
1535 @kindex C-c C-a @r{(C mode)}
1536 @findex c-toggle-auto-newline
1537 Toggle the auto-newline feature (@code{c-toggle-auto-newline}). With a
1538 prefix argument, this command turns the auto-newline feature on if the
1539 argument is positive, and off if it is negative.
1542 Usually the CC Mode style configures the exact circumstances in
1543 which Emacs inserts auto-newlines. You can also configure this
1544 directly. @xref{Custom Auto-newlines,,, ccmode, The CC Mode Manual}.
1547 @subsection Hungry Delete Feature in C
1548 @cindex hungry deletion (C Mode)
1550 If you want to delete an entire block of whitespace at point, you
1551 can use @dfn{hungry deletion}. This deletes all the contiguous
1552 whitespace either before point or after point in a single operation.
1553 @dfn{Whitespace} here includes tabs and newlines, but not comments or
1554 preprocessor commands.
1557 @item C-c C-@key{DEL}
1558 @itemx C-c @key{DEL}
1559 @findex c-hungry-backspace
1560 @kindex C-c C-@key{DEL} (C Mode)
1561 @kindex C-c @key{DEL} (C Mode)
1562 @code{c-hungry-backspace}---Delete the entire block of whitespace
1566 @itemx C-c C-@key{DELETE}
1567 @itemx C-c @key{DELETE}
1568 @findex c-hungry-delete-forward
1569 @kindex C-c C-d (C Mode)
1570 @kindex C-c C-@key{DELETE} (C Mode)
1571 @kindex C-c @key{DELETE} (C Mode)
1572 @code{c-hungry-delete-forward}---Delete the entire block of whitespace
1576 As an alternative to the above commands, you can enable @dfn{hungry
1577 delete mode}. When this feature is enabled (indicated by @samp{/h} in
1578 the mode line after the mode name), a single @key{DEL} deletes all
1579 preceding whitespace, not just one space, and a single @kbd{C-c C-d}
1580 (but @emph{not} plain @key{DELETE}) deletes all following whitespace.
1583 @item M-x c-toggle-hungry-state
1584 @findex c-toggle-hungry-state
1585 Toggle the hungry-delete feature
1586 (@code{c-toggle-hungry-state})@footnote{This command had the binding
1587 @kbd{C-c C-d} in earlier versions of Emacs. @kbd{C-c C-d} is now
1588 bound to @code{c-hungry-delete-forward}.}. With a prefix argument,
1589 this command turns the hungry-delete feature on if the argument is
1590 positive, and off if it is negative.
1593 @vindex c-hungry-delete-key
1594 The variable @code{c-hungry-delete-key} controls whether the
1595 hungry-delete feature is enabled.
1597 @node Other C Commands
1598 @subsection Other Commands for C Mode
1602 @itemx M-x c-subword-mode
1603 @findex c-subword-mode
1604 Enable (or disable) @dfn{subword mode}. In subword mode, Emacs's word
1605 commands recognize upper case letters in
1606 @samp{StudlyCapsIdentifiers} as word boundaries. This is indicated by
1607 the flag @samp{/w} on the mode line after the mode name
1608 (e.g. @samp{C/law}). You can even use @kbd{M-x c-subword-mode} in
1609 non-CC Mode buffers.
1611 In the GNU project, we recommend using underscores to separate words
1612 within an identifier in C or C++, rather than using case distinctions.
1614 @item M-x c-context-line-break
1615 @findex c-context-line-break
1616 This command inserts a line break and indents the new line in a manner
1617 appropriate to the context. In normal code, it does the work of
1618 @kbd{C-j} (@code{newline-and-indent}), in a C preprocessor line it
1619 additionally inserts a @samp{\} at the line break, and within comments
1620 it's like @kbd{M-j} (@code{c-indent-new-comment-line}).
1622 @code{c-context-line-break} isn't bound to a key by default, but it
1623 needs a binding to be useful. The following code will bind it to
1624 @kbd{C-j}. We use @code{c-initialization-hook} here to make sure
1625 the keymap is loaded before we try to change it.
1628 (defun my-bind-clb ()
1629 (define-key c-mode-base-map "\C-j" 'c-context-line-break))
1630 (add-hook 'c-initialization-hook 'my-bind-clb)
1634 Put mark at the end of a function definition, and put point at the
1635 beginning (@code{c-mark-function}).
1638 @kindex M-q @r{(C mode)}
1639 @findex c-fill-paragraph
1640 Fill a paragraph, handling C and C++ comments (@code{c-fill-paragraph}).
1641 If any part of the current line is a comment or within a comment, this
1642 command fills the comment or the paragraph of it that point is in,
1643 preserving the comment indentation and comment delimiters.
1646 @cindex macro expansion in C
1647 @cindex expansion of C macros
1648 @findex c-macro-expand
1649 @kindex C-c C-e @r{(C mode)}
1650 Run the C preprocessor on the text in the region, and show the result,
1651 which includes the expansion of all the macro calls
1652 (@code{c-macro-expand}). The buffer text before the region is also
1653 included in preprocessing, for the sake of macros defined there, but the
1654 output from this part isn't shown.
1656 When you are debugging C code that uses macros, sometimes it is hard to
1657 figure out precisely how the macros expand. With this command, you
1658 don't have to figure it out; you can see the expansions.
1661 @findex c-backslash-region
1662 @kindex C-c C-\ @r{(C mode)}
1663 Insert or align @samp{\} characters at the ends of the lines of the
1664 region (@code{c-backslash-region}). This is useful after writing or
1665 editing a C macro definition.
1667 If a line already ends in @samp{\}, this command adjusts the amount of
1668 whitespace before it. Otherwise, it inserts a new @samp{\}. However,
1669 the last line in the region is treated specially; no @samp{\} is
1670 inserted on that line, and any @samp{\} there is deleted.
1672 @item M-x cpp-highlight-buffer
1673 @cindex preprocessor highlighting
1674 @findex cpp-highlight-buffer
1675 Highlight parts of the text according to its preprocessor conditionals.
1676 This command displays another buffer named @samp{*CPP Edit*}, which
1677 serves as a graphic menu for selecting how to display particular kinds
1678 of conditionals and their contents. After changing various settings,
1679 click on @samp{[A]pply these settings} (or go to that buffer and type
1680 @kbd{a}) to rehighlight the C mode buffer accordingly.
1683 @findex c-show-syntactic-information
1684 @kindex C-c C-s @r{(C mode)}
1685 Display the syntactic information about the current source line
1686 (@code{c-show-syntactic-information}). This information directs how
1687 the line is indented.
1689 @item M-x cwarn-mode
1690 @itemx M-x global-cwarn-mode
1692 @findex global-cwarn-mode
1693 @vindex global-cwarn-mode
1695 @cindex suspicious constructions in C, C++
1696 CWarn minor mode highlights certain suspicious C and C++ constructions:
1700 Assignments inside expressions.
1702 Semicolon following immediately after @samp{if}, @samp{for}, and @samp{while}
1703 (except after a @samp{do @dots{} while} statement);
1705 C++ functions with reference parameters.
1709 You can enable the mode for one buffer with the command @kbd{M-x
1710 cwarn-mode}, or for all suitable buffers with the command @kbd{M-x
1711 global-cwarn-mode} or by customizing the variable
1712 @code{global-cwarn-mode}. You must also enable Font Lock mode to make
1715 @item M-x hide-ifdef-mode
1716 @findex hide-ifdef-mode
1717 @cindex Hide-ifdef mode
1718 Hide-ifdef minor mode hides selected code within @samp{#if} and
1719 @samp{#ifdef} preprocessor blocks. See the documentation string of
1720 @code{hide-ifdef-mode} for more information.
1722 @item M-x ff-find-related-file
1723 @cindex related files
1724 @findex ff-find-related-file
1725 @vindex ff-related-file-alist
1726 Find a file ``related'' in a special way to the file visited by the
1727 current buffer. Typically this will be the header file corresponding
1728 to a C/C++ source file, or vice versa. The variable
1729 @code{ff-related-file-alist} specifies how to compute related file
1737 @cindex assembler mode
1738 Asm mode is a major mode for editing files of assembler code. It
1739 defines these commands:
1743 @code{tab-to-tab-stop}.
1745 Insert a newline and then indent using @code{tab-to-tab-stop}.
1747 Insert a colon and then remove the indentation from before the label
1748 preceding colon. Then do @code{tab-to-tab-stop}.
1750 Insert or align a comment.
1753 The variable @code{asm-comment-char} specifies which character
1754 starts comments in assembler syntax.
1757 @include fortran-xtra.texi
1761 arch-tag: c7ee7409-40a4-45c7-bfb7-ae7f2c74d0c0