4 @setfilename ../../info/org
5 @settitle The Org Manual
10 @c Use proper quote and backtick for code sections in PDF output
11 @c Cf. Texinfo manual 14.2
12 @set txicodequoteundirected
13 @set txicodequotebacktick
15 @c Version and Contact Info
16 @set MAINTAINERSITE @uref{http://orgmode.org,maintainers webpage}
17 @set AUTHOR Carsten Dominik
18 @set MAINTAINER Carsten Dominik
19 @set MAINTAINEREMAIL @email{carsten at orgmode dot org}
20 @set MAINTAINERCONTACT @uref{mailto:carsten at orgmode dot org,contact the maintainer}
25 @c -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
27 @c Macro definitions for commands and keys
28 @c =======================================
30 @c The behavior of the key/command macros will depend on the flag cmdnames
31 @c When set, commands names are shown. When clear, they are not shown.
35 @c Below we define the following macros for Org key tables:
37 @c orgkey{key} A key item
38 @c orgcmd{key,cmd} Key with command name
39 @c xorgcmd{key,cmmand} Key with command name as @itemx
40 @c orgcmdnki{key,cmd} Like orgcmd, but do not index the key
41 @c orgcmdtkc{text,key,cmd} Like orgcmd,special text instead of key
42 @c orgcmdkkc{key1,key2,cmd} Two keys with one command name, use "or"
43 @c orgcmdkxkc{key1,key2,cmd} Two keys with one command name, but
44 @c different functions, so format as @itemx
45 @c orgcmdkskc{key1,key2,cmd} Same as orgcmdkkc, but use "or short"
46 @c xorgcmdkskc{key1,key2,cmd} Same as previous, but use @itemx
47 @c orgcmdkkcc{key1,key2,cmd1,cmd2} Two keys and two commands
49 @c a key but no command
61 @c one key with a command
62 @c Inserts: @item KEY COMMAND
63 @macro orgcmd{key,command}
68 @item @kbd{\key\} @hskip 0pt plus 1filll @code{\command\}
71 @item @kbd{\key\} @tie{}@tie{}@tie{}@tie{}(@code{\command\})
80 @c One key with one command, formatted using @itemx
81 @c Inserts: @itemx KEY COMMAND
82 @macro xorgcmd{key,command}
87 @itemx @kbd{\key\} @hskip 0pt plus 1filll @code{\command\}
90 @itemx @kbd{\key\} @tie{}@tie{}@tie{}@tie{}(@code{\command\})
99 @c one key with a command, bit do not index the key
100 @c Inserts: @item KEY COMMAND
101 @macro orgcmdnki{key,command}
105 @item @kbd{\key\} @hskip 0pt plus 1filll @code{\command\}
108 @item @kbd{\key\} @tie{}@tie{}@tie{}@tie{}(@code{\command\})
116 @c one key with a command, and special text to replace key in item
117 @c Inserts: @item TEXT COMMAND
118 @macro orgcmdtkc{text,key,command}
123 @item @kbd{\text\} @hskip 0pt plus 1filll @code{\command\}
126 @item @kbd{\text\} @tie{}@tie{}@tie{}@tie{}(@code{\command\})
135 @c two keys with one command
136 @c Inserts: @item KEY1 or KEY2 COMMAND
137 @macro orgcmdkkc{key1,key2,command}
143 @item @kbd{\key1\} @ @r{or} @ @kbd{\key2\} @hskip 0pt plus 1filll @code{\command\}
146 @item @kbd{\key1\} @ @r{or} @ @kbd{\key2\} @tie{}@tie{}@tie{}@tie{}(@code{\command\})
152 @item @kbd{\key1\} @ @r{or} @ @kbd{\key2\}
156 @c Two keys with one command name, but different functions, so format as
158 @c Inserts: @item KEY1
159 @c @itemx KEY2 COMMAND
160 @macro orgcmdkxkc{key1,key2,command}
167 @itemx @kbd{\key2\} @hskip 0pt plus 1filll @code{\command\}
171 @itemx @kbd{\key2\} @tie{}@tie{}@tie{}@tie{}(@code{\command\})
182 @c Same as previous, but use "or short"
183 @c Inserts: @item KEY1 or short KEY2 COMMAND
184 @macro orgcmdkskc{key1,key2,command}
190 @item @kbd{\key1\} @ @r{or short} @ @kbd{\key2\} @hskip 0pt plus 1filll @code{\command\}
193 @item @kbd{\key1\} @ @r{or short} @ @kbd{\key2\} @tie{}@tie{}@tie{}@tie{}(@code{\command\})
199 @item @kbd{\key1\} @ @r{or short} @ @kbd{\key2\}
203 @c Same as previous, but use @itemx
204 @c Inserts: @itemx KEY1 or short KEY2 COMMAND
205 @macro xorgcmdkskc{key1,key2,command}
211 @itemx @kbd{\key1\} @ @r{or short} @ @kbd{\key2\} @hskip 0pt plus 1filll @code{\command\}
214 @itemx @kbd{\key1\} @ @r{or short} @ @kbd{\key2\} @tie{}@tie{}@tie{}@tie{}(@code{\command\})
220 @itemx @kbd{\key1\} @ @r{or short} @ @kbd{\key2\}
224 @c two keys with two commands
225 @c Inserts: @item KEY1 COMMAND1
226 @c @itemx KEY2 COMMAND2
227 @macro orgcmdkkcc{key1,key2,command1,command2}
234 @item @kbd{\key1\} @hskip 0pt plus 1filll @code{\command1\}
235 @itemx @kbd{\key2\} @hskip 0pt plus 1filll @code{\command2\}
238 @item @kbd{\key1\} @tie{}@tie{}@tie{}@tie{}(@code{\command1\})
239 @itemx @kbd{\key2\} @tie{}@tie{}@tie{}@tie{}(@code{\command2\})
249 @c -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
252 @c @hyphenation{time-stamp time-stamps time-stamp-ing time-stamp-ed}
255 @c Subheadings inside a table.
256 @macro tsubheading{text}
258 @subsubheading \text\
266 This manual is for Org version @value{VERSION}.
268 Copyright @copyright{} 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
269 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
272 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
273 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
274 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
275 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual,''
276 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
277 is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License.''
279 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and
280 modify this GNU manual. Buying copies from the FSF supports it in
281 developing GNU and promoting software freedom.''
283 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
284 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
285 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
286 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
292 * Org Mode: (org). Outline-based notes management and organizer
296 @title The Org Manual
298 @subtitle Release @value{VERSION}
299 @author by Carsten Dominik
300 with contributions by David O'Toole, Bastien Guerry, Philip Rooke, Dan Davison, Eric Schulte, and Thomas Dye
302 @c The following two commands start the copyright page.
304 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
308 @c Output the table of contents at the beginning.
312 @node Top, Introduction, (dir), (dir)
319 * Introduction:: Getting started
320 * Document Structure:: A tree works like your brain
321 * Tables:: Pure magic for quick formatting
322 * Hyperlinks:: Notes in context
323 * TODO Items:: Every tree branch can be a TODO item
324 * Tags:: Tagging headlines and matching sets of tags
325 * Properties and Columns:: Storing information about an entry
326 * Dates and Times:: Making items useful for planning
327 * Capture - Refile - Archive:: The ins and outs for projects
328 * Agenda Views:: Collecting information into views
329 * Markup:: Prepare text for rich export
330 * Exporting:: Sharing and publishing of notes
331 * Publishing:: Create a web site of linked Org files
332 * Working With Source Code:: Export, evaluate, and tangle code blocks
333 * Miscellaneous:: All the rest which did not fit elsewhere
334 * Hacking:: How to hack your way around
335 * MobileOrg:: Viewing and capture on a mobile device
336 * History and Acknowledgments:: How Org came into being
337 * Main Index:: An index of Org's concepts and features
338 * Key Index:: Key bindings and where they are described
339 * Command and Function Index:: Command names and some internal functions
340 * Variable Index:: Variables mentioned in the manual
343 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
347 * Summary:: Brief summary of what Org does
348 * Installation:: How to install a downloaded version of Org
349 * Activation:: How to activate Org for certain buffers
350 * Feedback:: Bug reports, ideas, patches etc.
351 * Conventions:: Type-setting conventions in the manual
355 * Outlines:: Org is based on Outline mode
356 * Headlines:: How to typeset Org tree headlines
357 * Visibility cycling:: Show and hide, much simplified
358 * Motion:: Jumping to other headlines
359 * Structure editing:: Changing sequence and level of headlines
360 * Sparse trees:: Matches embedded in context
361 * Plain lists:: Additional structure within an entry
362 * Drawers:: Tucking stuff away
363 * Blocks:: Folding blocks
364 * Footnotes:: How footnotes are defined in Org's syntax
365 * Orgstruct mode:: Structure editing outside Org
369 * Built-in table editor:: Simple tables
370 * Column width and alignment:: Overrule the automatic settings
371 * Column groups:: Grouping to trigger vertical lines
372 * Orgtbl mode:: The table editor as minor mode
373 * The spreadsheet:: The table editor has spreadsheet capabilities
374 * Org-Plot:: Plotting from org tables
378 * References:: How to refer to another field or range
379 * Formula syntax for Calc:: Using Calc to compute stuff
380 * Formula syntax for Lisp:: Writing formulas in Emacs Lisp
381 * Field and range formulas:: Formula for specific (ranges of) fields
382 * Column formulas:: Formulas valid for an entire column
383 * Editing and debugging formulas:: Fixing formulas
384 * Updating the table:: Recomputing all dependent fields
385 * Advanced features:: Field names, parameters and automatic recalc
389 * Link format:: How links in Org are formatted
390 * Internal links:: Links to other places in the current file
391 * External links:: URL-like links to the world
392 * Handling links:: Creating, inserting and following
393 * Using links outside Org:: Linking from my C source code?
394 * Link abbreviations:: Shortcuts for writing complex links
395 * Search options:: Linking to a specific location
396 * Custom searches:: When the default search is not enough
400 * Radio targets:: Make targets trigger links in plain text
404 * TODO basics:: Marking and displaying TODO entries
405 * TODO extensions:: Workflow and assignments
406 * Progress logging:: Dates and notes for progress
407 * Priorities:: Some things are more important than others
408 * Breaking down tasks:: Splitting a task into manageable pieces
409 * Checkboxes:: Tick-off lists
411 Extended use of TODO keywords
413 * Workflow states:: From TODO to DONE in steps
414 * TODO types:: I do this, Fred does the rest
415 * Multiple sets in one file:: Mixing it all, and still finding your way
416 * Fast access to TODO states:: Single letter selection of a state
417 * Per-file keywords:: Different files, different requirements
418 * Faces for TODO keywords:: Highlighting states
419 * TODO dependencies:: When one task needs to wait for others
423 * Closing items:: When was this entry marked DONE?
424 * Tracking TODO state changes:: When did the status change?
425 * Tracking your habits:: How consistent have you been?
429 * Tag inheritance:: Tags use the tree structure of the outline
430 * Setting tags:: How to assign tags to a headline
431 * Tag searches:: Searching for combinations of tags
433 Properties and columns
435 * Property syntax:: How properties are spelled out
436 * Special properties:: Access to other Org-mode features
437 * Property searches:: Matching property values
438 * Property inheritance:: Passing values down the tree
439 * Column view:: Tabular viewing and editing
440 * Property API:: Properties for Lisp programmers
444 * Defining columns:: The COLUMNS format property
445 * Using column view:: How to create and use column view
446 * Capturing column view:: A dynamic block for column view
450 * Scope of column definitions:: Where defined, where valid?
451 * Column attributes:: Appearance and content of a column
455 * Timestamps:: Assigning a time to a tree entry
456 * Creating timestamps:: Commands which insert timestamps
457 * Deadlines and scheduling:: Planning your work
458 * Clocking work time:: Tracking how long you spend on a task
459 * Effort estimates:: Planning work effort in advance
460 * Relative timer:: Notes with a running timer
461 * Countdown timer:: Starting a countdown timer for a task
465 * The date/time prompt:: How Org-mode helps you entering date and time
466 * Custom time format:: Making dates look different
468 Deadlines and scheduling
470 * Inserting deadline/schedule:: Planning items
471 * Repeated tasks:: Items that show up again and again
475 * Clocking commands:: Starting and stopping a clock
476 * The clock table:: Detailed reports
477 * Resolving idle time:: Resolving time when you've been idle
479 Capture - Refile - Archive
481 * Capture:: Capturing new stuff
482 * Attachments:: Add files to tasks
483 * RSS Feeds:: Getting input from RSS feeds
484 * Protocols:: External (e.g.@: Browser) access to Emacs and Org
485 * Refiling notes:: Moving a tree from one place to another
486 * Archiving:: What to do with finished projects
490 * Setting up capture:: Where notes will be stored
491 * Using capture:: Commands to invoke and terminate capture
492 * Capture templates:: Define the outline of different note types
496 * Template elements:: What is needed for a complete template entry
497 * Template expansion:: Filling in information about time and context
501 * Moving subtrees:: Moving a tree to an archive file
502 * Internal archiving:: Switch off a tree but keep it in the file
506 * Agenda files:: Files being searched for agenda information
507 * Agenda dispatcher:: Keyboard access to agenda views
508 * Built-in agenda views:: What is available out of the box?
509 * Presentation and sorting:: How agenda items are prepared for display
510 * Agenda commands:: Remote editing of Org trees
511 * Custom agenda views:: Defining special searches and views
512 * Exporting Agenda Views:: Writing a view to a file
513 * Agenda column view:: Using column view for collected entries
515 The built-in agenda views
517 * Weekly/daily agenda:: The calendar page with current tasks
518 * Global TODO list:: All unfinished action items
519 * Matching tags and properties:: Structured information with fine-tuned search
520 * Timeline:: Time-sorted view for single file
521 * Search view:: Find entries by searching for text
522 * Stuck projects:: Find projects you need to review
524 Presentation and sorting
526 * Categories:: Not all tasks are equal
527 * Time-of-day specifications:: How the agenda knows the time
528 * Sorting of agenda items:: The order of things
532 * Storing searches:: Type once, use often
533 * Block agenda:: All the stuff you need in a single buffer
534 * Setting Options:: Changing the rules
536 Markup for rich export
538 * Structural markup elements:: The basic structure as seen by the exporter
539 * Images and tables:: Tables and Images will be included
540 * Literal examples:: Source code examples with special formatting
541 * Include files:: Include additional files into a document
542 * Index entries:: Making an index
543 * Macro replacement:: Use macros to create complex output
544 * Embedded LaTeX:: LaTeX can be freely used inside Org documents
546 Structural markup elements
548 * Document title:: Where the title is taken from
549 * Headings and sections:: The document structure as seen by the exporter
550 * Table of contents:: The if and where of the table of contents
551 * Initial text:: Text before the first heading?
553 * Paragraphs:: Paragraphs
554 * Footnote markup:: Footnotes
555 * Emphasis and monospace:: Bold, italic, etc.
556 * Horizontal rules:: Make a line
557 * Comment lines:: What will *not* be exported
561 * Special symbols:: Greek letters and other symbols
562 * Subscripts and superscripts:: Simple syntax for raising/lowering text
563 * LaTeX fragments:: Complex formulas made easy
564 * Previewing LaTeX fragments:: What will this snippet look like?
565 * CDLaTeX mode:: Speed up entering of formulas
569 * Selective export:: Using tags to select and exclude trees
570 * Export options:: Per-file export settings
571 * The export dispatcher:: How to access exporter commands
572 * ASCII/Latin-1/UTF-8 export:: Exporting to flat files with encoding
573 * HTML export:: Exporting to HTML
574 * LaTeX and PDF export:: Exporting to @LaTeX{}, and processing to PDF
575 * DocBook export:: Exporting to DocBook
576 * TaskJuggler export:: Exporting to TaskJuggler
577 * Freemind export:: Exporting to Freemind mind maps
578 * XOXO export:: Exporting to XOXO
579 * iCalendar export:: Exporting in iCalendar format
583 * HTML Export commands:: How to invoke HTML export
584 * HTML preamble and postamble:: How to insert a preamble and a postamble
585 * Quoting HTML tags:: Using direct HTML in Org-mode
586 * Links in HTML export:: How links will be interpreted and formatted
587 * Tables in HTML export:: How to modify the formatting of tables
588 * Images in HTML export:: How to insert figures into HTML output
589 * Math formatting in HTML export:: Beautiful math also on the web
590 * Text areas in HTML export:: An alternative way to show an example
591 * CSS support:: Changing the appearance of the output
592 * JavaScript support:: Info and Folding in a web browser
594 @LaTeX{} and PDF export
596 * LaTeX/PDF export commands:: Which key invokes which commands
597 * Header and sectioning:: Setting up the export file structure
598 * Quoting LaTeX code:: Incorporating literal @LaTeX{} code
599 * Tables in LaTeX export:: Options for exporting tables to @LaTeX{}
600 * Images in LaTeX export:: How to insert figures into @LaTeX{} output
601 * Beamer class export:: Turning the file into a presentation
605 * DocBook export commands:: How to invoke DocBook export
606 * Quoting DocBook code:: Incorporating DocBook code in Org files
607 * Recursive sections:: Recursive sections in DocBook
608 * Tables in DocBook export:: Tables are exported as HTML tables
609 * Images in DocBook export:: How to insert figures into DocBook output
610 * Special characters:: How to handle special characters
614 * Configuration:: Defining projects
615 * Uploading files:: How to get files up on the server
616 * Sample configuration:: Example projects
617 * Triggering publication:: Publication commands
621 * Project alist:: The central configuration variable
622 * Sources and destinations:: From here to there
623 * Selecting files:: What files are part of the project?
624 * Publishing action:: Setting the function doing the publishing
625 * Publishing options:: Tweaking HTML/@LaTeX{} export
626 * Publishing links:: Which links keep working after publishing?
627 * Sitemap:: Generating a list of all pages
628 * Generating an index:: An index that reaches across pages
632 * Simple example:: One-component publishing
633 * Complex example:: A multi-component publishing example
635 Working with source code
637 * Structure of code blocks:: Code block syntax described
638 * Editing source code:: Language major-mode editing
639 * Exporting code blocks:: Export contents and/or results
640 * Extracting source code:: Create pure source code files
641 * Evaluating code blocks:: Place results of evaluation in the Org-mode buffer
642 * Library of Babel:: Use and contribute to a library of useful code blocks
643 * Languages:: List of supported code block languages
644 * Header arguments:: Configure code block functionality
645 * Results of evaluation:: How evaluation results are handled
646 * Noweb reference syntax:: Literate programming in Org-mode
647 * Key bindings and useful functions:: Work quickly with code blocks
648 * Batch execution:: Call functions from the command line
652 * Using header arguments:: Different ways to set header arguments
653 * Specific header arguments:: List of header arguments
655 Using header arguments
657 * System-wide header arguments:: Set global default values
658 * Language-specific header arguments:: Set default values by language
659 * Buffer-wide header arguments:: Set default values for a specific buffer
660 * Header arguments in Org-mode properties:: Set default values for a buffer or heading
661 * Code block specific header arguments:: The most common way to set values
662 * Header arguments in function calls:: The most specific level
664 Specific header arguments
666 * var:: Pass arguments to code blocks
667 * results:: Specify the type of results and how they will
668 be collected and handled
669 * file:: Specify a path for file output
670 * dir:: Specify the default (possibly remote)
671 directory for code block execution
672 * exports:: Export code and/or results
673 * tangle:: Toggle tangling and specify file name
674 * mkdirp:: Toggle creation of parent directories of target
675 files during tangling
676 * comments:: Toggle insertion of comments in tangled
678 * padline:: Control insertion of padding lines in tangled
680 * no-expand:: Turn off variable assignment and noweb
681 expansion during tangling
682 * session:: Preserve the state of code evaluation
683 * noweb:: Toggle expansion of noweb references
684 * cache:: Avoid re-evaluating unchanged code blocks
685 * sep:: Delimiter for writing tabular results outside Org
686 * hlines:: Handle horizontal lines in tables
687 * colnames:: Handle column names in tables
688 * rownames:: Handle row names in tables
689 * shebang:: Make tangled files executable
690 * eval:: Limit evaluation of specific code blocks
694 * Completion:: M-TAB knows what you need
695 * Easy Templates:: Quick insertion of structural elements
696 * Speed keys:: Electric commands at the beginning of a headline
697 * Code evaluation security:: Org mode files evaluate inline code
698 * Customization:: Adapting Org to your taste
699 * In-buffer settings:: Overview of the #+KEYWORDS
700 * The very busy C-c C-c key:: When in doubt, press C-c C-c
701 * Clean view:: Getting rid of leading stars in the outline
702 * TTY keys:: Using Org on a tty
703 * Interaction:: Other Emacs packages
705 Interaction with other packages
707 * Cooperation:: Packages Org cooperates with
708 * Conflicts:: Packages that lead to conflicts
712 * Hooks:: Who to reach into Org's internals
713 * Add-on packages:: Available extensions
714 * Adding hyperlink types:: New custom link types
715 * Context-sensitive commands:: How to add functionality to such commands
716 * Tables in arbitrary syntax:: Orgtbl for @LaTeX{} and other programs
717 * Dynamic blocks:: Automatically filled blocks
718 * Special agenda views:: Customized views
719 * Extracting agenda information:: Postprocessing of agenda information
720 * Using the property API:: Writing programs that use entry properties
721 * Using the mapping API:: Mapping over all or selected entries
723 Tables and lists in arbitrary syntax
725 * Radio tables:: Sending and receiving radio tables
726 * A LaTeX example:: Step by step, almost a tutorial
727 * Translator functions:: Copy and modify
728 * Radio lists:: Doing the same for lists
732 * Setting up the staging area:: Where to interact with the mobile device
733 * Pushing to MobileOrg:: Uploading Org files and agendas
734 * Pulling from MobileOrg:: Integrating captured and flagged items
739 @node Introduction, Document Structure, Top, Top
740 @chapter Introduction
744 * Summary:: Brief summary of what Org does
745 * Installation:: How to install a downloaded version of Org
746 * Activation:: How to activate Org for certain buffers
747 * Feedback:: Bug reports, ideas, patches etc.
748 * Conventions:: Type-setting conventions in the manual
751 @node Summary, Installation, Introduction, Introduction
755 Org is a mode for keeping notes, maintaining TODO lists, and doing
756 project planning with a fast and effective plain-text system.
758 Org develops organizational tasks around NOTES files that contain
759 lists or information about projects as plain text. Org is
760 implemented on top of Outline mode, which makes it possible to keep the
761 content of large files well structured. Visibility cycling and
762 structure editing help to work with the tree. Tables are easily created
763 with a built-in table editor. Org supports TODO items, deadlines,
764 timestamps, and scheduling. It dynamically compiles entries into an
765 agenda that utilizes and smoothly integrates much of the Emacs calendar
766 and diary. Plain text URL-like links connect to websites, emails,
767 Usenet messages, BBDB entries, and any files related to the projects.
768 For printing and sharing of notes, an Org file can be exported as a
769 structured ASCII file, as HTML, or (TODO and agenda items only) as an
770 iCalendar file. It can also serve as a publishing tool for a set of
773 As a project planning environment, Org works by adding metadata to outline
774 nodes. Based on this data, specific entries can be extracted in queries and
775 create dynamic @i{agenda views}.
777 Org mode contains the Org Babel environment which allows you to work with
778 embedded source code blocks in a file, to facilitate code evaluation,
779 documentation, and literate programming techniques.
781 Org's automatic, context-sensitive table editor with spreadsheet
782 capabilities can be integrated into any major mode by activating the
783 minor Orgtbl mode. Using a translation step, it can be used to maintain
784 tables in arbitrary file types, for example in @LaTeX{}. The structure
785 editing and list creation capabilities can be used outside Org with
786 the minor Orgstruct mode.
788 Org keeps simple things simple. When first fired up, it should
789 feel like a straightforward, easy to use outliner. Complexity is not
790 imposed, but a large amount of functionality is available when you need
791 it. Org is a toolbox and can be used in different ways and for different
795 @r{@bullet{} an outline extension with visibility cycling and structure editing}
796 @r{@bullet{} an ASCII system and table editor for taking structured notes}
797 @r{@bullet{} a TODO list editor}
798 @r{@bullet{} a full agenda and planner with deadlines and work scheduling}
799 @pindex GTD, Getting Things Done
800 @r{@bullet{} an environment in which to implement David Allen's GTD system}
801 @r{@bullet{} a simple hypertext system, with HTML and @LaTeX{} export}
802 @r{@bullet{} a publishing tool to create a set of interlinked webpages}
803 @r{@bullet{} an environment for literate programming}
808 There is a website for Org which provides links to the newest
809 version of Org, as well as additional information, frequently asked
810 questions (FAQ), links to tutorials, etc@. This page is located at
811 @uref{http://orgmode.org}.
813 @cindex print edition
814 The version 7.3 of this manual is available as a
815 @uref{http://www.network-theory.co.uk/org/manual/, paperback book from Network
821 @node Installation, Activation, Summary, Introduction
822 @section Installation
826 @b{Important:} @i{If you are using a version of Org that is part of the Emacs
827 distribution or an XEmacs package, please skip this section and go directly
828 to @ref{Activation}. To see what version of Org (if any) is part of your
829 Emacs distribution, type @kbd{M-x load-library RET org} and then @kbd{M-x
832 If you have downloaded Org from the Web, either as a distribution @file{.zip}
833 or @file{.tar} file, or as a Git archive, you must take the following steps
834 to install it: go into the unpacked Org distribution directory and edit the
835 top section of the file @file{Makefile}. You must set the name of the Emacs
836 binary (likely either @file{emacs} or @file{xemacs}), and the paths to the
837 directories where local Lisp and Info files are kept. If you don't have
838 access to the system-wide directories, you can simply run Org directly from
839 the distribution directory by adding the @file{lisp} subdirectory to the
840 Emacs load path. To do this, add the following line to @file{.emacs}:
843 (setq load-path (cons "~/path/to/orgdir/lisp" load-path))
847 If you plan to use code from the @file{contrib} subdirectory, do a similar
848 step for this directory:
851 (setq load-path (cons "~/path/to/orgdir/contrib/lisp" load-path))
854 @noindent Now byte-compile the Lisp files with the shell command:
860 @noindent If you are running Org from the distribution directory, this is
861 all. If you want to install Org into the system directories, use (as
868 Installing Info files is system dependent, because of differences in the
869 @file{install-info} program. In Debian it copies the info files into the
870 correct directory and modifies the info directory file. In many other
871 systems, the files need to be copied to the correct directory separately, and
872 @file{install-info} then only modifies the directory file. Check your system
873 documentation to find out which of the following commands you need:
877 make install-info-debian
880 Then add the following line to @file{.emacs}. It is needed so that
881 Emacs can autoload functions that are located in files not immediately loaded
882 when Org-mode starts.
884 (require 'org-install)
887 Do not forget to activate Org as described in the following section.
890 @node Activation, Feedback, Installation, Introduction
894 @cindex global key bindings
895 @cindex key bindings, global
897 To make sure files with extension @file{.org} use Org mode, add the following
898 line to your @file{.emacs} file.
900 (add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.org\\'" . org-mode))
902 @noindent Org mode buffers need font-lock to be turned on - this is the
903 default in Emacs@footnote{If you don't use font-lock globally, turn it on in
904 Org buffer with @code{(add-hook 'org-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)}}.
906 The four Org commands @command{org-store-link}, @command{org-capture},
907 @command{org-agenda}, and @command{org-iswitchb} should be accessible through
908 global keys (i.e.@: anywhere in Emacs, not just in Org buffers). Here are
909 suggested bindings for these keys, please modify the keys to your own
912 (global-set-key "\C-cl" 'org-store-link)
913 (global-set-key "\C-cc" 'org-capture)
914 (global-set-key "\C-ca" 'org-agenda)
915 (global-set-key "\C-cb" 'org-iswitchb)
918 @cindex Org-mode, turning on
919 With this setup, all files with extension @samp{.org} will be put
920 into Org-mode. As an alternative, make the first line of a file look
924 MY PROJECTS -*- mode: org; -*-
927 @vindex org-insert-mode-line-in-empty-file
928 @noindent which will select Org-mode for this buffer no matter what
929 the file's name is. See also the variable
930 @code{org-insert-mode-line-in-empty-file}.
932 Many commands in Org work on the region if the region is @i{active}. To make
933 use of this, you need to have @code{transient-mark-mode}
934 (@code{zmacs-regions} in XEmacs) turned on. In Emacs 23 this is the default,
935 in Emacs 22 you need to do this yourself with
937 (transient-mark-mode 1)
939 @noindent If you do not like @code{transient-mark-mode}, you can create an
940 active region by using the mouse to select a region, or pressing
941 @kbd{C-@key{SPC}} twice before moving the cursor.
943 @node Feedback, Conventions, Activation, Introduction
950 If you find problems with Org, or if you have questions, remarks, or ideas
951 about it, please mail to the Org mailing list @email{emacs-orgmode@@gnu.org}.
952 If you are not a member of the mailing list, your mail will be passed to the
953 list after a moderator has approved it@footnote{Please consider subscribing
954 to the mailing list, in order to minimize the work the mailing list
955 moderators have to do.}.
957 For bug reports, please first try to reproduce the bug with the latest
958 version of Org available---if you are running an outdated version, it is
959 quite possible that the bug has been fixed already. If the bug persists,
960 prepare a report and provide as much information as possible, including the
961 version information of Emacs (@kbd{M-x emacs-version @key{RET}}) and Org
962 (@kbd{M-x org-version @key{RET}}), as well as the Org related setup in
963 @file{.emacs}. The easiest way to do this is to use the command
965 @kbd{M-x org-submit-bug-report}
967 @noindent which will put all this information into an Emacs mail buffer so
968 that you only need to add your description. If you re not sending the Email
969 from within Emacs, please copy and paste the content into your Email program.
971 If an error occurs, a backtrace can be very useful (see below on how to
972 create one). Often a small example file helps, along with clear information
976 @item What exactly did you do?
977 @item What did you expect to happen?
978 @item What happened instead?
980 @noindent Thank you for helping to improve this program.
982 @subsubheading How to create a useful backtrace
984 @cindex backtrace of an error
985 If working with Org produces an error with a message you don't
986 understand, you may have hit a bug. The best way to report this is by
987 providing, in addition to what was mentioned above, a @emph{backtrace}.
988 This is information from the built-in debugger about where and how the
989 error occurred. Here is how to produce a useful backtrace:
993 Reload uncompiled versions of all Org-mode Lisp files. The backtrace
994 contains much more information if it is produced with uncompiled code.
997 C-u M-x org-reload RET
1000 or select @code{Org -> Refresh/Reload -> Reload Org uncompiled} from the
1003 Go to the @code{Options} menu and select @code{Enter Debugger on Error}
1004 (XEmacs has this option in the @code{Troubleshooting} sub-menu).
1006 Do whatever you have to do to hit the error. Don't forget to
1007 document the steps you take.
1009 When you hit the error, a @file{*Backtrace*} buffer will appear on the
1010 screen. Save this buffer to a file (for example using @kbd{C-x C-w}) and
1011 attach it to your bug report.
1014 @node Conventions, , Feedback, Introduction
1015 @section Typesetting conventions used in this manual
1017 Org uses three types of keywords: TODO keywords, tags, and property
1018 names. In this manual we use the following conventions:
1023 TODO keywords are written with all capitals, even if they are
1027 User-defined tags are written in lowercase; built-in tags with special
1028 meaning are written with all capitals.
1031 User-defined properties are capitalized; built-in properties with
1032 special meaning are written with all capitals.
1035 The manual lists both the keys and the corresponding commands for accessing
1036 functionality. Org mode often uses the same key for different functions,
1037 depending on context. The command that is bound to such keys has a generic
1038 name, like @code{org-metaright}. In the manual we will, wherever possible,
1039 give the function that is internally called by the generic command. For
1040 example, in the chapter on document structure, @kbd{M-@key{right}} will be
1041 listed to call @code{org-do-demote}, while in the chapter on tables, it will
1042 be listed to call org-table-move-column-right.
1044 If you prefer, you can compile the manual without the command names by
1045 unsetting the flag @code{cmdnames} in @file{org.texi}.
1047 @node Document Structure, Tables, Introduction, Top
1048 @chapter Document structure
1049 @cindex document structure
1050 @cindex structure of document
1052 Org is based on Outline mode and provides flexible commands to
1053 edit the structure of the document.
1056 * Outlines:: Org is based on Outline mode
1057 * Headlines:: How to typeset Org tree headlines
1058 * Visibility cycling:: Show and hide, much simplified
1059 * Motion:: Jumping to other headlines
1060 * Structure editing:: Changing sequence and level of headlines
1061 * Sparse trees:: Matches embedded in context
1062 * Plain lists:: Additional structure within an entry
1063 * Drawers:: Tucking stuff away
1064 * Blocks:: Folding blocks
1065 * Footnotes:: How footnotes are defined in Org's syntax
1066 * Orgstruct mode:: Structure editing outside Org
1069 @node Outlines, Headlines, Document Structure, Document Structure
1072 @cindex Outline mode
1074 Org is implemented on top of Outline mode. Outlines allow a
1075 document to be organized in a hierarchical structure, which (at least
1076 for me) is the best representation of notes and thoughts. An overview
1077 of this structure is achieved by folding (hiding) large parts of the
1078 document to show only the general document structure and the parts
1079 currently being worked on. Org greatly simplifies the use of
1080 outlines by compressing the entire show/hide functionality into a single
1081 command, @command{org-cycle}, which is bound to the @key{TAB} key.
1083 @node Headlines, Visibility cycling, Outlines, Document Structure
1086 @cindex outline tree
1087 @vindex org-special-ctrl-a/e
1088 @vindex org-special-ctrl-k
1089 @vindex org-ctrl-k-protect-subtree
1091 Headlines define the structure of an outline tree. The headlines in Org
1092 start with one or more stars, on the left margin@footnote{See the variables
1093 @code{org-special-ctrl-a/e}, @code{org-special-ctrl-k}, and
1094 @code{org-ctrl-k-protect-subtree} to configure special behavior of @kbd{C-a},
1095 @kbd{C-e}, and @kbd{C-k} in headlines.}. For example:
1098 * Top level headline
1105 * Another top level headline
1108 @noindent Some people find the many stars too noisy and would prefer an
1109 outline that has whitespace followed by a single star as headline
1110 starters. @ref{Clean view}, describes a setup to realize this.
1112 @vindex org-cycle-separator-lines
1113 An empty line after the end of a subtree is considered part of it and
1114 will be hidden when the subtree is folded. However, if you leave at
1115 least two empty lines, one empty line will remain visible after folding
1116 the subtree, in order to structure the collapsed view. See the
1117 variable @code{org-cycle-separator-lines} to modify this behavior.
1119 @node Visibility cycling, Motion, Headlines, Document Structure
1120 @section Visibility cycling
1121 @cindex cycling, visibility
1122 @cindex visibility cycling
1123 @cindex trees, visibility
1124 @cindex show hidden text
1127 Outlines make it possible to hide parts of the text in the buffer.
1128 Org uses just two commands, bound to @key{TAB} and
1129 @kbd{S-@key{TAB}} to change the visibility in the buffer.
1131 @cindex subtree visibility states
1132 @cindex subtree cycling
1133 @cindex folded, subtree visibility state
1134 @cindex children, subtree visibility state
1135 @cindex subtree, subtree visibility state
1137 @orgcmd{@key{TAB},org-cycle}
1138 @emph{Subtree cycling}: Rotate current subtree among the states
1141 ,-> FOLDED -> CHILDREN -> SUBTREE --.
1142 '-----------------------------------'
1145 @vindex org-cycle-emulate-tab
1146 @vindex org-cycle-global-at-bob
1147 The cursor must be on a headline for this to work@footnote{see, however,
1148 the option @code{org-cycle-emulate-tab}.}. When the cursor is at the
1149 beginning of the buffer and the first line is not a headline, then
1150 @key{TAB} actually runs global cycling (see below)@footnote{see the
1151 option @code{org-cycle-global-at-bob}.}. Also when called with a prefix
1152 argument (@kbd{C-u @key{TAB}}), global cycling is invoked.
1154 @cindex global visibility states
1155 @cindex global cycling
1156 @cindex overview, global visibility state
1157 @cindex contents, global visibility state
1158 @cindex show all, global visibility state
1159 @orgcmd{S-@key{TAB},org-global-cycle}
1160 @itemx C-u @key{TAB}
1161 @emph{Global cycling}: Rotate the entire buffer among the states
1164 ,-> OVERVIEW -> CONTENTS -> SHOW ALL --.
1165 '--------------------------------------'
1168 When @kbd{S-@key{TAB}} is called with a numeric prefix argument N, the
1169 CONTENTS view up to headlines of level N will be shown. Note that inside
1170 tables, @kbd{S-@key{TAB}} jumps to the previous field.
1172 @cindex show all, command
1173 @orgcmd{C-u C-u C-u @key{TAB},show-all}
1174 Show all, including drawers.
1175 @orgcmd{C-c C-r,org-reveal}
1176 Reveal context around point, showing the current entry, the following heading
1177 and the hierarchy above. Useful for working near a location that has been
1178 exposed by a sparse tree command (@pxref{Sparse trees}) or an agenda command
1179 (@pxref{Agenda commands}). With a prefix argument show, on each
1180 level, all sibling headings. With double prefix arg, also show the entire
1181 subtree of the parent.
1182 @orgcmd{C-c C-k,show-branches}
1183 Expose all the headings of the subtree, CONTENT view for just one subtree.
1184 @orgcmd{C-c C-x b,org-tree-to-indirect-buffer}
1185 Show the current subtree in an indirect buffer@footnote{The indirect
1188 (@pxref{Indirect Buffers,,,emacs,GNU Emacs Manual})
1191 (see the Emacs manual for more information about indirect buffers)
1193 will contain the entire buffer, but will be narrowed to the current
1194 tree. Editing the indirect buffer will also change the original buffer,
1195 but without affecting visibility in that buffer.}. With a numeric
1196 prefix argument N, go up to level N and then take that tree. If N is
1197 negative then go up that many levels. With a @kbd{C-u} prefix, do not remove
1198 the previously used indirect buffer.
1201 @vindex org-startup-folded
1202 @cindex @code{overview}, STARTUP keyword
1203 @cindex @code{content}, STARTUP keyword
1204 @cindex @code{showall}, STARTUP keyword
1205 @cindex @code{showeverything}, STARTUP keyword
1207 When Emacs first visits an Org file, the global state is set to
1208 OVERVIEW, i.e.@: only the top level headlines are visible. This can be
1209 configured through the variable @code{org-startup-folded}, or on a
1210 per-file basis by adding one of the following lines anywhere in the
1217 #+STARTUP: showeverything
1220 @cindex property, VISIBILITY
1222 Furthermore, any entries with a @samp{VISIBILITY} property (@pxref{Properties
1223 and Columns}) will get their visibility adapted accordingly. Allowed values
1224 for this property are @code{folded}, @code{children}, @code{content}, and
1227 @orgcmd{C-u C-u @key{TAB},org-set-startup-visibility}
1228 Switch back to the startup visibility of the buffer, i.e.@: whatever is
1229 requested by startup options and @samp{VISIBILITY} properties in individual
1233 @node Motion, Structure editing, Visibility cycling, Document Structure
1235 @cindex motion, between headlines
1236 @cindex jumping, to headlines
1237 @cindex headline navigation
1238 The following commands jump to other headlines in the buffer.
1241 @orgcmd{C-c C-n,outline-next-visible-heading}
1243 @orgcmd{C-c C-p,outline-previous-visible-heading}
1245 @orgcmd{C-c C-f,org-forward-same-level}
1246 Next heading same level.
1247 @orgcmd{C-c C-b,org-backward-same-level}
1248 Previous heading same level.
1249 @orgcmd{C-c C-u,outline-up-heading}
1250 Backward to higher level heading.
1251 @orgcmd{C-c C-j,org-goto}
1252 Jump to a different place without changing the current outline
1253 visibility. Shows the document structure in a temporary buffer, where
1254 you can use the following keys to find your destination:
1255 @vindex org-goto-auto-isearch
1257 @key{TAB} @r{Cycle visibility.}
1258 @key{down} / @key{up} @r{Next/previous visible headline.}
1259 @key{RET} @r{Select this location.}
1260 @kbd{/} @r{Do a Sparse-tree search}
1261 @r{The following keys work if you turn off @code{org-goto-auto-isearch}}
1262 n / p @r{Next/previous visible headline.}
1263 f / b @r{Next/previous headline same level.}
1265 0-9 @r{Digit argument.}
1268 @vindex org-goto-interface
1270 See also the variable @code{org-goto-interface}.
1273 @node Structure editing, Sparse trees, Motion, Document Structure
1274 @section Structure editing
1275 @cindex structure editing
1276 @cindex headline, promotion and demotion
1277 @cindex promotion, of subtrees
1278 @cindex demotion, of subtrees
1279 @cindex subtree, cut and paste
1280 @cindex pasting, of subtrees
1281 @cindex cutting, of subtrees
1282 @cindex copying, of subtrees
1283 @cindex sorting, of subtrees
1284 @cindex subtrees, cut and paste
1287 @orgcmd{M-@key{RET},org-insert-heading}
1288 @vindex org-M-RET-may-split-line
1289 Insert new heading with same level as current. If the cursor is in a plain
1290 list item, a new item is created (@pxref{Plain lists}). To force creation of
1291 a new headline, use a prefix argument. When this command is used in the
1292 middle of a line, the line is split and the rest of the line becomes the new
1293 headline@footnote{If you do not want the line to be split, customize the
1294 variable @code{org-M-RET-may-split-line}.}. If the command is used at the
1295 beginning of a headline, the new headline is created before the current line.
1296 If at the beginning of any other line, the content of that line is made the
1297 new heading. If the command is used at the end of a folded subtree (i.e.@:
1298 behind the ellipses at the end of a headline), then a headline like the
1299 current one will be inserted after the end of the subtree.
1300 @orgcmd{C-@key{RET},org-insert-heading-respect-content}
1301 Just like @kbd{M-@key{RET}}, except when adding a new heading below the
1302 current heading, the new heading is placed after the body instead of before
1303 it. This command works from anywhere in the entry.
1304 @orgcmd{M-S-@key{RET},org-insert-todo-heading}
1305 @vindex org-treat-insert-todo-heading-as-state-change
1306 Insert new TODO entry with same level as current heading. See also the
1307 variable @code{org-treat-insert-todo-heading-as-state-change}.
1308 @orgcmd{C-S-@key{RET},org-insert-todo-heading-respect-content}
1309 Insert new TODO entry with same level as current heading. Like
1310 @kbd{C-@key{RET}}, the new headline will be inserted after the current
1312 @orgcmd{@key{TAB},org-cycle}
1313 In a new entry with no text yet, the first @key{TAB} demotes the entry to
1314 become a child of the previous one. The next @key{TAB} makes it a parent,
1315 and so on, all the way to top level. Yet another @key{TAB}, and you are back
1316 to the initial level.
1317 @orgcmd{M-@key{left},org-do-promote}
1318 Promote current heading by one level.
1319 @orgcmd{M-@key{right},org-do-demote}
1320 Demote current heading by one level.
1321 @orgcmd{M-S-@key{left},org-promote-subtree}
1322 Promote the current subtree by one level.
1323 @orgcmd{M-S-@key{right},org-demote-subtree}
1324 Demote the current subtree by one level.
1325 @orgcmd{M-S-@key{up},org-move-subtree-up}
1326 Move subtree up (swap with previous subtree of same
1328 @orgcmd{M-S-@key{down},org-move-subtree-down}
1329 Move subtree down (swap with next subtree of same level).
1330 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-w,org-cut-subtree}
1331 Kill subtree, i.e.@: remove it from buffer but save in kill ring.
1332 With a numeric prefix argument N, kill N sequential subtrees.
1333 @orgcmd{C-c C-x M-w,org-copy-subtree}
1334 Copy subtree to kill ring. With a numeric prefix argument N, copy the N
1335 sequential subtrees.
1336 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-y,org-paste-subtree}
1337 Yank subtree from kill ring. This does modify the level of the subtree to
1338 make sure the tree fits in nicely at the yank position. The yank level can
1339 also be specified with a numeric prefix argument, or by yanking after a
1340 headline marker like @samp{****}.
1341 @orgcmd{C-y,org-yank}
1342 @vindex org-yank-adjusted-subtrees
1343 @vindex org-yank-folded-subtrees
1344 Depending on the variables @code{org-yank-adjusted-subtrees} and
1345 @code{org-yank-folded-subtrees}, Org's internal @code{yank} command will
1346 paste subtrees folded and in a clever way, using the same command as @kbd{C-c
1347 C-x C-y}. With the default settings, no level adjustment will take place,
1348 but the yanked tree will be folded unless doing so would swallow text
1349 previously visible. Any prefix argument to this command will force a normal
1350 @code{yank} to be executed, with the prefix passed along. A good way to
1351 force a normal yank is @kbd{C-u C-y}. If you use @code{yank-pop} after a
1352 yank, it will yank previous kill items plainly, without adjustment and
1354 @orgcmd{C-c C-x c,org-clone-subtree-with-time-shift}
1355 Clone a subtree by making a number of sibling copies of it. You will be
1356 prompted for the number of copies to make, and you can also specify if any
1357 timestamps in the entry should be shifted. This can be useful, for example,
1358 to create a number of tasks related to a series of lectures to prepare. For
1359 more details, see the docstring of the command
1360 @code{org-clone-subtree-with-time-shift}.
1361 @orgcmd{C-c C-w,org-refile}
1362 Refile entry or region to a different location. @xref{Refiling notes}.
1363 @orgcmd{C-c ^,org-sort-entries-or-items}
1364 Sort same-level entries. When there is an active region, all entries in the
1365 region will be sorted. Otherwise the children of the current headline are
1366 sorted. The command prompts for the sorting method, which can be
1367 alphabetically, numerically, by time (first timestamp with active preferred,
1368 creation time, scheduled time, deadline time), by priority, by TODO keyword
1369 (in the sequence the keywords have been defined in the setup) or by the value
1370 of a property. Reverse sorting is possible as well. You can also supply
1371 your own function to extract the sorting key. With a @kbd{C-u} prefix,
1372 sorting will be case-sensitive. With two @kbd{C-u C-u} prefixes, duplicate
1373 entries will also be removed.
1374 @orgcmd{C-x n s,org-narrow-to-subtree}
1375 Narrow buffer to current subtree.
1376 @orgcmd{C-x n b,org-narrow-to-block}
1377 Narrow buffer to current block.
1378 @orgcmd{C-x n w,widen}
1379 Widen buffer to remove narrowing.
1380 @orgcmd{C-c *,org-toggle-heading}
1381 Turn a normal line or plain list item into a headline (so that it becomes a
1382 subheading at its location). Also turn a headline into a normal line by
1383 removing the stars. If there is an active region, turn all lines in the
1384 region into headlines. If the first line in the region was an item, turn
1385 only the item lines into headlines. Finally, if the first line is a
1386 headline, remove the stars from all headlines in the region.
1389 @cindex region, active
1390 @cindex active region
1391 @cindex transient mark mode
1392 When there is an active region (Transient Mark mode), promotion and
1393 demotion work on all headlines in the region. To select a region of
1394 headlines, it is best to place both point and mark at the beginning of a
1395 line, mark at the beginning of the first headline, and point at the line
1396 just after the last headline to change. Note that when the cursor is
1397 inside a table (@pxref{Tables}), the Meta-Cursor keys have different
1401 @node Sparse trees, Plain lists, Structure editing, Document Structure
1402 @section Sparse trees
1403 @cindex sparse trees
1404 @cindex trees, sparse
1405 @cindex folding, sparse trees
1406 @cindex occur, command
1408 @vindex org-show-hierarchy-above
1409 @vindex org-show-following-heading
1410 @vindex org-show-siblings
1411 @vindex org-show-entry-below
1412 An important feature of Org-mode is the ability to construct @emph{sparse
1413 trees} for selected information in an outline tree, so that the entire
1414 document is folded as much as possible, but the selected information is made
1415 visible along with the headline structure above it@footnote{See also the
1416 variables @code{org-show-hierarchy-above}, @code{org-show-following-heading},
1417 @code{org-show-siblings}, and @code{org-show-entry-below} for detailed
1418 control on how much context is shown around each match.}. Just try it out
1419 and you will see immediately how it works.
1421 Org-mode contains several commands creating such trees, all these
1422 commands can be accessed through a dispatcher:
1425 @orgcmd{C-c /,org-sparse-tree}
1426 This prompts for an extra key to select a sparse-tree creating command.
1427 @orgcmd{C-c / r,org-occur}
1428 @vindex org-remove-highlights-with-change
1429 Occur. Prompts for a regexp and shows a sparse tree with all matches. If
1430 the match is in a headline, the headline is made visible. If the match is in
1431 the body of an entry, headline and body are made visible. In order to
1432 provide minimal context, also the full hierarchy of headlines above the match
1433 is shown, as well as the headline following the match. Each match is also
1434 highlighted; the highlights disappear when the buffer is changed by an
1435 editing command@footnote{This depends on the option
1436 @code{org-remove-highlights-with-change}}, or by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}.
1437 When called with a @kbd{C-u} prefix argument, previous highlights are kept,
1438 so several calls to this command can be stacked.
1439 @orgcmdkkc{M-g n,M-g M-n,next-error}
1440 Jump to the next sparse tree match in this buffer.
1441 @orgcmdkkc{M-g p,M-g M-p,previous-error}
1442 Jump to the previous sparse tree match in this buffer.
1447 @vindex org-agenda-custom-commands
1448 For frequently used sparse trees of specific search strings, you can
1449 use the variable @code{org-agenda-custom-commands} to define fast
1450 keyboard access to specific sparse trees. These commands will then be
1451 accessible through the agenda dispatcher (@pxref{Agenda dispatcher}).
1455 (setq org-agenda-custom-commands
1456 '(("f" occur-tree "FIXME")))
1459 @noindent will define the key @kbd{C-c a f} as a shortcut for creating
1460 a sparse tree matching the string @samp{FIXME}.
1462 The other sparse tree commands select headings based on TODO keywords,
1463 tags, or properties and will be discussed later in this manual.
1466 @cindex printing sparse trees
1467 @cindex visible text, printing
1468 To print a sparse tree, you can use the Emacs command
1469 @code{ps-print-buffer-with-faces} which does not print invisible parts
1470 of the document @footnote{This does not work under XEmacs, because
1471 XEmacs uses selective display for outlining, not text properties.}.
1472 Or you can use the command @kbd{C-c C-e v} to export only the visible
1473 part of the document and print the resulting file.
1475 @node Plain lists, Drawers, Sparse trees, Document Structure
1476 @section Plain lists
1478 @cindex lists, plain
1479 @cindex lists, ordered
1480 @cindex ordered lists
1482 Within an entry of the outline tree, hand-formatted lists can provide
1483 additional structure. They also provide a way to create lists of checkboxes
1484 (@pxref{Checkboxes}). Org supports editing such lists, and every exporter
1485 (@pxref{Exporting}) can parse and format them.
1487 Org knows ordered lists, unordered lists, and description lists.
1490 @emph{Unordered} list items start with @samp{-}, @samp{+}, or
1491 @samp{*}@footnote{When using @samp{*} as a bullet, lines must be indented or
1492 they will be seen as top-level headlines. Also, when you are hiding leading
1493 stars to get a clean outline view, plain list items starting with a star may
1494 be hard to distinguish from true headlines. In short: even though @samp{*}
1495 is supported, it may be better to not use it for plain list items.} as
1498 @vindex org-plain-list-ordered-item-terminator
1499 @vindex org-alphabetical-lists
1500 @emph{Ordered} list items start with a numeral followed by either a period or
1501 a right parenthesis@footnote{You can filter out any of them by configuring
1502 @code{org-plain-list-ordered-item-terminator}.}, such as @samp{1.} or
1503 @samp{1)}@footnote{You can also get @samp{a.}, @samp{A.}, @samp{a)} and
1504 @samp{A)} by configuring @code{org-alphabetical-lists}. To minimize
1505 confusion with normal text, those are limited to one character only. Beyond
1506 that limit, bullets will automatically fallback to numbers.}. If you want a
1507 list to start with a different value (e.g.@: 20), start the text of the item
1508 with @code{[@@20]}@footnote{If there's a checkbox in the item, the cookie
1509 must be put @emph{before} the checkbox. If you have activated alphabetical
1510 lists, you can also use counters like @code{[@@b]}.}. Those constructs can
1511 be used in any item of the list in order to enforce a particular numbering.
1513 @emph{Description} list items are unordered list items, and contain the
1514 separator @samp{ :: } to distinguish the description @emph{term} from the
1518 Items belonging to the same list must have the same indentation on the first
1519 line. In particular, if an ordered list reaches number @samp{10.}, then the
1520 2--digit numbers must be written left-aligned with the other numbers in the
1521 list. An item ends before the next line that is less or equally indented
1522 than its bullet/number.
1524 @vindex org-list-ending-method
1525 @vindex org-list-end-regexp
1526 @vindex org-empty-line-terminates-plain-lists
1527 Two methods@footnote{To disable either of them, configure
1528 @code{org-list-ending-method}.} are provided to terminate lists. A list ends
1529 whenever every item has ended, which means before any line less or equally
1530 indented than items at top level. It also ends before two blank
1531 lines@footnote{See also @code{org-empty-line-terminates-plain-lists}.}. In
1532 that case, all items are closed. For finer control, you can end lists with
1533 any pattern set in @code{org-list-end-regexp}. Here is an example:
1537 ** Lord of the Rings
1538 My favorite scenes are (in this order)
1539 1. The attack of the Rohirrim
1540 2. Eowyn's fight with the witch king
1541 + this was already my favorite scene in the book
1542 + I really like Miranda Otto.
1543 3. Peter Jackson being shot by Legolas
1545 He makes a really funny face when it happens.
1546 But in the end, no individual scenes matter but the film as a whole.
1547 Important actors in this film are:
1548 - @b{Elijah Wood} :: He plays Frodo
1549 - @b{Sean Austin} :: He plays Sam, Frodo's friend. I still remember
1550 him very well from his role as Mikey Walsh in @i{The Goonies}.
1554 Org supports these lists by tuning filling and wrapping commands to deal with
1555 them correctly@footnote{Org only changes the filling settings for Emacs. For
1556 XEmacs, you should use Kyle E. Jones' @file{filladapt.el}. To turn this on,
1557 put into @file{.emacs}: @code{(require 'filladapt)}}, and by exporting them
1558 properly (@pxref{Exporting}). Since indentation is what governs the
1559 structure of these lists, many structural constructs like @code{#+BEGIN_...}
1560 blocks can be indented to signal that they belong to a particular item.
1562 @vindex org-list-demote-modify-bullet
1563 If you find that using a different bullet for a sub-list (than that used for
1564 the current list-level) improves readability, customize the variable
1565 @code{org-list-demote-modify-bullet}.
1567 @vindex org-list-automatic-rules
1568 The following commands act on items when the cursor is in the first line of
1569 an item (the line with the bullet or number). Some of them imply the
1570 application of automatic rules to keep list structure intact. If some of
1571 these actions get in your way, configure @code{org-list-automatic-rules}
1572 to disable them individually.
1575 @orgcmd{@key{TAB},org-cycle}
1576 @vindex org-cycle-include-plain-lists
1577 Items can be folded just like headline levels. Normally this works only if
1578 the cursor is on a plain list item. For more details, see the variable
1579 @code{org-cycle-include-plain-lists}. If this variable is set to
1580 @code{integrate}, plain list items will be treated like low-level
1581 headlines. The level of an item is then given by the
1582 indentation of the bullet/number. Items are always subordinate to real
1583 headlines, however; the hierarchies remain completely separated.
1584 @orgcmd{M-@key{RET},org-insert-heading}
1585 @vindex org-M-RET-may-split-line
1586 @vindex org-list-automatic-rules
1587 Insert new item at current level. With a prefix argument, force a new
1588 heading (@pxref{Structure editing}). If this command is used in the middle
1589 of an item, that item is @emph{split} in two, and the second part becomes the
1590 new item@footnote{If you do not want the item to be split, customize the
1591 variable @code{org-M-RET-may-split-line}.}. If this command is executed
1592 @emph{before item's body}, the new item is created @emph{before} the current
1594 @kindex M-S-@key{RET}
1596 Insert a new item with a checkbox (@pxref{Checkboxes}).
1597 @orgcmd{@key{TAB},org-cycle}
1598 In a new item with no text yet, the first @key{TAB} demotes the item to
1599 become a child of the previous one. Subsequent @key{TAB}s move the item to
1600 meaningful levels in the list and eventually get it back to its initial
1602 @kindex S-@key{down}
1605 @cindex shift-selection-mode
1606 @vindex org-support-shift-select
1607 Jump to the previous/next item in the current list, but only if
1608 @code{org-support-shift-select} is off. If not, you can still use paragraph
1609 jumping commands like @kbd{C-@key{up}} and @kbd{C-@key{down}} to quite
1611 @kindex M-S-@key{up}
1612 @kindex M-S-@key{down}
1614 @itemx M-S-@key{down}
1615 Move the item including subitems up/down (swap with previous/next item
1616 of same indentation). If the list is ordered, renumbering is
1618 @kindex M-@key{left}
1619 @kindex M-@key{right}
1621 @itemx M-@key{right}
1622 Decrease/increase the indentation of an item, leaving children alone.
1623 @kindex M-S-@key{left}
1624 @kindex M-S-@key{right}
1625 @item M-S-@key{left}
1626 @itemx M-S-@key{right}
1627 Decrease/increase the indentation of the item, including subitems.
1628 Initially, the item tree is selected based on current indentation. When
1629 these commands are executed several times in direct succession, the initially
1630 selected region is used, even if the new indentation would imply a different
1631 hierarchy. To use the new hierarchy, break the command chain with a cursor
1634 As a special case, using this command on the very first item of a list will
1635 move the whole list. This behavior can be disabled by configuring
1636 @code{org-list-automatic-rules}. The global indentation of a list has no
1637 influence on the text @emph{after} the list.
1640 If there is a checkbox (@pxref{Checkboxes}) in the item line, toggle the
1641 state of the checkbox. In any case, verify bullets and indentation
1642 consistency in the whole list.
1644 @vindex org-plain-list-ordered-item-terminator
1645 @vindex org-list-automatic-rules
1647 Cycle the entire list level through the different itemize/enumerate bullets
1648 (@samp{-}, @samp{+}, @samp{*}, @samp{1.}, @samp{1)}) or a subset of them,
1649 depending on @code{org-plain-list-ordered-item-terminator}, the type of list,
1650 and its position@footnote{See @code{bullet} rule in
1651 @code{org-list-automatic-rules} for more information.}. With a numeric
1652 prefix argument N, select the Nth bullet from this list. If there is an
1653 active region when calling this, selected text will be changed into an item.
1654 With a prefix argument, all lines will be converted to list items. If the
1655 first line already was a list item, any item marker will be removed from the
1656 list. Finally, even without an active region, a normal line will be
1657 converted into a list item.
1660 Turn a plain list item into a headline (so that it becomes a subheading at
1661 its location). @xref{Structure editing}, for a detailed explanation.
1664 Turn the whole plain list into a subtree of the current heading. Checkboxes
1665 (@pxref{Checkboxes}) will become TODO (resp. DONE) keywords when unchecked
1667 @kindex S-@key{left}
1668 @kindex S-@key{right}
1669 @item S-@key{left}/@key{right}
1670 @vindex org-support-shift-select
1671 This command also cycles bullet styles when the cursor in on the bullet or
1672 anywhere in an item line, details depending on
1673 @code{org-support-shift-select}.
1676 Sort the plain list. You will be prompted for the sorting method:
1677 numerically, alphabetically, by time, or by custom function.
1680 @node Drawers, Blocks, Plain lists, Document Structure
1684 @cindex visibility cycling, drawers
1687 Sometimes you want to keep information associated with an entry, but you
1688 normally don't want to see it. For this, Org-mode has @emph{drawers}.
1689 Drawers need to be configured with the variable
1690 @code{org-drawers}@footnote{You can define drawers on a per-file basis
1691 with a line like @code{#+DRAWERS: HIDDEN PROPERTIES STATE}}. Drawers
1695 ** This is a headline
1696 Still outside the drawer
1698 This is inside the drawer.
1703 Visibility cycling (@pxref{Visibility cycling}) on the headline will hide and
1704 show the entry, but keep the drawer collapsed to a single line. In order to
1705 look inside the drawer, you need to move the cursor to the drawer line and
1706 press @key{TAB} there. Org-mode uses the @code{PROPERTIES} drawer for
1707 storing properties (@pxref{Properties and Columns}), and you can also arrange
1708 for state change notes (@pxref{Tracking TODO state changes}) and clock times
1709 (@pxref{Clocking work time}) to be stored in a drawer @code{LOGBOOK}. If you
1710 want to store a quick note in the LOGBOOK drawer, in a similar way to state changes, use
1715 Add a time-stamped note to the LOGBOOK drawer.
1718 @node Blocks, Footnotes, Drawers, Document Structure
1721 @vindex org-hide-block-startup
1722 @cindex blocks, folding
1723 Org-mode uses begin...end blocks for various purposes from including source
1724 code examples (@pxref{Literal examples}) to capturing time logging
1725 information (@pxref{Clocking work time}). These blocks can be folded and
1726 unfolded by pressing TAB in the begin line. You can also get all blocks
1727 folded at startup by configuring the variable @code{org-hide-block-startup}
1728 or on a per-file basis by using
1730 @cindex @code{hideblocks}, STARTUP keyword
1731 @cindex @code{nohideblocks}, STARTUP keyword
1733 #+STARTUP: hideblocks
1734 #+STARTUP: nohideblocks
1737 @node Footnotes, Orgstruct mode, Blocks, Document Structure
1741 Org-mode supports the creation of footnotes. In contrast to the
1742 @file{footnote.el} package, Org-mode's footnotes are designed for work on a
1743 larger document, not only for one-off documents like emails. The basic
1744 syntax is similar to the one used by @file{footnote.el}, i.e.@: a footnote is
1745 defined in a paragraph that is started by a footnote marker in square
1746 brackets in column 0, no indentation allowed. If you need a paragraph break
1747 inside a footnote, use the @LaTeX{} idiom @samp{\par}. The footnote reference
1748 is simply the marker in square brackets, inside text. For example:
1751 The Org homepage[fn:1] now looks a lot better than it used to.
1753 [fn:1] The link is: http://orgmode.org
1756 Org-mode extends the number-based syntax to @emph{named} footnotes and
1757 optional inline definition. Using plain numbers as markers (as
1758 @file{footnote.el} does) is supported for backward compatibility, but not
1759 encouraged because of possible conflicts with @LaTeX{} snippets (@pxref{Embedded
1760 LaTeX}). Here are the valid references:
1764 A plain numeric footnote marker. Compatible with @file{footnote.el}, but not
1765 recommended because something like @samp{[1]} could easily be part of a code
1768 A named footnote reference, where @code{name} is a unique label word, or, for
1769 simplicity of automatic creation, a number.
1770 @item [fn:: This is the inline definition of this footnote]
1771 A @LaTeX{}-like anonymous footnote where the definition is given directly at the
1773 @item [fn:name: a definition]
1774 An inline definition of a footnote, which also specifies a name for the note.
1775 Since Org allows multiple references to the same note, you can then use
1776 @code{[fn:name]} to create additional references.
1779 @vindex org-footnote-auto-label
1780 Footnote labels can be created automatically, or you can create names yourself.
1781 This is handled by the variable @code{org-footnote-auto-label} and its
1782 corresponding @code{#+STARTUP} keywords. See the docstring of that variable
1785 @noindent The following command handles footnotes:
1790 The footnote action command.
1792 When the cursor is on a footnote reference, jump to the definition. When it
1793 is at a definition, jump to the (first) reference.
1795 @vindex org-footnote-define-inline
1796 @vindex org-footnote-section
1797 @vindex org-footnote-auto-adjust
1798 Otherwise, create a new footnote. Depending on the variable
1799 @code{org-footnote-define-inline}@footnote{The corresponding in-buffer
1800 setting is: @code{#+STARTUP: fninline} or @code{#+STARTUP: nofninline}}, the
1801 definition will be placed right into the text as part of the reference, or
1802 separately into the location determined by the variable
1803 @code{org-footnote-section}.
1805 When this command is called with a prefix argument, a menu of additional
1808 s @r{Sort the footnote definitions by reference sequence. During editing,}
1809 @r{Org makes no effort to sort footnote definitions into a particular}
1810 @r{sequence. If you want them sorted, use this command, which will}
1811 @r{also move entries according to @code{org-footnote-section}. Automatic}
1812 @r{sorting after each insertion/deletion can be configured using the}
1813 @r{variable @code{org-footnote-auto-adjust}.}
1814 r @r{Renumber the simple @code{fn:N} footnotes. Automatic renumbering}
1815 @r{after each insertion/deletion can be configured using the variable}
1816 @r{@code{org-footnote-auto-adjust}.}
1817 S @r{Short for first @code{r}, then @code{s} action.}
1818 n @r{Normalize the footnotes by collecting all definitions (including}
1819 @r{inline definitions) into a special section, and then numbering them}
1820 @r{in sequence. The references will then also be numbers. This is}
1821 @r{meant to be the final step before finishing a document (e.g.@: sending}
1822 @r{off an email). The exporters do this automatically, and so could}
1823 @r{something like @code{message-send-hook}.}
1824 d @r{Delete the footnote at point, and all definitions of and references}
1827 Depending on the variable @code{org-footnote-auto-adjust}@footnote{the
1828 corresponding in-buffer options are @code{fnadjust} and @code{nofnadjust}.},
1829 renumbering and sorting footnotes can be automatic after each insertion or
1834 If the cursor is on a footnote reference, jump to the definition. If it is a
1835 the definition, jump back to the reference. When called at a footnote
1836 location with a prefix argument, offer the same menu as @kbd{C-c C-x f}.
1840 @item C-c C-o @r{or} mouse-1/2
1841 Footnote labels are also links to the corresponding definition/reference, and
1842 you can use the usual commands to follow these links.
1845 @node Orgstruct mode, , Footnotes, Document Structure
1846 @section The Orgstruct minor mode
1847 @cindex Orgstruct mode
1848 @cindex minor mode for structure editing
1850 If you like the intuitive way the Org-mode structure editing and list
1851 formatting works, you might want to use these commands in other modes like
1852 Text mode or Mail mode as well. The minor mode @code{orgstruct-mode} makes
1853 this possible. Toggle the mode with @kbd{M-x orgstruct-mode}, or
1854 turn it on by default, for example in Message mode, with one of:
1857 (add-hook 'message-mode-hook 'turn-on-orgstruct)
1858 (add-hook 'message-mode-hook 'turn-on-orgstruct++)
1861 When this mode is active and the cursor is on a line that looks to Org like a
1862 headline or the first line of a list item, most structure editing commands
1863 will work, even if the same keys normally have different functionality in the
1864 major mode you are using. If the cursor is not in one of those special
1865 lines, Orgstruct mode lurks silently in the shadows. When you use
1866 @code{orgstruct++-mode}, Org will also export indentation and autofill
1867 settings into that mode, and detect item context after the first line of an
1870 @node Tables, Hyperlinks, Document Structure, Top
1873 @cindex editing tables
1875 Org comes with a fast and intuitive table editor. Spreadsheet-like
1876 calculations are supported using the Emacs @file{calc} package
1878 (@pxref{Top,Calc,,Calc,Gnu Emacs Calculator Manual}).
1881 (see the Emacs Calculator manual for more information about the Emacs
1886 * Built-in table editor:: Simple tables
1887 * Column width and alignment:: Overrule the automatic settings
1888 * Column groups:: Grouping to trigger vertical lines
1889 * Orgtbl mode:: The table editor as minor mode
1890 * The spreadsheet:: The table editor has spreadsheet capabilities
1891 * Org-Plot:: Plotting from org tables
1894 @node Built-in table editor, Column width and alignment, Tables, Tables
1895 @section The built-in table editor
1896 @cindex table editor, built-in
1898 Org makes it easy to format tables in plain ASCII. Any line with @samp{|} as
1899 the first non-whitespace character is considered part of a table. @samp{|}
1900 is also the column separator@footnote{To insert a vertical bar into a table
1901 field, use @code{\vert} or, inside a word @code{abc\vert@{@}def}.}. A table
1902 might look like this:
1905 | Name | Phone | Age |
1906 |-------+-------+-----|
1907 | Peter | 1234 | 17 |
1908 | Anna | 4321 | 25 |
1911 A table is re-aligned automatically each time you press @key{TAB} or
1912 @key{RET} or @kbd{C-c C-c} inside the table. @key{TAB} also moves to
1913 the next field (@key{RET} to the next row) and creates new table rows
1914 at the end of the table or before horizontal lines. The indentation
1915 of the table is set by the first line. Any line starting with
1916 @samp{|-} is considered as a horizontal separator line and will be
1917 expanded on the next re-align to span the whole table width. So, to
1918 create the above table, you would only type
1925 @noindent and then press @key{TAB} to align the table and start filling in
1926 fields. Even faster would be to type @code{|Name|Phone|Age} followed by
1927 @kbd{C-c @key{RET}}.
1929 @vindex org-enable-table-editor
1930 @vindex org-table-auto-blank-field
1931 When typing text into a field, Org treats @key{DEL},
1932 @key{Backspace}, and all character keys in a special way, so that
1933 inserting and deleting avoids shifting other fields. Also, when
1934 typing @emph{immediately after the cursor was moved into a new field
1935 with @kbd{@key{TAB}}, @kbd{S-@key{TAB}} or @kbd{@key{RET}}}, the
1936 field is automatically made blank. If this behavior is too
1937 unpredictable for you, configure the variables
1938 @code{org-enable-table-editor} and @code{org-table-auto-blank-field}.
1941 @tsubheading{Creation and conversion}
1942 @orgcmd{C-c |,org-table-create-or-convert-from-region}
1943 Convert the active region to table. If every line contains at least one
1944 TAB character, the function assumes that the material is tab separated.
1945 If every line contains a comma, comma-separated values (CSV) are assumed.
1946 If not, lines are split at whitespace into fields. You can use a prefix
1947 argument to force a specific separator: @kbd{C-u} forces CSV, @kbd{C-u
1948 C-u} forces TAB, and a numeric argument N indicates that at least N
1949 consecutive spaces, or alternatively a TAB will be the separator.
1951 If there is no active region, this command creates an empty Org
1952 table. But it's easier just to start typing, like
1953 @kbd{|Name|Phone|Age @key{RET} |- @key{TAB}}.
1955 @tsubheading{Re-aligning and field motion}
1956 @orgcmd{C-c C-c,org-table-align}
1957 Re-align the table without moving the cursor.
1959 @orgcmd{<TAB>,org-table-next-field}
1960 Re-align the table, move to the next field. Creates a new row if
1963 @orgcmd{S-@key{TAB},org-table-previous-field}
1964 Re-align, move to previous field.
1966 @orgcmd{@key{RET},org-table-next-row}
1967 Re-align the table and move down to next row. Creates a new row if
1968 necessary. At the beginning or end of a line, @key{RET} still does
1969 NEWLINE, so it can be used to split a table.
1971 @orgcmd{M-a,org-table-beginning-of-field}
1972 Move to beginning of the current table field, or on to the previous field.
1973 @orgcmd{M-e,org-table-end-of-field}
1974 Move to end of the current table field, or on to the next field.
1976 @tsubheading{Column and row editing}
1977 @orgcmdkkcc{M-@key{left},M-@key{right},org-table-move-column-left,org-table-move-column-right}
1978 Move the current column left/right.
1980 @orgcmd{M-S-@key{left},org-table-delete-column}
1981 Kill the current column.
1983 @orgcmd{M-S-@key{right},org-table-insert-column}
1984 Insert a new column to the left of the cursor position.
1986 @orgcmdkkcc{M-@key{up},M-@key{down},org-table-move-row-up,org-table-move-row-down}
1987 Move the current row up/down.
1989 @orgcmd{M-S-@key{up},org-table-kill-row}
1990 Kill the current row or horizontal line.
1992 @orgcmd{M-S-@key{down},org-table-insert-row}
1993 Insert a new row above the current row. With a prefix argument, the line is
1994 created below the current one.
1996 @orgcmd{C-c -,org-table-insert-hline}
1997 Insert a horizontal line below current row. With a prefix argument, the line
1998 is created above the current line.
2000 @orgcmd{C-c @key{RET},org-table-hline-and-move}
2001 Insert a horizontal line below current row, and move the cursor into the row
2004 @orgcmd{C-c ^,org-table-sort-lines}
2005 Sort the table lines in the region. The position of point indicates the
2006 column to be used for sorting, and the range of lines is the range
2007 between the nearest horizontal separator lines, or the entire table. If
2008 point is before the first column, you will be prompted for the sorting
2009 column. If there is an active region, the mark specifies the first line
2010 and the sorting column, while point should be in the last line to be
2011 included into the sorting. The command prompts for the sorting type
2012 (alphabetically, numerically, or by time). When called with a prefix
2013 argument, alphabetic sorting will be case-sensitive.
2015 @tsubheading{Regions}
2016 @orgcmd{C-c C-x M-w,org-table-copy-region}
2017 Copy a rectangular region from a table to a special clipboard. Point and
2018 mark determine edge fields of the rectangle. If there is no active region,
2019 copy just the current field. The process ignores horizontal separator lines.
2021 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-w,org-table-cut-region}
2022 Copy a rectangular region from a table to a special clipboard, and
2023 blank all fields in the rectangle. So this is the ``cut'' operation.
2025 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-y,org-table-paste-rectangle}
2026 Paste a rectangular region into a table.
2027 The upper left corner ends up in the current field. All involved fields
2028 will be overwritten. If the rectangle does not fit into the present table,
2029 the table is enlarged as needed. The process ignores horizontal separator
2032 @orgcmd{M-@key{RET},org-table-wrap-region}
2033 Split the current field at the cursor position and move the rest to the line
2034 below. If there is an active region, and both point and mark are in the same
2035 column, the text in the column is wrapped to minimum width for the given
2036 number of lines. A numeric prefix argument may be used to change the number
2037 of desired lines. If there is no region, but you specify a prefix argument,
2038 the current field is made blank, and the content is appended to the field
2041 @tsubheading{Calculations}
2042 @cindex formula, in tables
2043 @cindex calculations, in tables
2044 @cindex region, active
2045 @cindex active region
2046 @cindex transient mark mode
2047 @orgcmd{C-c +,org-table-sum}
2048 Sum the numbers in the current column, or in the rectangle defined by
2049 the active region. The result is shown in the echo area and can
2050 be inserted with @kbd{C-y}.
2052 @orgcmd{S-@key{RET},org-table-copy-down}
2053 @vindex org-table-copy-increment
2054 When current field is empty, copy from first non-empty field above. When not
2055 empty, copy current field down to next row and move cursor along with it.
2056 Depending on the variable @code{org-table-copy-increment}, integer field
2057 values will be incremented during copy. Integers that are too large will not
2058 be incremented. Also, a @code{0} prefix argument temporarily disables the
2059 increment. This key is also used by shift-selection and related modes
2060 (@pxref{Conflicts}).
2062 @tsubheading{Miscellaneous}
2063 @orgcmd{C-c `,org-table-edit-field}
2064 Edit the current field in a separate window. This is useful for fields that
2065 are not fully visible (@pxref{Column width and alignment}). When called with
2066 a @kbd{C-u} prefix, just make the full field visible, so that it can be
2067 edited in place. When called with two @kbd{C-u} prefixes, make the editor
2068 window follow the cursor through the table and always show the current
2069 field. The follow mode exits automatically when the cursor leaves the table,
2070 or when you repeat this command with @kbd{C-u C-u C-c `}.
2072 @item M-x org-table-import
2073 Import a file as a table. The table should be TAB or whitespace
2074 separated. Use, for example, to import a spreadsheet table or data
2075 from a database, because these programs generally can write
2076 TAB-separated text files. This command works by inserting the file into
2077 the buffer and then converting the region to a table. Any prefix
2078 argument is passed on to the converter, which uses it to determine the
2080 @orgcmd{C-c |,org-table-create-or-convert-from-region}
2081 Tables can also be imported by pasting tabular text into the Org
2082 buffer, selecting the pasted text with @kbd{C-x C-x} and then using the
2083 @kbd{C-c |} command (see above under @i{Creation and conversion}).
2085 @item M-x org-table-export
2086 @findex org-table-export
2087 @vindex org-table-export-default-format
2088 Export the table, by default as a TAB-separated file. Use for data
2089 exchange with, for example, spreadsheet or database programs. The format
2090 used to export the file can be configured in the variable
2091 @code{org-table-export-default-format}. You may also use properties
2092 @code{TABLE_EXPORT_FILE} and @code{TABLE_EXPORT_FORMAT} to specify the file
2093 name and the format for table export in a subtree. Org supports quite
2094 general formats for exported tables. The exporter format is the same as the
2095 format used by Orgtbl radio tables, see @ref{Translator functions}, for a
2096 detailed description.
2099 If you don't like the automatic table editor because it gets in your
2100 way on lines which you would like to start with @samp{|}, you can turn
2104 (setq org-enable-table-editor nil)
2107 @noindent Then the only table command that still works is
2108 @kbd{C-c C-c} to do a manual re-align.
2110 @node Column width and alignment, Column groups, Built-in table editor, Tables
2111 @section Column width and alignment
2112 @cindex narrow columns in tables
2113 @cindex alignment in tables
2115 The width of columns is automatically determined by the table editor. And
2116 also the alignment of a column is determined automatically from the fraction
2117 of number-like versus non-number fields in the column.
2119 Sometimes a single field or a few fields need to carry more text, leading to
2120 inconveniently wide columns. Or maybe you want to make a table with several
2121 columns having a fixed width, regardless of content. To set@footnote{This
2122 feature does not work on XEmacs.} the width of a column, one field anywhere
2123 in the column may contain just the string @samp{<N>} where @samp{N} is an
2124 integer specifying the width of the column in characters. The next re-align
2125 will then set the width of this column to this value.
2129 |---+------------------------------| |---+--------|
2131 | 1 | one | | 1 | one |
2132 | 2 | two | ----\ | 2 | two |
2133 | 3 | This is a long chunk of text | ----/ | 3 | This=> |
2134 | 4 | four | | 4 | four |
2135 |---+------------------------------| |---+--------|
2140 Fields that are wider become clipped and end in the string @samp{=>}.
2141 Note that the full text is still in the buffer but is hidden.
2142 To see the full text, hold the mouse over the field---a tool-tip window
2143 will show the full content. To edit such a field, use the command
2144 @kbd{C-c `} (that is @kbd{C-c} followed by the backquote). This will
2145 open a new window with the full field. Edit it and finish with @kbd{C-c
2148 @vindex org-startup-align-all-tables
2149 When visiting a file containing a table with narrowed columns, the
2150 necessary character hiding has not yet happened, and the table needs to
2151 be aligned before it looks nice. Setting the option
2152 @code{org-startup-align-all-tables} will realign all tables in a file
2153 upon visiting, but also slow down startup. You can also set this option
2154 on a per-file basis with:
2161 If you would like to overrule the automatic alignment of number-rich columns
2162 to the right and of string-rich column to the left, you can use @samp{<r>},
2163 @samp{c}@footnote{Centering does not work inside Emacs, but it does have an
2164 effect when exporting to HTML.} or @samp{<l>} in a similar fashion. You may
2165 also combine alignment and field width like this: @samp{<l10>}.
2167 Lines which only contain these formatting cookies will be removed
2168 automatically when exporting the document.
2170 @node Column groups, Orgtbl mode, Column width and alignment, Tables
2171 @section Column groups
2172 @cindex grouping columns in tables
2174 When Org exports tables, it does so by default without vertical
2175 lines because that is visually more satisfying in general. Occasionally
2176 however, vertical lines can be useful to structure a table into groups
2177 of columns, much like horizontal lines can do for groups of rows. In
2178 order to specify column groups, you can use a special row where the
2179 first field contains only @samp{/}. The further fields can either
2180 contain @samp{<} to indicate that this column should start a group,
2181 @samp{>} to indicate the end of a column, or @samp{<>} to make a column
2182 a group of its own. Boundaries between column groups will upon export be
2183 marked with vertical lines. Here is an example:
2186 | N | N^2 | N^3 | N^4 | sqrt(n) | sqrt[4](N) |
2187 |---+-----+-----+-----+---------+------------|
2188 | / | < | | > | < | > |
2189 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
2190 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 1.4142 | 1.1892 |
2191 | 3 | 9 | 27 | 81 | 1.7321 | 1.3161 |
2192 |---+-----+-----+-----+---------+------------|
2193 #+TBLFM: $2=$1^2::$3=$1^3::$4=$1^4::$5=sqrt($1)::$6=sqrt(sqrt(($1)))
2196 It is also sufficient to just insert the column group starters after
2197 every vertical line you would like to have:
2200 | N | N^2 | N^3 | N^4 | sqrt(n) | sqrt[4](N) |
2201 |----+-----+-----+-----+---------+------------|
2205 @node Orgtbl mode, The spreadsheet, Column groups, Tables
2206 @section The Orgtbl minor mode
2208 @cindex minor mode for tables
2210 If you like the intuitive way the Org table editor works, you
2211 might also want to use it in other modes like Text mode or Mail mode.
2212 The minor mode Orgtbl mode makes this possible. You can always toggle
2213 the mode with @kbd{M-x orgtbl-mode}. To turn it on by default, for
2214 example in Message mode, use
2217 (add-hook 'message-mode-hook 'turn-on-orgtbl)
2220 Furthermore, with some special setup, it is possible to maintain tables
2221 in arbitrary syntax with Orgtbl mode. For example, it is possible to
2222 construct @LaTeX{} tables with the underlying ease and power of
2223 Orgtbl mode, including spreadsheet capabilities. For details, see
2224 @ref{Tables in arbitrary syntax}.
2226 @node The spreadsheet, Org-Plot, Orgtbl mode, Tables
2227 @section The spreadsheet
2228 @cindex calculations, in tables
2229 @cindex spreadsheet capabilities
2230 @cindex @file{calc} package
2232 The table editor makes use of the Emacs @file{calc} package to implement
2233 spreadsheet-like capabilities. It can also evaluate Emacs Lisp forms to
2234 derive fields from other fields. While fully featured, Org's implementation
2235 is not identical to other spreadsheets. For example, Org knows the concept
2236 of a @emph{column formula} that will be applied to all non-header fields in a
2237 column without having to copy the formula to each relevant field. There is
2238 also a formula debugger, and a formula editor with features for highlighting
2239 fields in the table corresponding to the references at the point in the
2240 formula, moving these references by arrow keys
2243 * References:: How to refer to another field or range
2244 * Formula syntax for Calc:: Using Calc to compute stuff
2245 * Formula syntax for Lisp:: Writing formulas in Emacs Lisp
2246 * Field and range formulas:: Formula for specific (ranges of) fields
2247 * Column formulas:: Formulas valid for an entire column
2248 * Editing and debugging formulas:: Fixing formulas
2249 * Updating the table:: Recomputing all dependent fields
2250 * Advanced features:: Field names, parameters and automatic recalc
2253 @node References, Formula syntax for Calc, The spreadsheet, The spreadsheet
2254 @subsection References
2257 To compute fields in the table from other fields, formulas must
2258 reference other fields or ranges. In Org, fields can be referenced
2259 by name, by absolute coordinates, and by relative coordinates. To find
2260 out what the coordinates of a field are, press @kbd{C-c ?} in that
2261 field, or press @kbd{C-c @}} to toggle the display of a grid.
2263 @subsubheading Field references
2264 @cindex field references
2265 @cindex references, to fields
2267 Formulas can reference the value of another field in two ways. Like in
2268 any other spreadsheet, you may reference fields with a letter/number
2269 combination like @code{B3}, meaning the 2nd field in the 3rd row.
2270 @vindex org-table-use-standard-references
2271 However, Org prefers@footnote{Org will understand references typed by the
2272 user as @samp{B4}, but it will not use this syntax when offering a formula
2273 for editing. You can customize this behavior using the variable
2274 @code{org-table-use-standard-references}.} to use another, more general
2275 representation that looks like this:
2277 @@@var{row}$@var{column}
2280 Column specifications can be absolute like @code{$1},
2281 @code{$2},...@code{$@var{N}}, or relative to the current column (i.e.@: the
2282 column of the field which is being computed) like @code{$+1} or @code{$-2}.
2283 @code{$<} and @code{$>} are immutable references to the first and last
2284 column, respectively, and you can use @code{$>>>} to indicate the third
2285 column from the right.
2287 The row specification only counts data lines and ignores horizontal separator
2288 lines (hlines). Like with columns, you can use absolute row numbers
2289 @code{@@1}, @code{@@2},...@code{@@@var{N}}, and row numbers relative to the
2290 current row like @code{@@+3} or @code{@@-1}. @code{@@<} and @code{@@>} are
2291 immutable references the first and last@footnote{For backward compatibility
2292 you can also use special names like @code{$LR5} and @code{$LR12} to refer in
2293 a stable way to the 5th and 12th field in the last row of the table.
2294 However, this syntax is deprecated, it should not be used for new documents.
2295 Use @code{@@>$} instead.} row in the table, respectively. You may also
2296 specify the row relative to one of the hlines: @code{@@I} refers to the first
2297 hline, @code{@@II} to the second, etc@. @code{@@-I} refers to the first such
2298 line above the current line, @code{@@+I} to the first such line below the
2299 current line. You can also write @code{@@III+2} which is the second data line
2300 after the third hline in the table.
2302 @code{@@0} and @code{$0} refer to the current row and column, respectively,
2303 i.e. to the row/column for the field being computed. Also, if you omit
2304 either the column or the row part of the reference, the current row/column is
2307 Org's references with @emph{unsigned} numbers are fixed references
2308 in the sense that if you use the same reference in the formula for two
2309 different fields, the same field will be referenced each time.
2310 Org's references with @emph{signed} numbers are floating
2311 references because the same reference operator can reference different
2312 fields depending on the field being calculated by the formula.
2314 Here are a few examples:
2317 @@2$3 @r{2nd row, 3rd column (same as @code{C2})}
2318 $5 @r{column 5 in the current row (same as @code{E&})}
2319 @@2 @r{current column, row 2}
2320 @@-1$-3 @r{the field one row up, three columns to the left}
2321 @@-I$2 @r{field just under hline above current row, column 2}
2322 @@>$5 @r{field in the last row, in column 5}
2325 @subsubheading Range references
2326 @cindex range references
2327 @cindex references, to ranges
2329 You may reference a rectangular range of fields by specifying two field
2330 references connected by two dots @samp{..}. If both fields are in the
2331 current row, you may simply use @samp{$2..$7}, but if at least one field
2332 is in a different row, you need to use the general @code{@@row$column}
2333 format at least for the first field (i.e the reference must start with
2334 @samp{@@} in order to be interpreted correctly). Examples:
2337 $1..$3 @r{first three fields in the current row}
2338 $P..$Q @r{range, using column names (see under Advanced)}
2339 $<<<..$>> @r{start in third column, continue to the one but last}
2340 @@2$1..@@4$3 @r{6 fields between these two fields (same as @code{A2..C4})}
2341 @@-1$-2..@@-1 @r{3 numbers from the column to the left, 2 up to current row}
2342 @@I..II @r{between first and second hline, short for @code{@@I..@@II}}
2345 @noindent Range references return a vector of values that can be fed
2346 into Calc vector functions. Empty fields in ranges are normally
2347 suppressed, so that the vector contains only the non-empty fields (but
2348 see the @samp{E} mode switch below). If there are no non-empty fields,
2349 @samp{[0]} is returned to avoid syntax errors in formulas.
2351 @subsubheading Field coordinates in formulas
2352 @cindex field coordinates
2353 @cindex coordinates, of field
2354 @cindex row, of field coordinates
2355 @cindex column, of field coordinates
2357 For Calc formulas and Lisp formulas @code{@@#} and @code{$#} can be used to
2358 get the row or column number of the field where the formula result goes.
2359 The traditional Lisp formula equivalents are @code{org-table-current-dline}
2360 and @code{org-table-current-column}. Examples:
2363 if(@@# % 2, $#, string("")) @r{column number on odd lines only}
2364 $3 = remote(FOO, @@@@#$2) @r{copy column 2 from table FOO into}
2365 @r{column 3 of the current table}
2368 @noindent For the second example, table FOO must have at least as many rows
2369 as the current table. Note that this is inefficient@footnote{The computation time scales as
2370 O(N^2) because table FOO is parsed for each field to be copied.} for large
2373 @subsubheading Named references
2374 @cindex named references
2375 @cindex references, named
2376 @cindex name, of column or field
2377 @cindex constants, in calculations
2380 @vindex org-table-formula-constants
2381 @samp{$name} is interpreted as the name of a column, parameter or
2382 constant. Constants are defined globally through the variable
2383 @code{org-table-formula-constants}, and locally (for the file) through a
2387 #+CONSTANTS: c=299792458. pi=3.14 eps=2.4e-6
2391 @vindex constants-unit-system
2392 @pindex constants.el
2393 Also properties (@pxref{Properties and Columns}) can be used as
2394 constants in table formulas: for a property @samp{:Xyz:} use the name
2395 @samp{$PROP_Xyz}, and the property will be searched in the current
2396 outline entry and in the hierarchy above it. If you have the
2397 @file{constants.el} package, it will also be used to resolve constants,
2398 including natural constants like @samp{$h} for Planck's constant, and
2399 units like @samp{$km} for kilometers@footnote{@file{constants.el} can
2400 supply the values of constants in two different unit systems, @code{SI}
2401 and @code{cgs}. Which one is used depends on the value of the variable
2402 @code{constants-unit-system}. You can use the @code{#+STARTUP} options
2403 @code{constSI} and @code{constcgs} to set this value for the current
2404 buffer.}. Column names and parameters can be specified in special table
2405 lines. These are described below, see @ref{Advanced features}. All
2406 names must start with a letter, and further consist of letters and
2409 @subsubheading Remote references
2410 @cindex remote references
2411 @cindex references, remote
2412 @cindex references, to a different table
2413 @cindex name, of column or field
2414 @cindex constants, in calculations
2417 You may also reference constants, fields and ranges from a different table,
2418 either in the current file or even in a different file. The syntax is
2421 remote(NAME-OR-ID,REF)
2425 where NAME can be the name of a table in the current file as set by a
2426 @code{#+TBLNAME: NAME} line before the table. It can also be the ID of an
2427 entry, even in a different file, and the reference then refers to the first
2428 table in that entry. REF is an absolute field or range reference as
2429 described above for example @code{@@3$3} or @code{$somename}, valid in the
2432 @node Formula syntax for Calc, Formula syntax for Lisp, References, The spreadsheet
2433 @subsection Formula syntax for Calc
2434 @cindex formula syntax, Calc
2435 @cindex syntax, of formulas
2437 A formula can be any algebraic expression understood by the Emacs
2438 @file{Calc} package. @b{Note that @file{calc} has the
2439 non-standard convention that @samp{/} has lower precedence than
2440 @samp{*}, so that @samp{a/b*c} is interpreted as @samp{a/(b*c)}.} Before
2441 evaluation by @code{calc-eval} (@pxref{Calling Calc from
2442 Your Programs,calc-eval,Calling Calc from Your Lisp Programs,Calc,GNU
2443 Emacs Calc Manual}),
2444 @c FIXME: The link to the Calc manual in HTML does not work.
2445 variable substitution takes place according to the rules described above.
2446 @cindex vectors, in table calculations
2447 The range vectors can be directly fed into the Calc vector functions
2448 like @samp{vmean} and @samp{vsum}.
2450 @cindex format specifier
2451 @cindex mode, for @file{calc}
2452 @vindex org-calc-default-modes
2453 A formula can contain an optional mode string after a semicolon. This
2454 string consists of flags to influence Calc and other modes during
2455 execution. By default, Org uses the standard Calc modes (precision
2456 12, angular units degrees, fraction and symbolic modes off). The display
2457 format, however, has been changed to @code{(float 8)} to keep tables
2458 compact. The default settings can be configured using the variable
2459 @code{org-calc-default-modes}.
2462 p20 @r{set the internal Calc calculation precision to 20 digits}
2463 n3 s3 e2 f4 @r{Normal, scientific, engineering, or fixed}
2464 @r{format of the result of Calc passed back to Org.}
2465 @r{Calc formatting is unlimited in precision as}
2466 @r{long as the Calc calculation precision is greater.}
2467 D R @r{angle modes: degrees, radians}
2468 F S @r{fraction and symbolic modes}
2469 N @r{interpret all fields as numbers, use 0 for non-numbers}
2470 T @r{force text interpretation}
2471 E @r{keep empty fields in ranges}
2476 Unless you use large integer numbers or high-precision-calculation
2477 and -display for floating point numbers you may alternatively provide a
2478 @code{printf} format specifier to reformat the Calc result after it has been
2479 passed back to Org instead of letting Calc already do the
2480 formatting@footnote{The @code{printf} reformatting is limited in precision
2481 because the value passed to it is converted into an @code{integer} or
2482 @code{double}. The @code{integer} is limited in size by truncating the
2483 signed value to 32 bits. The @code{double} is limited in precision to 64
2484 bits overall which leaves approximately 16 significant decimal digits.}.
2488 $1+$2 @r{Sum of first and second field}
2489 $1+$2;%.2f @r{Same, format result to two decimals}
2490 exp($2)+exp($1) @r{Math functions can be used}
2491 $0;%.1f @r{Reformat current cell to 1 decimal}
2492 ($3-32)*5/9 @r{Degrees F -> C conversion}
2493 $c/$1/$cm @r{Hz -> cm conversion, using @file{constants.el}}
2494 tan($1);Dp3s1 @r{Compute in degrees, precision 3, display SCI 1}
2495 sin($1);Dp3%.1e @r{Same, but use printf specifier for display}
2496 vmean($2..$7) @r{Compute column range mean, using vector function}
2497 vmean($2..$7);EN @r{Same, but treat empty fields as 0}
2498 taylor($3,x=7,2) @r{Taylor series of $3, at x=7, second degree}
2501 Calc also contains a complete set of logical operations. For example
2504 if($1<20,teen,string("")) @r{"teen" if age $1 less than 20, else empty}
2507 @node Formula syntax for Lisp, Field and range formulas, Formula syntax for Calc, The spreadsheet
2508 @subsection Emacs Lisp forms as formulas
2509 @cindex Lisp forms, as table formulas
2511 It is also possible to write a formula in Emacs Lisp; this can be useful for
2512 string manipulation and control structures, if Calc's functionality is not
2513 enough. If a formula starts with a single-quote followed by an opening
2514 parenthesis, then it is evaluated as a Lisp form. The evaluation should
2515 return either a string or a number. Just as with @file{calc} formulas, you
2516 can specify modes and a printf format after a semicolon. With Emacs Lisp
2517 forms, you need to be conscious about the way field references are
2518 interpolated into the form. By default, a reference will be interpolated as
2519 a Lisp string (in double-quotes) containing the field. If you provide the
2520 @samp{N} mode switch, all referenced elements will be numbers (non-number
2521 fields will be zero) and interpolated as Lisp numbers, without quotes. If
2522 you provide the @samp{L} flag, all fields will be interpolated literally,
2523 without quotes. i.e., if you want a reference to be interpreted as a string
2524 by the Lisp form, enclose the reference operator itself in double-quotes,
2525 like @code{"$3"}. Ranges are inserted as space-separated fields, so you can
2526 embed them in list or vector syntax. Here are a few examples---note how the
2527 @samp{N} mode is used when we do computations in Lisp:
2530 @r{Swap the first two characters of the content of column 1}
2531 '(concat (substring $1 1 2) (substring $1 0 1) (substring $1 2))
2532 @r{Add columns 1 and 2, equivalent to Calc's @code{$1+$2}}
2534 @r{Compute the sum of columns 1-4, like Calc's @code{vsum($1..$4)}}
2535 '(apply '+ '($1..$4));N
2538 @node Field and range formulas, Column formulas, Formula syntax for Lisp, The spreadsheet
2539 @subsection Field and range formulas
2540 @cindex field formula
2541 @cindex range formula
2542 @cindex formula, for individual table field
2543 @cindex formula, for range of fields
2545 To assign a formula to a particular field, type it directly into the field,
2546 preceded by @samp{:=}, for example @samp{:=vsum(@@II..III)}. When you press
2547 @key{TAB} or @key{RET} or @kbd{C-c C-c} with the cursor still in the field,
2548 the formula will be stored as the formula for this field, evaluated, and the
2549 current field will be replaced with the result.
2552 Formulas are stored in a special line starting with @samp{#+TBLFM:} directly
2553 below the table. If you type the equation in the 4th field of the 3rd data
2554 line in the table, the formula will look like @samp{@@3$4=$1+$2}. When
2555 inserting/deleting/swapping column and rows with the appropriate commands,
2556 @i{absolute references} (but not relative ones) in stored formulas are
2557 modified in order to still reference the same field. To avoid this from
2558 happening, in particular in range references, anchor ranges at the table
2559 borders (using @code{@@<}, @code{@@>}, @code{$<}, @code{$>}), or at hlines
2560 using the @code{@@I} notation. Automatic adaptation of field references does
2561 of cause not happen if you edit the table structure with normal editing
2562 commands---then you must fix the equations yourself.
2564 Instead of typing an equation into the field, you may also use the following
2568 @orgcmd{C-u C-c =,org-table-eval-formula}
2569 Install a new formula for the current field. The command prompts for a
2570 formula with default taken from the @samp{#+TBLFM:} line, applies
2571 it to the current field, and stores it.
2574 The left-hand side of a formula can also be a special expression in order to
2575 assign the formula to a number of different fields. There is no keyboard
2576 shortcut to enter such range formulas. To add them, use the formula editor
2577 (@pxref{Editing and debugging formulas}) or edit the @code{#+TBLFM:} line
2582 Column formula, valid for the entire column. This is so common that Org
2583 treats these formulas in a special way, see @ref{Column formulas}.
2585 Row formula, applies to all fields in the specified row. @code{@@>=} means
2588 Range formula, applies to all fields in the given rectangular range. This
2589 can also be used to assign a formula to some but not all fields in a row.
2591 Named field, see @ref{Advanced features}.
2594 @node Column formulas, Editing and debugging formulas, Field and range formulas, The spreadsheet
2595 @subsection Column formulas
2596 @cindex column formula
2597 @cindex formula, for table column
2599 When you assign a formula to a simple column reference like @code{$3=}, the
2600 same formula will be used in all fields of that column, with the following
2601 very convenient exceptions: (i) If the table contains horizontal separator
2602 hlines, everything before the first such line is considered part of the table
2603 @emph{header} and will not be modified by column formulas. (ii) Fields that
2604 already get a value from a field/range formula will be left alone by column
2605 formulas. These conditions make column formulas very easy to use.
2607 To assign a formula to a column, type it directly into any field in the
2608 column, preceded by an equal sign, like @samp{=$1+$2}. When you press
2609 @key{TAB} or @key{RET} or @kbd{C-c C-c} with the cursor still in the field,
2610 the formula will be stored as the formula for the current column, evaluated
2611 and the current field replaced with the result. If the field contains only
2612 @samp{=}, the previously stored formula for this column is used. For each
2613 column, Org will only remember the most recently used formula. In the
2614 @samp{#+TBLFM:} line, column formulas will look like @samp{$4=$1+$2}. The
2615 left-hand side of a column formula can not be the name of column, it must be
2616 the numeric column reference or @code{$>}.
2618 Instead of typing an equation into the field, you may also use the
2622 @orgcmd{C-c =,org-table-eval-formula}
2623 Install a new formula for the current column and replace current field with
2624 the result of the formula. The command prompts for a formula, with default
2625 taken from the @samp{#+TBLFM} line, applies it to the current field and
2626 stores it. With a numeric prefix argument(e.g.@: @kbd{C-5 C-c =}) the command
2627 will apply it to that many consecutive fields in the current column.
2630 @node Editing and debugging formulas, Updating the table, Column formulas, The spreadsheet
2631 @subsection Editing and debugging formulas
2632 @cindex formula editing
2633 @cindex editing, of table formulas
2635 @vindex org-table-use-standard-references
2636 You can edit individual formulas in the minibuffer or directly in the
2637 field. Org can also prepare a special buffer with all active
2638 formulas of a table. When offering a formula for editing, Org
2639 converts references to the standard format (like @code{B3} or @code{D&})
2640 if possible. If you prefer to only work with the internal format (like
2641 @code{@@3$2} or @code{$4}), configure the variable
2642 @code{org-table-use-standard-references}.
2645 @orgcmdkkc{C-c =,C-u C-c =,org-table-eval-formula}
2646 Edit the formula associated with the current column/field in the
2647 minibuffer. See @ref{Column formulas}, and @ref{Field and range formulas}.
2648 @orgcmd{C-u C-u C-c =,org-table-eval-formula}
2649 Re-insert the active formula (either a
2650 field formula, or a column formula) into the current field, so that you
2651 can edit it directly in the field. The advantage over editing in the
2652 minibuffer is that you can use the command @kbd{C-c ?}.
2653 @orgcmd{C-c ?,org-table-field-info}
2654 While editing a formula in a table field, highlight the field(s)
2655 referenced by the reference at the cursor position in the formula.
2657 @findex org-table-toggle-coordinate-overlays
2659 Toggle the display of row and column numbers for a table, using overlays
2660 (@command{org-table-toggle-coordinate-overlays}). These are updated each
2661 time the table is aligned; you can force it with @kbd{C-c C-c}.
2663 @findex org-table-toggle-formula-debugger
2665 Toggle the formula debugger on and off
2666 (@command{org-table-toggle-formula-debugger}). See below.
2667 @orgcmd{C-c ',org-table-edit-formulas}
2668 Edit all formulas for the current table in a special buffer, where the
2669 formulas will be displayed one per line. If the current field has an
2670 active formula, the cursor in the formula editor will mark it.
2671 While inside the special buffer, Org will automatically highlight
2672 any field or range reference at the cursor position. You may edit,
2673 remove and add formulas, and use the following commands:
2675 @orgcmdkkc{C-c C-c,C-x C-s,org-table-fedit-finish}
2676 Exit the formula editor and store the modified formulas. With @kbd{C-u}
2677 prefix, also apply the new formulas to the entire table.
2678 @orgcmd{C-c C-q,org-table-fedit-abort}
2679 Exit the formula editor without installing changes.
2680 @orgcmd{C-c C-r,org-table-fedit-toggle-ref-type}
2681 Toggle all references in the formula editor between standard (like
2682 @code{B3}) and internal (like @code{@@3$2}).
2683 @orgcmd{@key{TAB},org-table-fedit-lisp-indent}
2684 Pretty-print or indent Lisp formula at point. When in a line containing
2685 a Lisp formula, format the formula according to Emacs Lisp rules.
2686 Another @key{TAB} collapses the formula back again. In the open
2687 formula, @key{TAB} re-indents just like in Emacs Lisp mode.
2688 @orgcmd{M-@key{TAB},lisp-complete-symbol}
2689 Complete Lisp symbols, just like in Emacs Lisp mode.
2691 @kindex S-@key{down}
2692 @kindex S-@key{left}
2693 @kindex S-@key{right}
2694 @findex org-table-fedit-ref-up
2695 @findex org-table-fedit-ref-down
2696 @findex org-table-fedit-ref-left
2697 @findex org-table-fedit-ref-right
2698 @item S-@key{up}/@key{down}/@key{left}/@key{right}
2699 Shift the reference at point. For example, if the reference is
2700 @code{B3} and you press @kbd{S-@key{right}}, it will become @code{C3}.
2701 This also works for relative references and for hline references.
2702 @orgcmdkkcc{M-S-@key{up},M-S-@key{down},org-table-fedit-line-up,org-table-fedit-line-down}
2703 Move the test line for column formulas in the Org buffer up and
2705 @orgcmdkkcc{M-@key{up},M-@key{down},org-table-fedit-scroll-down,org-table-fedit-scroll-up}
2706 Scroll the window displaying the table.
2708 @findex org-table-toggle-coordinate-overlays
2710 Turn the coordinate grid in the table on and off.
2714 Making a table field blank does not remove the formula associated with
2715 the field, because that is stored in a different line (the @samp{#+TBLFM}
2716 line)---during the next recalculation the field will be filled again.
2717 To remove a formula from a field, you have to give an empty reply when
2718 prompted for the formula, or to edit the @samp{#+TBLFM} line.
2721 You may edit the @samp{#+TBLFM} directly and re-apply the changed
2722 equations with @kbd{C-c C-c} in that line or with the normal
2723 recalculation commands in the table.
2725 @subsubheading Debugging formulas
2726 @cindex formula debugging
2727 @cindex debugging, of table formulas
2728 When the evaluation of a formula leads to an error, the field content
2729 becomes the string @samp{#ERROR}. If you would like see what is going
2730 on during variable substitution and calculation in order to find a bug,
2731 turn on formula debugging in the @code{Tbl} menu and repeat the
2732 calculation, for example by pressing @kbd{C-u C-u C-c = @key{RET}} in a
2733 field. Detailed information will be displayed.
2735 @node Updating the table, Advanced features, Editing and debugging formulas, The spreadsheet
2736 @subsection Updating the table
2737 @cindex recomputing table fields
2738 @cindex updating, table
2740 Recalculation of a table is normally not automatic, but needs to be
2741 triggered by a command. See @ref{Advanced features}, for a way to make
2742 recalculation at least semi-automatic.
2744 In order to recalculate a line of a table or the entire table, use the
2748 @orgcmd{C-c *,org-table-recalculate}
2749 Recalculate the current row by first applying the stored column formulas
2750 from left to right, and all field/range formulas in the current row.
2756 Recompute the entire table, line by line. Any lines before the first
2757 hline are left alone, assuming that these are part of the table header.
2759 @orgcmdkkc{C-u C-u C-c *,C-u C-u C-c C-c,org-table-iterate}
2760 Iterate the table by recomputing it until no further changes occur.
2761 This may be necessary if some computed fields use the value of other
2762 fields that are computed @i{later} in the calculation sequence.
2763 @item M-x org-table-recalculate-buffer-tables
2764 @findex org-table-recalculate-buffer-tables
2765 Recompute all tables in the current buffer.
2766 @item M-x org-table-iterate-buffer-tables
2767 @findex org-table-iterate-buffer-tables
2768 Iterate all tables in the current buffer, in order to converge table-to-table
2772 @node Advanced features, , Updating the table, The spreadsheet
2773 @subsection Advanced features
2775 If you want the recalculation of fields to happen automatically, or if
2776 you want to be able to assign @i{names} to fields and columns, you need
2777 to reserve the first column of the table for special marking characters.
2779 @orgcmd{C-#,org-table-rotate-recalc-marks}
2780 Rotate the calculation mark in first column through the states @samp{ },
2781 @samp{#}, @samp{*}, @samp{!}, @samp{$}. When there is an active region,
2782 change all marks in the region.
2785 Here is an example of a table that collects exam results of students and
2786 makes use of these features:
2790 |---+---------+--------+--------+--------+-------+------|
2791 | | Student | Prob 1 | Prob 2 | Prob 3 | Total | Note |
2792 |---+---------+--------+--------+--------+-------+------|
2793 | ! | | P1 | P2 | P3 | Tot | |
2794 | # | Maximum | 10 | 15 | 25 | 50 | 10.0 |
2795 | ^ | | m1 | m2 | m3 | mt | |
2796 |---+---------+--------+--------+--------+-------+------|
2797 | # | Peter | 10 | 8 | 23 | 41 | 8.2 |
2798 | # | Sam | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 1.8 |
2799 |---+---------+--------+--------+--------+-------+------|
2800 | | Average | | | | 29.7 | |
2801 | ^ | | | | | at | |
2802 | $ | max=50 | | | | | |
2803 |---+---------+--------+--------+--------+-------+------|
2804 #+TBLFM: $6=vsum($P1..$P3)::$7=10*$Tot/$max;%.1f::$at=vmean(@@-II..@@-I);%.1f
2808 @noindent @b{Important}: please note that for these special tables,
2809 recalculating the table with @kbd{C-u C-c *} will only affect rows that
2810 are marked @samp{#} or @samp{*}, and fields that have a formula assigned
2811 to the field itself. The column formulas are not applied in rows with
2814 @cindex marking characters, tables
2815 The marking characters have the following meaning:
2818 The fields in this line define names for the columns, so that you may
2819 refer to a column as @samp{$Tot} instead of @samp{$6}.
2821 This row defines names for the fields @emph{above} the row. With such
2822 a definition, any formula in the table may use @samp{$m1} to refer to
2823 the value @samp{10}. Also, if you assign a formula to a names field, it
2824 will be stored as @samp{$name=...}.
2826 Similar to @samp{^}, but defines names for the fields in the row
2829 Fields in this row can define @emph{parameters} for formulas. For
2830 example, if a field in a @samp{$} row contains @samp{max=50}, then
2831 formulas in this table can refer to the value 50 using @samp{$max}.
2832 Parameters work exactly like constants, only that they can be defined on
2835 Fields in this row are automatically recalculated when pressing
2836 @key{TAB} or @key{RET} or @kbd{S-@key{TAB}} in this row. Also, this row
2837 is selected for a global recalculation with @kbd{C-u C-c *}. Unmarked
2838 lines will be left alone by this command.
2840 Selects this line for global recalculation with @kbd{C-u C-c *}, but
2841 not for automatic recalculation. Use this when automatic
2842 recalculation slows down editing too much.
2844 Unmarked lines are exempt from recalculation with @kbd{C-u C-c *}.
2845 All lines that should be recalculated should be marked with @samp{#}
2848 Do not export this line. Useful for lines that contain the narrowing
2849 @samp{<N>} markers or column group markers.
2852 Finally, just to whet your appetite for what can be done with the
2853 fantastic @file{calc.el} package, here is a table that computes the Taylor
2854 series of degree @code{n} at location @code{x} for a couple of
2859 |---+-------------+---+-----+--------------------------------------|
2860 | | Func | n | x | Result |
2861 |---+-------------+---+-----+--------------------------------------|
2862 | # | exp(x) | 1 | x | 1 + x |
2863 | # | exp(x) | 2 | x | 1 + x + x^2 / 2 |
2864 | # | exp(x) | 3 | x | 1 + x + x^2 / 2 + x^3 / 6 |
2865 | # | x^2+sqrt(x) | 2 | x=0 | x*(0.5 / 0) + x^2 (2 - 0.25 / 0) / 2 |
2866 | # | x^2+sqrt(x) | 2 | x=1 | 2 + 2.5 x - 2.5 + 0.875 (x - 1)^2 |
2867 | * | tan(x) | 3 | x | 0.0175 x + 1.77e-6 x^3 |
2868 |---+-------------+---+-----+--------------------------------------|
2869 #+TBLFM: $5=taylor($2,$4,$3);n3
2873 @node Org-Plot, , The spreadsheet, Tables
2875 @cindex graph, in tables
2876 @cindex plot tables using Gnuplot
2879 Org-Plot can produce 2D and 3D graphs of information stored in org tables
2880 using @file{Gnuplot} @uref{http://www.gnuplot.info/} and @file{gnuplot-mode}
2881 @uref{http://cars9.uchicago.edu/~ravel/software/gnuplot-mode.html}. To see
2882 this in action, ensure that you have both Gnuplot and Gnuplot mode installed
2883 on your system, then call @code{org-plot/gnuplot} on the following table.
2887 #+PLOT: title:"Citas" ind:1 deps:(3) type:2d with:histograms set:"yrange [0:]"
2888 | Sede | Max cites | H-index |
2889 |-----------+-----------+---------|
2890 | Chile | 257.72 | 21.39 |
2891 | Leeds | 165.77 | 19.68 |
2892 | Sao Paolo | 71.00 | 11.50 |
2893 | Stockholm | 134.19 | 14.33 |
2894 | Morelia | 257.56 | 17.67 |
2898 Notice that Org Plot is smart enough to apply the table's headers as labels.
2899 Further control over the labels, type, content, and appearance of plots can
2900 be exercised through the @code{#+PLOT:} lines preceding a table. See below
2901 for a complete list of Org-plot options. For more information and examples
2902 see the Org-plot tutorial at
2903 @uref{http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/org-plot.html}.
2905 @subsubheading Plot Options
2909 Specify any @command{gnuplot} option to be set when graphing.
2912 Specify the title of the plot.
2915 Specify which column of the table to use as the @code{x} axis.
2918 Specify the columns to graph as a Lisp style list, surrounded by parentheses
2919 and separated by spaces for example @code{dep:(3 4)} to graph the third and
2920 fourth columns (defaults to graphing all other columns aside from the @code{ind}
2924 Specify whether the plot will be @code{2d}, @code{3d}, or @code{grid}.
2927 Specify a @code{with} option to be inserted for every col being plotted
2928 (e.g.@: @code{lines}, @code{points}, @code{boxes}, @code{impulses}, etc...).
2929 Defaults to @code{lines}.
2932 If you want to plot to a file, specify @code{"@var{path/to/desired/output-file}"}.
2935 List of labels to be used for the @code{deps} (defaults to the column headers
2939 Specify an entire line to be inserted in the Gnuplot script.
2942 When plotting @code{3d} or @code{grid} types, set this to @code{t} to graph a
2943 flat mapping rather than a @code{3d} slope.
2946 Specify format of Org-mode timestamps as they will be parsed by Gnuplot.
2947 Defaults to @samp{%Y-%m-%d-%H:%M:%S}.
2950 If you want total control, you can specify a script file (place the file name
2951 between double-quotes) which will be used to plot. Before plotting, every
2952 instance of @code{$datafile} in the specified script will be replaced with
2953 the path to the generated data file. Note: even if you set this option, you
2954 may still want to specify the plot type, as that can impact the content of
2958 @node Hyperlinks, TODO Items, Tables, Top
2962 Like HTML, Org provides links inside a file, external links to
2963 other files, Usenet articles, emails, and much more.
2966 * Link format:: How links in Org are formatted
2967 * Internal links:: Links to other places in the current file
2968 * External links:: URL-like links to the world
2969 * Handling links:: Creating, inserting and following
2970 * Using links outside Org:: Linking from my C source code?
2971 * Link abbreviations:: Shortcuts for writing complex links
2972 * Search options:: Linking to a specific location
2973 * Custom searches:: When the default search is not enough
2976 @node Link format, Internal links, Hyperlinks, Hyperlinks
2977 @section Link format
2979 @cindex format, of links
2981 Org will recognize plain URL-like links and activate them as
2982 clickable links. The general link format, however, looks like this:
2985 [[link][description]] @r{or alternatively} [[link]]
2989 Once a link in the buffer is complete (all brackets present), Org
2990 will change the display so that @samp{description} is displayed instead
2991 of @samp{[[link][description]]} and @samp{link} is displayed instead of
2992 @samp{[[link]]}. Links will be highlighted in the face @code{org-link},
2993 which by default is an underlined face. You can directly edit the
2994 visible part of a link. Note that this can be either the @samp{link}
2995 part (if there is no description) or the @samp{description} part. To
2996 edit also the invisible @samp{link} part, use @kbd{C-c C-l} with the
2999 If you place the cursor at the beginning or just behind the end of the
3000 displayed text and press @key{BACKSPACE}, you will remove the
3001 (invisible) bracket at that location. This makes the link incomplete
3002 and the internals are again displayed as plain text. Inserting the
3003 missing bracket hides the link internals again. To show the
3004 internal structure of all links, use the menu entry
3005 @code{Org->Hyperlinks->Literal links}.
3007 @node Internal links, External links, Link format, Hyperlinks
3008 @section Internal links
3009 @cindex internal links
3010 @cindex links, internal
3011 @cindex targets, for links
3013 @cindex property, CUSTOM_ID
3014 If the link does not look like a URL, it is considered to be internal in the
3015 current file. The most important case is a link like
3016 @samp{[[#my-custom-id]]} which will link to the entry with the
3017 @code{CUSTOM_ID} property @samp{my-custom-id}. Such custom IDs are very good
3018 for HTML export (@pxref{HTML export}) where they produce pretty section
3019 links. You are responsible yourself to make sure these custom IDs are unique
3022 Links such as @samp{[[My Target]]} or @samp{[[My Target][Find my target]]}
3023 lead to a text search in the current file.
3025 The link can be followed with @kbd{C-c C-o} when the cursor is on the link,
3026 or with a mouse click (@pxref{Handling links}). Links to custom IDs will
3027 point to the corresponding headline. The preferred match for a text link is
3028 a @i{dedicated target}: the same string in double angular brackets. Targets
3029 may be located anywhere; sometimes it is convenient to put them into a
3030 comment line. For example
3036 @noindent In HTML export (@pxref{HTML export}), such targets will become
3037 named anchors for direct access through @samp{http} links@footnote{Note that
3038 text before the first headline is usually not exported, so the first such
3039 target should be after the first headline, or in the line directly before the
3042 If no dedicated target exists, Org will search for a headline that is exactly
3043 the link text but may also include a TODO keyword and tags@footnote{To insert
3044 a link targeting a headline, in-buffer completion can be used. Just type a
3045 star followed by a few optional letters into the buffer and press
3046 @kbd{M-@key{TAB}}. All headlines in the current buffer will be offered as
3047 completions.}. In non-Org files, the search will look for the words in the
3048 link text. In the above example the search would be for @samp{my target}.
3050 Following a link pushes a mark onto Org's own mark ring. You can
3051 return to the previous position with @kbd{C-c &}. Using this command
3052 several times in direct succession goes back to positions recorded
3056 * Radio targets:: Make targets trigger links in plain text
3059 @node Radio targets, , Internal links, Internal links
3060 @subsection Radio targets
3061 @cindex radio targets
3062 @cindex targets, radio
3063 @cindex links, radio targets
3065 Org can automatically turn any occurrences of certain target names
3066 in normal text into a link. So without explicitly creating a link, the
3067 text connects to the target radioing its position. Radio targets are
3068 enclosed by triple angular brackets. For example, a target @samp{<<<My
3069 Target>>>} causes each occurrence of @samp{my target} in normal text to
3070 become activated as a link. The Org file is scanned automatically
3071 for radio targets only when the file is first loaded into Emacs. To
3072 update the target list during editing, press @kbd{C-c C-c} with the
3073 cursor on or at a target.
3075 @node External links, Handling links, Internal links, Hyperlinks
3076 @section External links
3077 @cindex links, external
3078 @cindex external links
3079 @cindex links, external
3087 @cindex WANDERLUST links
3089 @cindex USENET links
3094 Org supports links to files, websites, Usenet and email messages,
3095 BBDB database entries and links to both IRC conversations and their
3096 logs. External links are URL-like locators. They start with a short
3097 identifying string followed by a colon. There can be no space after
3098 the colon. The following list shows examples for each link type.
3101 http://www.astro.uva.nl/~dominik @r{on the web}
3102 doi:10.1000/182 @r{DOI for an electronic resource}
3103 file:/home/dominik/images/jupiter.jpg @r{file, absolute path}
3104 /home/dominik/images/jupiter.jpg @r{same as above}
3105 file:papers/last.pdf @r{file, relative path}
3106 ./papers/last.pdf @r{same as above}
3107 file:/myself@@some.where:papers/last.pdf @r{file, path on remote machine}
3108 /myself@@some.where:papers/last.pdf @r{same as above}
3109 file:sometextfile::NNN @r{file with line number to jump to}
3110 file:projects.org @r{another Org file}
3111 file:projects.org::some words @r{text search in Org file}
3112 file:projects.org::*task title @r{heading search in Org file}
3113 docview:papers/last.pdf::NNN @r{open file in doc-view mode at page NNN}
3114 id:B7423F4D-2E8A-471B-8810-C40F074717E9 @r{Link to heading by ID}
3115 news:comp.emacs @r{Usenet link}
3116 mailto:adent@@galaxy.net @r{Mail link}
3117 vm:folder @r{VM folder link}
3118 vm:folder#id @r{VM message link}
3119 vm://myself@@some.where.org/folder#id @r{VM on remote machine}
3120 wl:folder @r{WANDERLUST folder link}
3121 wl:folder#id @r{WANDERLUST message link}
3122 mhe:folder @r{MH-E folder link}
3123 mhe:folder#id @r{MH-E message link}
3124 rmail:folder @r{RMAIL folder link}
3125 rmail:folder#id @r{RMAIL message link}
3126 gnus:group @r{Gnus group link}
3127 gnus:group#id @r{Gnus article link}
3128 bbdb:R.*Stallman @r{BBDB link (with regexp)}
3129 irc:/irc.com/#emacs/bob @r{IRC link}
3130 info:org#External%20links @r{Info node link (with encoded space)}
3131 shell:ls *.org @r{A shell command}
3132 elisp:org-agenda @r{Interactive Elisp command}
3133 elisp:(find-file-other-frame "Elisp.org") @r{Elisp form to evaluate}
3136 For customizing Org to add new link types @ref{Adding hyperlink types}.
3138 A link should be enclosed in double brackets and may contain a
3139 descriptive text to be displayed instead of the URL (@pxref{Link
3140 format}), for example:
3143 [[http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/][GNU Emacs]]
3147 If the description is a file name or URL that points to an image, HTML
3148 export (@pxref{HTML export}) will inline the image as a clickable
3149 button. If there is no description at all and the link points to an
3151 that image will be inlined into the exported HTML file.
3153 @cindex square brackets, around links
3154 @cindex plain text external links
3155 Org also finds external links in the normal text and activates them
3156 as links. If spaces must be part of the link (for example in
3157 @samp{bbdb:Richard Stallman}), or if you need to remove ambiguities
3158 about the end of the link, enclose them in square brackets.
3160 @node Handling links, Using links outside Org, External links, Hyperlinks
3161 @section Handling links
3162 @cindex links, handling
3164 Org provides methods to create a link in the correct syntax, to
3165 insert it into an Org file, and to follow the link.
3168 @orgcmd{C-c l,org-store-link}
3169 @cindex storing links
3170 Store a link to the current location. This is a @emph{global} command (you
3171 must create the key binding yourself) which can be used in any buffer to
3172 create a link. The link will be stored for later insertion into an Org
3173 buffer (see below). What kind of link will be created depends on the current
3176 @b{Org-mode buffers}@*
3177 For Org files, if there is a @samp{<<target>>} at the cursor, the link points
3178 to the target. Otherwise it points to the current headline, which will also
3181 @vindex org-link-to-org-use-id
3182 @cindex property, CUSTOM_ID
3183 @cindex property, ID
3184 If the headline has a @code{CUSTOM_ID} property, a link to this custom ID
3185 will be stored. In addition or alternatively (depending on the value of
3186 @code{org-link-to-org-use-id}), a globally unique @code{ID} property will be
3187 created and/or used to construct a link. So using this command in Org
3188 buffers will potentially create two links: a human-readable from the custom
3189 ID, and one that is globally unique and works even if the entry is moved from
3190 file to file. Later, when inserting the link, you need to decide which one
3193 @b{Email/News clients: VM, Rmail, Wanderlust, MH-E, Gnus}@*
3194 Pretty much all Emacs mail clients are supported. The link will point to the
3195 current article, or, in some GNUS buffers, to the group. The description is
3196 constructed from the author and the subject.
3198 @b{Web browsers: W3 and W3M}@*
3199 Here the link will be the current URL, with the page title as description.
3201 @b{Contacts: BBDB}@*
3202 Links created in a BBDB buffer will point to the current entry.
3205 @vindex org-irc-link-to-logs
3206 For IRC links, if you set the variable @code{org-irc-link-to-logs} to
3207 @code{t}, a @samp{file:/} style link to the relevant point in the logs for
3208 the current conversation is created. Otherwise an @samp{irc:/} style link to
3209 the user/channel/server under the point will be stored.
3212 For any other files, the link will point to the file, with a search string
3213 (@pxref{Search options}) pointing to the contents of the current line. If
3214 there is an active region, the selected words will form the basis of the
3215 search string. If the automatically created link is not working correctly or
3216 accurately enough, you can write custom functions to select the search string
3217 and to do the search for particular file types---see @ref{Custom searches}.
3218 The key binding @kbd{C-c l} is only a suggestion---see @ref{Installation}.
3221 When the cursor is in an agenda view, the created link points to the
3222 entry referenced by the current line.
3225 @orgcmd{C-c C-l,org-insert-link}
3226 @cindex link completion
3227 @cindex completion, of links
3228 @cindex inserting links
3229 @vindex org-keep-stored-link-after-insertion
3230 Insert a link@footnote{ Note that you don't have to use this command to
3231 insert a link. Links in Org are plain text, and you can type or paste them
3232 straight into the buffer. By using this command, the links are automatically
3233 enclosed in double brackets, and you will be asked for the optional
3234 descriptive text.}. This prompts for a link to be inserted into the buffer.
3235 You can just type a link, using text for an internal link, or one of the link
3236 type prefixes mentioned in the examples above. The link will be inserted
3237 into the buffer@footnote{After insertion of a stored link, the link will be
3238 removed from the list of stored links. To keep it in the list later use, use
3239 a triple @kbd{C-u} prefix argument to @kbd{C-c C-l}, or configure the option
3240 @code{org-keep-stored-link-after-insertion}.}, along with a descriptive text.
3241 If some text was selected when this command is called, the selected text
3242 becomes the default description.
3244 @b{Inserting stored links}@*
3245 All links stored during the
3246 current session are part of the history for this prompt, so you can access
3247 them with @key{up} and @key{down} (or @kbd{M-p/n}).
3249 @b{Completion support}@* Completion with @key{TAB} will help you to insert
3250 valid link prefixes like @samp{http:} or @samp{ftp:}, including the prefixes
3251 defined through link abbreviations (@pxref{Link abbreviations}). If you
3252 press @key{RET} after inserting only the @var{prefix}, Org will offer
3253 specific completion support for some link types@footnote{This works by
3254 calling a special function @code{org-PREFIX-complete-link}.} For
3255 example, if you type @kbd{file @key{RET}}, file name completion (alternative
3256 access: @kbd{C-u C-c C-l}, see below) will be offered, and after @kbd{bbdb
3257 @key{RET}} you can complete contact names.
3259 @cindex file name completion
3260 @cindex completion, of file names
3261 When @kbd{C-c C-l} is called with a @kbd{C-u} prefix argument, a link to
3262 a file will be inserted and you may use file name completion to select
3263 the name of the file. The path to the file is inserted relative to the
3264 directory of the current Org file, if the linked file is in the current
3265 directory or in a sub-directory of it, or if the path is written relative
3266 to the current directory using @samp{../}. Otherwise an absolute path
3267 is used, if possible with @samp{~/} for your home directory. You can
3268 force an absolute path with two @kbd{C-u} prefixes.
3270 @item C-c C-l @ @r{(with cursor on existing link)}
3271 When the cursor is on an existing link, @kbd{C-c C-l} allows you to edit the
3272 link and description parts of the link.
3274 @cindex following links
3275 @orgcmd{C-c C-o,org-open-at-point}
3276 @vindex org-file-apps
3277 Open link at point. This will launch a web browser for URLs (using
3278 @command{browse-url-at-point}), run VM/MH-E/Wanderlust/Rmail/Gnus/BBDB for
3279 the corresponding links, and execute the command in a shell link. When the
3280 cursor is on an internal link, this command runs the corresponding search.
3281 When the cursor is on a TAG list in a headline, it creates the corresponding
3282 TAGS view. If the cursor is on a timestamp, it compiles the agenda for that
3283 date. Furthermore, it will visit text and remote files in @samp{file:} links
3284 with Emacs and select a suitable application for local non-text files.
3285 Classification of files is based on file extension only. See option
3286 @code{org-file-apps}. If you want to override the default application and
3287 visit the file with Emacs, use a @kbd{C-u} prefix. If you want to avoid
3288 opening in Emacs, use a @kbd{C-u C-u} prefix.@*
3289 If the cursor is on a headline, but not on a link, offer all links in the
3290 headline and entry text.
3292 @vindex org-return-follows-link
3293 When @code{org-return-follows-link} is set, @kbd{@key{RET}} will also follow
3300 On links, @kbd{mouse-2} will open the link just as @kbd{C-c C-o}
3301 would. Under Emacs 22 and later, @kbd{mouse-1} will also follow a link.
3305 @vindex org-display-internal-link-with-indirect-buffer
3306 Like @kbd{mouse-2}, but force file links to be opened with Emacs, and
3307 internal links to be displayed in another window@footnote{See the
3308 variable @code{org-display-internal-link-with-indirect-buffer}}.
3310 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-v,org-toggle-inline-images}
3311 @cindex inlining images
3312 @cindex images, inlining
3313 @vindex org-startup-with-inline-images
3314 @cindex @code{inlineimages}, STARTUP keyword
3315 @cindex @code{noinlineimages}, STARTUP keyword
3316 Toggle the inline display of linked images. Normally this will only inline
3317 images that have no description part in the link, i.e.@: images that will also
3318 be inlined during export. When called with a prefix argument, also display
3319 images that do have a link description. You can ask for inline images to be
3320 displayed at startup by configuring the variable
3321 @code{org-startup-with-inline-images}@footnote{with corresponding
3322 @code{#+STARTUP} keywords @code{inlineimages} and @code{inlineimages}}.
3323 @orgcmd{C-c %,org-mark-ring-push}
3325 Push the current position onto the mark ring, to be able to return
3326 easily. Commands following an internal link do this automatically.
3328 @orgcmd{C-c &,org-mark-ring-goto}
3329 @cindex links, returning to
3330 Jump back to a recorded position. A position is recorded by the
3331 commands following internal links, and by @kbd{C-c %}. Using this
3332 command several times in direct succession moves through a ring of
3333 previously recorded positions.
3335 @orgcmdkkcc{C-c C-x C-n,C-c C-x C-p,org-next-link,org-previous-link}
3336 @cindex links, finding next/previous
3337 Move forward/backward to the next link in the buffer. At the limit of
3338 the buffer, the search fails once, and then wraps around. The key
3339 bindings for this are really too long; you might want to bind this also
3340 to @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p}
3342 (add-hook 'org-load-hook
3344 (define-key org-mode-map "\C-n" 'org-next-link)
3345 (define-key org-mode-map "\C-p" 'org-previous-link)))
3349 @node Using links outside Org, Link abbreviations, Handling links, Hyperlinks
3350 @section Using links outside Org
3352 You can insert and follow links that have Org syntax not only in
3353 Org, but in any Emacs buffer. For this, you should create two
3354 global commands, like this (please select suitable global keys
3358 (global-set-key "\C-c L" 'org-insert-link-global)
3359 (global-set-key "\C-c o" 'org-open-at-point-global)
3362 @node Link abbreviations, Search options, Using links outside Org, Hyperlinks
3363 @section Link abbreviations
3364 @cindex link abbreviations
3365 @cindex abbreviation, links
3367 Long URLs can be cumbersome to type, and often many similar links are
3368 needed in a document. For this you can use link abbreviations. An
3369 abbreviated link looks like this
3372 [[linkword:tag][description]]
3376 @vindex org-link-abbrev-alist
3377 where the tag is optional.
3378 The @i{linkword} must be a word, starting with a letter, followed by
3379 letters, numbers, @samp{-}, and @samp{_}. Abbreviations are resolved
3380 according to the information in the variable @code{org-link-abbrev-alist}
3381 that relates the linkwords to replacement text. Here is an example:
3385 (setq org-link-abbrev-alist
3386 '(("bugzilla" . "http://10.1.2.9/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=")
3387 ("google" . "http://www.google.com/search?q=")
3388 ("gmap" . "http://maps.google.com/maps?q=%s")
3389 ("omap" . "http://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/search?q=%s&polygon=1")
3390 ("ads" . "http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-abs_connect?author=%s&db_key=AST")))
3394 If the replacement text contains the string @samp{%s}, it will be
3395 replaced with the tag. Otherwise the tag will be appended to the string
3396 in order to create the link. You may also specify a function that will
3397 be called with the tag as the only argument to create the link.
3399 With the above setting, you could link to a specific bug with
3400 @code{[[bugzilla:129]]}, search the web for @samp{OrgMode} with
3401 @code{[[google:OrgMode]]}, show the map location of the Free Software
3402 Foundation @code{[[gmap:51 Franklin Street, Boston]]} or of Carsten office
3403 @code{[[omap:Science Park 904, Amsterdam, The Netherlands]]} and find out
3404 what the Org author is doing besides Emacs hacking with
3405 @code{[[ads:Dominik,C]]}.
3407 If you need special abbreviations just for a single Org buffer, you
3408 can define them in the file with
3412 #+LINK: bugzilla http://10.1.2.9/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=
3413 #+LINK: google http://www.google.com/search?q=%s
3417 In-buffer completion (@pxref{Completion}) can be used after @samp{[} to
3418 complete link abbreviations. You may also define a function
3419 @code{org-PREFIX-complete-link} that implements special (e.g.@: completion)
3420 support for inserting such a link with @kbd{C-c C-l}. Such a function should
3421 not accept any arguments, and return the full link with prefix.
3423 @node Search options, Custom searches, Link abbreviations, Hyperlinks
3424 @section Search options in file links
3425 @cindex search option in file links
3426 @cindex file links, searching
3428 File links can contain additional information to make Emacs jump to a
3429 particular location in the file when following a link. This can be a
3430 line number or a search option after a double@footnote{For backward
3431 compatibility, line numbers can also follow a single colon.} colon. For
3432 example, when the command @kbd{C-c l} creates a link (@pxref{Handling
3433 links}) to a file, it encodes the words in the current line as a search
3434 string that can be used to find this line back later when following the
3435 link with @kbd{C-c C-o}.
3437 Here is the syntax of the different ways to attach a search to a file
3438 link, together with an explanation:
3441 [[file:~/code/main.c::255]]
3442 [[file:~/xx.org::My Target]]
3443 [[file:~/xx.org::*My Target]]
3444 [[file:~/xx.org::#my-custom-id]]
3445 [[file:~/xx.org::/regexp/]]
3452 Search for a link target @samp{<<My Target>>}, or do a text search for
3453 @samp{my target}, similar to the search in internal links, see
3454 @ref{Internal links}. In HTML export (@pxref{HTML export}), such a file
3455 link will become an HTML reference to the corresponding named anchor in
3458 In an Org file, restrict search to headlines.
3460 Link to a heading with a @code{CUSTOM_ID} property
3462 Do a regular expression search for @code{regexp}. This uses the Emacs
3463 command @code{occur} to list all matches in a separate window. If the
3464 target file is in Org-mode, @code{org-occur} is used to create a
3465 sparse tree with the matches.
3466 @c If the target file is a directory,
3467 @c @code{grep} will be used to search all files in the directory.
3470 As a degenerate case, a file link with an empty file name can be used
3471 to search the current file. For example, @code{[[file:::find me]]} does
3472 a search for @samp{find me} in the current file, just as
3473 @samp{[[find me]]} would.
3475 @node Custom searches, , Search options, Hyperlinks
3476 @section Custom Searches
3477 @cindex custom search strings
3478 @cindex search strings, custom
3480 The default mechanism for creating search strings and for doing the
3481 actual search related to a file link may not work correctly in all
3482 cases. For example, Bib@TeX{} database files have many entries like
3483 @samp{year="1993"} which would not result in good search strings,
3484 because the only unique identification for a Bib@TeX{} entry is the
3487 @vindex org-create-file-search-functions
3488 @vindex org-execute-file-search-functions
3489 If you come across such a problem, you can write custom functions to set
3490 the right search string for a particular file type, and to do the search
3491 for the string in the file. Using @code{add-hook}, these functions need
3492 to be added to the hook variables
3493 @code{org-create-file-search-functions} and
3494 @code{org-execute-file-search-functions}. See the docstring for these
3495 variables for more information. Org actually uses this mechanism
3496 for Bib@TeX{} database files, and you can use the corresponding code as
3497 an implementation example. See the file @file{org-bibtex.el}.
3499 @node TODO Items, Tags, Hyperlinks, Top
3503 Org-mode does not maintain TODO lists as separate documents@footnote{Of
3504 course, you can make a document that contains only long lists of TODO items,
3505 but this is not required.}. Instead, TODO items are an integral part of the
3506 notes file, because TODO items usually come up while taking notes! With Org
3507 mode, simply mark any entry in a tree as being a TODO item. In this way,
3508 information is not duplicated, and the entire context from which the TODO
3509 item emerged is always present.
3511 Of course, this technique for managing TODO items scatters them
3512 throughout your notes file. Org-mode compensates for this by providing
3513 methods to give you an overview of all the things that you have to do.
3516 * TODO basics:: Marking and displaying TODO entries
3517 * TODO extensions:: Workflow and assignments
3518 * Progress logging:: Dates and notes for progress
3519 * Priorities:: Some things are more important than others
3520 * Breaking down tasks:: Splitting a task into manageable pieces
3521 * Checkboxes:: Tick-off lists
3524 @node TODO basics, TODO extensions, TODO Items, TODO Items
3525 @section Basic TODO functionality
3527 Any headline becomes a TODO item when it starts with the word
3528 @samp{TODO}, for example:
3531 *** TODO Write letter to Sam Fortune
3535 The most important commands to work with TODO entries are:
3538 @orgcmd{C-c C-t,org-todo}
3539 @cindex cycling, of TODO states
3540 Rotate the TODO state of the current item among
3543 ,-> (unmarked) -> TODO -> DONE --.
3544 '--------------------------------'
3547 The same rotation can also be done ``remotely'' from the timeline and
3548 agenda buffers with the @kbd{t} command key (@pxref{Agenda commands}).
3550 @orgkey{C-u C-c C-t}
3551 Select a specific keyword using completion or (if it has been set up)
3552 the fast selection interface. For the latter, you need to assign keys
3553 to TODO states, see @ref{Per-file keywords}, and @ref{Setting tags}, for
3556 @kindex S-@key{right}
3557 @kindex S-@key{left}
3558 @item S-@key{right} @ @r{/} @ S-@key{left}
3559 @vindex org-treat-S-cursor-todo-selection-as-state-change
3560 Select the following/preceding TODO state, similar to cycling. Useful
3561 mostly if more than two TODO states are possible (@pxref{TODO
3562 extensions}). See also @ref{Conflicts}, for a discussion of the interaction
3563 with @code{shift-selection-mode}. See also the variable
3564 @code{org-treat-S-cursor-todo-selection-as-state-change}.
3565 @orgcmd{C-c / t,org-show-todo-key}
3566 @cindex sparse tree, for TODO
3567 @vindex org-todo-keywords
3568 View TODO items in a @emph{sparse tree} (@pxref{Sparse trees}). Folds the
3569 entire buffer, but shows all TODO items (with not-DONE state) and the
3570 headings hierarchy above them. With a prefix argument (or by using @kbd{C-c
3571 / T}), search for a specific TODO. You will be prompted for the keyword, and
3572 you can also give a list of keywords like @code{KWD1|KWD2|...} to list
3573 entries that match any one of these keywords. With numeric prefix argument
3574 N, show the tree for the Nth keyword in the variable
3575 @code{org-todo-keywords}. With two prefix arguments, find all TODO states,
3576 both un-done and done.
3577 @orgcmd{C-c a t,org-todo-list}
3578 Show the global TODO list. Collects the TODO items (with not-DONE states)
3579 from all agenda files (@pxref{Agenda Views}) into a single buffer. The new
3580 buffer will be in @code{agenda-mode}, which provides commands to examine and
3581 manipulate the TODO entries from the new buffer (@pxref{Agenda commands}).
3582 @xref{Global TODO list}, for more information.
3583 @orgcmd{S-M-@key{RET},org-insert-todo-heading}
3584 Insert a new TODO entry below the current one.
3588 @vindex org-todo-state-tags-triggers
3589 Changing a TODO state can also trigger tag changes. See the docstring of the
3590 option @code{org-todo-state-tags-triggers} for details.
3592 @node TODO extensions, Progress logging, TODO basics, TODO Items
3593 @section Extended use of TODO keywords
3594 @cindex extended TODO keywords
3596 @vindex org-todo-keywords
3597 By default, marked TODO entries have one of only two states: TODO and
3598 DONE. Org-mode allows you to classify TODO items in more complex ways
3599 with @emph{TODO keywords} (stored in @code{org-todo-keywords}). With
3600 special setup, the TODO keyword system can work differently in different
3603 Note that @i{tags} are another way to classify headlines in general and
3604 TODO items in particular (@pxref{Tags}).
3607 * Workflow states:: From TODO to DONE in steps
3608 * TODO types:: I do this, Fred does the rest
3609 * Multiple sets in one file:: Mixing it all, and still finding your way
3610 * Fast access to TODO states:: Single letter selection of a state
3611 * Per-file keywords:: Different files, different requirements
3612 * Faces for TODO keywords:: Highlighting states
3613 * TODO dependencies:: When one task needs to wait for others
3616 @node Workflow states, TODO types, TODO extensions, TODO extensions
3617 @subsection TODO keywords as workflow states
3618 @cindex TODO workflow
3619 @cindex workflow states as TODO keywords
3621 You can use TODO keywords to indicate different @emph{sequential} states
3622 in the process of working on an item, for example@footnote{Changing
3623 this variable only becomes effective after restarting Org-mode in a
3627 (setq org-todo-keywords
3628 '((sequence "TODO" "FEEDBACK" "VERIFY" "|" "DONE" "DELEGATED")))
3631 The vertical bar separates the TODO keywords (states that @emph{need
3632 action}) from the DONE states (which need @emph{no further action}). If
3633 you don't provide the separator bar, the last state is used as the DONE
3635 @cindex completion, of TODO keywords
3636 With this setup, the command @kbd{C-c C-t} will cycle an entry from TODO
3637 to FEEDBACK, then to VERIFY, and finally to DONE and DELEGATED. You may
3638 also use a numeric prefix argument to quickly select a specific state. For
3639 example @kbd{C-3 C-c C-t} will change the state immediately to VERIFY.
3640 Or you can use @kbd{S-@key{left}} to go backward through the sequence. If you
3641 define many keywords, you can use in-buffer completion
3642 (@pxref{Completion}) or even a special one-key selection scheme
3643 (@pxref{Fast access to TODO states}) to insert these words into the
3644 buffer. Changing a TODO state can be logged with a timestamp, see
3645 @ref{Tracking TODO state changes}, for more information.
3647 @node TODO types, Multiple sets in one file, Workflow states, TODO extensions
3648 @subsection TODO keywords as types
3650 @cindex names as TODO keywords
3651 @cindex types as TODO keywords
3653 The second possibility is to use TODO keywords to indicate different
3654 @emph{types} of action items. For example, you might want to indicate
3655 that items are for ``work'' or ``home''. Or, when you work with several
3656 people on a single project, you might want to assign action items
3657 directly to persons, by using their names as TODO keywords. This would
3658 be set up like this:
3661 (setq org-todo-keywords '((type "Fred" "Sara" "Lucy" "|" "DONE")))
3664 In this case, different keywords do not indicate a sequence, but rather
3665 different types. So the normal work flow would be to assign a task to a
3666 person, and later to mark it DONE. Org-mode supports this style by adapting
3667 the workings of the command @kbd{C-c C-t}@footnote{This is also true for the
3668 @kbd{t} command in the timeline and agenda buffers.}. When used several
3669 times in succession, it will still cycle through all names, in order to first
3670 select the right type for a task. But when you return to the item after some
3671 time and execute @kbd{C-c C-t} again, it will switch from any name directly
3672 to DONE. Use prefix arguments or completion to quickly select a specific
3673 name. You can also review the items of a specific TODO type in a sparse tree
3674 by using a numeric prefix to @kbd{C-c / t}. For example, to see all things
3675 Lucy has to do, you would use @kbd{C-3 C-c / t}. To collect Lucy's items
3676 from all agenda files into a single buffer, you would use the numeric prefix
3677 argument as well when creating the global TODO list: @kbd{C-3 C-c a t}.
3679 @node Multiple sets in one file, Fast access to TODO states, TODO types, TODO extensions
3680 @subsection Multiple keyword sets in one file
3681 @cindex TODO keyword sets
3683 Sometimes you may want to use different sets of TODO keywords in
3684 parallel. For example, you may want to have the basic
3685 @code{TODO}/@code{DONE}, but also a workflow for bug fixing, and a
3686 separate state indicating that an item has been canceled (so it is not
3687 DONE, but also does not require action). Your setup would then look
3691 (setq org-todo-keywords
3692 '((sequence "TODO" "|" "DONE")
3693 (sequence "REPORT" "BUG" "KNOWNCAUSE" "|" "FIXED")
3694 (sequence "|" "CANCELED")))
3697 The keywords should all be different, this helps Org-mode to keep track
3698 of which subsequence should be used for a given entry. In this setup,
3699 @kbd{C-c C-t} only operates within a subsequence, so it switches from
3700 @code{DONE} to (nothing) to @code{TODO}, and from @code{FIXED} to
3701 (nothing) to @code{REPORT}. Therefore you need a mechanism to initially
3702 select the correct sequence. Besides the obvious ways like typing a
3703 keyword or using completion, you may also apply the following commands:
3706 @kindex C-S-@key{right}
3707 @kindex C-S-@key{left}
3708 @kindex C-u C-u C-c C-t
3709 @item C-u C-u C-c C-t
3710 @itemx C-S-@key{right}
3711 @itemx C-S-@key{left}
3712 These keys jump from one TODO subset to the next. In the above example,
3713 @kbd{C-u C-u C-c C-t} or @kbd{C-S-@key{right}} would jump from @code{TODO} or
3714 @code{DONE} to @code{REPORT}, and any of the words in the second row to
3715 @code{CANCELED}. Note that the @kbd{C-S-} key binding conflict with
3716 @code{shift-selection-mode} (@pxref{Conflicts}).
3717 @kindex S-@key{right}
3718 @kindex S-@key{left}
3721 @kbd{S-@key{<left>}} and @kbd{S-@key{<right>}} and walk through @emph{all}
3722 keywords from all sets, so for example @kbd{S-@key{<right>}} would switch
3723 from @code{DONE} to @code{REPORT} in the example above. See also
3724 @ref{Conflicts}, for a discussion of the interaction with
3725 @code{shift-selection-mode}.
3728 @node Fast access to TODO states, Per-file keywords, Multiple sets in one file, TODO extensions
3729 @subsection Fast access to TODO states
3731 If you would like to quickly change an entry to an arbitrary TODO state
3732 instead of cycling through the states, you can set up keys for
3733 single-letter access to the states. This is done by adding the section
3734 key after each keyword, in parentheses. For example:
3737 (setq org-todo-keywords
3738 '((sequence "TODO(t)" "|" "DONE(d)")
3739 (sequence "REPORT(r)" "BUG(b)" "KNOWNCAUSE(k)" "|" "FIXED(f)")
3740 (sequence "|" "CANCELED(c)")))
3743 @vindex org-fast-tag-selection-include-todo
3744 If you then press @code{C-c C-t} followed by the selection key, the entry
3745 will be switched to this state. @key{SPC} can be used to remove any TODO
3746 keyword from an entry.@footnote{Check also the variable
3747 @code{org-fast-tag-selection-include-todo}, it allows you to change the TODO
3748 state through the tags interface (@pxref{Setting tags}), in case you like to
3749 mingle the two concepts. Note that this means you need to come up with
3750 unique keys across both sets of keywords.}
3752 @node Per-file keywords, Faces for TODO keywords, Fast access to TODO states, TODO extensions
3753 @subsection Setting up keywords for individual files
3754 @cindex keyword options
3755 @cindex per-file keywords
3760 It can be very useful to use different aspects of the TODO mechanism in
3761 different files. For file-local settings, you need to add special lines
3762 to the file which set the keywords and interpretation for that file
3763 only. For example, to set one of the two examples discussed above, you
3764 need one of the following lines, starting in column zero anywhere in the
3768 #+TODO: TODO FEEDBACK VERIFY | DONE CANCELED
3770 @noindent (you may also write @code{#+SEQ_TODO} to be explicit about the
3771 interpretation, but it means the same as @code{#+TODO}), or
3773 #+TYP_TODO: Fred Sara Lucy Mike | DONE
3776 A setup for using several sets in parallel would be:
3780 #+TODO: REPORT BUG KNOWNCAUSE | FIXED
3784 @cindex completion, of option keywords
3786 @noindent To make sure you are using the correct keyword, type
3787 @samp{#+} into the buffer and then use @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} completion.
3789 @cindex DONE, final TODO keyword
3790 Remember that the keywords after the vertical bar (or the last keyword
3791 if no bar is there) must always mean that the item is DONE (although you
3792 may use a different word). After changing one of these lines, use
3793 @kbd{C-c C-c} with the cursor still in the line to make the changes
3794 known to Org-mode@footnote{Org-mode parses these lines only when
3795 Org-mode is activated after visiting a file. @kbd{C-c C-c} with the
3796 cursor in a line starting with @samp{#+} is simply restarting Org-mode
3797 for the current buffer.}.
3799 @node Faces for TODO keywords, TODO dependencies, Per-file keywords, TODO extensions
3800 @subsection Faces for TODO keywords
3801 @cindex faces, for TODO keywords
3803 @vindex org-todo @r{(face)}
3804 @vindex org-done @r{(face)}
3805 @vindex org-todo-keyword-faces
3806 Org-mode highlights TODO keywords with special faces: @code{org-todo}
3807 for keywords indicating that an item still has to be acted upon, and
3808 @code{org-done} for keywords indicating that an item is finished. If
3809 you are using more than 2 different states, you might want to use
3810 special faces for some of them. This can be done using the variable
3811 @code{org-todo-keyword-faces}. For example:
3815 (setq org-todo-keyword-faces
3816 '(("TODO" . org-warning) ("STARTED" . "yellow")
3817 ("CANCELED" . (:foreground "blue" :weight bold))))
3821 While using a list with face properties as shown for CANCELED @emph{should}
3822 work, this does not aways seem to be the case. If necessary, define a
3823 special face and use that. A string is interpreted as a color. The variable
3824 @code{org-faces-easy-properties} determines if that color is interpreted as a
3825 foreground or a background color.
3827 @node TODO dependencies, , Faces for TODO keywords, TODO extensions
3828 @subsection TODO dependencies
3829 @cindex TODO dependencies
3830 @cindex dependencies, of TODO states
3832 @vindex org-enforce-todo-dependencies
3833 @cindex property, ORDERED
3834 The structure of Org files (hierarchy and lists) makes it easy to define TODO
3835 dependencies. Usually, a parent TODO task should not be marked DONE until
3836 all subtasks (defined as children tasks) are marked as DONE. And sometimes
3837 there is a logical sequence to a number of (sub)tasks, so that one task
3838 cannot be acted upon before all siblings above it are done. If you customize
3839 the variable @code{org-enforce-todo-dependencies}, Org will block entries
3840 from changing state to DONE while they have children that are not DONE.
3841 Furthermore, if an entry has a property @code{ORDERED}, each of its children
3842 will be blocked until all earlier siblings are marked DONE. Here is an
3846 * TODO Blocked until (two) is done
3855 ** TODO b, needs to wait for (a)
3856 ** TODO c, needs to wait for (a) and (b)
3860 @orgcmd{C-c C-x o,org-toggle-ordered-property}
3861 @vindex org-track-ordered-property-with-tag
3862 @cindex property, ORDERED
3863 Toggle the @code{ORDERED} property of the current entry. A property is used
3864 for this behavior because this should be local to the current entry, not
3865 inherited like a tag. However, if you would like to @i{track} the value of
3866 this property with a tag for better visibility, customize the variable
3867 @code{org-track-ordered-property-with-tag}.
3868 @orgkey{C-u C-u C-u C-c C-t}
3869 Change TODO state, circumventing any state blocking.
3872 @vindex org-agenda-dim-blocked-tasks
3873 If you set the variable @code{org-agenda-dim-blocked-tasks}, TODO entries
3874 that cannot be closed because of such dependencies will be shown in a dimmed
3875 font or even made invisible in agenda views (@pxref{Agenda Views}).
3877 @cindex checkboxes and TODO dependencies
3878 @vindex org-enforce-todo-dependencies
3879 You can also block changes of TODO states by looking at checkboxes
3880 (@pxref{Checkboxes}). If you set the variable
3881 @code{org-enforce-todo-checkbox-dependencies}, an entry that has unchecked
3882 checkboxes will be blocked from switching to DONE.
3884 If you need more complex dependency structures, for example dependencies
3885 between entries in different trees or files, check out the contributed
3886 module @file{org-depend.el}.
3889 @node Progress logging, Priorities, TODO extensions, TODO Items
3890 @section Progress logging
3891 @cindex progress logging
3892 @cindex logging, of progress
3894 Org-mode can automatically record a timestamp and possibly a note when
3895 you mark a TODO item as DONE, or even each time you change the state of
3896 a TODO item. This system is highly configurable, settings can be on a
3897 per-keyword basis and can be localized to a file or even a subtree. For
3898 information on how to clock working time for a task, see @ref{Clocking
3902 * Closing items:: When was this entry marked DONE?
3903 * Tracking TODO state changes:: When did the status change?
3904 * Tracking your habits:: How consistent have you been?
3907 @node Closing items, Tracking TODO state changes, Progress logging, Progress logging
3908 @subsection Closing items
3910 The most basic logging is to keep track of @emph{when} a certain TODO
3911 item was finished. This is achieved with@footnote{The corresponding
3912 in-buffer setting is: @code{#+STARTUP: logdone}}
3915 (setq org-log-done 'time)
3919 Then each time you turn an entry from a TODO (not-done) state into any
3920 of the DONE states, a line @samp{CLOSED: [timestamp]} will be inserted
3921 just after the headline. If you turn the entry back into a TODO item
3922 through further state cycling, that line will be removed again. If you
3923 want to record a note along with the timestamp, use@footnote{The
3924 corresponding in-buffer setting is: @code{#+STARTUP: lognotedone}}
3927 (setq org-log-done 'note)
3931 You will then be prompted for a note, and that note will be stored below
3932 the entry with a @samp{Closing Note} heading.
3934 In the timeline (@pxref{Timeline}) and in the agenda
3935 (@pxref{Weekly/daily agenda}), you can then use the @kbd{l} key to
3936 display the TODO items with a @samp{CLOSED} timestamp on each day,
3937 giving you an overview of what has been done.
3939 @node Tracking TODO state changes, Tracking your habits, Closing items, Progress logging
3940 @subsection Tracking TODO state changes
3941 @cindex drawer, for state change recording
3943 @vindex org-log-states-order-reversed
3944 @vindex org-log-into-drawer
3945 @cindex property, LOG_INTO_DRAWER
3946 When TODO keywords are used as workflow states (@pxref{Workflow states}), you
3947 might want to keep track of when a state change occurred and maybe take a
3948 note about this change. You can either record just a timestamp, or a
3949 time-stamped note for a change. These records will be inserted after the
3950 headline as an itemized list, newest first@footnote{See the variable
3951 @code{org-log-states-order-reversed}}. When taking a lot of notes, you might
3952 want to get the notes out of the way into a drawer (@pxref{Drawers}).
3953 Customize the variable @code{org-log-into-drawer} to get this
3954 behavior---the recommended drawer for this is called @code{LOGBOOK}. You can
3955 also overrule the setting of this variable for a subtree by setting a
3956 @code{LOG_INTO_DRAWER} property.
3958 Since it is normally too much to record a note for every state, Org-mode
3959 expects configuration on a per-keyword basis for this. This is achieved by
3960 adding special markers @samp{!} (for a timestamp) and @samp{@@} (for a note)
3961 in parentheses after each keyword. For example, with the setting
3964 (setq org-todo-keywords
3965 '((sequence "TODO(t)" "WAIT(w@@/!)" "|" "DONE(d!)" "CANCELED(c@@)")))
3969 @vindex org-log-done
3970 you not only define global TODO keywords and fast access keys, but also
3971 request that a time is recorded when the entry is set to
3972 DONE@footnote{It is possible that Org-mode will record two timestamps
3973 when you are using both @code{org-log-done} and state change logging.
3974 However, it will never prompt for two notes---if you have configured
3975 both, the state change recording note will take precedence and cancel
3976 the @samp{Closing Note}.}, and that a note is recorded when switching to
3977 WAIT or CANCELED. The setting for WAIT is even more special: the
3978 @samp{!} after the slash means that in addition to the note taken when
3979 entering the state, a timestamp should be recorded when @i{leaving} the
3980 WAIT state, if and only if the @i{target} state does not configure
3981 logging for entering it. So it has no effect when switching from WAIT
3982 to DONE, because DONE is configured to record a timestamp only. But
3983 when switching from WAIT back to TODO, the @samp{/!} in the WAIT
3984 setting now triggers a timestamp even though TODO has no logging
3987 You can use the exact same syntax for setting logging preferences local
3990 #+TODO: TODO(t) WAIT(w@@/!) | DONE(d!) CANCELED(c@@)
3993 @cindex property, LOGGING
3994 In order to define logging settings that are local to a subtree or a
3995 single item, define a LOGGING property in this entry. Any non-empty
3996 LOGGING property resets all logging settings to nil. You may then turn
3997 on logging for this specific tree using STARTUP keywords like
3998 @code{lognotedone} or @code{logrepeat}, as well as adding state specific
3999 settings like @code{TODO(!)}. For example
4002 * TODO Log each state with only a time
4004 :LOGGING: TODO(!) WAIT(!) DONE(!) CANCELED(!)
4006 * TODO Only log when switching to WAIT, and when repeating
4008 :LOGGING: WAIT(@@) logrepeat
4010 * TODO No logging at all
4016 @node Tracking your habits, , Tracking TODO state changes, Progress logging
4017 @subsection Tracking your habits
4020 Org has the ability to track the consistency of a special category of TODOs,
4021 called ``habits''. A habit has the following properties:
4025 You have enabled the @code{habits} module by customizing the variable
4028 The habit is a TODO, with a TODO keyword representing an open state.
4030 The property @code{STYLE} is set to the value @code{habit}.
4032 The TODO has a scheduled date, usually with a @code{.+} style repeat
4033 interval. A @code{++} style may be appropriate for habits with time
4034 constraints, e.g., must be done on weekends, or a @code{+} style for an
4035 unusual habit that can have a backlog, e.g., weekly reports.
4037 The TODO may also have minimum and maximum ranges specified by using the
4038 syntax @samp{.+2d/3d}, which says that you want to do the task at least every
4039 three days, but at most every two days.
4041 You must also have state logging for the @code{DONE} state enabled, in order
4042 for historical data to be represented in the consistency graph. If it's not
4043 enabled it's not an error, but the consistency graphs will be largely
4047 To give you an idea of what the above rules look like in action, here's an
4048 actual habit with some history:
4052 SCHEDULED: <2009-10-17 Sat .+2d/4d>
4053 - State "DONE" from "TODO" [2009-10-15 Thu]
4054 - State "DONE" from "TODO" [2009-10-12 Mon]
4055 - State "DONE" from "TODO" [2009-10-10 Sat]
4056 - State "DONE" from "TODO" [2009-10-04 Sun]
4057 - State "DONE" from "TODO" [2009-10-02 Fri]
4058 - State "DONE" from "TODO" [2009-09-29 Tue]
4059 - State "DONE" from "TODO" [2009-09-25 Fri]
4060 - State "DONE" from "TODO" [2009-09-19 Sat]
4061 - State "DONE" from "TODO" [2009-09-16 Wed]
4062 - State "DONE" from "TODO" [2009-09-12 Sat]
4065 :LAST_REPEAT: [2009-10-19 Mon 00:36]
4069 What this habit says is: I want to shave at most every 2 days (given by the
4070 @code{SCHEDULED} date and repeat interval) and at least every 4 days. If
4071 today is the 15th, then the habit first appears in the agenda on Oct 17,
4072 after the minimum of 2 days has elapsed, and will appear overdue on Oct 19,
4073 after four days have elapsed.
4075 What's really useful about habits is that they are displayed along with a
4076 consistency graph, to show how consistent you've been at getting that task
4077 done in the past. This graph shows every day that the task was done over the
4078 past three weeks, with colors for each day. The colors used are:
4082 If the task wasn't to be done yet on that day.
4084 If the task could have been done on that day.
4086 If the task was going to be overdue the next day.
4088 If the task was overdue on that day.
4091 In addition to coloring each day, the day is also marked with an asterisk if
4092 the task was actually done that day, and an exclamation mark to show where
4093 the current day falls in the graph.
4095 There are several configuration variables that can be used to change the way
4096 habits are displayed in the agenda.
4099 @item org-habit-graph-column
4100 The buffer column at which the consistency graph should be drawn. This will
4101 overwrite any text in that column, so it's a good idea to keep your habits'
4102 titles brief and to the point.
4103 @item org-habit-preceding-days
4104 The amount of history, in days before today, to appear in consistency graphs.
4105 @item org-habit-following-days
4106 The number of days after today that will appear in consistency graphs.
4107 @item org-habit-show-habits-only-for-today
4108 If non-nil, only show habits in today's agenda view. This is set to true by
4112 Lastly, pressing @kbd{K} in the agenda buffer will cause habits to
4113 temporarily be disabled and they won't appear at all. Press @kbd{K} again to
4114 bring them back. They are also subject to tag filtering, if you have habits
4115 which should only be done in certain contexts, for example.
4117 @node Priorities, Breaking down tasks, Progress logging, TODO Items
4121 If you use Org-mode extensively, you may end up with enough TODO items that
4122 it starts to make sense to prioritize them. Prioritizing can be done by
4123 placing a @emph{priority cookie} into the headline of a TODO item, like this
4126 *** TODO [#A] Write letter to Sam Fortune
4130 @vindex org-priority-faces
4131 By default, Org-mode supports three priorities: @samp{A}, @samp{B}, and
4132 @samp{C}. @samp{A} is the highest priority. An entry without a cookie is
4133 treated just like priority @samp{B}. Priorities make a difference only for
4134 sorting in the agenda (@pxref{Weekly/daily agenda}); outside the agenda, they
4135 have no inherent meaning to Org-mode. The cookies can be highlighted with
4136 special faces by customizing the variable @code{org-priority-faces}.
4138 Priorities can be attached to any outline node; they do not need to be TODO
4144 @findex org-priority
4145 Set the priority of the current headline (@command{org-priority}). The
4146 command prompts for a priority character @samp{A}, @samp{B} or @samp{C}.
4147 When you press @key{SPC} instead, the priority cookie is removed from the
4148 headline. The priorities can also be changed ``remotely'' from the timeline
4149 and agenda buffer with the @kbd{,} command (@pxref{Agenda commands}).
4151 @orgcmdkkcc{S-@key{up},S-@key{down},org-priority-up,org-priority-down}
4152 @vindex org-priority-start-cycle-with-default
4153 Increase/decrease priority of current headline@footnote{See also the option
4154 @code{org-priority-start-cycle-with-default}.}. Note that these keys are
4155 also used to modify timestamps (@pxref{Creating timestamps}). See also
4156 @ref{Conflicts}, for a discussion of the interaction with
4157 @code{shift-selection-mode}.
4160 @vindex org-highest-priority
4161 @vindex org-lowest-priority
4162 @vindex org-default-priority
4163 You can change the range of allowed priorities by setting the variables
4164 @code{org-highest-priority}, @code{org-lowest-priority}, and
4165 @code{org-default-priority}. For an individual buffer, you may set
4166 these values (highest, lowest, default) like this (please make sure that
4167 the highest priority is earlier in the alphabet than the lowest
4170 @cindex #+PRIORITIES
4175 @node Breaking down tasks, Checkboxes, Priorities, TODO Items
4176 @section Breaking tasks down into subtasks
4177 @cindex tasks, breaking down
4178 @cindex statistics, for TODO items
4180 @vindex org-agenda-todo-list-sublevels
4181 It is often advisable to break down large tasks into smaller, manageable
4182 subtasks. You can do this by creating an outline tree below a TODO item,
4183 with detailed subtasks on the tree@footnote{To keep subtasks out of the
4184 global TODO list, see the @code{org-agenda-todo-list-sublevels}.}. To keep
4185 the overview over the fraction of subtasks that are already completed, insert
4186 either @samp{[/]} or @samp{[%]} anywhere in the headline. These cookies will
4187 be updated each time the TODO status of a child changes, or when pressing
4188 @kbd{C-c C-c} on the cookie. For example:
4191 * Organize Party [33%]
4192 ** TODO Call people [1/2]
4196 ** DONE Talk to neighbor
4199 @cindex property, COOKIE_DATA
4200 If a heading has both checkboxes and TODO children below it, the meaning of
4201 the statistics cookie become ambiguous. Set the property
4202 @code{COOKIE_DATA} to either @samp{checkbox} or @samp{todo} to resolve
4205 @vindex org-hierarchical-todo-statistics
4206 If you would like to have the statistics cookie count any TODO entries in the
4207 subtree (not just direct children), configure the variable
4208 @code{org-hierarchical-todo-statistics}. To do this for a single subtree,
4209 include the word @samp{recursive} into the value of the @code{COOKIE_DATA}
4213 * Parent capturing statistics [2/20]
4215 :COOKIE_DATA: todo recursive
4219 If you would like a TODO entry to automatically change to DONE
4220 when all children are done, you can use the following setup:
4223 (defun org-summary-todo (n-done n-not-done)
4224 "Switch entry to DONE when all subentries are done, to TODO otherwise."
4225 (let (org-log-done org-log-states) ; turn off logging
4226 (org-todo (if (= n-not-done 0) "DONE" "TODO"))))
4228 (add-hook 'org-after-todo-statistics-hook 'org-summary-todo)
4232 Another possibility is the use of checkboxes to identify (a hierarchy of) a
4233 large number of subtasks (@pxref{Checkboxes}).
4236 @node Checkboxes, , Breaking down tasks, TODO Items
4240 @vindex org-list-automatic-rules
4241 Every item in a plain list@footnote{With the exception of description
4242 lists. But you can allow it by modifying @code{org-list-automatic-rules}
4243 accordingly.} (@pxref{Plain lists}) can be made into a checkbox by starting
4244 it with the string @samp{[ ]}. This feature is similar to TODO items
4245 (@pxref{TODO Items}), but is more lightweight. Checkboxes are not included
4246 into the global TODO list, so they are often great to split a task into a
4247 number of simple steps. Or you can use them in a shopping list. To toggle a
4248 checkbox, use @kbd{C-c C-c}, or use the mouse (thanks to Piotr Zielinski's
4249 @file{org-mouse.el}).
4251 Here is an example of a checkbox list.
4254 * TODO Organize party [2/4]
4255 - [-] call people [1/3]
4260 - [ ] think about what music to play
4261 - [X] talk to the neighbors
4264 Checkboxes work hierarchically, so if a checkbox item has children that
4265 are checkboxes, toggling one of the children checkboxes will make the
4266 parent checkbox reflect if none, some, or all of the children are
4269 @cindex statistics, for checkboxes
4270 @cindex checkbox statistics
4271 @cindex property, COOKIE_DATA
4272 @vindex org-hierarchical-checkbox-statistics
4273 The @samp{[2/4]} and @samp{[1/3]} in the first and second line are cookies
4274 indicating how many checkboxes present in this entry have been checked off,
4275 and the total number of checkboxes present. This can give you an idea on how
4276 many checkboxes remain, even without opening a folded entry. The cookies can
4277 be placed into a headline or into (the first line of) a plain list item.
4278 Each cookie covers checkboxes of direct children structurally below the
4279 headline/item on which the cookie appears@footnote{Set the variable
4280 @code{org-hierarchical-checkbox-statistics} if you want such cookies to
4281 count all checkboxes below the cookie, not just those belonging to direct
4282 children.}. You have to insert the cookie yourself by typing either
4283 @samp{[/]} or @samp{[%]}. With @samp{[/]} you get an @samp{n out of m}
4284 result, as in the examples above. With @samp{[%]} you get information about
4285 the percentage of checkboxes checked (in the above example, this would be
4286 @samp{[50%]} and @samp{[33%]}, respectively). In a headline, a cookie can
4287 count either checkboxes below the heading or TODO states of children, and it
4288 will display whatever was changed last. Set the property @code{COOKIE_DATA}
4289 to either @samp{checkbox} or @samp{todo} to resolve this issue.
4291 @cindex blocking, of checkboxes
4292 @cindex checkbox blocking
4293 @cindex property, ORDERED
4294 If the current outline node has an @code{ORDERED} property, checkboxes must
4295 be checked off in sequence, and an error will be thrown if you try to check
4296 off a box while there are unchecked boxes above it.
4298 @noindent The following commands work with checkboxes:
4301 @orgcmd{C-c C-c,org-toggle-checkbox}
4302 Toggle checkbox status or (with prefix arg) checkbox presence at point. With
4303 double prefix argument, set it to @samp{[-]}, which is considered to be an
4305 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-b,org-toggle-checkbox}
4306 Toggle checkbox status or (with prefix arg) checkbox presence at point. With
4307 double prefix argument, set it to @samp{[-]}, which is considered to be an
4311 If there is an active region, toggle the first checkbox in the region
4312 and set all remaining boxes to the same status as the first. With a prefix
4313 arg, add or remove the checkbox for all items in the region.
4315 If the cursor is in a headline, toggle checkboxes in the region between
4316 this headline and the next (so @emph{not} the entire subtree).
4318 If there is no active region, just toggle the checkbox at point.
4320 @orgcmd{M-S-@key{RET},org-insert-todo-heading}
4321 Insert a new item with a checkbox. This works only if the cursor is already
4322 in a plain list item (@pxref{Plain lists}).
4323 @orgcmd{C-c C-x o,org-toggle-ordered-property}
4324 @vindex org-track-ordered-property-with-tag
4325 @cindex property, ORDERED
4326 Toggle the @code{ORDERED} property of the entry, to toggle if checkboxes must
4327 be checked off in sequence. A property is used for this behavior because
4328 this should be local to the current entry, not inherited like a tag.
4329 However, if you would like to @i{track} the value of this property with a tag
4330 for better visibility, customize the variable
4331 @code{org-track-ordered-property-with-tag}.
4332 @orgcmd{C-c #,org-update-statistics-cookies}
4333 Update the statistics cookie in the current outline entry. When called with
4334 a @kbd{C-u} prefix, update the entire file. Checkbox statistic cookies are
4335 updated automatically if you toggle checkboxes with @kbd{C-c C-c} and make
4336 new ones with @kbd{M-S-@key{RET}}. TODO statistics cookies update when
4337 changing TODO states. If you delete boxes/entries or add/change them by
4338 hand, use this command to get things back into sync.
4341 @node Tags, Properties and Columns, TODO Items, Top
4344 @cindex headline tagging
4345 @cindex matching, tags
4346 @cindex sparse tree, tag based
4348 An excellent way to implement labels and contexts for cross-correlating
4349 information is to assign @i{tags} to headlines. Org-mode has extensive
4352 @vindex org-tag-faces
4353 Every headline can contain a list of tags; they occur at the end of the
4354 headline. Tags are normal words containing letters, numbers, @samp{_}, and
4355 @samp{@@}. Tags must be preceded and followed by a single colon, e.g.,
4356 @samp{:work:}. Several tags can be specified, as in @samp{:work:urgent:}.
4357 Tags will by default be in bold face with the same color as the headline.
4358 You may specify special faces for specific tags using the variable
4359 @code{org-tag-faces}, in much the same way as you can for TODO keywords
4360 (@pxref{Faces for TODO keywords}).
4363 * Tag inheritance:: Tags use the tree structure of the outline
4364 * Setting tags:: How to assign tags to a headline
4365 * Tag searches:: Searching for combinations of tags
4368 @node Tag inheritance, Setting tags, Tags, Tags
4369 @section Tag inheritance
4370 @cindex tag inheritance
4371 @cindex inheritance, of tags
4372 @cindex sublevels, inclusion into tags match
4374 @i{Tags} make use of the hierarchical structure of outline trees. If a
4375 heading has a certain tag, all subheadings will inherit the tag as
4376 well. For example, in the list
4379 * Meeting with the French group :work:
4380 ** Summary by Frank :boss:notes:
4381 *** TODO Prepare slides for him :action:
4385 the final heading will have the tags @samp{:work:}, @samp{:boss:},
4386 @samp{:notes:}, and @samp{:action:} even though the final heading is not
4387 explicitly marked with those tags. You can also set tags that all entries in
4388 a file should inherit just as if these tags were defined in a hypothetical
4389 level zero that surrounds the entire file. Use a line like this@footnote{As
4390 with all these in-buffer settings, pressing @kbd{C-c C-c} activates any
4391 changes in the line.}:
4395 #+FILETAGS: :Peter:Boss:Secret:
4399 @vindex org-use-tag-inheritance
4400 @vindex org-tags-exclude-from-inheritance
4401 To limit tag inheritance to specific tags, or to turn it off entirely, use
4402 the variables @code{org-use-tag-inheritance} and
4403 @code{org-tags-exclude-from-inheritance}.
4405 @vindex org-tags-match-list-sublevels
4406 When a headline matches during a tags search while tag inheritance is turned
4407 on, all the sublevels in the same tree will (for a simple match form) match
4408 as well@footnote{This is only true if the search does not involve more
4409 complex tests including properties (@pxref{Property searches}).}. The list
4410 of matches may then become very long. If you only want to see the first tags
4411 match in a subtree, configure the variable
4412 @code{org-tags-match-list-sublevels} (not recommended).
4414 @node Setting tags, Tag searches, Tag inheritance, Tags
4415 @section Setting tags
4416 @cindex setting tags
4417 @cindex tags, setting
4420 Tags can simply be typed into the buffer at the end of a headline.
4421 After a colon, @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} offers completion on tags. There is
4422 also a special command for inserting tags:
4425 @orgcmd{C-c C-q,org-set-tags-command}
4426 @cindex completion, of tags
4427 @vindex org-tags-column
4428 Enter new tags for the current headline. Org-mode will either offer
4429 completion or a special single-key interface for setting tags, see
4430 below. After pressing @key{RET}, the tags will be inserted and aligned
4431 to @code{org-tags-column}. When called with a @kbd{C-u} prefix, all
4432 tags in the current buffer will be aligned to that column, just to make
4433 things look nice. TAGS are automatically realigned after promotion,
4434 demotion, and TODO state changes (@pxref{TODO basics}).
4435 @orgcmd{C-c C-c,org-set-tags-command}
4436 When the cursor is in a headline, this does the same as @kbd{C-c C-q}.
4439 @vindex org-tag-alist
4440 Org will support tag insertion based on a @emph{list of tags}. By
4441 default this list is constructed dynamically, containing all tags
4442 currently used in the buffer. You may also globally specify a hard list
4443 of tags with the variable @code{org-tag-alist}. Finally you can set
4444 the default tags for a given file with lines like
4448 #+TAGS: @@work @@home @@tennisclub
4449 #+TAGS: laptop car pc sailboat
4452 If you have globally defined your preferred set of tags using the
4453 variable @code{org-tag-alist}, but would like to use a dynamic tag list
4454 in a specific file, add an empty TAGS option line to that file:
4460 @vindex org-tag-persistent-alist
4461 If you have a preferred set of tags that you would like to use in every file,
4462 in addition to those defined on a per-file basis by TAGS option lines, then
4463 you may specify a list of tags with the variable
4464 @code{org-tag-persistent-alist}. You may turn this off on a per-file basis
4465 by adding a STARTUP option line to that file:
4471 By default Org-mode uses the standard minibuffer completion facilities for
4472 entering tags. However, it also implements another, quicker, tag selection
4473 method called @emph{fast tag selection}. This allows you to select and
4474 deselect tags with just a single key press. For this to work well you should
4475 assign unique letters to most of your commonly used tags. You can do this
4476 globally by configuring the variable @code{org-tag-alist} in your
4477 @file{.emacs} file. For example, you may find the need to tag many items in
4478 different files with @samp{:@@home:}. In this case you can set something
4482 (setq org-tag-alist '(("@@work" . ?w) ("@@home" . ?h) ("laptop" . ?l)))
4485 @noindent If the tag is only relevant to the file you are working on, then you
4486 can instead set the TAGS option line as:
4489 #+TAGS: @@work(w) @@home(h) @@tennisclub(t) laptop(l) pc(p)
4492 @noindent The tags interface will show the available tags in a splash
4493 window. If you want to start a new line after a specific tag, insert
4494 @samp{\n} into the tag list
4497 #+TAGS: @@work(w) @@home(h) @@tennisclub(t) \n laptop(l) pc(p)
4500 @noindent or write them in two lines:
4503 #+TAGS: @@work(w) @@home(h) @@tennisclub(t)
4504 #+TAGS: laptop(l) pc(p)
4508 You can also group together tags that are mutually exclusive by using
4512 #+TAGS: @{ @@work(w) @@home(h) @@tennisclub(t) @} laptop(l) pc(p)
4515 @noindent you indicate that at most one of @samp{@@work}, @samp{@@home},
4516 and @samp{@@tennisclub} should be selected. Multiple such groups are allowed.
4518 @noindent Don't forget to press @kbd{C-c C-c} with the cursor in one of
4519 these lines to activate any changes.
4522 To set these mutually exclusive groups in the variable @code{org-tags-alist},
4523 you must use the dummy tags @code{:startgroup} and @code{:endgroup} instead
4524 of the braces. Similarly, you can use @code{:newline} to indicate a line
4525 break. The previous example would be set globally by the following
4529 (setq org-tag-alist '((:startgroup . nil)
4530 ("@@work" . ?w) ("@@home" . ?h)
4531 ("@@tennisclub" . ?t)
4533 ("laptop" . ?l) ("pc" . ?p)))
4536 If at least one tag has a selection key then pressing @kbd{C-c C-c} will
4537 automatically present you with a special interface, listing inherited tags,
4538 the tags of the current headline, and a list of all valid tags with
4539 corresponding keys@footnote{Keys will automatically be assigned to tags which
4540 have no configured keys.}. In this interface, you can use the following
4545 Pressing keys assigned to tags will add or remove them from the list of
4546 tags in the current line. Selecting a tag in a group of mutually
4547 exclusive tags will turn off any other tags from that group.
4550 Enter a tag in the minibuffer, even if the tag is not in the predefined
4551 list. You will be able to complete on all tags present in the buffer.
4552 You can also add several tags: just separate them with a comma.
4556 Clear all tags for this line.
4559 Accept the modified set.
4561 Abort without installing changes.
4563 If @kbd{q} is not assigned to a tag, it aborts like @kbd{C-g}.
4565 Turn off groups of mutually exclusive tags. Use this to (as an
4566 exception) assign several tags from such a group.
4568 Toggle auto-exit after the next change (see below).
4569 If you are using expert mode, the first @kbd{C-c} will display the
4574 This method lets you assign tags to a headline with very few keys. With
4575 the above setup, you could clear the current tags and set @samp{@@home},
4576 @samp{laptop} and @samp{pc} tags with just the following keys: @kbd{C-c
4577 C-c @key{SPC} h l p @key{RET}}. Switching from @samp{@@home} to
4578 @samp{@@work} would be done with @kbd{C-c C-c w @key{RET}} or
4579 alternatively with @kbd{C-c C-c C-c w}. Adding the non-predefined tag
4580 @samp{Sarah} could be done with @kbd{C-c C-c @key{TAB} S a r a h
4581 @key{RET} @key{RET}}.
4583 @vindex org-fast-tag-selection-single-key
4584 If you find that most of the time you need only a single key press to
4585 modify your list of tags, set the variable
4586 @code{org-fast-tag-selection-single-key}. Then you no longer have to
4587 press @key{RET} to exit fast tag selection---it will immediately exit
4588 after the first change. If you then occasionally need more keys, press
4589 @kbd{C-c} to turn off auto-exit for the current tag selection process
4590 (in effect: start selection with @kbd{C-c C-c C-c} instead of @kbd{C-c
4591 C-c}). If you set the variable to the value @code{expert}, the special
4592 window is not even shown for single-key tag selection, it comes up only
4593 when you press an extra @kbd{C-c}.
4595 @node Tag searches, , Setting tags, Tags
4596 @section Tag searches
4597 @cindex tag searches
4598 @cindex searching for tags
4600 Once a system of tags has been set up, it can be used to collect related
4601 information into special lists.
4604 @orgcmdkkc{C-c / m,C-c \\,org-match-sparse-tree}
4605 Create a sparse tree with all headlines matching a tags search. With a
4606 @kbd{C-u} prefix argument, ignore headlines that are not a TODO line.
4607 @orgcmd{C-c a m,org-tags-view}
4608 Create a global list of tag matches from all agenda files.
4609 @xref{Matching tags and properties}.
4610 @orgcmd{C-c a M,org-tags-view}
4611 @vindex org-tags-match-list-sublevels
4612 Create a global list of tag matches from all agenda files, but check
4613 only TODO items and force checking subitems (see variable
4614 @code{org-tags-match-list-sublevels}).
4617 These commands all prompt for a match string which allows basic Boolean logic
4618 like @samp{+boss+urgent-project1}, to find entries with tags @samp{boss} and
4619 @samp{urgent}, but not @samp{project1}, or @samp{Kathy|Sally} to find entries
4620 which are tagged, like @samp{Kathy} or @samp{Sally}. The full syntax of the search
4621 string is rich and allows also matching against TODO keywords, entry levels
4622 and properties. For a complete description with many examples, see
4623 @ref{Matching tags and properties}.
4626 @node Properties and Columns, Dates and Times, Tags, Top
4627 @chapter Properties and columns
4630 Properties are a set of key-value pairs associated with an entry. There
4631 are two main applications for properties in Org-mode. First, properties
4632 are like tags, but with a value. Second, you can use properties to
4633 implement (very basic) database capabilities in an Org buffer. For
4634 an example of the first application, imagine maintaining a file where
4635 you document bugs and plan releases for a piece of software. Instead of
4636 using tags like @code{:release_1:}, @code{:release_2:}, one can use a
4637 property, say @code{:Release:}, that in different subtrees has different
4638 values, such as @code{1.0} or @code{2.0}. For an example of the second
4639 application of properties, imagine keeping track of your music CDs,
4640 where properties could be things such as the album, artist, date of
4641 release, number of tracks, and so on.
4643 Properties can be conveniently edited and viewed in column view
4644 (@pxref{Column view}).
4647 * Property syntax:: How properties are spelled out
4648 * Special properties:: Access to other Org-mode features
4649 * Property searches:: Matching property values
4650 * Property inheritance:: Passing values down the tree
4651 * Column view:: Tabular viewing and editing
4652 * Property API:: Properties for Lisp programmers
4655 @node Property syntax, Special properties, Properties and Columns, Properties and Columns
4656 @section Property syntax
4657 @cindex property syntax
4658 @cindex drawer, for properties
4660 Properties are key-value pairs. They need to be inserted into a special
4661 drawer (@pxref{Drawers}) with the name @code{PROPERTIES}. Each property
4662 is specified on a single line, with the key (surrounded by colons)
4663 first, and the value after it. Here is an example:
4668 *** Goldberg Variations
4670 :Title: Goldberg Variations
4671 :Composer: J.S. Bach
4673 :Publisher: Deutsche Grammophon
4678 You may define the allowed values for a particular property @samp{:Xyz:}
4679 by setting a property @samp{:Xyz_ALL:}. This special property is
4680 @emph{inherited}, so if you set it in a level 1 entry, it will apply to
4681 the entire tree. When allowed values are defined, setting the
4682 corresponding property becomes easier and is less prone to typing
4683 errors. For the example with the CD collection, we can predefine
4684 publishers and the number of disks in a box like this:
4689 :NDisks_ALL: 1 2 3 4
4690 :Publisher_ALL: "Deutsche Grammophon" Philips EMI
4694 If you want to set properties that can be inherited by any entry in a
4695 file, use a line like
4696 @cindex property, _ALL
4699 #+PROPERTY: NDisks_ALL 1 2 3 4
4702 @vindex org-global-properties
4703 Property values set with the global variable
4704 @code{org-global-properties} can be inherited by all entries in all
4708 The following commands help to work with properties:
4711 @orgcmd{M-@key{TAB},pcomplete}
4712 After an initial colon in a line, complete property keys. All keys used
4713 in the current file will be offered as possible completions.
4714 @orgcmd{C-c C-x p,org-set-property}
4715 Set a property. This prompts for a property name and a value. If
4716 necessary, the property drawer is created as well.
4717 @item M-x org-insert-property-drawer
4718 @findex org-insert-property-drawer
4719 Insert a property drawer into the current entry. The drawer will be
4720 inserted early in the entry, but after the lines with planning
4721 information like deadlines.
4722 @orgcmd{C-c C-c,org-property-action}
4723 With the cursor in a property drawer, this executes property commands.
4724 @orgcmd{C-c C-c s,org-set-property}
4725 Set a property in the current entry. Both the property and the value
4726 can be inserted using completion.
4727 @orgcmdkkcc{S-@key{right},S-@key{left},org-property-next-allowed-value,org-property-previous-allowed-value}
4728 Switch property at point to the next/previous allowed value.
4729 @orgcmd{C-c C-c d,org-delete-property}
4730 Remove a property from the current entry.
4731 @orgcmd{C-c C-c D,org-delete-property-globally}
4732 Globally remove a property, from all entries in the current file.
4733 @orgcmd{C-c C-c c,org-compute-property-at-point}
4734 Compute the property at point, using the operator and scope from the
4735 nearest column format definition.
4738 @node Special properties, Property searches, Property syntax, Properties and Columns
4739 @section Special properties
4740 @cindex properties, special
4742 Special properties provide an alternative access method to Org-mode features,
4743 like the TODO state or the priority of an entry, discussed in the previous
4744 chapters. This interface exists so that you can include these states in a
4745 column view (@pxref{Column view}), or to use them in queries. The following
4746 property names are special and (except for @code{:CATEGORY:}) should not be
4747 used as keys in the properties drawer:
4749 @cindex property, special, TODO
4750 @cindex property, special, TAGS
4751 @cindex property, special, ALLTAGS
4752 @cindex property, special, CATEGORY
4753 @cindex property, special, PRIORITY
4754 @cindex property, special, DEADLINE
4755 @cindex property, special, SCHEDULED
4756 @cindex property, special, CLOSED
4757 @cindex property, special, TIMESTAMP
4758 @cindex property, special, TIMESTAMP_IA
4759 @cindex property, special, CLOCKSUM
4760 @cindex property, special, BLOCKED
4761 @c guessing that ITEM is needed in this area; also, should this list be sorted?
4762 @cindex property, special, ITEM
4763 @cindex property, special, FILE
4765 TODO @r{The TODO keyword of the entry.}
4766 TAGS @r{The tags defined directly in the headline.}
4767 ALLTAGS @r{All tags, including inherited ones.}
4768 CATEGORY @r{The category of an entry.}
4769 PRIORITY @r{The priority of the entry, a string with a single letter.}
4770 DEADLINE @r{The deadline time string, without the angular brackets.}
4771 SCHEDULED @r{The scheduling timestamp, without the angular brackets.}
4772 CLOSED @r{When was this entry closed?}
4773 TIMESTAMP @r{The first keyword-less timestamp in the entry.}
4774 TIMESTAMP_IA @r{The first inactive timestamp in the entry.}
4775 CLOCKSUM @r{The sum of CLOCK intervals in the subtree. @code{org-clock-sum}}
4776 @r{must be run first to compute the values in the current buffer.}
4777 BLOCKED @r{"t" if task is currently blocked by children or siblings}
4778 ITEM @r{The content of the entry.}
4779 FILE @r{The filename the entry is located in.}
4782 @node Property searches, Property inheritance, Special properties, Properties and Columns
4783 @section Property searches
4784 @cindex properties, searching
4785 @cindex searching, of properties
4787 To create sparse trees and special lists with selection based on properties,
4788 the same commands are used as for tag searches (@pxref{Tag searches}).
4790 @orgcmdkkc{C-c / m,C-c \,org-match-sparse-tree}
4791 Create a sparse tree with all matching entries. With a
4792 @kbd{C-u} prefix argument, ignore headlines that are not a TODO line.
4793 @orgcmd{C-c a m,org-tags-view}
4794 Create a global list of tag/property matches from all agenda files.
4795 @xref{Matching tags and properties}.
4796 @orgcmd{C-c a M,org-tags-view}
4797 @vindex org-tags-match-list-sublevels
4798 Create a global list of tag matches from all agenda files, but check
4799 only TODO items and force checking of subitems (see variable
4800 @code{org-tags-match-list-sublevels}).
4803 The syntax for the search string is described in @ref{Matching tags and
4806 There is also a special command for creating sparse trees based on a
4811 Create a sparse tree based on the value of a property. This first
4812 prompts for the name of a property, and then for a value. A sparse tree
4813 is created with all entries that define this property with the given
4814 value. If you enclose the value in curly braces, it is interpreted as
4815 a regular expression and matched against the property values.
4818 @node Property inheritance, Column view, Property searches, Properties and Columns
4819 @section Property Inheritance
4820 @cindex properties, inheritance
4821 @cindex inheritance, of properties
4823 @vindex org-use-property-inheritance
4824 The outline structure of Org-mode documents lends itself to an
4825 inheritance model of properties: if the parent in a tree has a certain
4826 property, the children can inherit this property. Org-mode does not
4827 turn this on by default, because it can slow down property searches
4828 significantly and is often not needed. However, if you find inheritance
4829 useful, you can turn it on by setting the variable
4830 @code{org-use-property-inheritance}. It may be set to @code{t} to make
4831 all properties inherited from the parent, to a list of properties
4832 that should be inherited, or to a regular expression that matches
4833 inherited properties. If a property has the value @samp{nil}, this is
4834 interpreted as an explicit undefine of the property, so that inheritance
4835 search will stop at this value and return @code{nil}.
4837 Org-mode has a few properties for which inheritance is hard-coded, at
4838 least for the special applications for which they are used:
4840 @cindex property, COLUMNS
4843 The @code{:COLUMNS:} property defines the format of column view
4844 (@pxref{Column view}). It is inherited in the sense that the level
4845 where a @code{:COLUMNS:} property is defined is used as the starting
4846 point for a column view table, independently of the location in the
4847 subtree from where columns view is turned on.
4849 @cindex property, CATEGORY
4850 For agenda view, a category set through a @code{:CATEGORY:} property
4851 applies to the entire subtree.
4853 @cindex property, ARCHIVE
4854 For archiving, the @code{:ARCHIVE:} property may define the archive
4855 location for the entire subtree (@pxref{Moving subtrees}).
4857 @cindex property, LOGGING
4858 The LOGGING property may define logging settings for an entry or a
4859 subtree (@pxref{Tracking TODO state changes}).
4862 @node Column view, Property API, Property inheritance, Properties and Columns
4863 @section Column view
4865 A great way to view and edit properties in an outline tree is
4866 @emph{column view}. In column view, each outline node is turned into a
4867 table row. Columns in this table provide access to properties of the
4868 entries. Org-mode implements columns by overlaying a tabular structure
4869 over the headline of each item. While the headlines have been turned
4870 into a table row, you can still change the visibility of the outline
4871 tree. For example, you get a compact table by switching to CONTENTS
4872 view (@kbd{S-@key{TAB} S-@key{TAB}}, or simply @kbd{c} while column view
4873 is active), but you can still open, read, and edit the entry below each
4874 headline. Or, you can switch to column view after executing a sparse
4875 tree command and in this way get a table only for the selected items.
4876 Column view also works in agenda buffers (@pxref{Agenda Views}) where
4877 queries have collected selected items, possibly from a number of files.
4880 * Defining columns:: The COLUMNS format property
4881 * Using column view:: How to create and use column view
4882 * Capturing column view:: A dynamic block for column view
4885 @node Defining columns, Using column view, Column view, Column view
4886 @subsection Defining columns
4887 @cindex column view, for properties
4888 @cindex properties, column view
4890 Setting up a column view first requires defining the columns. This is
4891 done by defining a column format line.
4894 * Scope of column definitions:: Where defined, where valid?
4895 * Column attributes:: Appearance and content of a column
4898 @node Scope of column definitions, Column attributes, Defining columns, Defining columns
4899 @subsubsection Scope of column definitions
4901 To define a column format for an entire file, use a line like
4905 #+COLUMNS: %25ITEM %TAGS %PRIORITY %TODO
4908 To specify a format that only applies to a specific tree, add a
4909 @code{:COLUMNS:} property to the top node of that tree, for example:
4912 ** Top node for columns view
4914 :COLUMNS: %25ITEM %TAGS %PRIORITY %TODO
4918 If a @code{:COLUMNS:} property is present in an entry, it defines columns
4919 for the entry itself, and for the entire subtree below it. Since the
4920 column definition is part of the hierarchical structure of the document,
4921 you can define columns on level 1 that are general enough for all
4922 sublevels, and more specific columns further down, when you edit a
4923 deeper part of the tree.
4925 @node Column attributes, , Scope of column definitions, Defining columns
4926 @subsubsection Column attributes
4927 A column definition sets the attributes of a column. The general
4928 definition looks like this:
4931 %[@var{width}]@var{property}[(@var{title})][@{@var{summary-type}@}]
4935 Except for the percent sign and the property name, all items are
4936 optional. The individual parts have the following meaning:
4939 @var{width} @r{An integer specifying the width of the column in characters.}
4940 @r{If omitted, the width will be determined automatically.}
4941 @var{property} @r{The property that should be edited in this column.}
4942 @r{Special properties representing meta data are allowed here}
4943 @r{as well (@pxref{Special properties})}
4944 @var{title} @r{The header text for the column. If omitted, the property}
4946 @{@var{summary-type}@} @r{The summary type. If specified, the column values for}
4947 @r{parent nodes are computed from the children.}
4948 @r{Supported summary types are:}
4949 @{+@} @r{Sum numbers in this column.}
4950 @{+;%.1f@} @r{Like @samp{+}, but format result with @samp{%.1f}.}
4951 @{$@} @r{Currency, short for @samp{+;%.2f}.}
4952 @{:@} @r{Sum times, HH:MM, plain numbers are hours.}
4953 @{X@} @r{Checkbox status, @samp{[X]} if all children are @samp{[X]}.}
4954 @{X/@} @r{Checkbox status, @samp{[n/m]}.}
4955 @{X%@} @r{Checkbox status, @samp{[n%]}.}
4956 @{min@} @r{Smallest number in column.}
4957 @{max@} @r{Largest number.}
4958 @{mean@} @r{Arithmetic mean of numbers.}
4959 @{:min@} @r{Smallest time value in column.}
4960 @{:max@} @r{Largest time value.}
4961 @{:mean@} @r{Arithmetic mean of time values.}
4962 @{@@min@} @r{Minimum age (in days/hours/mins/seconds).}
4963 @{@@max@} @r{Maximum age (in days/hours/mins/seconds).}
4964 @{@@mean@} @r{Arithmetic mean of ages (in days/hours/mins/seconds).}
4965 @{est+@} @r{Add low-high estimates.}
4969 Be aware that you can only have one summary type for any property you
4970 include. Subsequent columns referencing the same property will all display the
4971 same summary information.
4973 The @code{est+} summary type requires further explanation. It is used for
4974 combining estimates, expressed as low-high ranges. For example, instead
4975 of estimating a particular task will take 5 days, you might estimate it as
4976 5-6 days if you're fairly confident you know how much work is required, or
4977 1-10 days if you don't really know what needs to be done. Both ranges
4978 average at 5.5 days, but the first represents a more predictable delivery.
4980 When combining a set of such estimates, simply adding the lows and highs
4981 produces an unrealistically wide result. Instead, @code{est+} adds the
4982 statistical mean and variance of the sub-tasks, generating a final estimate
4983 from the sum. For example, suppose you had ten tasks, each of which was
4984 estimated at 0.5 to 2 days of work. Straight addition produces an estimate
4985 of 5 to 20 days, representing what to expect if everything goes either
4986 extremely well or extremely poorly. In contrast, @code{est+} estimates the
4987 full job more realistically, at 10-15 days.
4989 Here is an example for a complete columns definition, along with allowed
4993 :COLUMNS: %25ITEM %9Approved(Approved?)@{X@} %Owner %11Status \@footnote{Please note that the COLUMNS definition must be on a single line---it is wrapped here only because of formatting constraints.}
4994 %10Time_Estimate@{:@} %CLOCKSUM
4995 :Owner_ALL: Tammy Mark Karl Lisa Don
4996 :Status_ALL: "In progress" "Not started yet" "Finished" ""
4997 :Approved_ALL: "[ ]" "[X]"
5001 The first column, @samp{%25ITEM}, means the first 25 characters of the
5002 item itself, i.e.@: of the headline. You probably always should start the
5003 column definition with the @samp{ITEM} specifier. The other specifiers
5004 create columns @samp{Owner} with a list of names as allowed values, for
5005 @samp{Status} with four different possible values, and for a checkbox
5006 field @samp{Approved}. When no width is given after the @samp{%}
5007 character, the column will be exactly as wide as it needs to be in order
5008 to fully display all values. The @samp{Approved} column does have a
5009 modified title (@samp{Approved?}, with a question mark). Summaries will
5010 be created for the @samp{Time_Estimate} column by adding time duration
5011 expressions like HH:MM, and for the @samp{Approved} column, by providing
5012 an @samp{[X]} status if all children have been checked. The
5013 @samp{CLOCKSUM} column is special, it lists the sum of CLOCK intervals
5016 @node Using column view, Capturing column view, Defining columns, Column view
5017 @subsection Using column view
5020 @tsubheading{Turning column view on and off}
5021 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-c,org-columns}
5022 @vindex org-columns-default-format
5023 Turn on column view. If the cursor is before the first headline in the file,
5024 column view is turned on for the entire file, using the @code{#+COLUMNS}
5025 definition. If the cursor is somewhere inside the outline, this command
5026 searches the hierarchy, up from point, for a @code{:COLUMNS:} property that
5027 defines a format. When one is found, the column view table is established
5028 for the tree starting at the entry that contains the @code{:COLUMNS:}
5029 property. If no such property is found, the format is taken from the
5030 @code{#+COLUMNS} line or from the variable @code{org-columns-default-format},
5031 and column view is established for the current entry and its subtree.
5032 @orgcmd{r,org-columns-redo}
5033 Recreate the column view, to include recent changes made in the buffer.
5034 @orgcmd{g,org-columns-redo}
5036 @orgcmd{q,org-columns-quit}
5038 @tsubheading{Editing values}
5039 @item @key{left} @key{right} @key{up} @key{down}
5040 Move through the column view from field to field.
5041 @kindex S-@key{left}
5042 @kindex S-@key{right}
5043 @item S-@key{left}/@key{right}
5044 Switch to the next/previous allowed value of the field. For this, you
5045 have to have specified allowed values for a property.
5047 Directly select the Nth allowed value, @kbd{0} selects the 10th value.
5048 @orgcmdkkcc{n,p,org-columns-next-allowed-value,org-columns-previous-allowed-value}
5049 Same as @kbd{S-@key{left}/@key{right}}
5050 @orgcmd{e,org-columns-edit-value}
5051 Edit the property at point. For the special properties, this will
5052 invoke the same interface that you normally use to change that
5053 property. For example, when editing a TAGS property, the tag completion
5054 or fast selection interface will pop up.
5055 @orgcmd{C-c C-c,org-columns-set-tags-or-toggle}
5056 When there is a checkbox at point, toggle it.
5057 @orgcmd{v,org-columns-show-value}
5058 View the full value of this property. This is useful if the width of
5059 the column is smaller than that of the value.
5060 @orgcmd{a,org-columns-edit-allowed}
5061 Edit the list of allowed values for this property. If the list is found
5062 in the hierarchy, the modified values is stored there. If no list is
5063 found, the new value is stored in the first entry that is part of the
5064 current column view.
5065 @tsubheading{Modifying the table structure}
5066 @orgcmdkkcc{<,>,org-columns-narrow,org-columns-widen}
5067 Make the column narrower/wider by one character.
5068 @orgcmd{S-M-@key{right},org-columns-new}
5069 Insert a new column, to the left of the current column.
5070 @orgcmd{S-M-@key{left},org-columns-delete}
5071 Delete the current column.
5074 @node Capturing column view, , Using column view, Column view
5075 @subsection Capturing column view
5077 Since column view is just an overlay over a buffer, it cannot be
5078 exported or printed directly. If you want to capture a column view, use
5079 a @code{columnview} dynamic block (@pxref{Dynamic blocks}). The frame
5080 of this block looks like this:
5082 @cindex #+BEGIN, columnview
5085 #+BEGIN: columnview :hlines 1 :id "label"
5090 @noindent This dynamic block has the following parameters:
5094 This is the most important parameter. Column view is a feature that is
5095 often localized to a certain (sub)tree, and the capture block might be
5096 at a different location in the file. To identify the tree whose view to
5097 capture, you can use 4 values:
5098 @cindex property, ID
5100 local @r{use the tree in which the capture block is located}
5101 global @r{make a global view, including all headings in the file}
5102 "file:@var{path-to-file}"
5103 @r{run column view at the top of this file}
5104 "@var{ID}" @r{call column view in the tree that has an @code{:ID:}}
5105 @r{property with the value @i{label}. You can use}
5106 @r{@kbd{M-x org-id-copy} to create a globally unique ID for}
5107 @r{the current entry and copy it to the kill-ring.}
5110 When @code{t}, insert an hline after every line. When a number @var{N}, insert
5111 an hline before each headline with level @code{<= @var{N}}.
5113 When set to @code{t}, force column groups to get vertical lines.
5115 When set to a number, don't capture entries below this level.
5116 @item :skip-empty-rows
5117 When set to @code{t}, skip rows where the only non-empty specifier of the
5118 column view is @code{ITEM}.
5123 The following commands insert or update the dynamic block:
5126 @orgcmd{C-c C-x i,org-insert-columns-dblock}
5127 Insert a dynamic block capturing a column view. You will be prompted
5128 for the scope or ID of the view.
5129 @orgcmdkkc{C-c C-c,C-c C-x C-u,org-dblock-update}
5130 Update dynamic block at point. The cursor needs to be in the
5131 @code{#+BEGIN} line of the dynamic block.
5132 @orgcmd{C-u C-c C-x C-u,org-update-all-dblocks}
5133 Update all dynamic blocks (@pxref{Dynamic blocks}). This is useful if
5134 you have several clock table blocks, column-capturing blocks or other dynamic
5138 You can add formulas to the column view table and you may add plotting
5139 instructions in front of the table---these will survive an update of the
5140 block. If there is a @code{#+TBLFM:} after the table, the table will
5141 actually be recalculated automatically after an update.
5143 An alternative way to capture and process property values into a table is
5144 provided by Eric Schulte's @file{org-collector.el} which is a contributed
5145 package@footnote{Contributed packages are not part of Emacs, but are
5146 distributed with the main distribution of Org (visit
5147 @uref{http://orgmode.org}).}. It provides a general API to collect
5148 properties from entries in a certain scope, and arbitrary Lisp expressions to
5149 process these values before inserting them into a table or a dynamic block.
5151 @node Property API, , Column view, Properties and Columns
5152 @section The Property API
5153 @cindex properties, API
5154 @cindex API, for properties
5156 There is a full API for accessing and changing properties. This API can
5157 be used by Emacs Lisp programs to work with properties and to implement
5158 features based on them. For more information see @ref{Using the
5161 @node Dates and Times, Capture - Refile - Archive, Properties and Columns, Top
5162 @chapter Dates and times
5168 To assist project planning, TODO items can be labeled with a date and/or
5169 a time. The specially formatted string carrying the date and time
5170 information is called a @emph{timestamp} in Org-mode. This may be a
5171 little confusing because timestamp is often used as indicating when
5172 something was created or last changed. However, in Org-mode this term
5173 is used in a much wider sense.
5176 * Timestamps:: Assigning a time to a tree entry
5177 * Creating timestamps:: Commands which insert timestamps
5178 * Deadlines and scheduling:: Planning your work
5179 * Clocking work time:: Tracking how long you spend on a task
5180 * Effort estimates:: Planning work effort in advance
5181 * Relative timer:: Notes with a running timer
5182 * Countdown timer:: Starting a countdown timer for a task
5186 @node Timestamps, Creating timestamps, Dates and Times, Dates and Times
5187 @section Timestamps, deadlines, and scheduling
5189 @cindex ranges, time
5194 A timestamp is a specification of a date (possibly with a time or a range of
5195 times) in a special format, either @samp{<2003-09-16 Tue>} or
5196 @samp{<2003-09-16 Tue 09:39>} or @samp{<2003-09-16 Tue
5197 12:00-12:30>}@footnote{This is inspired by the standard ISO 8601 date/time
5198 format. To use an alternative format, see @ref{Custom time format}.}. A
5199 timestamp can appear anywhere in the headline or body of an Org tree entry.
5200 Its presence causes entries to be shown on specific dates in the agenda
5201 (@pxref{Weekly/daily agenda}). We distinguish:
5204 @item Plain timestamp; Event; Appointment
5206 A simple timestamp just assigns a date/time to an item. This is just
5207 like writing down an appointment or event in a paper agenda. In the
5208 timeline and agenda displays, the headline of an entry associated with a
5209 plain timestamp will be shown exactly on that date.
5212 * Meet Peter at the movies <2006-11-01 Wed 19:15>
5213 * Discussion on climate change <2006-11-02 Thu 20:00-22:00>
5216 @item Timestamp with repeater interval
5217 @cindex timestamp, with repeater interval
5218 A timestamp may contain a @emph{repeater interval}, indicating that it
5219 applies not only on the given date, but again and again after a certain
5220 interval of N days (d), weeks (w), months (m), or years (y). The
5221 following will show up in the agenda every Wednesday:
5224 * Pick up Sam at school <2007-05-16 Wed 12:30 +1w>
5227 @item Diary-style sexp entries
5228 For more complex date specifications, Org-mode supports using the
5229 special sexp diary entries implemented in the Emacs calendar/diary
5230 package. For example
5233 * The nerd meeting on every 2nd Thursday of the month
5234 <%%(diary-float t 4 2)>
5237 @item Time/Date range
5240 Two timestamps connected by @samp{--} denote a range. The headline
5241 will be shown on the first and last day of the range, and on any dates
5242 that are displayed and fall in the range. Here is an example:
5245 ** Meeting in Amsterdam
5246 <2004-08-23 Mon>--<2004-08-26 Thu>
5249 @item Inactive timestamp
5250 @cindex timestamp, inactive
5251 @cindex inactive timestamp
5252 Just like a plain timestamp, but with square brackets instead of
5253 angular ones. These timestamps are inactive in the sense that they do
5254 @emph{not} trigger an entry to show up in the agenda.
5257 * Gillian comes late for the fifth time [2006-11-01 Wed]
5262 @node Creating timestamps, Deadlines and scheduling, Timestamps, Dates and Times
5263 @section Creating timestamps
5264 @cindex creating timestamps
5265 @cindex timestamps, creating
5267 For Org-mode to recognize timestamps, they need to be in the specific
5268 format. All commands listed below produce timestamps in the correct
5272 @orgcmd{C-c .,org-time-stamp}
5273 Prompt for a date and insert a corresponding timestamp. When the cursor is
5274 at an existing timestamp in the buffer, the command is used to modify this
5275 timestamp instead of inserting a new one. When this command is used twice in
5276 succession, a time range is inserted.
5278 @orgcmd{C-c !,org-time-stamp-inactive}
5279 Like @kbd{C-c .}, but insert an inactive timestamp that will not cause
5286 @vindex org-time-stamp-rounding-minutes
5287 Like @kbd{C-c .} and @kbd{C-c !}, but use the alternative format which
5288 contains date and time. The default time can be rounded to multiples of 5
5289 minutes, see the option @code{org-time-stamp-rounding-minutes}.
5291 @orgcmd{C-c <,org-date-from-calendar}
5292 Insert a timestamp corresponding to the cursor date in the Calendar.
5294 @orgcmd{C-c >,org-goto-calendar}
5295 Access the Emacs calendar for the current date. If there is a
5296 timestamp in the current line, go to the corresponding date
5299 @orgcmd{C-c C-o,org-open-at-point}
5300 Access the agenda for the date given by the timestamp or -range at
5301 point (@pxref{Weekly/daily agenda}).
5303 @orgcmdkkcc{S-@key{left},S-@key{right},org-timestamp-down-day,org-timestamp-up-day}
5304 Change date at cursor by one day. These key bindings conflict with
5305 shift-selection and related modes (@pxref{Conflicts}).
5307 @orgcmdkkcc{S-@key{up},S-@key{down},org-timestamp-up,org-timestamp-down-down}
5308 Change the item under the cursor in a timestamp. The cursor can be on a
5309 year, month, day, hour or minute. When the timestamp contains a time range
5310 like @samp{15:30-16:30}, modifying the first time will also shift the second,
5311 shifting the time block with constant length. To change the length, modify
5312 the second time. Note that if the cursor is in a headline and not at a
5313 timestamp, these same keys modify the priority of an item.
5314 (@pxref{Priorities}). The key bindings also conflict with shift-selection and
5315 related modes (@pxref{Conflicts}).
5317 @orgcmd{C-c C-y,org-evaluate-time-range}
5318 @cindex evaluate time range
5319 Evaluate a time range by computing the difference between start and end.
5320 With a prefix argument, insert result after the time range (in a table: into
5321 the following column).
5326 * The date/time prompt:: How Org-mode helps you entering date and time
5327 * Custom time format:: Making dates look different
5330 @node The date/time prompt, Custom time format, Creating timestamps, Creating timestamps
5331 @subsection The date/time prompt
5332 @cindex date, reading in minibuffer
5333 @cindex time, reading in minibuffer
5335 @vindex org-read-date-prefer-future
5336 When Org-mode prompts for a date/time, the default is shown in default
5337 date/time format, and the prompt therefore seems to ask for a specific
5338 format. But it will in fact accept any string containing some date and/or
5339 time information, and it is really smart about interpreting your input. You
5340 can, for example, use @kbd{C-y} to paste a (possibly multi-line) string
5341 copied from an email message. Org-mode will find whatever information is in
5342 there and derive anything you have not specified from the @emph{default date
5343 and time}. The default is usually the current date and time, but when
5344 modifying an existing timestamp, or when entering the second stamp of a
5345 range, it is taken from the stamp in the buffer. When filling in
5346 information, Org-mode assumes that most of the time you will want to enter a
5347 date in the future: if you omit the month/year and the given day/month is
5348 @i{before} today, it will assume that you mean a future date@footnote{See the
5349 variable @code{org-read-date-prefer-future}. You may set that variable to
5350 the symbol @code{time} to even make a time before now shift the date to
5351 tomorrow.}. If the date has been automatically shifted into the future, the
5352 time prompt will show this with @samp{(=>F).}
5354 For example, let's assume that today is @b{June 13, 2006}. Here is how
5355 various inputs will be interpreted, the items filled in by Org-mode are
5359 3-2-5 @result{} 2003-02-05
5360 2/5/3 @result{} 2003-02-05
5361 14 @result{} @b{2006}-@b{06}-14
5362 12 @result{} @b{2006}-@b{07}-12
5363 2/5 @result{} @b{2007}-02-05
5364 Fri @result{} nearest Friday (default date or later)
5365 sep 15 @result{} @b{2006}-09-15
5366 feb 15 @result{} @b{2007}-02-15
5367 sep 12 9 @result{} 2009-09-12
5368 12:45 @result{} @b{2006}-@b{06}-@b{13} 12:45
5369 22 sept 0:34 @result{} @b{2006}-09-22 0:34
5370 w4 @result{} ISO week for of the current year @b{2006}
5371 2012 w4 fri @result{} Friday of ISO week 4 in 2012
5372 2012-w04-5 @result{} Same as above
5375 Furthermore you can specify a relative date by giving, as the
5376 @emph{first} thing in the input: a plus/minus sign, a number and a
5377 letter ([dwmy]) to indicate change in days, weeks, months, or years. With a
5378 single plus or minus, the date is always relative to today. With a
5379 double plus or minus, it is relative to the default date. If instead of
5380 a single letter, you use the abbreviation of day name, the date will be
5381 the Nth such day. e.g.@:
5386 +4d @result{} four days from today
5387 +4 @result{} same as above
5388 +2w @result{} two weeks from today
5389 ++5 @result{} five days from default date
5390 +2tue @result{} second Tuesday from now.
5393 @vindex parse-time-months
5394 @vindex parse-time-weekdays
5395 The function understands English month and weekday abbreviations. If
5396 you want to use unabbreviated names and/or other languages, configure
5397 the variables @code{parse-time-months} and @code{parse-time-weekdays}.
5399 @vindex org-read-date-force-compatible-dates
5400 Not all dates can be represented in a given Emacs implementation. By default
5401 Org mode forces dates into the compatibility range 1970--2037 which works on
5402 all Emacs implementations. If you want to use dates outside of this range,
5403 read the docstring of the variable
5404 @code{org-read-date-force-compatible-dates}.
5406 You can specify a time range by giving start and end times or by giving a
5407 start time and a duration (in HH:MM format). Use `-' or `-@{@}-' as the
5408 separator in the former case and use '+' as the separator in the latter
5412 11am-1:15pm @result{} 11:00-13:15
5413 11am--1:15pm @result{} same as above
5414 11am+2:15 @result{} same as above
5417 @cindex calendar, for selecting date
5418 @vindex org-popup-calendar-for-date-prompt
5419 Parallel to the minibuffer prompt, a calendar is popped up@footnote{If
5420 you don't need/want the calendar, configure the variable
5421 @code{org-popup-calendar-for-date-prompt}.}. When you exit the date
5422 prompt, either by clicking on a date in the calendar, or by pressing
5423 @key{RET}, the date selected in the calendar will be combined with the
5424 information entered at the prompt. You can control the calendar fully
5425 from the minibuffer:
5432 @kindex S-@key{right}
5433 @kindex S-@key{left}
5434 @kindex S-@key{down}
5436 @kindex M-S-@key{right}
5437 @kindex M-S-@key{left}
5440 @key{RET} @r{Choose date at cursor in calendar.}
5441 mouse-1 @r{Select date by clicking on it.}
5442 S-@key{right}/@key{left} @r{One day forward/backward.}
5443 S-@key{down}/@key{up} @r{One week forward/backward.}
5444 M-S-@key{right}/@key{left} @r{One month forward/backward.}
5445 > / < @r{Scroll calendar forward/backward by one month.}
5446 M-v / C-v @r{Scroll calendar forward/backward by 3 months.}
5449 @vindex org-read-date-display-live
5450 The actions of the date/time prompt may seem complex, but I assure you they
5451 will grow on you, and you will start getting annoyed by pretty much any other
5452 way of entering a date/time out there. To help you understand what is going
5453 on, the current interpretation of your input will be displayed live in the
5454 minibuffer@footnote{If you find this distracting, turn the display of with
5455 @code{org-read-date-display-live}.}.
5457 @node Custom time format, , The date/time prompt, Creating timestamps
5458 @subsection Custom time format
5459 @cindex custom date/time format
5460 @cindex time format, custom
5461 @cindex date format, custom
5463 @vindex org-display-custom-times
5464 @vindex org-time-stamp-custom-formats
5465 Org-mode uses the standard ISO notation for dates and times as it is
5466 defined in ISO 8601. If you cannot get used to this and require another
5467 representation of date and time to keep you happy, you can get it by
5468 customizing the variables @code{org-display-custom-times} and
5469 @code{org-time-stamp-custom-formats}.
5472 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-t,org-toggle-time-stamp-overlays}
5473 Toggle the display of custom formats for dates and times.
5477 Org-mode needs the default format for scanning, so the custom date/time
5478 format does not @emph{replace} the default format---instead it is put
5479 @emph{over} the default format using text properties. This has the
5480 following consequences:
5483 You cannot place the cursor onto a timestamp anymore, only before or
5486 The @kbd{S-@key{up}/@key{down}} keys can no longer be used to adjust
5487 each component of a timestamp. If the cursor is at the beginning of
5488 the stamp, @kbd{S-@key{up}/@key{down}} will change the stamp by one day,
5489 just like @kbd{S-@key{left}/@key{right}}. At the end of the stamp, the
5490 time will be changed by one minute.
5492 If the timestamp contains a range of clock times or a repeater, these
5493 will not be overlaid, but remain in the buffer as they were.
5495 When you delete a timestamp character-by-character, it will only
5496 disappear from the buffer after @emph{all} (invisible) characters
5497 belonging to the ISO timestamp have been removed.
5499 If the custom timestamp format is longer than the default and you are
5500 using dates in tables, table alignment will be messed up. If the custom
5501 format is shorter, things do work as expected.
5505 @node Deadlines and scheduling, Clocking work time, Creating timestamps, Dates and Times
5506 @section Deadlines and scheduling
5508 A timestamp may be preceded by special keywords to facilitate planning:
5512 @cindex DEADLINE keyword
5514 Meaning: the task (most likely a TODO item, though not necessarily) is supposed
5515 to be finished on that date.
5517 @vindex org-deadline-warning-days
5518 On the deadline date, the task will be listed in the agenda. In
5519 addition, the agenda for @emph{today} will carry a warning about the
5520 approaching or missed deadline, starting
5521 @code{org-deadline-warning-days} before the due date, and continuing
5522 until the entry is marked DONE. An example:
5525 *** TODO write article about the Earth for the Guide
5526 The editor in charge is [[bbdb:Ford Prefect]]
5527 DEADLINE: <2004-02-29 Sun>
5530 You can specify a different lead time for warnings for a specific
5531 deadlines using the following syntax. Here is an example with a warning
5532 period of 5 days @code{DEADLINE: <2004-02-29 Sun -5d>}.
5535 @cindex SCHEDULED keyword
5537 Meaning: you are planning to start working on that task on the given
5540 @vindex org-agenda-skip-scheduled-if-done
5541 The headline will be listed under the given date@footnote{It will still
5542 be listed on that date after it has been marked DONE. If you don't like
5543 this, set the variable @code{org-agenda-skip-scheduled-if-done}.}. In
5544 addition, a reminder that the scheduled date has passed will be present
5545 in the compilation for @emph{today}, until the entry is marked DONE, i.e.@:
5546 the task will automatically be forwarded until completed.
5549 *** TODO Call Trillian for a date on New Years Eve.
5550 SCHEDULED: <2004-12-25 Sat>
5554 @b{Important:} Scheduling an item in Org-mode should @i{not} be
5555 understood in the same way that we understand @i{scheduling a meeting}.
5556 Setting a date for a meeting is just a simple appointment, you should
5557 mark this entry with a simple plain timestamp, to get this item shown
5558 on the date where it applies. This is a frequent misunderstanding by
5559 Org users. In Org-mode, @i{scheduling} means setting a date when you
5560 want to start working on an action item.
5563 You may use timestamps with repeaters in scheduling and deadline
5564 entries. Org-mode will issue early and late warnings based on the
5565 assumption that the timestamp represents the @i{nearest instance} of
5566 the repeater. However, the use of diary sexp entries like
5568 @code{<%%(diary-float t 42)>}
5570 in scheduling and deadline timestamps is limited. Org-mode does not
5571 know enough about the internals of each sexp function to issue early and
5572 late warnings. However, it will show the item on each day where the
5576 * Inserting deadline/schedule:: Planning items
5577 * Repeated tasks:: Items that show up again and again
5580 @node Inserting deadline/schedule, Repeated tasks, Deadlines and scheduling, Deadlines and scheduling
5581 @subsection Inserting deadlines or schedules
5583 The following commands allow you to quickly insert@footnote{The @samp{SCHEDULED} and
5584 @samp{DEADLINE} dates are inserted on the line right below the headline. Don't put
5585 any text between this line and the headline.} a deadline or to schedule
5590 @orgcmd{C-c C-d,org-deadline}
5591 Insert @samp{DEADLINE} keyword along with a stamp. The insertion will happen
5592 in the line directly following the headline. When called with a prefix arg,
5593 an existing deadline will be removed from the entry. Depending on the
5594 variable @code{org-log-redeadline}@footnote{with corresponding
5595 @code{#+STARTUP} keywords @code{logredeadline}, @code{lognoteredeadline},
5596 and @code{nologredeadline}}, a note will be taken when changing an existing
5598 @c FIXME Any CLOSED timestamp will be removed.????????
5600 @orgcmd{C-c C-s,org-schedule}
5601 Insert @samp{SCHEDULED} keyword along with a stamp. The insertion will
5602 happen in the line directly following the headline. Any CLOSED timestamp
5603 will be removed. When called with a prefix argument, remove the scheduling
5604 date from the entry. Depending on the variable
5605 @code{org-log-reschedule}@footnote{with corresponding @code{#+STARTUP}
5606 keywords @code{logreschedule}, @code{lognotereschedule}, and
5607 @code{nologreschedule}}, a note will be taken when changing an existing
5610 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-k,org-mark-entry-for-agenda-action}
5613 Mark the current entry for agenda action. After you have marked the entry
5614 like this, you can open the agenda or the calendar to find an appropriate
5615 date. With the cursor on the selected date, press @kbd{k s} or @kbd{k d} to
5616 schedule the marked item.
5618 @orgcmd{C-c / d,org-check-deadlines}
5619 @cindex sparse tree, for deadlines
5620 @vindex org-deadline-warning-days
5621 Create a sparse tree with all deadlines that are either past-due, or
5622 which will become due within @code{org-deadline-warning-days}.
5623 With @kbd{C-u} prefix, show all deadlines in the file. With a numeric
5624 prefix, check that many days. For example, @kbd{C-1 C-c / d} shows
5625 all deadlines due tomorrow.
5627 @orgcmd{C-c / b,org-check-before-date}
5628 Sparse tree for deadlines and scheduled items before a given date.
5630 @orgcmd{C-c / a,org-check-after-date}
5631 Sparse tree for deadlines and scheduled items after a given date.
5634 @node Repeated tasks, , Inserting deadline/schedule, Deadlines and scheduling
5635 @subsection Repeated tasks
5636 @cindex tasks, repeated
5637 @cindex repeated tasks
5639 Some tasks need to be repeated again and again. Org-mode helps to
5640 organize such tasks using a so-called repeater in a DEADLINE, SCHEDULED,
5641 or plain timestamp. In the following example
5643 ** TODO Pay the rent
5644 DEADLINE: <2005-10-01 Sat +1m>
5647 the @code{+1m} is a repeater; the intended interpretation is that the task
5648 has a deadline on <2005-10-01> and repeats itself every (one) month starting
5649 from that time. If you need both a repeater and a special warning period in
5650 a deadline entry, the repeater should come first and the warning period last:
5651 @code{DEADLINE: <2005-10-01 Sat +1m -3d>}.
5653 @vindex org-todo-repeat-to-state
5654 Deadlines and scheduled items produce entries in the agenda when they are
5655 over-due, so it is important to be able to mark such an entry as completed
5656 once you have done so. When you mark a DEADLINE or a SCHEDULE with the TODO
5657 keyword DONE, it will no longer produce entries in the agenda. The problem
5658 with this is, however, that then also the @emph{next} instance of the
5659 repeated entry will not be active. Org-mode deals with this in the following
5660 way: When you try to mark such an entry DONE (using @kbd{C-c C-t}), it will
5661 shift the base date of the repeating timestamp by the repeater interval, and
5662 immediately set the entry state back to TODO@footnote{In fact, the target
5663 state is taken from, in this sequence, the @code{REPEAT_TO_STATE} property or
5664 the variable @code{org-todo-repeat-to-state}. If neither of these is
5665 specified, the target state defaults to the first state of the TODO state
5666 sequence.}. In the example above, setting the state to DONE would actually
5667 switch the date like this:
5670 ** TODO Pay the rent
5671 DEADLINE: <2005-11-01 Tue +1m>
5674 @vindex org-log-repeat
5675 A timestamp@footnote{You can change this using the option
5676 @code{org-log-repeat}, or the @code{#+STARTUP} options @code{logrepeat},
5677 @code{lognoterepeat}, and @code{nologrepeat}. With @code{lognoterepeat}, you
5678 will also be prompted for a note.} will be added under the deadline, to keep
5679 a record that you actually acted on the previous instance of this deadline.
5681 As a consequence of shifting the base date, this entry will no longer be
5682 visible in the agenda when checking past dates, but all future instances
5685 With the @samp{+1m} cookie, the date shift will always be exactly one
5686 month. So if you have not paid the rent for three months, marking this
5687 entry DONE will still keep it as an overdue deadline. Depending on the
5688 task, this may not be the best way to handle it. For example, if you
5689 forgot to call your father for 3 weeks, it does not make sense to call
5690 him 3 times in a single day to make up for it. Finally, there are tasks
5691 like changing batteries which should always repeat a certain time
5692 @i{after} the last time you did it. For these tasks, Org-mode has
5693 special repeaters @samp{++} and @samp{.+}. For example:
5697 DEADLINE: <2008-02-10 Sun ++1w>
5698 Marking this DONE will shift the date by at least one week,
5699 but also by as many weeks as it takes to get this date into
5700 the future. However, it stays on a Sunday, even if you called
5701 and marked it done on Saturday.
5702 ** TODO Check the batteries in the smoke detectors
5703 DEADLINE: <2005-11-01 Tue .+1m>
5704 Marking this DONE will shift the date to one month after
5708 You may have both scheduling and deadline information for a specific
5709 task---just make sure that the repeater intervals on both are the same.
5711 An alternative to using a repeater is to create a number of copies of a task
5712 subtree, with dates shifted in each copy. The command @kbd{C-c C-x c} was
5713 created for this purpose, it is described in @ref{Structure editing}.
5716 @node Clocking work time, Effort estimates, Deadlines and scheduling, Dates and Times
5717 @section Clocking work time
5718 @cindex clocking time
5719 @cindex time clocking
5721 Org-mode allows you to clock the time you spend on specific tasks in a
5722 project. When you start working on an item, you can start the clock.
5723 When you stop working on that task, or when you mark the task done, the
5724 clock is stopped and the corresponding time interval is recorded. It
5725 also computes the total time spent on each subtree of a project. And it
5726 remembers a history or tasks recently clocked, to that you can jump quickly
5727 between a number of tasks absorbing your time.
5729 To save the clock history across Emacs sessions, use
5731 (setq org-clock-persist 'history)
5732 (org-clock-persistence-insinuate)
5734 When you clock into a new task after resuming Emacs, the incomplete
5735 clock@footnote{To resume the clock under the assumption that you have worked
5736 on this task while outside Emacs, use @code{(setq org-clock-persist t)}.}
5737 will be found (@pxref{Resolving idle time}) and you will be prompted about
5741 * Clocking commands:: Starting and stopping a clock
5742 * The clock table:: Detailed reports
5743 * Resolving idle time:: Resolving time when you've been idle
5746 @node Clocking commands, The clock table, Clocking work time, Clocking work time
5747 @subsection Clocking commands
5750 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-i,org-clock-in}
5751 @vindex org-clock-into-drawer
5752 Start the clock on the current item (clock-in). This inserts the CLOCK
5753 keyword together with a timestamp. If this is not the first clocking of
5754 this item, the multiple CLOCK lines will be wrapped into a
5755 @code{:LOGBOOK:} drawer (see also the variable
5756 @code{org-clock-into-drawer}). When called with a @kbd{C-u} prefix argument,
5757 select the task from a list of recently clocked tasks. With two @kbd{C-u
5758 C-u} prefixes, clock into the task at point and mark it as the default task.
5759 The default task will always be available when selecting a clocking task,
5760 with letter @kbd{d}.@*
5761 @cindex property: CLOCK_MODELINE_TOTAL
5762 @cindex property: LAST_REPEAT
5763 @vindex org-clock-modeline-total
5764 While the clock is running, the current clocking time is shown in the mode
5765 line, along with the title of the task. The clock time shown will be all
5766 time ever clocked for this task and its children. If the task has an effort
5767 estimate (@pxref{Effort estimates}), the mode line displays the current
5768 clocking time against it@footnote{To add an effort estimate ``on the fly'',
5769 hook a function doing this to @code{org-clock-in-prepare-hook}.} If the task
5770 is a repeating one (@pxref{Repeated tasks}), only the time since the last
5771 reset of the task @footnote{as recorded by the @code{LAST_REPEAT} property}
5772 will be shown. More control over what time is shown can be exercised with
5773 the @code{CLOCK_MODELINE_TOTAL} property. It may have the values
5774 @code{current} to show only the current clocking instance, @code{today} to
5775 show all time clocked on this tasks today (see also the variable
5776 @code{org-extend-today-until}), @code{all} to include all time, or
5777 @code{auto} which is the default@footnote{See also the variable
5778 @code{org-clock-modeline-total}.}.@* Clicking with @kbd{mouse-1} onto the
5779 mode line entry will pop up a menu with clocking options.
5781 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-o,org-clock-out}
5782 @vindex org-log-note-clock-out
5783 Stop the clock (clock-out). This inserts another timestamp at the same
5784 location where the clock was last started. It also directly computes
5785 the resulting time in inserts it after the time range as @samp{=>
5786 HH:MM}. See the variable @code{org-log-note-clock-out} for the
5787 possibility to record an additional note together with the clock-out
5788 timestamp@footnote{The corresponding in-buffer setting is:
5789 @code{#+STARTUP: lognoteclock-out}}.
5790 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-e,org-clock-modify-effort-estimate}
5791 Update the effort estimate for the current clock task.
5794 @orgcmdkkc{C-c C-c,C-c C-y,org-evaluate-time-range}
5795 Recompute the time interval after changing one of the timestamps. This
5796 is only necessary if you edit the timestamps directly. If you change
5797 them with @kbd{S-@key{cursor}} keys, the update is automatic.
5798 @orgcmd{C-c C-t,org-todo}
5799 Changing the TODO state of an item to DONE automatically stops the clock
5800 if it is running in this same item.
5801 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-x,org-clock-cancel}
5802 Cancel the current clock. This is useful if a clock was started by
5803 mistake, or if you ended up working on something else.
5804 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-j,org-clock-goto}
5805 Jump to the headline of the currently clocked in task. With a @kbd{C-u}
5806 prefix arg, select the target task from a list of recently clocked tasks.
5807 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-d,org-clock-display}
5808 @vindex org-remove-highlights-with-change
5809 Display time summaries for each subtree in the current buffer. This
5810 puts overlays at the end of each headline, showing the total time
5811 recorded under that heading, including the time of any subheadings. You
5812 can use visibility cycling to study the tree, but the overlays disappear
5813 when you change the buffer (see variable
5814 @code{org-remove-highlights-with-change}) or press @kbd{C-c C-c}.
5817 The @kbd{l} key may be used in the timeline (@pxref{Timeline}) and in
5818 the agenda (@pxref{Weekly/daily agenda}) to show which tasks have been
5819 worked on or closed during a day.
5821 @node The clock table, Resolving idle time, Clocking commands, Clocking work time
5822 @subsection The clock table
5823 @cindex clocktable, dynamic block
5824 @cindex report, of clocked time
5826 Org mode can produce quite complex reports based on the time clocking
5827 information. Such a report is called a @emph{clock table}, because it is
5828 formatted as one or several Org tables.
5831 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-r,org-clock-report}
5832 Insert a dynamic block (@pxref{Dynamic blocks}) containing a clock
5833 report as an Org-mode table into the current file. When the cursor is
5834 at an existing clock table, just update it. When called with a prefix
5835 argument, jump to the first clock report in the current document and
5837 @orgcmdkkc{C-c C-c,C-c C-x C-u,org-dblock-update}
5838 Update dynamic block at point. The cursor needs to be in the
5839 @code{#+BEGIN} line of the dynamic block.
5840 @orgkey{C-u C-c C-x C-u}
5841 Update all dynamic blocks (@pxref{Dynamic blocks}). This is useful if
5842 you have several clock table blocks in a buffer.
5843 @orgcmdkxkc{S-@key{left},S-@key{right},org-clocktable-try-shift}
5844 Shift the current @code{:block} interval and update the table. The cursor
5845 needs to be in the @code{#+BEGIN: clocktable} line for this command. If
5846 @code{:block} is @code{today}, it will be shifted to @code{today-1} etc.
5850 Here is an example of the frame for a clock table as it is inserted into the
5851 buffer with the @kbd{C-c C-x C-r} command:
5853 @cindex #+BEGIN, clocktable
5855 #+BEGIN: clocktable :maxlevel 2 :emphasize nil :scope file
5859 @vindex org-clocktable-defaults
5860 The @samp{BEGIN} line and specify a number of options to define the scope,
5861 structure, and formatting of the report. Defaults for all these options can
5862 be configured in the variable @code{org-clocktable-defaults}.
5864 @noindent First there are options that determine which clock entries are to
5867 :maxlevel @r{Maximum level depth to which times are listed in the table.}
5868 @r{Clocks at deeper levels will be summed into the upper level.}
5869 :scope @r{The scope to consider. This can be any of the following:}
5870 nil @r{the current buffer or narrowed region}
5871 file @r{the full current buffer}
5872 subtree @r{the subtree where the clocktable is located}
5873 tree@var{N} @r{the surrounding level @var{N} tree, for example @code{tree3}}
5874 tree @r{the surrounding level 1 tree}
5875 agenda @r{all agenda files}
5876 ("file"..) @r{scan these files}
5877 file-with-archives @r{current file and its archives}
5878 agenda-with-archives @r{all agenda files, including archives}
5879 :block @r{The time block to consider. This block is specified either}
5880 @r{absolute, or relative to the current time and may be any of}
5882 2007-12-31 @r{New year eve 2007}
5883 2007-12 @r{December 2007}
5884 2007-W50 @r{ISO-week 50 in 2007}
5885 2007-Q2 @r{2nd quarter in 2007}
5886 2007 @r{the year 2007}
5887 today, yesterday, today-@var{N} @r{a relative day}
5888 thisweek, lastweek, thisweek-@var{N} @r{a relative week}
5889 thismonth, lastmonth, thismonth-@var{N} @r{a relative month}
5890 thisyear, lastyear, thisyear-@var{N} @r{a relative year}
5891 @r{Use @kbd{S-@key{left}/@key{right}} keys to shift the time interval.}
5892 :tstart @r{A time string specifying when to start considering times.}
5893 :tend @r{A time string specifying when to stop considering times.}
5894 :step @r{@code{week} or @code{day}, to split the table into chunks.}
5895 @r{To use this, @code{:block} or @code{:tstart}, @code{:tend} are needed.}
5896 :stepskip0 @r{Do not show steps that have zero time.}
5897 :fileskip0 @r{Do not show table sections from files which did not contribute.}
5898 :tags @r{A tags match to select entries that should contribute. See}
5899 @r{@ref{Matching tags and properties} for the match syntax.}
5902 Then there are options which determine the formatting of the table. There
5903 options are interpreted by the function @code{org-clocktable-write-default},
5904 but you can specify your own function using the @code{:formatter} parameter.
5906 :emphasize @r{When @code{t}, emphasize level one and level two items.}
5907 :lang @r{Language@footnote{Language terms can be set through the variable @code{org-clock-clocktable-language-setup}.} to use for descriptive cells like "Task".}
5908 :link @r{Link the item headlines in the table to their origins.}
5909 :narrow @r{An integer to limit the width of the headline column in}
5910 @r{the org table. If you write it like @samp{50!}, then the}
5911 @r{headline will also be shortened in export.}
5912 :indent @r{Indent each headline field according to its level.}
5913 :tcolumns @r{Number of columns to be used for times. If this is smaller}
5914 @r{than @code{:maxlevel}, lower levels will be lumped into one column.}
5915 :level @r{Should a level number column be included?}
5916 :compact @r{Abbreviation for @code{:level nil :indent t :narrow 40! :tcolumns 1}}
5917 @r{All are overwritten except if there is an explicit @code{:narrow}}
5918 :timestamp @r{A timestamp for the entry, when available. Look for SCHEDULED,}
5919 @r{DEADLINE, TIMESTAMP and TIMESTAMP_IA, in this order.}
5920 :properties @r{List of properties that should be shown in the table. Each}
5921 @r{property will get its own column.}
5922 :inherit-props @r{When this flag is @code{t}, the values for @code{:properties} will be inherited.}
5923 :formula @r{Content of a @code{#+TBLFM} line to be added and evaluated.}
5924 @r{As a special case, @samp{:formula %} adds a column with % time.}
5925 @r{If you do not specify a formula here, any existing formula}
5926 @r{below the clock table will survive updates and be evaluated.}
5927 :formatter @r{A function to format clock data and insert it into the buffer.}
5929 To get a clock summary of the current level 1 tree, for the current
5930 day, you could write
5932 #+BEGIN: clocktable :maxlevel 2 :block today :scope tree1 :link t
5936 and to use a specific time range you could write@footnote{Note that all
5937 parameters must be specified in a single line---the line is broken here
5938 only to fit it into the manual.}
5940 #+BEGIN: clocktable :tstart "<2006-08-10 Thu 10:00>"
5941 :tend "<2006-08-10 Thu 12:00>"
5944 A summary of the current subtree with % times would be
5946 #+BEGIN: clocktable :scope subtree :link t :formula %
5949 A horizontally compact representation of everything clocked during last week
5952 #+BEGIN: clocktable :scope agenda :block lastweek :compact t
5956 @node Resolving idle time, , The clock table, Clocking work time
5957 @subsection Resolving idle time
5958 @cindex resolve idle time
5960 @cindex idle, resolve, dangling
5961 If you clock in on a work item, and then walk away from your
5962 computer---perhaps to take a phone call---you often need to ``resolve'' the
5963 time you were away by either subtracting it from the current clock, or
5964 applying it to another one.
5966 @vindex org-clock-idle-time
5967 By customizing the variable @code{org-clock-idle-time} to some integer, such
5968 as 10 or 15, Emacs can alert you when you get back to your computer after
5969 being idle for that many minutes@footnote{On computers using Mac OS X,
5970 idleness is based on actual user idleness, not just Emacs' idle time. For
5971 X11, you can install a utility program @file{x11idle.c}, available in the
5972 UTILITIES directory of the Org git distribution, to get the same general
5973 treatment of idleness. On other systems, idle time refers to Emacs idle time
5974 only.}, and ask what you want to do with the idle time. There will be a
5975 question waiting for you when you get back, indicating how much idle time has
5976 passed (constantly updated with the current amount), as well as a set of
5977 choices to correct the discrepancy:
5981 To keep some or all of the minutes and stay clocked in, press @kbd{k}. Org
5982 will ask how many of the minutes to keep. Press @key{RET} to keep them all,
5983 effectively changing nothing, or enter a number to keep that many minutes.
5985 If you use the shift key and press @kbd{K}, it will keep however many minutes
5986 you request and then immediately clock out of that task. If you keep all of
5987 the minutes, this is the same as just clocking out of the current task.
5989 To keep none of the minutes, use @kbd{s} to subtract all the away time from
5990 the clock, and then check back in from the moment you returned.
5992 To keep none of the minutes and just clock out at the start of the away time,
5993 use the shift key and press @kbd{S}. Remember that using shift will always
5994 leave you clocked out, no matter which option you choose.
5996 To cancel the clock altogether, use @kbd{C}. Note that if instead of
5997 canceling you subtract the away time, and the resulting clock amount is less
5998 than a minute, the clock will still be canceled rather than clutter up the
5999 log with an empty entry.
6002 What if you subtracted those away minutes from the current clock, and now
6003 want to apply them to a new clock? Simply clock in to any task immediately
6004 after the subtraction. Org will notice that you have subtracted time ``on
6005 the books'', so to speak, and will ask if you want to apply those minutes to
6006 the next task you clock in on.
6008 There is one other instance when this clock resolution magic occurs. Say you
6009 were clocked in and hacking away, and suddenly your cat chased a mouse who
6010 scared a hamster that crashed into your UPS's power button! You suddenly
6011 lose all your buffers, but thanks to auto-save you still have your recent Org
6012 mode changes, including your last clock in.
6014 If you restart Emacs and clock into any task, Org will notice that you have a
6015 dangling clock which was never clocked out from your last session. Using
6016 that clock's starting time as the beginning of the unaccounted-for period,
6017 Org will ask how you want to resolve that time. The logic and behavior is
6018 identical to dealing with away time due to idleness; it's just happening due
6019 to a recovery event rather than a set amount of idle time.
6021 You can also check all the files visited by your Org agenda for dangling
6022 clocks at any time using @kbd{M-x org-resolve-clocks}.
6024 @node Effort estimates, Relative timer, Clocking work time, Dates and Times
6025 @section Effort estimates
6026 @cindex effort estimates
6028 @cindex property, Effort
6029 @vindex org-effort-property
6030 If you want to plan your work in a very detailed way, or if you need to
6031 produce offers with quotations of the estimated work effort, you may want to
6032 assign effort estimates to entries. If you are also clocking your work, you
6033 may later want to compare the planned effort with the actual working time, a
6034 great way to improve planning estimates. Effort estimates are stored in a
6035 special property @samp{Effort}@footnote{You may change the property being
6036 used with the variable @code{org-effort-property}.}. You can set the effort
6037 for an entry with the following commands:
6040 @orgcmd{C-c C-x e,org-set-effort}
6041 Set the effort estimate for the current entry. With a numeric prefix
6042 argument, set it to the Nth allowed value (see below). This command is also
6043 accessible from the agenda with the @kbd{e} key.
6044 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-e,org-clock-modify-effort-estimate}
6045 Modify the effort estimate of the item currently being clocked.
6048 Clearly the best way to work with effort estimates is through column view
6049 (@pxref{Column view}). You should start by setting up discrete values for
6050 effort estimates, and a @code{COLUMNS} format that displays these values
6051 together with clock sums (if you want to clock your time). For a specific
6055 #+PROPERTY: Effort_ALL 0 0:10 0:30 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00 8:00
6056 #+COLUMNS: %40ITEM(Task) %17Effort(Estimated Effort)@{:@} %CLOCKSUM
6060 @vindex org-global-properties
6061 @vindex org-columns-default-format
6062 or, even better, you can set up these values globally by customizing the
6063 variables @code{org-global-properties} and @code{org-columns-default-format}.
6064 In particular if you want to use this setup also in the agenda, a global
6065 setup may be advised.
6067 The way to assign estimates to individual items is then to switch to column
6068 mode, and to use @kbd{S-@key{right}} and @kbd{S-@key{left}} to change the
6069 value. The values you enter will immediately be summed up in the hierarchy.
6070 In the column next to it, any clocked time will be displayed.
6072 @vindex org-agenda-columns-add-appointments-to-effort-sum
6073 If you switch to column view in the daily/weekly agenda, the effort column
6074 will summarize the estimated work effort for each day@footnote{Please note
6075 the pitfalls of summing hierarchical data in a flat list (@pxref{Agenda
6076 column view}).}, and you can use this to find space in your schedule. To get
6077 an overview of the entire part of the day that is committed, you can set the
6078 option @code{org-agenda-columns-add-appointments-to-effort-sum}. The
6079 appointments on a day that take place over a specified time interval will
6080 then also be added to the load estimate of the day.
6082 Effort estimates can be used in secondary agenda filtering that is triggered
6083 with the @kbd{/} key in the agenda (@pxref{Agenda commands}). If you have
6084 these estimates defined consistently, two or three key presses will narrow
6085 down the list to stuff that fits into an available time slot.
6087 @node Relative timer, Countdown timer, Effort estimates, Dates and Times
6088 @section Taking notes with a relative timer
6089 @cindex relative timer
6091 When taking notes during, for example, a meeting or a video viewing, it can
6092 be useful to have access to times relative to a starting time. Org provides
6093 such a relative timer and make it easy to create timed notes.
6096 @orgcmd{C-c C-x .,org-timer}
6097 Insert a relative time into the buffer. The first time you use this, the
6098 timer will be started. When called with a prefix argument, the timer is
6100 @orgcmd{C-c C-x -,org-timer-item}
6101 Insert a description list item with the current relative time. With a prefix
6102 argument, first reset the timer to 0.
6103 @orgcmd{M-@key{RET},org-insert-heading}
6104 Once the timer list is started, you can also use @kbd{M-@key{RET}} to insert
6106 @c for key sequences with a comma, command name macros fail :(
6109 Pause the timer, or continue it if it is already paused
6110 (@command{org-timer-pause-or-continue}).
6111 @c removed the sentence because it is redundant to the following item
6112 @kindex C-u C-c C-x ,
6114 Stop the timer. After this, you can only start a new timer, not continue the
6115 old one. This command also removes the timer from the mode line.
6116 @orgcmd{C-c C-x 0,org-timer-start}
6117 Reset the timer without inserting anything into the buffer. By default, the
6118 timer is reset to 0. When called with a @kbd{C-u} prefix, reset the timer to
6119 specific starting offset. The user is prompted for the offset, with a
6120 default taken from a timer string at point, if any, So this can be used to
6121 restart taking notes after a break in the process. When called with a double
6122 prefix argument @kbd{C-u C-u}, change all timer strings in the active region
6123 by a certain amount. This can be used to fix timer strings if the timer was
6124 not started at exactly the right moment.
6127 @node Countdown timer, , Relative timer, Dates and Times
6128 @section Countdown timer
6129 @cindex Countdown timer
6133 Calling @code{org-timer-set-timer} from an Org-mode buffer runs a countdown
6134 timer. Use @key{;} from agenda buffers, @key{C-c C-x ;} everwhere else.
6136 @code{org-timer-set-timer} prompts the user for a duration and displays a
6137 countdown timer in the modeline. @code{org-timer-default-timer} sets the
6138 default countdown value. Giving a prefix numeric argument overrides this
6141 @node Capture - Refile - Archive, Agenda Views, Dates and Times, Top
6142 @chapter Capture - Refile - Archive
6145 An important part of any organization system is the ability to quickly
6146 capture new ideas and tasks, and to associate reference material with them.
6147 Org does this using a process called @i{capture}. It also can store files
6148 related to a task (@i{attachments}) in a special directory. Once in the
6149 system, tasks and projects need to be moved around. Moving completed project
6150 trees to an archive file keeps the system compact and fast.
6153 * Capture:: Capturing new stuff
6154 * Attachments:: Add files to tasks
6155 * RSS Feeds:: Getting input from RSS feeds
6156 * Protocols:: External (e.g.@: Browser) access to Emacs and Org
6157 * Refiling notes:: Moving a tree from one place to another
6158 * Archiving:: What to do with finished projects
6161 @node Capture, Attachments, Capture - Refile - Archive, Capture - Refile - Archive
6165 Org's method for capturing new items is heavily inspired by John Wiegley
6166 excellent remember package. Up to version 6.36 Org used a special setup
6167 for @file{remember.el}. @file{org-remember.el} is still part of Org-mode for
6168 backward compatibility with existing setups. You can find the documentation
6169 for org-remember at @url{http://orgmode.org/org-remember.pdf}.
6171 The new capturing setup described here is preferred and should be used by new
6172 users. To convert your @code{org-remember-templates}, run the command
6174 @kbd{M-x org-capture-import-remember-templates @key{RET}}
6176 @noindent and then customize the new variable with @kbd{M-x
6177 customize-variable org-capture-templates}, check the result, and save the
6178 customization. You can then use both remember and capture until
6179 you are familiar with the new mechanism.
6181 Capture lets you quickly store notes with little interruption of your work
6182 flow. The basic process of capturing is very similar to remember, but Org
6183 does enhance it with templates and more.
6186 * Setting up capture:: Where notes will be stored
6187 * Using capture:: Commands to invoke and terminate capture
6188 * Capture templates:: Define the outline of different note types
6191 @node Setting up capture, Using capture, Capture, Capture
6192 @subsection Setting up capture
6194 The following customization sets a default target file for notes, and defines
6195 a global key@footnote{Please select your own key, @kbd{C-c c} is only a
6196 suggestion.} for capturing new material.
6198 @vindex org-default-notes-file
6200 (setq org-default-notes-file (concat org-directory "/notes.org"))
6201 (define-key global-map "\C-cc" 'org-capture)
6204 @node Using capture, Capture templates, Setting up capture, Capture
6205 @subsection Using capture
6208 @orgcmd{C-c c,org-capture}
6209 Call the command @code{org-capture}. Note that this keybinding is global and
6210 not active by default - you need to install it. If you have templates
6212 defined @pxref{Capture templates}, it will offer these templates for
6213 selection or use a new Org outline node as the default template. It will
6214 insert the template into the target file and switch to an indirect buffer
6215 narrowed to this new node. You may then insert the information you want.
6217 @orgcmd{C-c C-c,org-capture-finalize}
6218 Once you have finished entering information into the capture buffer, @kbd{C-c
6219 C-c} will return you to the window configuration before the capture process,
6220 so that you can resume your work without further distraction. When called
6221 with a prefix arg, finalize and then jump to the captured item.
6223 @orgcmd{C-c C-w,org-capture-refile}
6224 Finalize the capture process by refiling (@pxref{Refiling notes}) the note to
6225 a different place. Please realize that this is a normal refiling command
6226 that will be executed---so the cursor position at the moment you run this
6227 command is important. If you have inserted a tree with a parent and
6228 children, first move the cursor back to the parent. Any prefix argument
6229 given to this command will be passed on to the @code{org-refile} command.
6231 @orgcmd{C-c C-k,org-capture-kill}
6232 Abort the capture process and return to the previous state.
6236 You can also call @code{org-capture} in a special way from the agenda, using
6237 the @kbd{k c} key combination. With this access, any timestamps inserted by
6238 the selected capture template will default to the cursor date in the agenda,
6239 rather than to the current date.
6241 To find the locations of the last stored capture, use @code{org-capture} with
6246 Visit the target location of a cpature template. You get to select the
6247 template in the usual way.
6248 @orgkey{C-u C-u C-c c}
6249 Visit the last stored capture item in its buffer.
6252 @node Capture templates, , Using capture, Capture
6253 @subsection Capture templates
6254 @cindex templates, for Capture
6256 You can use templates for different types of capture items, and
6257 for different target locations. The easiest way to create such templates is
6258 through the customize interface.
6262 Customize the variable @code{org-capture-templates}.
6265 Before we give the formal description of template definitions, let's look at
6266 an example. Say you would like to use one template to create general TODO
6267 entries, and you want to put these entries under the heading @samp{Tasks} in
6268 your file @file{~/org/gtd.org}. Also, a date tree in the file
6269 @file{journal.org} should capture journal entries. A possible configuration
6273 (setq org-capture-templates
6274 '(("t" "Todo" entry (file+headline "~/org/gtd.org" "Tasks")
6275 "* TODO %?\n %i\n %a")
6276 ("j" "Journal" entry (file+datetree "~/org/journal.org")
6277 "* %?\nEntered on %U\n %i\n %a")))
6280 @noindent If you then press @kbd{C-c c t}, Org will prepare the template
6284 [[file:@var{link to where you initiated capture}]]
6288 During expansion of the template, @code{%a} has been replaced by a link to
6289 the location from where you called the capture command. This can be
6290 extremely useful for deriving tasks from emails, for example. You fill in
6291 the task definition, press @code{C-c C-c} and Org returns you to the same
6292 place where you started the capture process.
6294 To define special keys to capture to a particular template without going
6295 through the interactive template selection, you can create your key binding
6299 (define-key global-map "\C-cx"
6300 (lambda () (interactive) (org-capture nil "x")))
6304 * Template elements:: What is needed for a complete template entry
6305 * Template expansion:: Filling in information about time and context
6308 @node Template elements, Template expansion, Capture templates, Capture templates
6309 @subsubsection Template elements
6311 Now lets look at the elements of a template definition. Each entry in
6312 @code{org-capture-templates} is a list with the following items:
6316 The keys that will select the template, as a string, characters
6317 only, for example @code{"a"} for a template to be selected with a
6318 single key, or @code{"bt"} for selection with two keys. When using
6319 several keys, keys using the same prefix key must be sequential
6320 in the list and preceded by a 2-element entry explaining the
6321 prefix key, for example
6323 ("b" "Templates for marking stuff to buy")
6325 @noindent If you do not define a template for the @kbd{C} key, this key will
6326 be used to open the customize buffer for this complex variable.
6329 A short string describing the template, which will be shown during
6333 The type of entry, a symbol. Valid values are:
6336 An Org-mode node, with a headline. Will be filed as the child of the
6337 target entry or as a top-level entry. The target file should be an Org-mode
6340 A plain list item, placed in the first plain list at the target
6341 location. Again the target file should be an Org file.
6343 A checkbox item. This only differs from the plain list item by the
6346 a new line in the first table at the target location. Where exactly the
6347 line will be inserted depends on the properties @code{:prepend} and
6348 @code{:table-line-pos} (see below).
6350 Text to be inserted as it is.
6354 @vindex org-default-notes-file
6355 Specification of where the captured item should be placed. In Org-mode
6356 files, targets usually define a node. Entries will become children of this
6357 node. Other types will be added to the table or list in the body of this
6358 node. Most target specifications contain a file name. If that file name is
6359 the empty string, it defaults to @code{org-default-notes-file}. A file can
6360 also be given as a variable, function, or Emacs Lisp form.
6364 @item (file "path/to/file")
6365 Text will be placed at the beginning or end of that file.
6367 @item (id "id of existing org entry")
6368 Filing as child of this entry, or in the body of the entry.
6370 @item (file+headline "path/to/file" "node headline")
6371 Fast configuration if the target heading is unique in the file.
6373 @item (file+olp "path/to/file" "Level 1 heading" "Level 2" ...)
6374 For non-unique headings, the full path is safer.
6376 @item (file+regexp "path/to/file" "regexp to find location")
6377 Use a regular expression to position the cursor.
6379 @item (file+datetree "path/to/file")
6380 Will create a heading in a date tree for today's date.
6382 @item (file+datetree+prompt "path/to/file")
6383 Will create a heading in a date tree, but will prompt for the date.
6385 @item (file+function "path/to/file" function-finding-location)
6386 A function to find the right location in the file.
6389 File to the entry that is currently being clocked.
6391 @item (function function-finding-location)
6392 Most general way, write your own function to find both
6397 The template for creating the capture item. If you leave this empty, an
6398 appropriate default template will be used. Otherwise this is a string with
6399 escape codes, which will be replaced depending on time and context of the
6400 capture call. The string with escapes may be loaded from a template file,
6401 using the special syntax @code{(file "path/to/template")}. See below for
6405 The rest of the entry is a property list of additional options.
6406 Recognized properties are:
6409 Normally new captured information will be appended at
6410 the target location (last child, last table line, last list item...).
6411 Setting this property will change that.
6413 @item :immediate-finish
6414 When set, do not offer to edit the information, just
6415 file it away immediately. This makes sense if the template only needs
6416 information that can be added automatically.
6419 Set this to the number of lines to insert
6420 before and after the new item. Default 0, only common other value is 1.
6423 Start the clock in this item.
6426 Keep the clock running when filing the captured entry.
6429 If starting the capture interrupted a clock, restart that clock when finished
6430 with the capture. Note that @code{:clock-keep} has precedence over
6431 @code{:clock-resume}. When setting both to @code{t}, the current clock will
6432 run and the previous one will not be resumed.
6435 Do not narrow the target buffer, simply show the full buffer. Default is to
6436 narrow it so that you only see the new material.
6438 @item :table-line-pos
6439 Specification of the location in the table where the new line should be
6440 inserted. It should be a string like @code{"II-3"} meaning that the new
6441 line should become the third line before the second horizontal separator
6445 If the target file was not yet visited when capture was invoked, kill the
6446 buffer again after capture is completed.
6450 @node Template expansion, , Template elements, Capture templates
6451 @subsubsection Template expansion
6453 In the template itself, special @kbd{%}-escapes@footnote{If you need one of
6454 these sequences literally, escape the @kbd{%} with a backslash.} allow
6455 dynamic insertion of content:
6457 @comment SJE: should these sentences terminate in period?
6459 %^@{@var{prompt}@} @r{prompt the user for a string and replace this sequence with it.}
6460 @r{You may specify a default value and a completion table with}
6461 @r{%^@{prompt|default|completion2|completion3...@}}
6462 @r{The arrow keys access a prompt-specific history.}
6463 %a @r{annotation, normally the link created with @code{org-store-link}}
6464 %A @r{like @code{%a}, but prompt for the description part}
6465 %i @r{initial content, the region when capture is called while the}
6466 @r{region is active.}
6467 @r{The entire text will be indented like @code{%i} itself.}
6468 %t @r{timestamp, date only}
6469 %T @r{timestamp with date and time}
6470 %u, %U @r{like the above, but inactive timestamps}
6471 %^t @r{like @code{%t}, but prompt for date. Similarly @code{%^T}, @code{%^u}, @code{%^U}}
6472 @r{You may define a prompt like @code{%^@{Birthday@}t}}
6473 %<...> @r{the result of format-time-string on the ... format specification}
6474 %n @r{user name (taken from @code{user-full-name})}
6475 %c @r{Current kill ring head.}
6476 %x @r{Content of the X clipboard.}
6477 %^C @r{Interactive selection of which kill or clip to use.}
6478 %^L @r{Like @code{%^C}, but insert as link.}
6479 %k @r{title of the currently clocked task}
6480 %K @r{link to the currently clocked task}
6481 %f @r{file visited by current buffer when org-capture was called}
6482 %F @r{like @code{%f}, but include full path}
6483 %^g @r{prompt for tags, with completion on tags in target file.}
6484 %^G @r{prompt for tags, with completion all tags in all agenda files.}
6485 %^@{@var{prop}@}p @r{Prompt the user for a value for property @var{prop}}
6486 %:keyword @r{specific information for certain link types, see below}
6487 %[@var{file}] @r{insert the contents of the file given by @var{file}}
6488 %(@var{sexp}) @r{evaluate Elisp @var{sexp} and replace with the result}
6492 For specific link types, the following keywords will be
6493 defined@footnote{If you define your own link types (@pxref{Adding
6494 hyperlink types}), any property you store with
6495 @code{org-store-link-props} can be accessed in capture templates in a
6498 @vindex org-from-is-user-regexp
6500 Link type | Available keywords
6501 -------------------+----------------------------------------------
6502 bbdb | %:name %:company
6503 irc | %:server %:port %:nick
6504 vm, wl, mh, mew, rmail | %:type %:subject %:message-id
6505 | %:from %:fromname %:fromaddress
6506 | %:to %:toname %:toaddress
6507 | %:date @r{(message date header field)}
6508 | %:date-timestamp @r{(date as active timestamp)}
6509 | %:date-timestamp-inactive @r{(date as inactive timestamp)}
6510 | %:fromto @r{(either "to NAME" or "from NAME")@footnote{This will always be the other, not the user. See the variable @code{org-from-is-user-regexp}.}}
6511 gnus | %:group, @r{for messages also all email fields}
6513 info | %:file %:node
6518 To place the cursor after template expansion use:
6521 %? @r{After completing the template, position cursor here.}
6525 @node Attachments, RSS Feeds, Capture, Capture - Refile - Archive
6526 @section Attachments
6529 @vindex org-attach-directory
6530 It is often useful to associate reference material with an outline node/task.
6531 Small chunks of plain text can simply be stored in the subtree of a project.
6532 Hyperlinks (@pxref{Hyperlinks}) can establish associations with
6533 files that live elsewhere on your computer or in the cloud, like emails or
6534 source code files belonging to a project. Another method is @i{attachments},
6535 which are files located in a directory belonging to an outline node. Org
6536 uses directories named by the unique ID of each entry. These directories are
6537 located in the @file{data} directory which lives in the same directory where
6538 your Org file lives@footnote{If you move entries or Org files from one
6539 directory to another, you may want to configure @code{org-attach-directory}
6540 to contain an absolute path.}. If you initialize this directory with
6541 @code{git init}, Org will automatically commit changes when it sees them.
6542 The attachment system has been contributed to Org by John Wiegley.
6544 In cases where it seems better to do so, you can also attach a directory of your
6545 choice to an entry. You can also make children inherit the attachment
6546 directory from a parent, so that an entire subtree uses the same attached
6549 @noindent The following commands deal with attachments:
6553 @orgcmd{C-c C-a,org-attach}
6554 The dispatcher for commands related to the attachment system. After these
6555 keys, a list of commands is displayed and you must press an additional key
6556 to select a command:
6559 @orgcmdtkc{a,C-c C-a a,org-attach-attach}
6560 @vindex org-attach-method
6561 Select a file and move it into the task's attachment directory. The file
6562 will be copied, moved, or linked, depending on @code{org-attach-method}.
6563 Note that hard links are not supported on all systems.
6569 Attach a file using the copy/move/link method.
6570 Note that hard links are not supported on all systems.
6572 @orgcmdtkc{n,C-c C-a n,org-attach-new}
6573 Create a new attachment as an Emacs buffer.
6575 @orgcmdtkc{z,C-c C-a z,org-attach-sync}
6576 Synchronize the current task with its attachment directory, in case you added
6577 attachments yourself.
6579 @orgcmdtkc{o,C-c C-a o,org-attach-open}
6580 @vindex org-file-apps
6581 Open current task's attachment. If there is more than one, prompt for a
6582 file name first. Opening will follow the rules set by @code{org-file-apps}.
6583 For more details, see the information on following hyperlinks
6584 (@pxref{Handling links}).
6586 @orgcmdtkc{O,C-c C-a O,org-attach-open-in-emacs}
6587 Also open the attachment, but force opening the file in Emacs.
6589 @orgcmdtkc{f,C-c C-a f,org-attach-reveal}
6590 Open the current task's attachment directory.
6592 @orgcmdtkc{F,C-c C-a F,org-attach-reveal-in-emacs}
6593 Also open the directory, but force using @command{dired} in Emacs.
6595 @orgcmdtkc{d,C-c C-a d,org-attach-delete-one}
6596 Select and delete a single attachment.
6598 @orgcmdtkc{D,C-c C-a D,org-attach-delete-all}
6599 Delete all of a task's attachments. A safer way is to open the directory in
6600 @command{dired} and delete from there.
6602 @orgcmdtkc{s,C-c C-a s,org-attach-set-directory}
6603 @cindex property, ATTACH_DIR
6604 Set a specific directory as the entry's attachment directory. This works by
6605 putting the directory path into the @code{ATTACH_DIR} property.
6607 @orgcmdtkc{i,C-c C-a i,org-attach-set-inherit}
6608 @cindex property, ATTACH_DIR_INHERIT
6609 Set the @code{ATTACH_DIR_INHERIT} property, so that children will use the
6610 same directory for attachments as the parent does.
6614 @node RSS Feeds, Protocols, Attachments, Capture - Refile - Archive
6619 Org can add and change entries based on information found in RSS feeds and
6620 Atom feeds. You could use this to make a task out of each new podcast in a
6621 podcast feed. Or you could use a phone-based note-creating service on the
6622 web to import tasks into Org. To access feeds, configure the variable
6623 @code{org-feed-alist}. The docstring of this variable has detailed
6624 information. Here is just an example:
6627 (setq org-feed-alist
6629 "http://rss.slashdot.org/Slashdot/slashdot"
6630 "~/txt/org/feeds.org" "Slashdot Entries")))
6634 will configure that new items from the feed provided by
6635 @code{rss.slashdot.org} will result in new entries in the file
6636 @file{~/org/feeds.org} under the heading @samp{Slashdot Entries}, whenever
6637 the following command is used:
6640 @orgcmd{C-c C-x g,org-feed-update-all}
6642 Collect items from the feeds configured in @code{org-feed-alist} and act upon
6644 @orgcmd{C-c C-x G,org-feed-goto-inbox}
6645 Prompt for a feed name and go to the inbox configured for this feed.
6648 Under the same headline, Org will create a drawer @samp{FEEDSTATUS} in which
6649 it will store information about the status of items in the feed, to avoid
6650 adding the same item several times. You should add @samp{FEEDSTATUS} to the
6651 list of drawers in that file:
6654 #+DRAWERS: LOGBOOK PROPERTIES FEEDSTATUS
6657 For more information, including how to read atom feeds, see
6658 @file{org-feed.el} and the docstring of @code{org-feed-alist}.
6660 @node Protocols, Refiling notes, RSS Feeds, Capture - Refile - Archive
6661 @section Protocols for external access
6662 @cindex protocols, for external access
6665 You can set up Org for handling protocol calls from outside applications that
6666 are passed to Emacs through the @file{emacsserver}. For example, you can
6667 configure bookmarks in your web browser to send a link to the current page to
6668 Org and create a note from it using capture (@pxref{Capture}). Or you
6669 could create a bookmark that will tell Emacs to open the local source file of
6670 a remote website you are looking at with the browser. See
6671 @uref{http://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/org-protocol.php} for detailed
6672 documentation and setup instructions.
6674 @node Refiling notes, Archiving, Protocols, Capture - Refile - Archive
6675 @section Refiling notes
6676 @cindex refiling notes
6678 When reviewing the captured data, you may want to refile some of the entries
6679 into a different list, for example into a project. Cutting, finding the
6680 right location, and then pasting the note is cumbersome. To simplify this
6681 process, you can use the following special command:
6684 @orgcmd{C-c C-w,org-refile}
6685 @vindex org-reverse-note-order
6686 @vindex org-refile-targets
6687 @vindex org-refile-use-outline-path
6688 @vindex org-outline-path-complete-in-steps
6689 @vindex org-refile-allow-creating-parent-nodes
6690 @vindex org-log-refile
6691 @vindex org-refile-use-cache
6692 Refile the entry or region at point. This command offers possible locations
6693 for refiling the entry and lets you select one with completion. The item (or
6694 all items in the region) is filed below the target heading as a subitem.
6695 Depending on @code{org-reverse-note-order}, it will be either the first or
6697 By default, all level 1 headlines in the current buffer are considered to be
6698 targets, but you can have more complex definitions across a number of files.
6699 See the variable @code{org-refile-targets} for details. If you would like to
6700 select a location via a file-path-like completion along the outline path, see
6701 the variables @code{org-refile-use-outline-path} and
6702 @code{org-outline-path-complete-in-steps}. If you would like to be able to
6703 create new nodes as new parents for refiling on the fly, check the
6704 variable @code{org-refile-allow-creating-parent-nodes}.
6705 When the variable @code{org-log-refile}@footnote{with corresponding
6706 @code{#+STARTUP} keywords @code{logrefile}, @code{lognoterefile},
6707 and @code{nologrefile}} is set, a timestamp or a note will be
6708 recorded when an entry has been refiled.
6709 @orgkey{C-u C-c C-w}
6710 Use the refile interface to jump to a heading.
6711 @orgcmd{C-u C-u C-c C-w,org-refile-goto-last-stored}
6712 Jump to the location where @code{org-refile} last moved a tree to.
6714 Refile as the child of the item currently being clocked.
6715 @item C-0 C-c C-w @ @r{or} @ C-u C-u C-u C-c C-w
6717 @orgcmdtkc{C-0 C-c C-w @ @r{or} @ C-u C-u C-u C-c C-w,C-0 C-c C-w,org-refile-cache-clear}
6719 Clear the target cache. Caching of refile targets can be turned on by
6720 setting @code{org-refile-use-cache}. To make the command see new possible
6721 targets, you have to clear the cache with this command.
6724 @node Archiving, , Refiling notes, Capture - Refile - Archive
6728 When a project represented by a (sub)tree is finished, you may want
6729 to move the tree out of the way and to stop it from contributing to the
6730 agenda. Archiving is important to keep your working files compact and global
6731 searches like the construction of agenda views fast.
6734 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-a,org-archive-subtree-default}
6735 @vindex org-archive-default-command
6736 Archive the current entry using the command specified in the variable
6737 @code{org-archive-default-command}.
6741 * Moving subtrees:: Moving a tree to an archive file
6742 * Internal archiving:: Switch off a tree but keep it in the file
6745 @node Moving subtrees, Internal archiving, Archiving, Archiving
6746 @subsection Moving a tree to the archive file
6747 @cindex external archiving
6749 The most common archiving action is to move a project tree to another file,
6753 @orgcmdkskc{C-c C-x C-s,C-c $,org-archive-subtree}
6754 @vindex org-archive-location
6755 Archive the subtree starting at the cursor position to the location
6756 given by @code{org-archive-location}.
6757 @orgkey{C-u C-c C-x C-s}
6758 Check if any direct children of the current headline could be moved to
6759 the archive. To do this, each subtree is checked for open TODO entries.
6760 If none are found, the command offers to move it to the archive
6761 location. If the cursor is @emph{not} on a headline when this command
6762 is invoked, the level 1 trees will be checked.
6765 @cindex archive locations
6766 The default archive location is a file in the same directory as the
6767 current file, with the name derived by appending @file{_archive} to the
6768 current file name. For information and examples on how to change this,
6769 see the documentation string of the variable
6770 @code{org-archive-location}. There is also an in-buffer option for
6771 setting this variable, for example@footnote{For backward compatibility,
6772 the following also works: If there are several such lines in a file,
6773 each specifies the archive location for the text below it. The first
6774 such line also applies to any text before its definition. However,
6775 using this method is @emph{strongly} deprecated as it is incompatible
6776 with the outline structure of the document. The correct method for
6777 setting multiple archive locations in a buffer is using properties.}:
6781 #+ARCHIVE: %s_done::
6784 @cindex property, ARCHIVE
6786 If you would like to have a special ARCHIVE location for a single entry
6787 or a (sub)tree, give the entry an @code{:ARCHIVE:} property with the
6788 location as the value (@pxref{Properties and Columns}).
6790 @vindex org-archive-save-context-info
6791 When a subtree is moved, it receives a number of special properties that
6792 record context information like the file from where the entry came, its
6793 outline path the archiving time etc. Configure the variable
6794 @code{org-archive-save-context-info} to adjust the amount of information
6798 @node Internal archiving, , Moving subtrees, Archiving
6799 @subsection Internal archiving
6801 If you want to just switch off (for agenda views) certain subtrees without
6802 moving them to a different file, you can use the @code{ARCHIVE tag}.
6804 A headline that is marked with the ARCHIVE tag (@pxref{Tags}) stays at
6805 its location in the outline tree, but behaves in the following way:
6808 @vindex org-cycle-open-archived-trees
6809 It does not open when you attempt to do so with a visibility cycling
6810 command (@pxref{Visibility cycling}). You can force cycling archived
6811 subtrees with @kbd{C-@key{TAB}}, or by setting the option
6812 @code{org-cycle-open-archived-trees}. Also normal outline commands like
6813 @code{show-all} will open archived subtrees.
6815 @vindex org-sparse-tree-open-archived-trees
6816 During sparse tree construction (@pxref{Sparse trees}), matches in
6817 archived subtrees are not exposed, unless you configure the option
6818 @code{org-sparse-tree-open-archived-trees}.
6820 @vindex org-agenda-skip-archived-trees
6821 During agenda view construction (@pxref{Agenda Views}), the content of
6822 archived trees is ignored unless you configure the option
6823 @code{org-agenda-skip-archived-trees}, in which case these trees will always
6824 be included. In the agenda you can press @kbd{v a} to get archives
6825 temporarily included.
6827 @vindex org-export-with-archived-trees
6828 Archived trees are not exported (@pxref{Exporting}), only the headline
6829 is. Configure the details using the variable
6830 @code{org-export-with-archived-trees}.
6832 @vindex org-columns-skip-archived-trees
6833 Archived trees are excluded from column view unless the variable
6834 @code{org-columns-skip-archived-trees} is configured to @code{nil}.
6837 The following commands help manage the ARCHIVE tag:
6840 @orgcmd{C-c C-x a,org-toggle-archive-tag}
6841 Toggle the ARCHIVE tag for the current headline. When the tag is set,
6842 the headline changes to a shadowed face, and the subtree below it is
6844 @orgkey{C-u C-c C-x a}
6845 Check if any direct children of the current headline should be archived.
6846 To do this, each subtree is checked for open TODO entries. If none are
6847 found, the command offers to set the ARCHIVE tag for the child. If the
6848 cursor is @emph{not} on a headline when this command is invoked, the
6849 level 1 trees will be checked.
6850 @orgcmd{C-@kbd{TAB},org-force-cycle-archived}
6851 Cycle a tree even if it is tagged with ARCHIVE.
6852 @orgcmd{C-c C-x A,org-archive-to-archive-sibling}
6853 Move the current entry to the @emph{Archive Sibling}. This is a sibling of
6854 the entry with the heading @samp{Archive} and the tag @samp{ARCHIVE}. The
6855 entry becomes a child of that sibling and in this way retains a lot of its
6856 original context, including inherited tags and approximate position in the
6861 @node Agenda Views, Markup, Capture - Refile - Archive, Top
6862 @chapter Agenda views
6863 @cindex agenda views
6865 Due to the way Org works, TODO items, time-stamped items, and
6866 tagged headlines can be scattered throughout a file or even a number of
6867 files. To get an overview of open action items, or of events that are
6868 important for a particular date, this information must be collected,
6869 sorted and displayed in an organized way.
6871 Org can select items based on various criteria and display them
6872 in a separate buffer. Seven different view types are provided:
6876 an @emph{agenda} that is like a calendar and shows information
6879 a @emph{TODO list} that covers all unfinished
6882 a @emph{match view}, showings headlines based on the tags, properties, and
6883 TODO state associated with them,
6885 a @emph{timeline view} that shows all events in a single Org file,
6886 in time-sorted view,
6888 a @emph{text search view} that shows all entries from multiple files
6889 that contain specified keywords,
6891 a @emph{stuck projects view} showing projects that currently don't move
6894 @emph{custom views} that are special searches and combinations of different
6899 The extracted information is displayed in a special @emph{agenda
6900 buffer}. This buffer is read-only, but provides commands to visit the
6901 corresponding locations in the original Org files, and even to
6902 edit these files remotely.
6904 @vindex org-agenda-window-setup
6905 @vindex org-agenda-restore-windows-after-quit
6906 Two variables control how the agenda buffer is displayed and whether the
6907 window configuration is restored when the agenda exits:
6908 @code{org-agenda-window-setup} and
6909 @code{org-agenda-restore-windows-after-quit}.
6912 * Agenda files:: Files being searched for agenda information
6913 * Agenda dispatcher:: Keyboard access to agenda views
6914 * Built-in agenda views:: What is available out of the box?
6915 * Presentation and sorting:: How agenda items are prepared for display
6916 * Agenda commands:: Remote editing of Org trees
6917 * Custom agenda views:: Defining special searches and views
6918 * Exporting Agenda Views:: Writing a view to a file
6919 * Agenda column view:: Using column view for collected entries
6922 @node Agenda files, Agenda dispatcher, Agenda Views, Agenda Views
6923 @section Agenda files
6924 @cindex agenda files
6925 @cindex files for agenda
6927 @vindex org-agenda-files
6928 The information to be shown is normally collected from all @emph{agenda
6929 files}, the files listed in the variable
6930 @code{org-agenda-files}@footnote{If the value of that variable is not a
6931 list, but a single file name, then the list of agenda files will be
6932 maintained in that external file.}. If a directory is part of this list,
6933 all files with the extension @file{.org} in this directory will be part
6936 Thus, even if you only work with a single Org file, that file should
6937 be put into the list@footnote{When using the dispatcher, pressing
6938 @kbd{<} before selecting a command will actually limit the command to
6939 the current file, and ignore @code{org-agenda-files} until the next
6940 dispatcher command.}. You can customize @code{org-agenda-files}, but
6941 the easiest way to maintain it is through the following commands
6943 @cindex files, adding to agenda list
6945 @orgcmd{C-c [,org-agenda-file-to-front}
6946 Add current file to the list of agenda files. The file is added to
6947 the front of the list. If it was already in the list, it is moved to
6948 the front. With a prefix argument, file is added/moved to the end.
6949 @orgcmd{C-c ],org-remove-file}
6950 Remove current file from the list of agenda files.
6952 @orgcmd{C-',org-cycle-agenda-files}
6954 Cycle through agenda file list, visiting one file after the other.
6955 @kindex M-x org-iswitchb
6956 @item M-x org-iswitchb
6957 Command to use an @code{iswitchb}-like interface to switch to and between Org
6962 The Org menu contains the current list of files and can be used
6963 to visit any of them.
6965 If you would like to focus the agenda temporarily on a file not in
6966 this list, or on just one file in the list, or even on only a subtree in a
6967 file, then this can be done in different ways. For a single agenda command,
6968 you may press @kbd{<} once or several times in the dispatcher
6969 (@pxref{Agenda dispatcher}). To restrict the agenda scope for an
6970 extended period, use the following commands:
6973 @orgcmd{C-c C-x <,org-agenda-set-restriction-lock}
6974 Permanently restrict the agenda to the current subtree. When with a
6975 prefix argument, or with the cursor before the first headline in a file,
6976 the agenda scope is set to the entire file. This restriction remains in
6977 effect until removed with @kbd{C-c C-x >}, or by typing either @kbd{<}
6978 or @kbd{>} in the agenda dispatcher. If there is a window displaying an
6979 agenda view, the new restriction takes effect immediately.
6980 @orgcmd{C-c C-x >,org-agenda-remove-restriction-lock}
6981 Remove the permanent restriction created by @kbd{C-c C-x <}.
6985 When working with @file{speedbar.el}, you can use the following commands in
6988 @orgcmdtkc{< @r{in the speedbar frame},<,org-speedbar-set-agenda-restriction}
6989 Permanently restrict the agenda to the item---either an Org file or a subtree
6990 in such a file---at the cursor in the Speedbar frame.
6991 If there is a window displaying an agenda view, the new restriction takes
6993 @orgcmdtkc{> @r{in the speedbar frame},>,org-agenda-remove-restriction-lock}
6994 Lift the restriction.
6997 @node Agenda dispatcher, Built-in agenda views, Agenda files, Agenda Views
6998 @section The agenda dispatcher
6999 @cindex agenda dispatcher
7000 @cindex dispatching agenda commands
7001 The views are created through a dispatcher, which should be bound to a
7002 global key---for example @kbd{C-c a} (@pxref{Installation}). In the
7003 following we will assume that @kbd{C-c a} is indeed how the dispatcher
7004 is accessed and list keyboard access to commands accordingly. After
7005 pressing @kbd{C-c a}, an additional letter is required to execute a
7006 command. The dispatcher offers the following default commands:
7009 Create the calendar-like agenda (@pxref{Weekly/daily agenda}).
7011 Create a list of all TODO items (@pxref{Global TODO list}).
7013 Create a list of headlines matching a TAGS expression (@pxref{Matching
7014 tags and properties}).
7016 Create the timeline view for the current buffer (@pxref{Timeline}).
7018 Create a list of entries selected by a boolean expression of keywords
7019 and/or regular expressions that must or must not occur in the entry.
7021 @vindex org-agenda-text-search-extra-files
7022 Search for a regular expression in all agenda files and additionally in
7023 the files listed in @code{org-agenda-text-search-extra-files}. This
7024 uses the Emacs command @code{multi-occur}. A prefix argument can be
7025 used to specify the number of context lines for each match, default is
7028 Create a list of stuck projects (@pxref{Stuck projects}).
7030 Restrict an agenda command to the current buffer@footnote{For backward
7031 compatibility, you can also press @kbd{1} to restrict to the current
7032 buffer.}. After pressing @kbd{<}, you still need to press the character
7033 selecting the command.
7035 If there is an active region, restrict the following agenda command to
7036 the region. Otherwise, restrict it to the current subtree@footnote{For
7037 backward compatibility, you can also press @kbd{0} to restrict to the
7038 current region/subtree.}. After pressing @kbd{< <}, you still need to press the
7039 character selecting the command.
7042 You can also define custom commands that will be accessible through the
7043 dispatcher, just like the default commands. This includes the
7044 possibility to create extended agenda buffers that contain several
7045 blocks together, for example the weekly agenda, the global TODO list and
7046 a number of special tags matches. @xref{Custom agenda views}.
7048 @node Built-in agenda views, Presentation and sorting, Agenda dispatcher, Agenda Views
7049 @section The built-in agenda views
7051 In this section we describe the built-in views.
7054 * Weekly/daily agenda:: The calendar page with current tasks
7055 * Global TODO list:: All unfinished action items
7056 * Matching tags and properties:: Structured information with fine-tuned search
7057 * Timeline:: Time-sorted view for single file
7058 * Search view:: Find entries by searching for text
7059 * Stuck projects:: Find projects you need to review
7062 @node Weekly/daily agenda, Global TODO list, Built-in agenda views, Built-in agenda views
7063 @subsection The weekly/daily agenda
7065 @cindex weekly agenda
7066 @cindex daily agenda
7068 The purpose of the weekly/daily @emph{agenda} is to act like a page of a
7069 paper agenda, showing all the tasks for the current week or day.
7072 @cindex org-agenda, command
7073 @orgcmd{C-c a a,org-agenda-list}
7074 Compile an agenda for the current week from a list of Org files. The agenda
7075 shows the entries for each day. With a numeric prefix@footnote{For backward
7076 compatibility, the universal prefix @kbd{C-u} causes all TODO entries to be
7077 listed before the agenda. This feature is deprecated, use the dedicated TODO
7078 list, or a block agenda instead (@pxref{Block agenda}).} (like @kbd{C-u 2 1
7079 C-c a a}) you may set the number of days to be displayed.
7082 @vindex org-agenda-span
7083 @vindex org-agenda-ndays
7084 The default number of days displayed in the agenda is set by the variable
7085 @code{org-agenda-span} (or the obsolete @code{org-agenda-ndays}). This
7086 variable can be set to any number of days you want to see by default in the
7087 agenda, or to a span name, such a @code{day}, @code{week}, @code{month} or
7090 Remote editing from the agenda buffer means, for example, that you can
7091 change the dates of deadlines and appointments from the agenda buffer.
7092 The commands available in the Agenda buffer are listed in @ref{Agenda
7095 @subsubheading Calendar/Diary integration
7096 @cindex calendar integration
7097 @cindex diary integration
7099 Emacs contains the calendar and diary by Edward M. Reingold. The
7100 calendar displays a three-month calendar with holidays from different
7101 countries and cultures. The diary allows you to keep track of
7102 anniversaries, lunar phases, sunrise/set, recurrent appointments
7103 (weekly, monthly) and more. In this way, it is quite complementary to
7104 Org. It can be very useful to combine output from Org with
7107 In order to include entries from the Emacs diary into Org-mode's
7108 agenda, you only need to customize the variable
7111 (setq org-agenda-include-diary t)
7114 @noindent After that, everything will happen automatically. All diary
7115 entries including holidays, anniversaries, etc., will be included in the
7116 agenda buffer created by Org-mode. @key{SPC}, @key{TAB}, and
7117 @key{RET} can be used from the agenda buffer to jump to the diary
7118 file in order to edit existing diary entries. The @kbd{i} command to
7119 insert new entries for the current date works in the agenda buffer, as
7120 well as the commands @kbd{S}, @kbd{M}, and @kbd{C} to display
7121 Sunrise/Sunset times, show lunar phases and to convert to other
7122 calendars, respectively. @kbd{c} can be used to switch back and forth
7123 between calendar and agenda.
7125 If you are using the diary only for sexp entries and holidays, it is
7126 faster to not use the above setting, but instead to copy or even move
7127 the entries into an Org file. Org-mode evaluates diary-style sexp
7128 entries, and does it faster because there is no overhead for first
7129 creating the diary display. Note that the sexp entries must start at
7130 the left margin, no whitespace is allowed before them. For example,
7131 the following segment of an Org file will be processed and entries
7132 will be made in the agenda:
7135 * Birthdays and similar stuff
7137 %%(org-calendar-holiday) ; special function for holiday names
7139 %%(diary-anniversary 5 14 1956)@footnote{Note that the order of the arguments (month, day, year) depends on the setting of @code{calendar-date-style}.} Arthur Dent is %d years old
7140 %%(diary-anniversary 10 2 1869) Mahatma Gandhi would be %d years old
7143 @subsubheading Anniversaries from BBDB
7144 @cindex BBDB, anniversaries
7145 @cindex anniversaries, from BBDB
7147 If you are using the Big Brothers Database to store your contacts, you will
7148 very likely prefer to store anniversaries in BBDB rather than in a
7149 separate Org or diary file. Org supports this and will show BBDB
7150 anniversaries as part of the agenda. All you need to do is to add the
7151 following to one your your agenda files:
7158 %%(org-bbdb-anniversaries)
7161 You can then go ahead and define anniversaries for a BBDB record. Basically,
7162 you need to press @kbd{C-o anniversary @key{RET}} with the cursor in a BBDB
7163 record and then add the date in the format @code{YYYY-MM-DD} or @code{MM-DD},
7164 followed by a space and the class of the anniversary (@samp{birthday} or
7165 @samp{wedding}, or a format string). If you omit the class, it will default to
7166 @samp{birthday}. Here are a few examples, the header for the file
7167 @file{org-bbdb.el} contains more detailed information.
7173 2008-04-14 %s released version 6.01 of org-mode, %d years ago
7176 After a change to BBDB, or for the first agenda display during an Emacs
7177 session, the agenda display will suffer a short delay as Org updates its
7178 hash with anniversaries. However, from then on things will be very fast---much
7179 faster in fact than a long list of @samp{%%(diary-anniversary)} entries
7180 in an Org or Diary file.
7182 @subsubheading Appointment reminders
7183 @cindex @file{appt.el}
7184 @cindex appointment reminders
7186 Org can interact with Emacs appointments notification facility. To add all
7187 the appointments of your agenda files, use the command
7188 @code{org-agenda-to-appt}. This command also lets you filter through the
7189 list of your appointments and add only those belonging to a specific category
7190 or matching a regular expression. See the docstring for details.
7192 @node Global TODO list, Matching tags and properties, Weekly/daily agenda, Built-in agenda views
7193 @subsection The global TODO list
7194 @cindex global TODO list
7195 @cindex TODO list, global
7197 The global TODO list contains all unfinished TODO items formatted and
7198 collected into a single place.
7201 @orgcmd{C-c a t,org-todo-list}
7202 Show the global TODO list. This collects the TODO items from all agenda
7203 files (@pxref{Agenda Views}) into a single buffer. By default, this lists
7204 items with a state the is not a DONE state. The buffer is in
7205 @code{agenda-mode}, so there are commands to examine and manipulate the TODO
7206 entries directly from that buffer (@pxref{Agenda commands}).
7207 @orgcmd{C-c a T,org-todo-list}
7208 @cindex TODO keyword matching
7209 @vindex org-todo-keywords
7210 Like the above, but allows selection of a specific TODO keyword. You can
7211 also do this by specifying a prefix argument to @kbd{C-c a t}. You are
7212 prompted for a keyword, and you may also specify several keywords by
7213 separating them with @samp{|} as the boolean OR operator. With a numeric
7214 prefix, the Nth keyword in @code{org-todo-keywords} is selected.
7216 The @kbd{r} key in the agenda buffer regenerates it, and you can give
7217 a prefix argument to this command to change the selected TODO keyword,
7218 for example @kbd{3 r}. If you often need a search for a specific
7219 keyword, define a custom command for it (@pxref{Agenda dispatcher}).@*
7220 Matching specific TODO keywords can also be done as part of a tags
7221 search (@pxref{Tag searches}).
7224 Remote editing of TODO items means that you can change the state of a
7225 TODO entry with a single key press. The commands available in the
7226 TODO list are described in @ref{Agenda commands}.
7228 @cindex sublevels, inclusion into TODO list
7229 Normally the global TODO list simply shows all headlines with TODO
7230 keywords. This list can become very long. There are two ways to keep
7234 @vindex org-agenda-todo-ignore-scheduled
7235 @vindex org-agenda-todo-ignore-deadlines
7236 @vindex org-agenda-todo-ignore-timestamp
7237 @vindex org-agenda-todo-ignore-with-date
7238 Some people view a TODO item that has been @emph{scheduled} for execution or
7239 have a @emph{deadline} (@pxref{Timestamps}) as no longer @emph{open}.
7240 Configure the variables @code{org-agenda-todo-ignore-scheduled},
7241 @code{org-agenda-todo-ignore-deadlines},
7242 @code{org-agenda-todo-ignore-timestamp} and/or
7243 @code{org-agenda-todo-ignore-with-date} to exclude such items from the global
7246 @vindex org-agenda-todo-list-sublevels
7247 TODO items may have sublevels to break up the task into subtasks. In
7248 such cases it may be enough to list only the highest level TODO headline
7249 and omit the sublevels from the global list. Configure the variable
7250 @code{org-agenda-todo-list-sublevels} to get this behavior.
7253 @node Matching tags and properties, Timeline, Global TODO list, Built-in agenda views
7254 @subsection Matching tags and properties
7255 @cindex matching, of tags
7256 @cindex matching, of properties
7260 If headlines in the agenda files are marked with @emph{tags} (@pxref{Tags}),
7261 or have properties (@pxref{Properties and Columns}), you can select headlines
7262 based on this metadata and collect them into an agenda buffer. The match
7263 syntax described here also applies when creating sparse trees with @kbd{C-c /
7267 @orgcmd{C-c a m,org-tags-view}
7268 Produce a list of all headlines that match a given set of tags. The
7269 command prompts for a selection criterion, which is a boolean logic
7270 expression with tags, like @samp{+work+urgent-withboss} or
7271 @samp{work|home} (@pxref{Tags}). If you often need a specific search,
7272 define a custom command for it (@pxref{Agenda dispatcher}).
7273 @orgcmd{C-c a M,org-tags-view}
7274 @vindex org-tags-match-list-sublevels
7275 @vindex org-agenda-tags-todo-honor-ignore-options
7276 Like @kbd{C-c a m}, but only select headlines that are also TODO items in a
7277 not-DONE state and force checking subitems (see variable
7278 @code{org-tags-match-list-sublevels}). To exclude scheduled/deadline items,
7279 see the variable @code{org-agenda-tags-todo-honor-ignore-options}. Matching
7280 specific TODO keywords together with a tags match is also possible, see
7284 The commands available in the tags list are described in @ref{Agenda
7287 @subsubheading Match syntax
7289 @cindex Boolean logic, for tag/property searches
7290 A search string can use Boolean operators @samp{&} for AND and @samp{|} for
7291 OR. @samp{&} binds more strongly than @samp{|}. Parentheses are currently
7292 not implemented. Each element in the search is either a tag, a regular
7293 expression matching tags, or an expression like @code{PROPERTY OPERATOR
7294 VALUE} with a comparison operator, accessing a property value. Each element
7295 may be preceded by @samp{-}, to select against it, and @samp{+} is syntactic
7296 sugar for positive selection. The AND operator @samp{&} is optional when
7297 @samp{+} or @samp{-} is present. Here are some examples, using only tags.
7301 Select headlines tagged @samp{:work:}, but discard those also tagged
7304 Selects lines tagged @samp{:work:} or @samp{:laptop:}.
7305 @item work|laptop+night
7306 Like before, but require the @samp{:laptop:} lines to be tagged also
7310 @cindex regular expressions, with tags search
7311 Instead of a tag, you may also specify a regular expression enclosed in curly
7312 braces. For example,
7313 @samp{work+@{^boss.*@}} matches headlines that contain the tag
7314 @samp{:work:} and any tag @i{starting} with @samp{boss}.
7316 @cindex TODO keyword matching, with tags search
7317 @cindex level, require for tags/property match
7318 @cindex category, require for tags/property match
7319 @vindex org-odd-levels-only
7320 You may also test for properties (@pxref{Properties and Columns}) at the same
7321 time as matching tags. The properties may be real properties, or special
7322 properties that represent other metadata (@pxref{Special properties}). For
7323 example, the ``property'' @code{TODO} represents the TODO keyword of the
7324 entry. Or, the ``property'' @code{LEVEL} represents the level of an entry.
7325 So a search @samp{+LEVEL=3+boss-TODO="DONE"} lists all level three headlines
7326 that have the tag @samp{boss} and are @emph{not} marked with the TODO keyword
7327 DONE. In buffers with @code{org-odd-levels-only} set, @samp{LEVEL} does not
7328 count the number of stars, but @samp{LEVEL=2} will correspond to 3 stars etc.
7330 Here are more examples:
7332 @item work+TODO="WAITING"
7333 Select @samp{:work:}-tagged TODO lines with the specific TODO
7334 keyword @samp{WAITING}.
7335 @item work+TODO="WAITING"|home+TODO="WAITING"
7336 Waiting tasks both at work and at home.
7339 When matching properties, a number of different operators can be used to test
7340 the value of a property. Here is a complex example:
7343 +work-boss+PRIORITY="A"+Coffee="unlimited"+Effort<2 \
7344 +With=@{Sarah\|Denny@}+SCHEDULED>="<2008-10-11>"
7348 The type of comparison will depend on how the comparison value is written:
7351 If the comparison value is a plain number, a numerical comparison is done,
7352 and the allowed operators are @samp{<}, @samp{=}, @samp{>}, @samp{<=},
7353 @samp{>=}, and @samp{<>}.
7355 If the comparison value is enclosed in double-quotes,
7356 a string comparison is done, and the same operators are allowed.
7358 If the comparison value is enclosed in double-quotes @emph{and} angular
7359 brackets (like @samp{DEADLINE<="<2008-12-24 18:30>"}), both values are
7360 assumed to be date/time specifications in the standard Org way, and the
7361 comparison will be done accordingly. Special values that will be recognized
7362 are @code{"<now>"} for now (including time), and @code{"<today>"}, and
7363 @code{"<tomorrow>"} for these days at 0:00 hours, i.e.@: without a time
7364 specification. Also strings like @code{"<+5d>"} or @code{"<-2m>"} with units
7365 @code{d}, @code{w}, @code{m}, and @code{y} for day, week, month, and year,
7366 respectively, can be used.
7368 If the comparison value is enclosed
7369 in curly braces, a regexp match is performed, with @samp{=} meaning that the
7370 regexp matches the property value, and @samp{<>} meaning that it does not
7374 So the search string in the example finds entries tagged @samp{:work:} but
7375 not @samp{:boss:}, which also have a priority value @samp{A}, a
7376 @samp{:Coffee:} property with the value @samp{unlimited}, an @samp{Effort}
7377 property that is numerically smaller than 2, a @samp{:With:} property that is
7378 matched by the regular expression @samp{Sarah\|Denny}, and that are scheduled
7379 on or after October 11, 2008.
7381 Accessing TODO, LEVEL, and CATEGORY during a search is fast. Accessing any
7382 other properties will slow down the search. However, once you have paid the
7383 price by accessing one property, testing additional properties is cheap
7386 You can configure Org-mode to use property inheritance during a search, but
7387 beware that this can slow down searches considerably. See @ref{Property
7388 inheritance}, for details.
7390 For backward compatibility, and also for typing speed, there is also a
7391 different way to test TODO states in a search. For this, terminate the
7392 tags/property part of the search string (which may include several terms
7393 connected with @samp{|}) with a @samp{/} and then specify a Boolean
7394 expression just for TODO keywords. The syntax is then similar to that for
7395 tags, but should be applied with care: for example, a positive selection on
7396 several TODO keywords cannot meaningfully be combined with boolean AND.
7397 However, @emph{negative selection} combined with AND can be meaningful. To
7398 make sure that only lines are checked that actually have any TODO keyword
7399 (resulting in a speed-up), use @kbd{C-c a M}, or equivalently start the TODO
7400 part after the slash with @samp{!}. Using @kbd{C-c a M} or @samp{/!} will
7401 not match TODO keywords in a DONE state. Examples:
7405 Same as @samp{work+TODO="WAITING"}
7406 @item work/!-WAITING-NEXT
7407 Select @samp{:work:}-tagged TODO lines that are neither @samp{WAITING}
7409 @item work/!+WAITING|+NEXT
7410 Select @samp{:work:}-tagged TODO lines that are either @samp{WAITING} or
7414 @node Timeline, Search view, Matching tags and properties, Built-in agenda views
7415 @subsection Timeline for a single file
7416 @cindex timeline, single file
7417 @cindex time-sorted view
7419 The timeline summarizes all time-stamped items from a single Org-mode
7420 file in a @emph{time-sorted view}. The main purpose of this command is
7421 to give an overview over events in a project.
7424 @orgcmd{C-c a L,org-timeline}
7425 Show a time-sorted view of the Org file, with all time-stamped items.
7426 When called with a @kbd{C-u} prefix, all unfinished TODO entries
7427 (scheduled or not) are also listed under the current date.
7431 The commands available in the timeline buffer are listed in
7432 @ref{Agenda commands}.
7434 @node Search view, Stuck projects, Timeline, Built-in agenda views
7435 @subsection Search view
7438 @cindex searching, for text
7440 This agenda view is a general text search facility for Org-mode entries.
7441 It is particularly useful to find notes.
7444 @orgcmd{C-c a s,org-search-view}
7445 This is a special search that lets you select entries by matching a substring
7446 or specific words using a boolean logic.
7448 For example, the search string @samp{computer equipment} will find entries
7449 that contain @samp{computer equipment} as a substring. If the two words are
7450 separated by more space or a line break, the search will still match.
7451 Search view can also search for specific keywords in the entry, using Boolean
7452 logic. The search string @samp{+computer +wifi -ethernet -@{8\.11[bg]@}}
7453 will search for note entries that contain the keywords @code{computer}
7454 and @code{wifi}, but not the keyword @code{ethernet}, and which are also
7455 not matched by the regular expression @code{8\.11[bg]}, meaning to
7456 exclude both 8.11b and 8.11g. The first @samp{+} is necessary to turn on
7457 word search, other @samp{+} characters are optional. For more details, see
7458 the docstring of the command @code{org-search-view}.
7460 @vindex org-agenda-text-search-extra-files
7461 Note that in addition to the agenda files, this command will also search
7462 the files listed in @code{org-agenda-text-search-extra-files}.
7464 @node Stuck projects, , Search view, Built-in agenda views
7465 @subsection Stuck projects
7466 @pindex GTD, Getting Things Done
7468 If you are following a system like David Allen's GTD to organize your
7469 work, one of the ``duties'' you have is a regular review to make sure
7470 that all projects move along. A @emph{stuck} project is a project that
7471 has no defined next actions, so it will never show up in the TODO lists
7472 Org-mode produces. During the review, you need to identify such
7473 projects and define next actions for them.
7476 @orgcmd{C-c a #,org-agenda-list-stuck-projects}
7477 List projects that are stuck.
7480 @vindex org-stuck-projects
7481 Customize the variable @code{org-stuck-projects} to define what a stuck
7482 project is and how to find it.
7485 You almost certainly will have to configure this view before it will
7486 work for you. The built-in default assumes that all your projects are
7487 level-2 headlines, and that a project is not stuck if it has at least
7488 one entry marked with a TODO keyword TODO or NEXT or NEXTACTION.
7490 Let's assume that you, in your own way of using Org-mode, identify
7491 projects with a tag PROJECT, and that you use a TODO keyword MAYBE to
7492 indicate a project that should not be considered yet. Let's further
7493 assume that the TODO keyword DONE marks finished projects, and that NEXT
7494 and TODO indicate next actions. The tag @@SHOP indicates shopping and
7495 is a next action even without the NEXT tag. Finally, if the project
7496 contains the special word IGNORE anywhere, it should not be listed
7497 either. In this case you would start by identifying eligible projects
7498 with a tags/todo match@footnote{@xref{Tag searches}.}
7499 @samp{+PROJECT/-MAYBE-DONE}, and then check for TODO, NEXT, @@SHOP, and
7500 IGNORE in the subtree to identify projects that are not stuck. The
7501 correct customization for this is
7504 (setq org-stuck-projects
7505 '("+PROJECT/-MAYBE-DONE" ("NEXT" "TODO") ("@@SHOP")
7509 Note that if a project is identified as non-stuck, the subtree of this entry
7510 will still be searched for stuck projects.
7512 @node Presentation and sorting, Agenda commands, Built-in agenda views, Agenda Views
7513 @section Presentation and sorting
7514 @cindex presentation, of agenda items
7516 @vindex org-agenda-prefix-format
7517 @vindex org-agenda-tags-column
7518 Before displaying items in an agenda view, Org-mode visually prepares the
7519 items and sorts them. Each item occupies a single line. The line starts
7520 with a @emph{prefix} that contains the @emph{category} (@pxref{Categories})
7521 of the item and other important information. You can customize in which
7522 column tags will be displayed through @code{org-agenda-tags-column}. You can
7523 also customize the prefix using the option @code{org-agenda-prefix-format}.
7524 This prefix is followed by a cleaned-up version of the outline headline
7525 associated with the item.
7528 * Categories:: Not all tasks are equal
7529 * Time-of-day specifications:: How the agenda knows the time
7530 * Sorting of agenda items:: The order of things
7533 @node Categories, Time-of-day specifications, Presentation and sorting, Presentation and sorting
7534 @subsection Categories
7538 The category is a broad label assigned to each agenda item. By default,
7539 the category is simply derived from the file name, but you can also
7540 specify it with a special line in the buffer, like this@footnote{For
7541 backward compatibility, the following also works: if there are several
7542 such lines in a file, each specifies the category for the text below it.
7543 The first category also applies to any text before the first CATEGORY
7544 line. However, using this method is @emph{strongly} deprecated as it is
7545 incompatible with the outline structure of the document. The correct
7546 method for setting multiple categories in a buffer is using a
7554 @cindex property, CATEGORY
7555 If you would like to have a special CATEGORY for a single entry or a
7556 (sub)tree, give the entry a @code{:CATEGORY:} property with the
7557 special category you want to apply as the value.
7560 The display in the agenda buffer looks best if the category is not
7561 longer than 10 characters.
7564 You can set up icons for category by customizing the
7565 @code{org-agenda-category-icon-alist} variable.
7567 @node Time-of-day specifications, Sorting of agenda items, Categories, Presentation and sorting
7568 @subsection Time-of-day specifications
7569 @cindex time-of-day specification
7571 Org-mode checks each agenda item for a time-of-day specification. The
7572 time can be part of the timestamp that triggered inclusion into the
7573 agenda, for example as in @w{@samp{<2005-05-10 Tue 19:00>}}. Time
7574 ranges can be specified with two timestamps, like
7576 @w{@samp{<2005-05-10 Tue 20:30>--<2005-05-10 Tue 22:15>}}.
7578 In the headline of the entry itself, a time(range) may also appear as
7579 plain text (like @samp{12:45} or a @samp{8:30-1pm}). If the agenda
7580 integrates the Emacs diary (@pxref{Weekly/daily agenda}), time
7581 specifications in diary entries are recognized as well.
7583 For agenda display, Org-mode extracts the time and displays it in a
7584 standard 24 hour format as part of the prefix. The example times in
7585 the previous paragraphs would end up in the agenda like this:
7588 8:30-13:00 Arthur Dent lies in front of the bulldozer
7589 12:45...... Ford Prefect arrives and takes Arthur to the pub
7590 19:00...... The Vogon reads his poem
7591 20:30-22:15 Marvin escorts the Hitchhikers to the bridge
7595 If the agenda is in single-day mode, or for the display of today, the
7596 timed entries are embedded in a time grid, like
7599 8:00...... ------------------
7600 8:30-13:00 Arthur Dent lies in front of the bulldozer
7601 10:00...... ------------------
7602 12:00...... ------------------
7603 12:45...... Ford Prefect arrives and takes Arthur to the pub
7604 14:00...... ------------------
7605 16:00...... ------------------
7606 18:00...... ------------------
7607 19:00...... The Vogon reads his poem
7608 20:00...... ------------------
7609 20:30-22:15 Marvin escorts the Hitchhikers to the bridge
7612 @vindex org-agenda-use-time-grid
7613 @vindex org-agenda-time-grid
7614 The time grid can be turned on and off with the variable
7615 @code{org-agenda-use-time-grid}, and can be configured with
7616 @code{org-agenda-time-grid}.
7618 @node Sorting of agenda items, , Time-of-day specifications, Presentation and sorting
7619 @subsection Sorting of agenda items
7620 @cindex sorting, of agenda items
7621 @cindex priorities, of agenda items
7622 Before being inserted into a view, the items are sorted. How this is
7623 done depends on the type of view.
7626 @vindex org-agenda-files
7627 For the daily/weekly agenda, the items for each day are sorted. The
7628 default order is to first collect all items containing an explicit
7629 time-of-day specification. These entries will be shown at the beginning
7630 of the list, as a @emph{schedule} for the day. After that, items remain
7631 grouped in categories, in the sequence given by @code{org-agenda-files}.
7632 Within each category, items are sorted by priority (@pxref{Priorities}),
7633 which is composed of the base priority (2000 for priority @samp{A}, 1000
7634 for @samp{B}, and 0 for @samp{C}), plus additional increments for
7635 overdue scheduled or deadline items.
7637 For the TODO list, items remain in the order of categories, but within
7638 each category, sorting takes place according to priority
7639 (@pxref{Priorities}). The priority used for sorting derives from the
7640 priority cookie, with additions depending on how close an item is to its due
7643 For tags matches, items are not sorted at all, but just appear in the
7644 sequence in which they are found in the agenda files.
7647 @vindex org-agenda-sorting-strategy
7648 Sorting can be customized using the variable
7649 @code{org-agenda-sorting-strategy}, and may also include criteria based on
7650 the estimated effort of an entry (@pxref{Effort estimates}).
7652 @node Agenda commands, Custom agenda views, Presentation and sorting, Agenda Views
7653 @section Commands in the agenda buffer
7654 @cindex commands, in agenda buffer
7656 Entries in the agenda buffer are linked back to the Org file or diary
7657 file where they originate. You are not allowed to edit the agenda
7658 buffer itself, but commands are provided to show and jump to the
7659 original entry location, and to edit the Org files ``remotely'' from
7660 the agenda buffer. In this way, all information is stored only once,
7661 removing the risk that your agenda and note files may diverge.
7663 Some commands can be executed with mouse clicks on agenda lines. For
7664 the other commands, the cursor needs to be in the desired line.
7667 @tsubheading{Motion}
7668 @cindex motion commands in agenda
7669 @orgcmd{n,org-agenda-next-line}
7670 Next line (same as @key{up} and @kbd{C-p}).
7671 @orgcmd{p,org-agenda-previous-line}
7672 Previous line (same as @key{down} and @kbd{C-n}).
7673 @tsubheading{View/Go to Org file}
7674 @orgcmdkkc{@key{SPC},mouse-3,org-agenda-show-and-scroll-up}
7675 Display the original location of the item in another window.
7676 With prefix arg, make sure that the entire entry is made visible in the
7677 outline, not only the heading.
7679 @orgcmd{L,org-agenda-recenter}
7680 Display original location and recenter that window.
7682 @orgcmdkkc{@key{TAB},mouse-2,org-agenda-goto}
7683 Go to the original location of the item in another window.
7685 @orgcmd{@key{RET},org-agenda-switch-to}
7686 Go to the original location of the item and delete other windows.
7688 @orgcmd{F,org-agenda-follow-mode}
7689 @vindex org-agenda-start-with-follow-mode
7690 Toggle Follow mode. In Follow mode, as you move the cursor through
7691 the agenda buffer, the other window always shows the corresponding
7692 location in the Org file. The initial setting for this mode in new
7693 agenda buffers can be set with the variable
7694 @code{org-agenda-start-with-follow-mode}.
7696 @orgcmd{C-c C-x b,org-agenda-tree-to-indirect-buffer}
7697 Display the entire subtree of the current item in an indirect buffer. With a
7698 numeric prefix argument N, go up to level N and then take that tree. If N is
7699 negative, go up that many levels. With a @kbd{C-u} prefix, do not remove the
7700 previously used indirect buffer.
7702 @orgcmd{C-c C-o,org-agenda-open-link}
7703 Follow a link in the entry. This will offer a selection of any links in the
7704 text belonging to the referenced Org node. If there is only one link, it
7705 will be followed without a selection prompt.
7707 @tsubheading{Change display}
7708 @cindex display changing, in agenda
7711 Interactively select another agenda view and append it to the current view.
7715 Delete other windows.
7717 @orgcmdkskc{v d,d,org-aganda-day-view}
7718 @xorgcmdkskc{v w,w,org-aganda-day-view}
7719 @xorgcmd{v m,org-agenda-month-view}
7720 @xorgcmd{v y,org-agenda-month-year}
7721 @xorgcmd{v SPC,org-agenda-reset-view}
7722 @vindex org-agenda-span
7723 Switch to day/week/month/year view. When switching to day or week view, this
7724 setting becomes the default for subsequent agenda refreshes. Since month and
7725 year views are slow to create, they do not become the default. A numeric
7726 prefix argument may be used to jump directly to a specific day of the year,
7727 ISO week, month, or year, respectively. For example, @kbd{32 d} jumps to
7728 February 1st, @kbd{9 w} to ISO week number 9. When setting day, week, or
7729 month view, a year may be encoded in the prefix argument as well. For
7730 example, @kbd{200712 w} will jump to week 12 in 2007. If such a year
7731 specification has only one or two digits, it will be mapped to the interval
7732 1938-2037. @kbd{v @key{SPC}} will reset to what is set in
7733 @code{org-agenda-span}.
7735 @orgcmd{f,org-agenda-later}
7736 Go forward in time to display the following @code{org-agenda-current-span} days.
7737 For example, if the display covers a week, switch to the following week.
7738 With prefix arg, go forward that many times @code{org-agenda-current-span} days.
7740 @orgcmd{b,org-agenda-earlier}
7741 Go backward in time to display earlier dates.
7743 @orgcmd{.,org-agenda-goto-today}
7746 @orgcmd{j,org-agenda-goto-date}
7747 Prompt for a date and go there.
7749 @orgcmd{J,org-agenda-clock-goto}
7750 Go to the currently clocked-in task @i{in the agenda buffer}.
7752 @orgcmd{D,org-agenda-toggle-diary}
7753 Toggle the inclusion of diary entries. See @ref{Weekly/daily agenda}.
7755 @orgcmdkskc{v l,l,org-agenda-log-mode}
7757 @vindex org-log-done
7758 @vindex org-agenda-log-mode-items
7759 Toggle Logbook mode. In Logbook mode, entries that were marked DONE while
7760 logging was on (variable @code{org-log-done}) are shown in the agenda, as are
7761 entries that have been clocked on that day. You can configure the entry
7762 types that should be included in log mode using the variable
7763 @code{org-agenda-log-mode-items}. When called with a @kbd{C-u} prefix, show
7764 all possible logbook entries, including state changes. When called with two
7765 prefix args @kbd{C-u C-u}, show only logging information, nothing else.
7766 @kbd{v L} is equivalent to @kbd{C-u v l}.
7768 @orgcmdkskc{v [,[,org-agenda-manipulate-query-add}
7769 Include inactive timestamps into the current view. Only for weekly/daily
7770 agenda and timeline views.
7772 @orgcmd{v a,org-agenda-archives-mode}
7773 @xorgcmd{v A,org-agenda-archives-mode 'files}
7774 Toggle Archives mode. In Archives mode, trees that are marked
7775 @code{ARCHIVED} are also scanned when producing the agenda. When you use the
7776 capital @kbd{A}, even all archive files are included. To exit archives mode,
7777 press @kbd{v a} again.
7779 @orgcmdkskc{v R,R,org-agenda-clockreport-mode}
7780 @vindex org-agenda-start-with-clockreport-mode
7781 Toggle Clockreport mode. In Clockreport mode, the daily/weekly agenda will
7782 always show a table with the clocked times for the timespan and file scope
7783 covered by the current agenda view. The initial setting for this mode in new
7784 agenda buffers can be set with the variable
7785 @code{org-agenda-start-with-clockreport-mode}. By using a prefix argument
7786 when toggling this mode (i.e.@: @kbd{C-u R}), the clock table will not show
7787 contributions from entries that are hidden by agenda filtering@footnote{Only
7788 tags filtering will be respected here, effort filtering is ignored.}.
7791 @vindex org-agenda-clock-consistency-checks
7792 Show overlapping clock entries, clocking gaps, and other clocking problems in
7793 the current agenda range. You can then visit clocking lines and fix them
7794 manually. See the variable @code{org-agenda-clock-consistency-checks} for
7795 information on how to customize the definition of what constituted a clocking
7796 problem. To return to normal agenda display, press @kbd{l} to exit Logbook
7799 @orgcmdkskc{v E,E,org-agenda-entry-text-mode}
7800 @vindex org-agenda-start-with-entry-text-mode
7801 @vindex org-agenda-entry-text-maxlines
7802 Toggle entry text mode. In entry text mode, a number of lines from the Org
7803 outline node referenced by an agenda line will be displayed below the line.
7804 The maximum number of lines is given by the variable
7805 @code{org-agenda-entry-text-maxlines}. Calling this command with a numeric
7806 prefix argument will temporarily modify that number to the prefix value.
7808 @orgcmd{G,org-agenda-toggle-time-grid}
7809 @vindex org-agenda-use-time-grid
7810 @vindex org-agenda-time-grid
7811 Toggle the time grid on and off. See also the variables
7812 @code{org-agenda-use-time-grid} and @code{org-agenda-time-grid}.
7814 @orgcmd{r,org-agenda-rodo}
7815 Recreate the agenda buffer, for example to reflect the changes after
7816 modification of the timestamps of items with @kbd{S-@key{left}} and
7817 @kbd{S-@key{right}}. When the buffer is the global TODO list, a prefix
7818 argument is interpreted to create a selective list for a specific TODO
7820 @orgcmd{g,org-agenda-rodo}
7823 @orgcmdkskc{C-x C-s,s,org-save-all-org-buffers}
7824 Save all Org buffers in the current Emacs session, and also the locations of
7827 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-c,org-agenda-columns}
7828 @vindex org-columns-default-format
7829 Invoke column view (@pxref{Column view}) in the agenda buffer. The column
7830 view format is taken from the entry at point, or (if there is no entry at
7831 point), from the first entry in the agenda view. So whatever the format for
7832 that entry would be in the original buffer (taken from a property, from a
7833 @code{#+COLUMNS} line, or from the default variable
7834 @code{org-columns-default-format}), will be used in the agenda.
7836 @orgcmd{C-c C-x >,org-agenda-remove-restriction-lock}
7837 Remove the restriction lock on the agenda, if it is currently restricted to a
7838 file or subtree (@pxref{Agenda files}).
7840 @tsubheading{Secondary filtering and query editing}
7841 @cindex filtering, by tag and effort, in agenda
7842 @cindex tag filtering, in agenda
7843 @cindex effort filtering, in agenda
7844 @cindex query editing, in agenda
7846 @orgcmd{/,org-agenda-filter-by-tag}
7847 @vindex org-agenda-filter-preset
7848 Filter the current agenda view with respect to a tag and/or effort estimates.
7849 The difference between this and a custom agenda command is that filtering is
7850 very fast, so that you can switch quickly between different filters without
7851 having to recreate the agenda.@footnote{Custom commands can preset a filter by
7852 binding the variable @code{org-agenda-filter-preset} as an option. This
7853 filter will then be applied to the view and persist as a basic filter through
7854 refreshes and more secondary filtering. The filter is a global property of
7855 the entire agenda view---in a block agenda, you should only set this in the
7856 global options section, not in the section of an individual block.}
7858 You will be prompted for a tag selection letter; @key{SPC} will mean any tag at
7859 all. Pressing @key{TAB} at that prompt will offer use completion to select a
7860 tag (including any tags that do not have a selection character). The command
7861 then hides all entries that do not contain or inherit this tag. When called
7862 with prefix arg, remove the entries that @emph{do} have the tag. A second
7863 @kbd{/} at the prompt will turn off the filter and unhide any hidden entries.
7864 If the first key you press is either @kbd{+} or @kbd{-}, the previous filter
7865 will be narrowed by requiring or forbidding the selected additional tag.
7866 Instead of pressing @kbd{+} or @kbd{-} after @kbd{/}, you can also
7867 immediately use the @kbd{\} command.
7869 @vindex org-sort-agenda-noeffort-is-high
7870 In order to filter for effort estimates, you should set up allowed
7871 efforts globally, for example
7873 (setq org-global-properties
7874 '(("Effort_ALL". "0 0:10 0:30 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00")))
7876 You can then filter for an effort by first typing an operator, one of
7877 @kbd{<}, @kbd{>}, and @kbd{=}, and then the one-digit index of an effort
7878 estimate in your array of allowed values, where @kbd{0} means the 10th value.
7879 The filter will then restrict to entries with effort smaller-or-equal, equal,
7880 or larger-or-equal than the selected value. If the digits 0-9 are not used
7881 as fast access keys to tags, you can also simply press the index digit
7882 directly without an operator. In this case, @kbd{<} will be assumed. For
7883 application of the operator, entries without a defined effort will be treated
7884 according to the value of @code{org-sort-agenda-noeffort-is-high}. To filter
7885 for tasks without effort definition, press @kbd{?} as the operator.
7887 Org also supports automatic, context-aware tag filtering. If the variable
7888 @code{org-agenda-auto-exclude-function} is set to a user-defined function,
7889 that function can decide which tags should be excluded from the agenda
7890 automatically. Once this is set, the @kbd{/} command then accepts @kbd{RET}
7891 as a sub-option key and runs the auto exclusion logic. For example, let's
7892 say you use a @code{Net} tag to identify tasks which need network access, an
7893 @code{Errand} tag for errands in town, and a @code{Call} tag for making phone
7894 calls. You could auto-exclude these tags based on the availability of the
7895 Internet, and outside of business hours, with something like this:
7899 (defun org-my-auto-exclude-function (tag)
7901 ((string= tag "Net")
7902 (/= 0 (call-process "/sbin/ping" nil nil nil
7903 "-c1" "-q" "-t1" "mail.gnu.org")))
7904 ((or (string= tag "Errand") (string= tag "Call"))
7905 (let ((hour (nth 2 (decode-time))))
7906 (or (< hour 8) (> hour 21)))))
7909 (setq org-agenda-auto-exclude-function 'org-my-auto-exclude-function)
7913 @orgcmd{\\,org-agenda-filter-by-tag-refine}
7914 Narrow the current agenda filter by an additional condition. When called with
7915 prefix arg, remove the entries that @emph{do} have the tag, or that do match
7916 the effort criterion. You can achieve the same effect by pressing @kbd{+} or
7917 @kbd{-} as the first key after the @kbd{/} command.
7926 @item @r{in} search view
7927 add new search words (@kbd{[} and @kbd{]}) or new regular expressions
7928 (@kbd{@{} and @kbd{@}}) to the query string. The opening bracket/brace will
7929 add a positive search term prefixed by @samp{+}, indicating that this search
7930 term @i{must} occur/match in the entry. The closing bracket/brace will add a
7931 negative search term which @i{must not} occur/match in the entry for it to be
7935 @tsubheading{Remote editing}
7936 @cindex remote editing, from agenda
7941 @cindex undoing remote-editing events
7942 @cindex remote editing, undo
7943 @orgcmd{C-_,org-agenda-undo}
7944 Undo a change due to a remote editing command. The change is undone
7945 both in the agenda buffer and in the remote buffer.
7947 @orgcmd{t,org-agenda-todo}
7948 Change the TODO state of the item, both in the agenda and in the
7951 @orgcmd{C-S-@key{right},org-agenda-todo-nextset}
7952 @orgcmd{C-S-@key{left},org-agenda-todo-previousset}
7953 Switch to the next/previous set of TODO keywords.
7955 @orgcmd{C-k,org-agenda-kill}
7956 @vindex org-agenda-confirm-kill
7957 Delete the current agenda item along with the entire subtree belonging
7958 to it in the original Org file. If the text to be deleted remotely
7959 is longer than one line, the kill needs to be confirmed by the user. See
7960 variable @code{org-agenda-confirm-kill}.
7962 @orgcmd{C-c C-w,org-agenda-refile}
7963 Refile the entry at point.
7965 @orgcmdkskc{C-c C-x C-a,a,org-agenda-archive-default-with-confirmation}
7966 @vindex org-archive-default-command
7967 Archive the subtree corresponding to the entry at point using the default
7968 archiving command set in @code{org-archive-default-command}. When using the
7969 @code{a} key, confirmation will be required.
7971 @orgcmd{C-c C-x a,org-agenda-toggle-archive-tag}
7972 Toggle the ARCHIVE tag for the current headline.
7974 @orgcmd{C-c C-x A,org-agenda-archive-to-archive-sibling}
7975 Move the subtree corresponding to the current entry to its @emph{archive
7978 @orgcmdkskc{C-c C-x C-s,$,org-agenda-archive}
7979 Archive the subtree corresponding to the current headline. This means the
7980 entry will be moved to the configured archive location, most likely a
7983 @orgcmd{T,org-agenda-show-tags}
7984 @vindex org-agenda-show-inherited-tags
7985 Show all tags associated with the current item. This is useful if you have
7986 turned off @code{org-agenda-show-inherited-tags}, but still want to see all
7987 tags of a headline occasionally.
7989 @orgcmd{:,org-agenda-set-tags}
7990 Set tags for the current headline. If there is an active region in the
7991 agenda, change a tag for all headings in the region.
7995 Set the priority for the current item (@command{org-agenda-priority}).
7996 Org-mode prompts for the priority character. If you reply with @key{SPC}, the
7997 priority cookie is removed from the entry.
7999 @orgcmd{P,org-agenda-show-priority}
8000 Display weighted priority of current item.
8002 @orgcmdkkc{+,S-@key{up},org-agenda-priority-up}
8003 Increase the priority of the current item. The priority is changed in
8004 the original buffer, but the agenda is not resorted. Use the @kbd{r}
8007 @orgcmdkkc{-,S-@key{down},org-agenda-priority-down}
8008 Decrease the priority of the current item.
8010 @orgcmdkkc{z,C-c C-z,org-agenda-add-note}
8011 @vindex org-log-into-drawer
8012 Add a note to the entry. This note will be recorded, and then filed to the
8013 same location where state change notes are put. Depending on
8014 @code{org-log-into-drawer}, this may be inside a drawer.
8016 @orgcmd{C-c C-a,org-attach}
8017 Dispatcher for all command related to attachments.
8019 @orgcmd{C-c C-s,org-agenda-schedule}
8020 Schedule this item. With prefix arg remove the scheduling timestamp
8022 @orgcmd{C-c C-d,org-agenda-deadline}
8023 Set a deadline for this item. With prefix arg remove the deadline.
8025 @orgcmd{k,org-agenda-action}
8026 Agenda actions, to set dates for selected items to the cursor date.
8027 This command also works in the calendar! The command prompts for an
8030 m @r{Mark the entry at point for action. You can also make entries}
8031 @r{in Org files with @kbd{C-c C-x C-k}.}
8032 d @r{Set the deadline of the marked entry to the date at point.}
8033 s @r{Schedule the marked entry at the date at point.}
8034 r @r{Call @code{org-capture} with the cursor date as default date.}
8037 Press @kbd{r} afterward to refresh the agenda and see the effect of the
8040 @orgcmd{S-@key{right},org-agenda-do-date-later}
8041 Change the timestamp associated with the current line by one day into the
8042 future. With a numeric prefix argument, change it by that many days. For
8043 example, @kbd{3 6 5 S-@key{right}} will change it by a year. With a
8044 @kbd{C-u} prefix, change the time by one hour. If you immediately repeat the
8045 command, it will continue to change hours even without the prefix arg. With
8046 a double @kbd{C-u C-u} prefix, do the same for changing minutes. The stamp
8047 is changed in the original Org file, but the change is not directly reflected
8048 in the agenda buffer. Use @kbd{r} or @kbd{g} to update the buffer.
8050 @orgcmd{S-@key{left},org-agenda-do-date-earlier}
8051 Change the timestamp associated with the current line by one day
8054 @orgcmd{>,org-agenda-date-prompt}
8055 Change the timestamp associated with the current line. The key @kbd{>} has
8056 been chosen, because it is the same as @kbd{S-.} on my keyboard.
8058 @orgcmd{I,org-agenda-clock-in}
8059 Start the clock on the current item. If a clock is running already, it
8062 @orgcmd{O,org-agenda-clock-out}
8063 Stop the previously started clock.
8065 @orgcmd{X,org-agenda-clock-cancel}
8066 Cancel the currently running clock.
8068 @orgcmd{J,org-agenda-clock-goto}
8069 Jump to the running clock in another window.
8071 @tsubheading{Bulk remote editing selected entries}
8072 @cindex remote editing, bulk, from agenda
8074 @orgcmd{m,org-agenda-bulk-mark}
8075 Mark the entry at point for bulk action. With prefix arg, mark that many
8078 @orgcmd{%,org-agenda-bulk-mark-regexp}
8079 Mark entries matching a regular expression for bulk action.
8081 @orgcmd{u,org-agenda-bulk-unmark}
8082 Unmark entry for bulk action.
8084 @orgcmd{U,org-agenda-bulk-remove-all-marks}
8085 Unmark all marked entries for bulk action.
8087 @orgcmd{B,org-agenda-bulk-action}
8088 Bulk action: act on all marked entries in the agenda. This will prompt for
8089 another key to select the action to be applied. The prefix arg to @kbd{B}
8090 will be passed through to the @kbd{s} and @kbd{d} commands, to bulk-remove
8091 these special timestamps.
8093 r @r{Prompt for a single refile target and move all entries. The entries}
8094 @r{will no longer be in the agenda; refresh (@kbd{g}) to bring them back.}
8095 $ @r{Archive all selected entries.}
8096 A @r{Archive entries by moving them to their respective archive siblings.}
8097 t @r{Change TODO state. This prompts for a single TODO keyword and}
8098 @r{changes the state of all selected entries, bypassing blocking and}
8099 @r{suppressing logging notes (but not timestamps).}
8100 + @r{Add a tag to all selected entries.}
8101 - @r{Remove a tag from all selected entries.}
8102 s @r{Schedule all items to a new date. To shift existing schedule dates}
8103 @r{by a fixed number of days, use something starting with double plus}
8104 @r{at the prompt, for example @samp{++8d} or @samp{++2w}.}
8105 S @r{Reschedule randomly into the coming N days. N will be prompted for.}
8106 @r{With prefix arg (@kbd{C-u B S}), scatter only across weekdays.}
8107 d @r{Set deadline to a specific date.}
8108 f @r{Apply a function to marked entries.}
8109 @r{For example, the function below sets the CATEGORY property of the}
8111 @r{(defun set-category ()}
8112 @r{ (interactive "P")}
8113 @r{ (let* ((marker (or (org-get-at-bol 'org-hd-marker)}
8114 @r{ (org-agenda-error)))}
8115 @r{ (buffer (marker-buffer marker)))}
8116 @r{ (with-current-buffer buffer}
8117 @r{ (save-excursion}
8118 @r{ (save-restriction}
8120 @r{ (goto-char marker)}
8121 @r{ (org-back-to-heading t)}
8122 @r{ (org-set-property "CATEGORY" "web"))))))}
8126 @tsubheading{Calendar commands}
8127 @cindex calendar commands, from agenda
8129 @orgcmd{c,org-agenda-goto-calendar}
8130 Open the Emacs calendar and move to the date at the agenda cursor.
8132 @orgcmd{c,org-calendar-goto-agenda}
8133 When in the calendar, compute and show the Org-mode agenda for the
8136 @cindex diary entries, creating from agenda
8137 @orgcmd{i,org-agenda-diary-entry}
8138 @vindex org-agenda-diary-file
8139 Insert a new entry into the diary, using the date at the cursor and (for
8140 block entries) the date at the mark. This will add to the Emacs diary
8141 file@footnote{This file is parsed for the agenda when
8142 @code{org-agenda-include-diary} is set.}, in a way similar to the @kbd{i}
8143 command in the calendar. The diary file will pop up in another window, where
8144 you can add the entry.
8146 If you configure @code{org-agenda-diary-file} to point to an Org-mode file,
8147 Org will create entries (in org-mode syntax) in that file instead. Most
8148 entries will be stored in a date-based outline tree that will later make it
8149 easy to archive appointments from previous months/years. The tree will be
8150 built under an entry with a @code{DATE_TREE} property, or else with years as
8151 top-level entries. Emacs will prompt you for the entry text---if you specify
8152 it, the entry will be created in @code{org-agenda-diary-file} without further
8153 interaction. If you directly press @key{RET} at the prompt without typing
8154 text, the target file will be shown in another window for you to finish the
8155 entry there. See also the @kbd{k r} command.
8157 @orgcmd{M,org-agenda-phases-of-moon}
8158 Show the phases of the moon for the three months around current date.
8160 @orgcmd{S,org-agenda-sunrise-sunset}
8161 Show sunrise and sunset times. The geographical location must be set
8162 with calendar variables, see the documentation for the Emacs calendar.
8164 @orgcmd{C,org-agenda-convert-date}
8165 Convert the date at cursor into many other cultural and historic
8168 @orgcmd{H,org-agenda-holidays}
8169 Show holidays for three months around the cursor date.
8171 @item M-x org-export-icalendar-combine-agenda-files
8172 Export a single iCalendar file containing entries from all agenda files.
8173 This is a globally available command, and also available in the agenda menu.
8175 @tsubheading{Exporting to a file}
8176 @orgcmd{C-x C-w,org-write-agenda}
8177 @cindex exporting agenda views
8178 @cindex agenda views, exporting
8179 @vindex org-agenda-exporter-settings
8180 Write the agenda view to a file. Depending on the extension of the selected
8181 file name, the view will be exported as HTML (extension @file{.html} or
8182 @file{.htm}), Postscript (extension @file{.ps}), PDF (extension @file{.pdf}),
8183 and plain text (any other extension). When called with a @kbd{C-u} prefix
8184 argument, immediately open the newly created file. Use the variable
8185 @code{org-agenda-exporter-settings} to set options for @file{ps-print} and
8186 for @file{htmlize} to be used during export.
8188 @tsubheading{Quit and Exit}
8189 @orgcmd{q,org-agenda-quit}
8190 Quit agenda, remove the agenda buffer.
8192 @cindex agenda files, removing buffers
8193 @orgcmd{x,org-agenda-exit}
8194 Exit agenda, remove the agenda buffer and all buffers loaded by Emacs
8195 for the compilation of the agenda. Buffers created by the user to
8196 visit Org files will not be removed.
8200 @node Custom agenda views, Exporting Agenda Views, Agenda commands, Agenda Views
8201 @section Custom agenda views
8202 @cindex custom agenda views
8203 @cindex agenda views, custom
8205 Custom agenda commands serve two purposes: to store and quickly access
8206 frequently used TODO and tags searches, and to create special composite
8207 agenda buffers. Custom agenda commands will be accessible through the
8208 dispatcher (@pxref{Agenda dispatcher}), just like the default commands.
8211 * Storing searches:: Type once, use often
8212 * Block agenda:: All the stuff you need in a single buffer
8213 * Setting Options:: Changing the rules
8216 @node Storing searches, Block agenda, Custom agenda views, Custom agenda views
8217 @subsection Storing searches
8219 The first application of custom searches is the definition of keyboard
8220 shortcuts for frequently used searches, either creating an agenda
8221 buffer, or a sparse tree (the latter covering of course only the current
8224 @vindex org-agenda-custom-commands
8225 Custom commands are configured in the variable
8226 @code{org-agenda-custom-commands}. You can customize this variable, for
8227 example by pressing @kbd{C-c a C}. You can also directly set it with
8228 Emacs Lisp in @file{.emacs}. The following example contains all valid
8233 (setq org-agenda-custom-commands
8234 '(("w" todo "WAITING")
8235 ("W" todo-tree "WAITING")
8236 ("u" tags "+boss-urgent")
8237 ("v" tags-todo "+boss-urgent")
8238 ("U" tags-tree "+boss-urgent")
8239 ("f" occur-tree "\\<FIXME\\>")
8240 ("h" . "HOME+Name tags searches") ; description for "h" prefix
8241 ("hl" tags "+home+Lisa")
8242 ("hp" tags "+home+Peter")
8243 ("hk" tags "+home+Kim")))
8248 The initial string in each entry defines the keys you have to press
8249 after the dispatcher command @kbd{C-c a} in order to access the command.
8250 Usually this will be just a single character, but if you have many
8251 similar commands, you can also define two-letter combinations where the
8252 first character is the same in several combinations and serves as a
8253 prefix key@footnote{You can provide a description for a prefix key by
8254 inserting a cons cell with the prefix and the description.}. The second
8255 parameter is the search type, followed by the string or regular
8256 expression to be used for the matching. The example above will
8261 as a global search for TODO entries with @samp{WAITING} as the TODO
8264 as the same search, but only in the current buffer and displaying the
8265 results as a sparse tree
8267 as a global tags search for headlines marked @samp{:boss:} but not
8270 as the same search as @kbd{C-c a u}, but limiting the search to
8271 headlines that are also TODO items
8273 as the same search as @kbd{C-c a u}, but only in the current buffer and
8274 displaying the result as a sparse tree
8276 to create a sparse tree (again: current buffer only) with all entries
8277 containing the word @samp{FIXME}
8279 as a prefix command for a HOME tags search where you have to press an
8280 additional key (@kbd{l}, @kbd{p} or @kbd{k}) to select a name (Lisa,
8281 Peter, or Kim) as additional tag to match.
8284 @node Block agenda, Setting Options, Storing searches, Custom agenda views
8285 @subsection Block agenda
8286 @cindex block agenda
8287 @cindex agenda, with block views
8289 Another possibility is the construction of agenda views that comprise
8290 the results of @emph{several} commands, each of which creates a block in
8291 the agenda buffer. The available commands include @code{agenda} for the
8292 daily or weekly agenda (as created with @kbd{C-c a a}), @code{alltodo}
8293 for the global TODO list (as constructed with @kbd{C-c a t}), and the
8294 matching commands discussed above: @code{todo}, @code{tags}, and
8295 @code{tags-todo}. Here are two examples:
8299 (setq org-agenda-custom-commands
8300 '(("h" "Agenda and Home-related tasks"
8304 ("o" "Agenda and Office-related tasks"
8312 This will define @kbd{C-c a h} to create a multi-block view for stuff
8313 you need to attend to at home. The resulting agenda buffer will contain
8314 your agenda for the current week, all TODO items that carry the tag
8315 @samp{home}, and also all lines tagged with @samp{garden}. Finally the
8316 command @kbd{C-c a o} provides a similar view for office tasks.
8318 @node Setting Options, , Block agenda, Custom agenda views
8319 @subsection Setting options for custom commands
8320 @cindex options, for custom agenda views
8322 @vindex org-agenda-custom-commands
8323 Org-mode contains a number of variables regulating agenda construction
8324 and display. The global variables define the behavior for all agenda
8325 commands, including the custom commands. However, if you want to change
8326 some settings just for a single custom view, you can do so. Setting
8327 options requires inserting a list of variable names and values at the
8328 right spot in @code{org-agenda-custom-commands}. For example:
8332 (setq org-agenda-custom-commands
8333 '(("w" todo "WAITING"
8334 ((org-agenda-sorting-strategy '(priority-down))
8335 (org-agenda-prefix-format " Mixed: ")))
8336 ("U" tags-tree "+boss-urgent"
8337 ((org-show-following-heading nil)
8338 (org-show-hierarchy-above nil)))
8340 ((org-agenda-files '("~org/notes.org"))
8341 (org-agenda-text-search-extra-files nil)))))
8346 Now the @kbd{C-c a w} command will sort the collected entries only by
8347 priority, and the prefix format is modified to just say @samp{ Mixed: }
8348 instead of giving the category of the entry. The sparse tags tree of
8349 @kbd{C-c a U} will now turn out ultra-compact, because neither the
8350 headline hierarchy above the match, nor the headline following the match
8351 will be shown. The command @kbd{C-c a N} will do a text search limited
8352 to only a single file.
8354 @vindex org-agenda-custom-commands
8355 For command sets creating a block agenda,
8356 @code{org-agenda-custom-commands} has two separate spots for setting
8357 options. You can add options that should be valid for just a single
8358 command in the set, and options that should be valid for all commands in
8359 the set. The former are just added to the command entry; the latter
8360 must come after the list of command entries. Going back to the block
8361 agenda example (@pxref{Block agenda}), let's change the sorting strategy
8362 for the @kbd{C-c a h} commands to @code{priority-down}, but let's sort
8363 the results for GARDEN tags query in the opposite order,
8364 @code{priority-up}. This would look like this:
8368 (setq org-agenda-custom-commands
8369 '(("h" "Agenda and Home-related tasks"
8373 ((org-agenda-sorting-strategy '(priority-up)))))
8374 ((org-agenda-sorting-strategy '(priority-down))))
8375 ("o" "Agenda and Office-related tasks"
8382 As you see, the values and parentheses setting is a little complex.
8383 When in doubt, use the customize interface to set this variable---it
8384 fully supports its structure. Just one caveat: when setting options in
8385 this interface, the @emph{values} are just Lisp expressions. So if the
8386 value is a string, you need to add the double-quotes around the value
8390 @node Exporting Agenda Views, Agenda column view, Custom agenda views, Agenda Views
8391 @section Exporting Agenda Views
8392 @cindex agenda views, exporting
8394 If you are away from your computer, it can be very useful to have a printed
8395 version of some agenda views to carry around. Org-mode can export custom
8396 agenda views as plain text, HTML@footnote{You need to install Hrvoje Niksic's
8397 @file{htmlize.el}.}, Postscript, PDF@footnote{To create PDF output, the
8398 ghostscript @file{ps2pdf} utility must be installed on the system. Selecting
8399 a PDF file with also create the postscript file.}, and iCalendar files. If
8400 you want to do this only occasionally, use the command
8403 @orgcmd{C-x C-w,org-write-agenda}
8404 @cindex exporting agenda views
8405 @cindex agenda views, exporting
8406 @vindex org-agenda-exporter-settings
8407 Write the agenda view to a file. Depending on the extension of the selected
8408 file name, the view will be exported as HTML (extension @file{.html} or
8409 @file{.htm}), Postscript (extension @file{.ps}), iCalendar (extension
8410 @file{.ics}), or plain text (any other extension). Use the variable
8411 @code{org-agenda-exporter-settings} to set options for @file{ps-print} and
8412 for @file{htmlize} to be used during export, for example
8414 @vindex org-agenda-add-entry-text-maxlines
8415 @vindex htmlize-output-type
8416 @vindex ps-number-of-columns
8417 @vindex ps-landscape-mode
8419 (setq org-agenda-exporter-settings
8420 '((ps-number-of-columns 2)
8421 (ps-landscape-mode t)
8422 (org-agenda-add-entry-text-maxlines 5)
8423 (htmlize-output-type 'css)))
8427 If you need to export certain agenda views frequently, you can associate
8428 any custom agenda command with a list of output file names
8429 @footnote{If you want to store standard views like the weekly agenda
8430 or the global TODO list as well, you need to define custom commands for
8431 them in order to be able to specify file names.}. Here is an example
8432 that first defines custom commands for the agenda and the global
8433 TODO list, together with a number of files to which to export them.
8434 Then we define two block agenda commands and specify file names for them
8435 as well. File names can be relative to the current working directory,
8440 (setq org-agenda-custom-commands
8441 '(("X" agenda "" nil ("agenda.html" "agenda.ps"))
8442 ("Y" alltodo "" nil ("todo.html" "todo.txt" "todo.ps"))
8443 ("h" "Agenda and Home-related tasks"
8448 ("~/views/home.html"))
8449 ("o" "Agenda and Office-related tasks"
8454 ("~/views/office.ps" "~/calendars/office.ics"))))
8458 The extension of the file name determines the type of export. If it is
8459 @file{.html}, Org-mode will use the @file{htmlize.el} package to convert
8460 the buffer to HTML and save it to this file name. If the extension is
8461 @file{.ps}, @code{ps-print-buffer-with-faces} is used to produce
8462 Postscript output. If the extension is @file{.ics}, iCalendar export is
8463 run export over all files that were used to construct the agenda, and
8464 limit the export to entries listed in the agenda. Any other
8465 extension produces a plain ASCII file.
8467 The export files are @emph{not} created when you use one of those
8468 commands interactively because this might use too much overhead.
8469 Instead, there is a special command to produce @emph{all} specified
8473 @orgcmd{C-c a e,org-store-agenda-views}
8474 Export all agenda views that have export file names associated with
8478 You can use the options section of the custom agenda commands to also
8479 set options for the export commands. For example:
8482 (setq org-agenda-custom-commands
8484 ((ps-number-of-columns 2)
8485 (ps-landscape-mode t)
8486 (org-agenda-prefix-format " [ ] ")
8487 (org-agenda-with-colors nil)
8488 (org-agenda-remove-tags t))
8493 This command sets two options for the Postscript exporter, to make it
8494 print in two columns in landscape format---the resulting page can be cut
8495 in two and then used in a paper agenda. The remaining settings modify
8496 the agenda prefix to omit category and scheduling information, and
8497 instead include a checkbox to check off items. We also remove the tags
8498 to make the lines compact, and we don't want to use colors for the
8499 black-and-white printer. Settings specified in
8500 @code{org-agenda-exporter-settings} will also apply, but the settings
8501 in @code{org-agenda-custom-commands} take precedence.
8504 From the command line you may also use
8506 emacs -f org-batch-store-agenda-views -kill
8509 or, if you need to modify some parameters@footnote{Quoting depends on the
8510 system you use, please check the FAQ for examples.}
8512 emacs -eval '(org-batch-store-agenda-views \
8513 org-agenda-span month \
8514 org-agenda-start-day "2007-11-01" \
8515 org-agenda-include-diary nil \
8516 org-agenda-files (quote ("~/org/project.org")))' \
8520 which will create the agenda views restricted to the file
8521 @file{~/org/project.org}, without diary entries and with a 30-day
8524 You can also extract agenda information in a way that allows further
8525 processing by other programs. See @ref{Extracting agenda information}, for
8529 @node Agenda column view, , Exporting Agenda Views, Agenda Views
8530 @section Using column view in the agenda
8531 @cindex column view, in agenda
8532 @cindex agenda, column view
8534 Column view (@pxref{Column view}) is normally used to view and edit
8535 properties embedded in the hierarchical structure of an Org file. It can be
8536 quite useful to use column view also from the agenda, where entries are
8537 collected by certain criteria.
8540 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-c,org-agenda-columns}
8541 Turn on column view in the agenda.
8544 To understand how to use this properly, it is important to realize that the
8545 entries in the agenda are no longer in their proper outline environment.
8546 This causes the following issues:
8550 @vindex org-columns-default-format
8551 @vindex org-overriding-columns-format
8552 Org needs to make a decision which @code{COLUMNS} format to use. Since the
8553 entries in the agenda are collected from different files, and different files
8554 may have different @code{COLUMNS} formats, this is a non-trivial problem.
8555 Org first checks if the variable @code{org-agenda-overriding-columns-format} is
8556 currently set, and if so, takes the format from there. Otherwise it takes
8557 the format associated with the first item in the agenda, or, if that item
8558 does not have a specific format (defined in a property, or in its file), it
8559 uses @code{org-columns-default-format}.
8561 @cindex property, special, CLOCKSUM
8562 If any of the columns has a summary type defined (@pxref{Column attributes}),
8563 turning on column view in the agenda will visit all relevant agenda files and
8564 make sure that the computations of this property are up to date. This is
8565 also true for the special @code{CLOCKSUM} property. Org will then sum the
8566 values displayed in the agenda. In the daily/weekly agenda, the sums will
8567 cover a single day; in all other views they cover the entire block. It is
8568 vital to realize that the agenda may show the same entry @emph{twice} (for
8569 example as scheduled and as a deadline), and it may show two entries from the
8570 same hierarchy (for example a @emph{parent} and its @emph{child}). In these
8571 cases, the summation in the agenda will lead to incorrect results because
8572 some values will count double.
8574 When the column view in the agenda shows the @code{CLOCKSUM}, that is always
8575 the entire clocked time for this item. So even in the daily/weekly agenda,
8576 the clocksum listed in column view may originate from times outside the
8577 current view. This has the advantage that you can compare these values with
8578 a column listing the planned total effort for a task---one of the major
8579 applications for column view in the agenda. If you want information about
8580 clocked time in the displayed period use clock table mode (press @kbd{R} in
8585 @node Markup, Exporting, Agenda Views, Top
8586 @chapter Markup for rich export
8588 When exporting Org-mode documents, the exporter tries to reflect the
8589 structure of the document as accurately as possible in the backend. Since
8590 export targets like HTML, @LaTeX{}, or DocBook allow much richer formatting,
8591 Org-mode has rules on how to prepare text for rich export. This section
8592 summarizes the markup rules used in an Org-mode buffer.
8595 * Structural markup elements:: The basic structure as seen by the exporter
8596 * Images and tables:: Tables and Images will be included
8597 * Literal examples:: Source code examples with special formatting
8598 * Include files:: Include additional files into a document
8599 * Index entries:: Making an index
8600 * Macro replacement:: Use macros to create complex output
8601 * Embedded LaTeX:: LaTeX can be freely used inside Org documents
8604 @node Structural markup elements, Images and tables, Markup, Markup
8605 @section Structural markup elements
8608 * Document title:: Where the title is taken from
8609 * Headings and sections:: The document structure as seen by the exporter
8610 * Table of contents:: The if and where of the table of contents
8611 * Initial text:: Text before the first heading?
8613 * Paragraphs:: Paragraphs
8614 * Footnote markup:: Footnotes
8615 * Emphasis and monospace:: Bold, italic, etc.
8616 * Horizontal rules:: Make a line
8617 * Comment lines:: What will *not* be exported
8620 @node Document title, Headings and sections, Structural markup elements, Structural markup elements
8621 @subheading Document title
8622 @cindex document title, markup rules
8625 The title of the exported document is taken from the special line
8629 #+TITLE: This is the title of the document
8633 If this line does not exist, the title is derived from the first non-empty,
8634 non-comment line in the buffer. If no such line exists, or if you have
8635 turned off exporting of the text before the first headline (see below), the
8636 title will be the file name without extension.
8638 @cindex property, EXPORT_TITLE
8639 If you are exporting only a subtree by marking is as the region, the heading
8640 of the subtree will become the title of the document. If the subtree has a
8641 property @code{EXPORT_TITLE}, that will take precedence.
8643 @node Headings and sections, Table of contents, Document title, Structural markup elements
8644 @subheading Headings and sections
8645 @cindex headings and sections, markup rules
8647 @vindex org-export-headline-levels
8648 The outline structure of the document as described in @ref{Document
8649 Structure}, forms the basis for defining sections of the exported document.
8650 However, since the outline structure is also used for (for example) lists of
8651 tasks, only the first three outline levels will be used as headings. Deeper
8652 levels will become itemized lists. You can change the location of this
8653 switch globally by setting the variable @code{org-export-headline-levels}, or on a
8654 per-file basis with a line
8661 @node Table of contents, Initial text, Headings and sections, Structural markup elements
8662 @subheading Table of contents
8663 @cindex table of contents, markup rules
8665 @vindex org-export-with-toc
8666 The table of contents is normally inserted directly before the first headline
8667 of the file. If you would like to get it to a different location, insert the
8668 string @code{[TABLE-OF-CONTENTS]} on a line by itself at the desired
8669 location. The depth of the table of contents is by default the same as the
8670 number of headline levels, but you can choose a smaller number, or turn off
8671 the table of contents entirely, by configuring the variable
8672 @code{org-export-with-toc}, or on a per-file basis with a line like
8675 #+OPTIONS: toc:2 (only to two levels in TOC)
8676 #+OPTIONS: toc:nil (no TOC at all)
8679 @node Initial text, Lists, Table of contents, Structural markup elements
8680 @subheading Text before the first headline
8681 @cindex text before first headline, markup rules
8684 Org-mode normally exports the text before the first headline, and even uses
8685 the first line as the document title. The text will be fully marked up. If
8686 you need to include literal HTML, @LaTeX{}, or DocBook code, use the special
8687 constructs described below in the sections for the individual exporters.
8689 @vindex org-export-skip-text-before-1st-heading
8690 Some people like to use the space before the first headline for setup and
8691 internal links and therefore would like to control the exported text before
8692 the first headline in a different way. You can do so by setting the variable
8693 @code{org-export-skip-text-before-1st-heading} to @code{t}. On a per-file
8694 basis, you can get the same effect with @samp{#+OPTIONS: skip:t}.
8697 If you still want to have some text before the first headline, use the
8698 @code{#+TEXT} construct:
8702 #+TEXT: This text will go before the *first* headline.
8703 #+TEXT: [TABLE-OF-CONTENTS]
8704 #+TEXT: This goes between the table of contents and the first headline
8707 @node Lists, Paragraphs, Initial text, Structural markup elements
8709 @cindex lists, markup rules
8711 Plain lists as described in @ref{Plain lists}, are translated to the backend's
8712 syntax for such lists. Most backends support unordered, ordered, and
8715 @node Paragraphs, Footnote markup, Lists, Structural markup elements
8716 @subheading Paragraphs, line breaks, and quoting
8717 @cindex paragraphs, markup rules
8719 Paragraphs are separated by at least one empty line. If you need to enforce
8720 a line break within a paragraph, use @samp{\\} at the end of a line.
8722 To keep the line breaks in a region, but otherwise use normal formatting, you
8723 can use this construct, which can also be used to format poetry.
8725 @cindex #+BEGIN_VERSE
8728 Great clouds overhead
8729 Tiny black birds rise and fall
8736 When quoting a passage from another document, it is customary to format this
8737 as a paragraph that is indented on both the left and the right margin. You
8738 can include quotations in Org-mode documents like this:
8740 @cindex #+BEGIN_QUOTE
8743 Everything should be made as simple as possible,
8744 but not any simpler -- Albert Einstein
8748 If you would like to center some text, do it like this:
8749 @cindex #+BEGIN_CENTER
8752 Everything should be made as simple as possible, \\
8758 @node Footnote markup, Emphasis and monospace, Paragraphs, Structural markup elements
8759 @subheading Footnote markup
8760 @cindex footnotes, markup rules
8761 @cindex @file{footnote.el}
8763 Footnotes defined in the way described in @ref{Footnotes}, will be exported by
8764 all backends. Org allows multiple references to the same note, and
8765 different backends support this to varying degrees.
8767 @node Emphasis and monospace, Horizontal rules, Footnote markup, Structural markup elements
8768 @subheading Emphasis and monospace
8770 @cindex underlined text, markup rules
8771 @cindex bold text, markup rules
8772 @cindex italic text, markup rules
8773 @cindex verbatim text, markup rules
8774 @cindex code text, markup rules
8775 @cindex strike-through text, markup rules
8776 You can make words @b{*bold*}, @i{/italic/}, _underlined_, @code{=code=}
8777 and @code{~verbatim~}, and, if you must, @samp{+strike-through+}. Text
8778 in the code and verbatim string is not processed for Org-mode specific
8779 syntax; it is exported verbatim.
8781 @node Horizontal rules, Comment lines, Emphasis and monospace, Structural markup elements
8782 @subheading Horizontal rules
8783 @cindex horizontal rules, markup rules
8784 A line consisting of only dashes, and at least 5 of them, will be exported as
8785 a horizontal line (@samp{<hr/>} in HTML and @code{\hrule} in @LaTeX{}).
8787 @node Comment lines, , Horizontal rules, Structural markup elements
8788 @subheading Comment lines
8789 @cindex comment lines
8790 @cindex exporting, not
8791 @cindex #+BEGIN_COMMENT
8793 Lines starting with @samp{#} in column zero are treated as comments and will
8794 never be exported. If you want an indented line to be treated as a comment,
8795 start it with @samp{#+ }. Also entire subtrees starting with the word
8796 @samp{COMMENT} will never be exported. Finally, regions surrounded by
8797 @samp{#+BEGIN_COMMENT} ... @samp{#+END_COMMENT} will not be exported.
8802 Toggle the COMMENT keyword at the beginning of an entry.
8806 @node Images and tables, Literal examples, Structural markup elements, Markup
8807 @section Images and Tables
8809 @cindex tables, markup rules
8812 Both the native Org-mode tables (@pxref{Tables}) and tables formatted with
8813 the @file{table.el} package will be exported properly. For Org-mode tables,
8814 the lines before the first horizontal separator line will become table header
8815 lines. You can use the following lines somewhere before the table to assign
8816 a caption and a label for cross references, and in the text you can refer to
8817 the object with @code{\ref@{tab:basic-data@}}:
8820 #+CAPTION: This is the caption for the next table (or link)
8821 #+LABEL: tbl:basic-data
8826 Optionally, the caption can take the form:
8828 #+CAPTION: [Caption for list of figures]@{Caption for table (or link).@}
8831 @cindex inlined images, markup rules
8832 Some backends (HTML, @LaTeX{}, and DocBook) allow you to directly include
8833 images into the exported document. Org does this, if a link to an image
8834 files does not have a description part, for example @code{[[./img/a.jpg]]}.
8835 If you wish to define a caption for the image and maybe a label for internal
8836 cross references, make sure that the link is on a line by itself and precede
8837 it with @code{#+CAPTION} and @code{#+LABEL} as follows:
8840 #+CAPTION: This is the caption for the next figure link (or table)
8841 #+LABEL: fig:SED-HR4049
8845 You may also define additional attributes for the figure. As this is
8846 backend-specific, see the sections about the individual backends for more
8849 @xref{Handling links,the discussion of image links}.
8851 @node Literal examples, Include files, Images and tables, Markup
8852 @section Literal examples
8853 @cindex literal examples, markup rules
8854 @cindex code line references, markup rules
8856 You can include literal examples that should not be subjected to
8857 markup. Such examples will be typeset in monospace, so this is well suited
8858 for source code and similar examples.
8859 @cindex #+BEGIN_EXAMPLE
8863 Some example from a text file.
8867 Note that such blocks may be @i{indented} in order to align nicely with
8868 indented text and in particular with plain list structure (@pxref{Plain
8869 lists}). For simplicity when using small examples, you can also start the
8870 example lines with a colon followed by a space. There may also be additional
8871 whitespace before the colon:
8875 : Some example from a text file.
8878 @cindex formatting source code, markup rules
8879 If the example is source code from a programming language, or any other text
8880 that can be marked up by font-lock in Emacs, you can ask for the example to
8881 look like the fontified Emacs buffer@footnote{This works automatically for
8882 the HTML backend (it requires version 1.34 of the @file{htmlize.el} package,
8883 which is distributed with Org). Fontified code chunks in LaTeX can be
8884 achieved using either the listings or the
8885 @url{http://code.google.com/p/minted, minted,} package. To use listings, turn
8886 on the variable @code{org-export-latex-listings} and ensure that the listings
8887 package is included by the LaTeX header (e.g.@: by configuring
8888 @code{org-export-latex-packages-alist}). See the listings documentation for
8889 configuration options, including obtaining colored output. For minted it is
8890 necessary to install the program @url{http://pygments.org, pygments}, in
8891 addition to setting @code{org-export-latex-minted}, ensuring that the minted
8892 package is included by the LaTeX header, and ensuring that the
8893 @code{-shell-escape} option is passed to @file{pdflatex} (see
8894 @code{org-latex-to-pdf-process}). See the documentation of the variables
8895 @code{org-export-latex-listings} and @code{org-export-latex-minted} for
8896 further details.}. This is done with the @samp{src} block, where you also
8897 need to specify the name of the major mode that should be used to fontify the
8898 example@footnote{Code in @samp{src} blocks may also be evaluated either
8899 interactively or on export. See @pxref{Working With Source Code} for more
8900 information on evaluating code blocks.}:
8904 #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
8905 (defun org-xor (a b)
8911 Both in @code{example} and in @code{src} snippets, you can add a @code{-n}
8912 switch to the end of the @code{BEGIN} line, to get the lines of the example
8913 numbered. If you use a @code{+n} switch, the numbering from the previous
8914 numbered snippet will be continued in the current one. In literal examples,
8915 Org will interpret strings like @samp{(ref:name)} as labels, and use them as
8916 targets for special hyperlinks like @code{[[(name)]]} (i.e.@: the reference name
8917 enclosed in single parenthesis). In HTML, hovering the mouse over such a
8918 link will remote-highlight the corresponding code line, which is kind of
8921 You can also add a @code{-r} switch which @i{removes} the labels from the
8922 source code@footnote{Adding @code{-k} to @code{-n -r} will @i{keep} the
8923 labels in the source code while using line numbers for the links, which might
8924 be useful to explain those in an org-mode example code.}. With the @code{-n}
8925 switch, links to these references will be labeled by the line numbers from
8926 the code listing, otherwise links will use the labels with no parentheses.
8930 #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp -n -r
8931 (save-excursion (ref:sc)
8932 (goto-char (point-min)) (ref:jump)
8934 In line [[(sc)]] we remember the current position. [[(jump)][Line (jump)]]
8938 @vindex org-coderef-label-format
8939 If the syntax for the label format conflicts with the language syntax, use a
8940 @code{-l} switch to change the format, for example @samp{#+BEGIN_SRC pascal
8941 -n -r -l "((%s))"}. See also the variable @code{org-coderef-label-format}.
8943 HTML export also allows examples to be published as text areas, @xref{Text
8944 areas in HTML export}.
8946 Because the @code{#+BEGIN_...} and @code{#+END_...} patterns need to be added
8947 so often, shortcuts are provided using the Easy Templates facility
8948 (@pxref{Easy Templates}).
8953 Edit the source code example at point in its native mode. This works by
8954 switching to a temporary buffer with the source code. You need to exit by
8955 pressing @kbd{C-c '} again@footnote{Upon exit, lines starting with @samp{*}
8956 or @samp{#} will get a comma prepended, to keep them from being interpreted
8957 by Org as outline nodes or special comments. These commas will be stripped
8958 for editing with @kbd{C-c '}, and also for export.}. The edited version will
8959 then replace the old version in the Org buffer. Fixed-width regions
8960 (where each line starts with a colon followed by a space) will be edited
8961 using @code{artist-mode}@footnote{You may select a different-mode with the
8962 variable @code{org-edit-fixed-width-region-mode}.} to allow creating ASCII
8963 drawings easily. Using this command in an empty line will create a new
8967 Calling @code{org-store-link} while editing a source code example in a
8968 temporary buffer created with @kbd{C-c '} will prompt for a label. Make sure
8969 that it is unique in the current buffer, and insert it with the proper
8970 formatting like @samp{(ref:label)} at the end of the current line. Then the
8971 label is stored as a link @samp{(label)}, for retrieval with @kbd{C-c C-l}.
8975 @node Include files, Index entries, Literal examples, Markup
8976 @section Include files
8977 @cindex include files, markup rules
8979 During export, you can include the content of another file. For example, to
8980 include your @file{.emacs} file, you could use:
8984 #+INCLUDE: "~/.emacs" src emacs-lisp
8987 The optional second and third parameter are the markup (e.g.@: @samp{quote},
8988 @samp{example}, or @samp{src}), and, if the markup is @samp{src}, the
8989 language for formatting the contents. The markup is optional; if it is not
8990 given, the text will be assumed to be in Org-mode format and will be
8991 processed normally. The include line will also allow additional keyword
8992 parameters @code{:prefix1} and @code{:prefix} to specify prefixes for the
8993 first line and for each following line, @code{:minlevel} in order to get
8994 org-mode content demoted to a specified level, as well as any options
8995 accepted by the selected markup. For example, to include a file as an item,
8999 #+INCLUDE: "~/snippets/xx" :prefix1 " + " :prefix " "
9002 You can also include a portion of a file by specifying a lines range using
9003 the @code{:lines} parameter. The line at the upper end of the range will not
9004 be included. The start and/or the end of the range may be omitted to use the
9008 #+INCLUDE: "~/.emacs" :lines "5-10" @r{Include lines 5 to 10, 10 excluded}
9009 #+INCLUDE: "~/.emacs" :lines "-10" @r{Include lines 1 to 10, 10 excluded}
9010 #+INCLUDE: "~/.emacs" :lines "10-" @r{Include lines from 10 to EOF}
9016 Visit the include file at point.
9019 @node Index entries, Macro replacement, Include files, Markup
9020 @section Index entries
9021 @cindex index entries, for publishing
9023 You can specify entries that will be used for generating an index during
9024 publishing. This is done by lines starting with @code{#+INDEX}. An entry
9025 the contains an exclamation mark will create a sub item. See @ref{Generating
9026 an index} for more information.
9031 #+INDEX: Application!CV
9037 @node Macro replacement, Embedded LaTeX, Index entries, Markup
9038 @section Macro replacement
9039 @cindex macro replacement, during export
9042 You can define text snippets with
9045 #+MACRO: name replacement text $1, $2 are arguments
9048 @noindent which can be referenced anywhere in the document (even in
9049 code examples) with @code{@{@{@{name(arg1,arg2)@}@}@}}. In addition to
9050 defined macros, @code{@{@{@{title@}@}@}}, @code{@{@{@{author@}@}@}}, etc.,
9051 will reference information set by the @code{#+TITLE:}, @code{#+AUTHOR:}, and
9052 similar lines. Also, @code{@{@{@{date(@var{FORMAT})@}@}@}} and
9053 @code{@{@{@{modification-time(@var{FORMAT})@}@}@}} refer to current date time
9054 and to the modification time of the file being exported, respectively.
9055 @var{FORMAT} should be a format string understood by
9056 @code{format-time-string}.
9058 Macro expansion takes place during export, and some people use it to
9059 construct complex HTML code.
9062 @node Embedded LaTeX, , Macro replacement, Markup
9063 @section Embedded @LaTeX{}
9064 @cindex @TeX{} interpretation
9065 @cindex @LaTeX{} interpretation
9067 Plain ASCII is normally sufficient for almost all note taking. Exceptions
9068 include scientific notes, which often require mathematical symbols and the
9069 occasional formula. @LaTeX{}@footnote{@LaTeX{} is a macro system based on
9070 Donald E. Knuth's @TeX{} system. Many of the features described here as
9071 ``@LaTeX{}'' are really from @TeX{}, but for simplicity I am blurring this
9072 distinction.} is widely used to typeset scientific documents. Org-mode
9073 supports embedding @LaTeX{} code into its files, because many academics are
9074 used to writing and reading @LaTeX{} source code, and because it can be
9075 readily processed to produce pretty output for a number of export backends.
9078 * Special symbols:: Greek letters and other symbols
9079 * Subscripts and superscripts:: Simple syntax for raising/lowering text
9080 * LaTeX fragments:: Complex formulas made easy
9081 * Previewing LaTeX fragments:: What will this snippet look like?
9082 * CDLaTeX mode:: Speed up entering of formulas
9085 @node Special symbols, Subscripts and superscripts, Embedded LaTeX, Embedded LaTeX
9086 @subsection Special symbols
9087 @cindex math symbols
9088 @cindex special symbols
9089 @cindex @TeX{} macros
9090 @cindex @LaTeX{} fragments, markup rules
9091 @cindex HTML entities
9092 @cindex @LaTeX{} entities
9094 You can use @LaTeX{} macros to insert special symbols like @samp{\alpha} to
9095 indicate the Greek letter, or @samp{\to} to indicate an arrow. Completion
9096 for these macros is available, just type @samp{\} and maybe a few letters,
9097 and press @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} to see possible completions. Unlike @LaTeX{}
9098 code, Org-mode allows these macros to be present without surrounding math
9099 delimiters, for example:
9102 Angles are written as Greek letters \alpha, \beta and \gamma.
9105 @vindex org-entities
9106 During export, these symbols will be transformed into the native format of
9107 the exporter backend. Strings like @code{\alpha} will be exported as
9108 @code{α} in the HTML output, and as @code{$\alpha$} in the @LaTeX{}
9109 output. Similarly, @code{\nbsp} will become @code{ } in HTML and
9110 @code{~} in @LaTeX{}. If you need such a symbol inside a word, terminate it
9111 like this: @samp{\Aacute@{@}stor}.
9113 A large number of entities is provided, with names taken from both HTML and
9114 @LaTeX{}; see the variable @code{org-entities} for the complete list.
9115 @samp{\-} is treated as a shy hyphen, and @samp{--}, @samp{---}, and
9116 @samp{...} are all converted into special commands creating hyphens of
9117 different lengths or a compact set of dots.
9119 If you would like to see entities displayed as UTF8 characters, use the
9120 following command@footnote{You can turn this on by default by setting the
9121 variable @code{org-pretty-entities}, or on a per-file base with the
9122 @code{#+STARTUP} option @code{entitiespretty}.}:
9127 Toggle display of entities as UTF-8 characters. This does not change the
9128 buffer content which remains plain ASCII, but it overlays the UTF-8 character
9129 for display purposes only.
9132 @node Subscripts and superscripts, LaTeX fragments, Special symbols, Embedded LaTeX
9133 @subsection Subscripts and superscripts
9137 Just like in @LaTeX{}, @samp{^} and @samp{_} are used to indicate super-
9138 and subscripts. Again, these can be used without embedding them in
9139 math-mode delimiters. To increase the readability of ASCII text, it is
9140 not necessary (but OK) to surround multi-character sub- and superscripts
9141 with curly braces. For example
9144 The mass of the sun is M_sun = 1.989 x 10^30 kg. The radius of
9145 the sun is R_@{sun@} = 6.96 x 10^8 m.
9148 @vindex org-export-with-sub-superscripts
9149 To avoid interpretation as raised or lowered text, you can quote @samp{^} and
9150 @samp{_} with a backslash: @samp{\^} and @samp{\_}. If you write a text
9151 where the underscore is often used in a different context, Org's convention
9152 to always interpret these as subscripts can get in your way. Configure the
9153 variable @code{org-export-with-sub-superscripts} to globally change this
9154 convention, or use, on a per-file basis:
9160 @noindent With this setting, @samp{a_b} will not be interpreted as a
9161 subscript, but @samp{a_@{b@}} will.
9166 In addition to showing entities as UTF-8 characters, this command will also
9167 format sub- and superscripts in a WYSIWYM way.
9170 @node LaTeX fragments, Previewing LaTeX fragments, Subscripts and superscripts, Embedded LaTeX
9171 @subsection @LaTeX{} fragments
9172 @cindex @LaTeX{} fragments
9174 @vindex org-format-latex-header
9175 Going beyond symbols and sub- and superscripts, a full formula language is
9176 needed. Org-mode can contain @LaTeX{} math fragments, and it supports ways
9177 to process these for several export backends. When exporting to @LaTeX{},
9178 the code is obviously left as it is. When exporting to HTML, Org invokes the
9179 @uref{http://www.mathjax.org, MathJax library} (@pxref{Math formatting in
9180 HTML export}) to process and display the math@footnote{If you plan to use
9181 this regularly or on pages with significant page views, you should install
9182 @file{MathJax} on your own
9183 server in order to limit the load of our server.}. Finally, it can also
9184 process the mathematical expressions into images@footnote{For this to work
9185 you need to be on a system with a working @LaTeX{} installation. You also
9186 need the @file{dvipng} program, available at
9187 @url{http://sourceforge.net/projects/dvipng/}. The @LaTeX{} header that will
9188 be used when processing a fragment can be configured with the variable
9189 @code{org-format-latex-header}.} that can be displayed in a browser or in
9192 @LaTeX{} fragments don't need any special marking at all. The following
9193 snippets will be identified as @LaTeX{} source code:
9196 Environments of any kind@footnote{When @file{MathJax} is used, only the
9197 environment recognized by @file{MathJax} will be processed. When
9198 @file{dvipng} is used to create images, any @LaTeX{} environments will be
9199 handled.}. The only requirement is that the @code{\begin} statement appears
9200 on a new line, preceded by only whitespace.
9202 Text within the usual @LaTeX{} math delimiters. To avoid conflicts with
9203 currency specifications, single @samp{$} characters are only recognized as
9204 math delimiters if the enclosed text contains at most two line breaks, is
9205 directly attached to the @samp{$} characters with no whitespace in between,
9206 and if the closing @samp{$} is followed by whitespace, punctuation or a dash.
9207 For the other delimiters, there is no such restriction, so when in doubt, use
9208 @samp{\(...\)} as inline math delimiters.
9211 @noindent For example:
9214 \begin@{equation@} % arbitrary environments,
9215 x=\sqrt@{b@} % even tables, figures
9216 \end@{equation@} % etc
9218 If $a^2=b$ and \( b=2 \), then the solution must be
9219 either $$ a=+\sqrt@{2@} $$ or \[ a=-\sqrt@{2@} \].
9223 @vindex org-format-latex-options
9224 If you need any of the delimiter ASCII sequences for other purposes, you
9225 can configure the option @code{org-format-latex-options} to deselect the
9226 ones you do not wish to have interpreted by the @LaTeX{} converter.
9228 @vindex org-export-with-LaTeX-fragments
9229 LaTeX processing can be configured with the variable
9230 @code{org-export-with-LaTeX-fragments}. The default setting is @code{t}
9231 which means @file{MathJax} for HTML, and no processing for DocBook, ASCII and
9232 LaTeX backends. You can also set this variable on a per-file basis using one
9236 #+OPTIONS: LaTeX:t @r{Do the right thing automatically (MathJax)}
9237 #+OPTIONS: LaTeX:dvipng @r{Force using dvipng images}
9238 #+OPTIONS: LaTeX:nil @r{Do not process @LaTeX{} fragments at all}
9239 #+OPTIONS: LaTeX:verbatim @r{Verbatim export, for jsMath or so}
9242 @node Previewing LaTeX fragments, CDLaTeX mode, LaTeX fragments, Embedded LaTeX
9243 @subsection Previewing LaTeX fragments
9244 @cindex LaTeX fragments, preview
9246 If you have @file{dvipng} installed, @LaTeX{} fragments can be processed to
9247 produce preview images of the typeset expressions:
9252 Produce a preview image of the @LaTeX{} fragment at point and overlay it
9253 over the source code. If there is no fragment at point, process all
9254 fragments in the current entry (between two headlines). When called
9255 with a prefix argument, process the entire subtree. When called with
9256 two prefix arguments, or when the cursor is before the first headline,
9257 process the entire buffer.
9260 Remove the overlay preview images.
9263 @vindex org-format-latex-options
9264 You can customize the variable @code{org-format-latex-options} to influence
9265 some aspects of the preview. In particular, the @code{:scale} (and for HTML
9266 export, @code{:html-scale}) property can be used to adjust the size of the
9269 @node CDLaTeX mode, , Previewing LaTeX fragments, Embedded LaTeX
9270 @subsection Using CDLa@TeX{} to enter math
9273 CDLa@TeX{} mode is a minor mode that is normally used in combination with a
9274 major @LaTeX{} mode like AUC@TeX{} in order to speed-up insertion of
9275 environments and math templates. Inside Org-mode, you can make use of
9276 some of the features of CDLa@TeX{} mode. You need to install
9277 @file{cdlatex.el} and @file{texmathp.el} (the latter comes also with
9278 AUC@TeX{}) from @url{http://www.astro.uva.nl/~dominik/Tools/cdlatex}.
9279 Don't use CDLa@TeX{} mode itself under Org-mode, but use the light
9280 version @code{org-cdlatex-mode} that comes as part of Org-mode. Turn it
9281 on for the current buffer with @code{M-x org-cdlatex-mode}, or for all
9285 (add-hook 'org-mode-hook 'turn-on-org-cdlatex)
9288 When this mode is enabled, the following features are present (for more
9289 details see the documentation of CDLa@TeX{} mode):
9293 Environment templates can be inserted with @kbd{C-c @{}.
9296 The @key{TAB} key will do template expansion if the cursor is inside a
9297 @LaTeX{} fragment@footnote{Org-mode has a method to test if the cursor is
9298 inside such a fragment, see the documentation of the function
9299 @code{org-inside-LaTeX-fragment-p}.}. For example, @key{TAB} will
9300 expand @code{fr} to @code{\frac@{@}@{@}} and position the cursor
9301 correctly inside the first brace. Another @key{TAB} will get you into
9302 the second brace. Even outside fragments, @key{TAB} will expand
9303 environment abbreviations at the beginning of a line. For example, if
9304 you write @samp{equ} at the beginning of a line and press @key{TAB},
9305 this abbreviation will be expanded to an @code{equation} environment.
9306 To get a list of all abbreviations, type @kbd{M-x cdlatex-command-help}.
9310 @vindex cdlatex-simplify-sub-super-scripts
9311 Pressing @kbd{_} and @kbd{^} inside a @LaTeX{} fragment will insert these
9312 characters together with a pair of braces. If you use @key{TAB} to move
9313 out of the braces, and if the braces surround only a single character or
9314 macro, they are removed again (depending on the variable
9315 @code{cdlatex-simplify-sub-super-scripts}).
9318 Pressing the backquote @kbd{`} followed by a character inserts math
9319 macros, also outside @LaTeX{} fragments. If you wait more than 1.5 seconds
9320 after the backquote, a help window will pop up.
9323 Pressing the single-quote @kbd{'} followed by another character modifies
9324 the symbol before point with an accent or a font. If you wait more than
9325 1.5 seconds after the single-quote, a help window will pop up. Character
9326 modification will work only inside @LaTeX{} fragments; outside the quote
9330 @node Exporting, Publishing, Markup, Top
9334 Org-mode documents can be exported into a variety of other formats. For
9335 printing and sharing of notes, ASCII export produces a readable and simple
9336 version of an Org file. HTML export allows you to publish a notes file on
9337 the web, while the XOXO format provides a solid base for exchange with a
9338 broad range of other applications. @LaTeX{} export lets you use Org-mode and
9339 its structured editing functions to easily create @LaTeX{} files. DocBook
9340 export makes it possible to convert Org files to many other formats using
9341 DocBook tools. For project management you can create gantt and resource
9342 charts by using TaskJuggler export. To incorporate entries with associated
9343 times like deadlines or appointments into a desktop calendar program like
9344 iCal, Org-mode can also produce extracts in the iCalendar format. Currently
9345 Org-mode only supports export, not import of these different formats.
9347 Org supports export of selected regions when @code{transient-mark-mode} is
9348 enabled (default in Emacs 23).
9351 * Selective export:: Using tags to select and exclude trees
9352 * Export options:: Per-file export settings
9353 * The export dispatcher:: How to access exporter commands
9354 * ASCII/Latin-1/UTF-8 export:: Exporting to flat files with encoding
9355 * HTML export:: Exporting to HTML
9356 * LaTeX and PDF export:: Exporting to @LaTeX{}, and processing to PDF
9357 * DocBook export:: Exporting to DocBook
9358 * TaskJuggler export:: Exporting to TaskJuggler
9359 * Freemind export:: Exporting to Freemind mind maps
9360 * XOXO export:: Exporting to XOXO
9361 * iCalendar export:: Exporting in iCalendar format
9364 @node Selective export, Export options, Exporting, Exporting
9365 @section Selective export
9366 @cindex export, selective by tags or TODO keyword
9368 @vindex org-export-select-tags
9369 @vindex org-export-exclude-tags
9370 @cindex org-export-with-tasks
9371 You may use tags to select the parts of a document that should be exported,
9372 or to exclude parts from export. This behavior is governed by two variables:
9373 @code{org-export-select-tags} and @code{org-export-exclude-tags}.
9377 Org first checks if any of the @emph{select} tags is present in the
9378 buffer. If yes, all trees that do not carry one of these tags will be
9379 excluded. If a selected tree is a subtree, the heading hierarchy above it
9380 will also be selected for export, but not the text below those headings.
9383 If none of the select tags is found, the whole buffer will be selected for
9387 Finally, all subtrees that are marked by any of the @emph{exclude} tags will
9388 be removed from the export buffer.
9391 The variable @code{org-export-with-tasks} can be configured to select which
9392 kind of tasks should be included for export. See the docstring of the
9393 variable for more information.
9395 @node Export options, The export dispatcher, Selective export, Exporting
9396 @section Export options
9397 @cindex options, for export
9399 @cindex completion, of option keywords
9400 The exporter recognizes special lines in the buffer which provide
9401 additional information. These lines may be put anywhere in the file.
9402 The whole set of lines can be inserted into the buffer with @kbd{C-c
9403 C-e t}. For individual lines, a good way to make sure the keyword is
9404 correct is to type @samp{#+} and then use @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} completion
9405 (@pxref{Completion}). For a summary of other in-buffer settings not
9406 specifically related to export, see @ref{In-buffer settings}.
9407 In particular, note that you can place commonly-used (export) options in
9408 a separate file which can be included using @code{#+SETUPFILE}.
9411 @orgcmd{C-c C-e t,org-insert-export-options-template}
9412 Insert template with export options, see example below.
9419 @cindex #+DESCRIPTION
9427 @cindex #+EXPORT_SELECT_TAGS
9428 @cindex #+EXPORT_EXCLUDE_TAGS
9430 @cindex #+LATEX_HEADER
9431 @vindex user-full-name
9432 @vindex user-mail-address
9433 @vindex org-export-default-language
9435 #+TITLE: the title to be shown (default is the buffer name)
9436 #+AUTHOR: the author (default taken from @code{user-full-name})
9437 #+DATE: a date, fixed, or a format string for @code{format-time-string}
9438 #+EMAIL: his/her email address (default from @code{user-mail-address})
9439 #+DESCRIPTION: the page description, e.g.@: for the XHTML meta tag
9440 #+KEYWORDS: the page keywords, e.g.@: for the XHTML meta tag
9441 #+LANGUAGE: language for HTML, e.g.@: @samp{en} (@code{org-export-default-language})
9442 #+TEXT: Some descriptive text to be inserted at the beginning.
9443 #+TEXT: Several lines may be given.
9444 #+OPTIONS: H:2 num:t toc:t \n:nil @@:t ::t |:t ^:t f:t TeX:t ...
9445 #+BIND: lisp-var lisp-val, e.g.@:: org-export-latex-low-levels itemize
9446 @r{You need to confirm using these, or configure @code{org-export-allow-BIND}}
9447 #+LINK_UP: the ``up'' link of an exported page
9448 #+LINK_HOME: the ``home'' link of an exported page
9449 #+LATEX_HEADER: extra line(s) for the LaTeX header, like \usepackage@{xyz@}
9450 #+EXPORT_SELECT_TAGS: Tags that select a tree for export
9451 #+EXPORT_EXCLUDE_TAGS: Tags that exclude a tree from export
9452 #+XSLT: the XSLT stylesheet used by DocBook exporter to generate FO file
9456 The OPTIONS line is a compact@footnote{If you want to configure many options
9457 this way, you can use several OPTIONS lines.} form to specify export
9458 settings. Here you can:
9459 @cindex headline levels
9460 @cindex section-numbers
9461 @cindex table of contents
9462 @cindex line-break preservation
9463 @cindex quoted HTML tags
9464 @cindex fixed-width sections
9466 @cindex @TeX{}-like syntax for sub- and superscripts
9468 @cindex special strings
9469 @cindex emphasized text
9470 @cindex @TeX{} macros
9471 @cindex @LaTeX{} fragments
9472 @cindex author info, in export
9473 @cindex time info, in export
9474 @vindex org-export-plist-vars
9475 @vindex org-export-author-info
9476 @vindex org-export-creator-info
9477 @vindex org-export-email-info
9478 @vindex org-export-time-stamp-file
9480 H: @r{set the number of headline levels for export}
9481 num: @r{turn on/off section-numbers}
9482 toc: @r{turn on/off table of contents, or set level limit (integer)}
9483 \n: @r{turn on/off line-break-preservation (DOES NOT WORK)}
9484 @@: @r{turn on/off quoted HTML tags}
9485 :: @r{turn on/off fixed-width sections}
9486 |: @r{turn on/off tables}
9487 ^: @r{turn on/off @TeX{}-like syntax for sub- and superscripts. If}
9488 @r{you write "^:@{@}", @code{a_@{b@}} will be interpreted, but}
9489 @r{the simple @code{a_b} will be left as it is.}
9490 -: @r{turn on/off conversion of special strings.}
9491 f: @r{turn on/off footnotes like this[1].}
9492 todo: @r{turn on/off inclusion of TODO keywords into exported text}
9493 tasks: @r{turn on/off inclusion of tasks (TODO items), can be nil to remove}
9494 @r{all tasks, @code{todo} to remove DONE tasks, or list of kwds to keep}
9495 pri: @r{turn on/off priority cookies}
9496 tags: @r{turn on/off inclusion of tags, may also be @code{not-in-toc}}
9497 <: @r{turn on/off inclusion of any time/date stamps like DEADLINES}
9498 *: @r{turn on/off emphasized text (bold, italic, underlined)}
9499 TeX: @r{turn on/off simple @TeX{} macros in plain text}
9500 LaTeX: @r{configure export of @LaTeX{} fragments. Default @code{auto}}
9501 skip: @r{turn on/off skipping the text before the first heading}
9502 author: @r{turn on/off inclusion of author name/email into exported file}
9503 email: @r{turn on/off inclusion of author email into exported file}
9504 creator: @r{turn on/off inclusion of creator info into exported file}
9505 timestamp: @r{turn on/off inclusion creation time into exported file}
9506 d: @r{turn on/off inclusion of drawers}
9509 These options take effect in both the HTML and @LaTeX{} export, except for
9510 @code{TeX} and @code{LaTeX} options, which are respectively @code{t} and
9511 @code{nil} for the @LaTeX{} export.
9513 The default values for these and many other options are given by a set of
9514 variables. For a list of such variables, the corresponding OPTIONS keys and
9515 also the publishing keys (@pxref{Project alist}), see the constant
9516 @code{org-export-plist-vars}.
9518 When exporting only a single subtree by selecting it with @kbd{C-c @@} before
9519 calling an export command, the subtree can overrule some of the file's export
9520 settings with properties @code{EXPORT_FILE_NAME}, @code{EXPORT_TITLE},
9521 @code{EXPORT_TEXT}, @code{EXPORT_AUTHOR}, @code{EXPORT_DATE}, and
9522 @code{EXPORT_OPTIONS}.
9524 @node The export dispatcher, ASCII/Latin-1/UTF-8 export, Export options, Exporting
9525 @section The export dispatcher
9526 @cindex dispatcher, for export commands
9528 All export commands can be reached using the export dispatcher, which is a
9529 prefix key that prompts for an additional key specifying the command.
9530 Normally the entire file is exported, but if there is an active region that
9531 contains one outline tree, the first heading is used as document title and
9532 the subtrees are exported.
9535 @orgcmd{C-c C-e,org-export}
9536 @vindex org-export-run-in-background
9537 Dispatcher for export and publishing commands. Displays a help-window
9538 listing the additional key(s) needed to launch an export or publishing
9539 command. The prefix arg is passed through to the exporter. A double prefix
9540 @kbd{C-u C-u} causes most commands to be executed in the background, in a
9541 separate Emacs process@footnote{To make this behavior the default, customize
9542 the variable @code{org-export-run-in-background}.}.
9543 @orgcmd{C-c C-e v,org-export-visible}
9544 Like @kbd{C-c C-e}, but only export the text that is currently visible
9545 (i.e.@: not hidden by outline visibility).
9546 @orgcmd{C-u C-u C-c C-e,org-export}
9547 @vindex org-export-run-in-background
9548 Call the exporter, but reverse the setting of
9549 @code{org-export-run-in-background}, i.e.@: request background processing if
9550 not set, or force processing in the current Emacs process if set.
9553 @node ASCII/Latin-1/UTF-8 export, HTML export, The export dispatcher, Exporting
9554 @section ASCII/Latin-1/UTF-8 export
9555 @cindex ASCII export
9556 @cindex Latin-1 export
9557 @cindex UTF-8 export
9559 ASCII export produces a simple and very readable version of an Org-mode
9560 file, containing only plain ASCII. Latin-1 and UTF-8 export augment the file
9561 with special characters and symbols available in these encodings.
9563 @cindex region, active
9564 @cindex active region
9565 @cindex transient-mark-mode
9567 @orgcmd{C-c C-e a,org-export-as-ascii}
9568 @cindex property, EXPORT_FILE_NAME
9569 Export as ASCII file. For an Org file, @file{myfile.org}, the ASCII file
9570 will be @file{myfile.txt}. The file will be overwritten without
9571 warning. If there is an active region@footnote{This requires
9572 @code{transient-mark-mode} be turned on.}, only the region will be
9573 exported. If the selected region is a single tree@footnote{To select the
9574 current subtree, use @kbd{C-c @@}.}, the tree head will
9575 become the document title. If the tree head entry has or inherits an
9576 @code{EXPORT_FILE_NAME} property, that name will be used for the
9578 @orgcmd{C-c C-e A,org-export-as-ascii-to-buffer}
9579 Export to a temporary buffer. Do not create a file.
9580 @orgcmd{C-c C-e n,org-export-as-latin1}
9581 @xorgcmd{C-c C-e N,org-export-as-latin1-to-buffer}
9582 Like the above commands, but use Latin-1 encoding.
9583 @orgcmd{C-c C-e u,org-export-as-utf8}
9584 @xorgcmd{C-c C-e U,org-export-as-utf8-to-buffer}
9585 Like the above commands, but use UTF-8 encoding.
9586 @item C-c C-e v a/n/u
9587 Export only the visible part of the document.
9590 @cindex headline levels, for exporting
9591 In the exported version, the first 3 outline levels will become
9592 headlines, defining a general document structure. Additional levels
9593 will be exported as itemized lists. If you want that transition to occur
9594 at a different level, specify it with a prefix argument. For example,
9601 creates only top level headlines and does the rest as items. When
9602 headlines are converted to items, the indentation of the text following
9603 the headline is changed to fit nicely under the item. This is done with
9604 the assumption that the first body line indicates the base indentation of
9605 the body text. Any indentation larger than this is adjusted to preserve
9606 the layout relative to the first line. Should there be lines with less
9607 indentation than the first, these are left alone.
9609 @vindex org-export-ascii-links-to-notes
9610 Links will be exported in a footnote-like style, with the descriptive part in
9611 the text and the link in a note before the next heading. See the variable
9612 @code{org-export-ascii-links-to-notes} for details and other options.
9614 @node HTML export, LaTeX and PDF export, ASCII/Latin-1/UTF-8 export, Exporting
9615 @section HTML export
9618 Org-mode contains an HTML (XHTML 1.0 strict) exporter with extensive
9619 HTML formatting, in ways similar to John Gruber's @emph{markdown}
9620 language, but with additional support for tables.
9623 * HTML Export commands:: How to invoke HTML export
9624 * HTML preamble and postamble:: How to insert a preamble and a postamble
9625 * Quoting HTML tags:: Using direct HTML in Org-mode
9626 * Links in HTML export:: How links will be interpreted and formatted
9627 * Tables in HTML export:: How to modify the formatting of tables
9628 * Images in HTML export:: How to insert figures into HTML output
9629 * Math formatting in HTML export:: Beautiful math also on the web
9630 * Text areas in HTML export:: An alternative way to show an example
9631 * CSS support:: Changing the appearance of the output
9632 * JavaScript support:: Info and Folding in a web browser
9635 @node HTML Export commands, HTML preamble and postamble, HTML export, HTML export
9636 @subsection HTML export commands
9638 @cindex region, active
9639 @cindex active region
9640 @cindex transient-mark-mode
9642 @orgcmd{C-c C-e h,org-export-as-html}
9643 @cindex property, EXPORT_FILE_NAME
9644 Export as HTML file @file{myfile.html}. For an Org file @file{myfile.org},
9645 the ASCII file will be @file{myfile.html}. The file will be overwritten
9646 without warning. If there is an active region@footnote{This requires
9647 @code{transient-mark-mode} be turned on.}, only the region will be
9648 exported. If the selected region is a single tree@footnote{To select the
9649 current subtree, use @kbd{C-c @@}.}, the tree head will become the document
9650 title. If the tree head entry has, or inherits, an @code{EXPORT_FILE_NAME}
9651 property, that name will be used for the export.
9652 @orgcmd{C-c C-e b,org-export-as-html-and-open}
9653 Export as HTML file and immediately open it with a browser.
9654 @orgcmd{C-c C-e H,org-export-as-html-to-buffer}
9655 Export to a temporary buffer. Do not create a file.
9656 @orgcmd{C-c C-e R,org-export-region-as-html}
9657 Export the active region to a temporary buffer. With a prefix argument, do
9658 not produce the file header and footer, but just the plain HTML section for
9659 the region. This is good for cut-and-paste operations.
9660 @item C-c C-e v h/b/H/R
9661 Export only the visible part of the document.
9662 @item M-x org-export-region-as-html
9663 Convert the region to HTML under the assumption that it was Org-mode
9664 syntax before. This is a global command that can be invoked in any
9666 @item M-x org-replace-region-by-HTML
9667 Replace the active region (assumed to be in Org-mode syntax) by HTML
9671 @cindex headline levels, for exporting
9672 In the exported version, the first 3 outline levels will become headlines,
9673 defining a general document structure. Additional levels will be exported as
9674 itemized lists. If you want that transition to occur at a different level,
9675 specify it with a numeric prefix argument. For example,
9682 creates two levels of headings and does the rest as items.
9685 @node HTML preamble and postamble, Quoting HTML tags, HTML Export commands, HTML export
9686 @subsection HTML preamble and postamble
9687 @vindex org-export-html-preamble
9688 @vindex org-export-html-postamble
9689 @vindex org-export-html-preamble-format
9690 @vindex org-export-html-postamble-format
9691 @vindex org-export-html-validation-link
9692 @vindex org-export-author-info
9693 @vindex org-export-email-info
9694 @vindex org-export-creator-info
9695 @vindex org-export-time-stamp-file
9697 The HTML exporter lets you define a preamble and a postamble.
9699 The default value for @code{org-export-html-preamble} is @code{t}, which
9700 means that the preamble is inserted depending on the relevant formatting
9701 string in @code{org-export-html-preamble-format}. Setting
9702 @code{org-export-html-preamble} to a string will override the default
9703 formatting string. Setting it to a function, will insert the output of the
9704 function. Setting to @code{nil} will not insert any preamble.
9706 The default value for @code{org-export-html-postamble} is @code{'auto}, which
9707 means that the HTML exporter will look for the value of
9708 @code{org-export-author-info}, @code{org-export-email-info},
9709 @code{org-export-creator-info} and @code{org-export-time-stamp-file},
9710 @code{org-export-html-validation-link} and build the postamble from these
9711 values. Setting @code{org-export-html-postamble} to @code{t} will insert the
9712 postamble from the relevant formatting string found in
9713 @code{org-export-html-postamble-format}. Setting it to @code{nil} will not
9714 insert any postamble.
9716 @node Quoting HTML tags, Links in HTML export, HTML preamble and postamble, HTML export
9717 @subsection Quoting HTML tags
9719 Plain @samp{<} and @samp{>} are always transformed to @samp{<} and
9720 @samp{>} in HTML export. If you want to include simple HTML tags
9721 which should be interpreted as such, mark them with @samp{@@} as in
9722 @samp{@@<b>bold text@@</b>}. Note that this really works only for
9723 simple tags. For more extensive HTML that should be copied verbatim to
9724 the exported file use either
9727 @cindex #+BEGIN_HTML
9729 #+HTML: Literal HTML code for export
9733 @cindex #+BEGIN_HTML
9737 All lines between these markers are exported literally
9742 @node Links in HTML export, Tables in HTML export, Quoting HTML tags, HTML export
9743 @subsection Links in HTML export
9745 @cindex links, in HTML export
9746 @cindex internal links, in HTML export
9747 @cindex external links, in HTML export
9748 Internal links (@pxref{Internal links}) will continue to work in HTML. This
9749 includes automatic links created by radio targets (@pxref{Radio
9750 targets}). Links to external files will still work if the target file is on
9751 the same @i{relative} path as the published Org file. Links to other
9752 @file{.org} files will be translated into HTML links under the assumption
9753 that an HTML version also exists of the linked file, at the same relative
9754 path. @samp{id:} links can then be used to jump to specific entries across
9755 files. For information related to linking files while publishing them to a
9756 publishing directory see @ref{Publishing links}.
9758 If you want to specify attributes for links, you can do so using a special
9759 @code{#+ATTR_HTML} line to define attributes that will be added to the
9760 @code{<a>} or @code{<img>} tags. Here is an example that sets @code{title}
9761 and @code{style} attributes for a link:
9765 #+ATTR_HTML: title="The Org-mode homepage" style="color:red;"
9766 [[http://orgmode.org]]
9769 @node Tables in HTML export, Images in HTML export, Links in HTML export, HTML export
9771 @cindex tables, in HTML
9772 @vindex org-export-html-table-tag
9774 Org-mode tables are exported to HTML using the table tag defined in
9775 @code{org-export-html-table-tag}. The default setting makes tables without
9776 cell borders and frame. If you would like to change this for individual
9777 tables, place something like the following before the table:
9782 #+CAPTION: This is a table with lines around and between cells
9783 #+ATTR_HTML: border="2" rules="all" frame="all"
9786 @node Images in HTML export, Math formatting in HTML export, Tables in HTML export, HTML export
9787 @subsection Images in HTML export
9789 @cindex images, inline in HTML
9790 @cindex inlining images in HTML
9791 @vindex org-export-html-inline-images
9792 HTML export can inline images given as links in the Org file, and
9793 it can make an image the clickable part of a link. By
9794 default@footnote{But see the variable
9795 @code{org-export-html-inline-images}.}, images are inlined if a link does
9796 not have a description. So @samp{[[file:myimg.jpg]]} will be inlined,
9797 while @samp{[[file:myimg.jpg][the image]]} will just produce a link
9798 @samp{the image} that points to the image. If the description part
9799 itself is a @code{file:} link or a @code{http:} URL pointing to an
9800 image, this image will be inlined and activated so that clicking on the
9801 image will activate the link. For example, to include a thumbnail that
9802 will link to a high resolution version of the image, you could use:
9805 [[file:highres.jpg][file:thumb.jpg]]
9808 If you need to add attributes to an inlined image, use a @code{#+ATTR_HTML}.
9809 In the example below we specify the @code{alt} and @code{title} attributes to
9810 support text viewers and accessibility, and align it to the right.
9815 #+CAPTION: A black cat stalking a spider
9816 #+ATTR_HTML: alt="cat/spider image" title="Action!" align="right"
9821 and you could use @code{http} addresses just as well.
9823 @node Math formatting in HTML export, Text areas in HTML export, Images in HTML export, HTML export
9824 @subsection Math formatting in HTML export
9828 @LaTeX{} math snippets (@pxref{LaTeX fragments}) can be displayed in two
9829 different ways on HTML pages. The default is to use the
9830 @uref{http://www.mathjax.org, MathJax system} which should work out of the
9831 box with Org mode installation because @code{http://orgmode.org} serves
9832 @file{MathJax} for Org-mode users for small applications and for testing
9833 purposes. @b{If you plan to use this regularly or on pages with significant
9834 page views, you should install@footnote{Installation instructions can be
9835 found on the MathJax website, see
9836 @uref{http://www.mathjax.org/resources/docs/?installation.html}.} MathJax on
9837 your own server in order to limit the load of our server.} To configure
9838 @file{MathJax}, use the variable @code{org-export-html-mathjax-options} or
9839 insert something like the following into the buffer:
9842 #+MATHJAX: align:"left" mathml:t path:"/MathJax/MathJax.js"
9845 @noindent See the docstring of the variable
9846 @code{org-export-html-mathjax-options} for the meaning of the parameters in
9849 If you prefer, you can also request that @LaTeX{} fragments are processed
9850 into small images that will be inserted into the browser page. Before the
9851 availability of MathJax, this was the default method for Org files. This
9852 method requires that the @file{dvipng} program is available on your system.
9853 You can still get this processing with
9856 #+OPTIONS: LaTeX:dvipng
9859 @node Text areas in HTML export, CSS support, Math formatting in HTML export, HTML export
9860 @subsection Text areas in HTML export
9862 @cindex text areas, in HTML
9863 An alternative way to publish literal code examples in HTML is to use text
9864 areas, where the example can even be edited before pasting it into an
9865 application. It is triggered by a @code{-t} switch at an @code{example} or
9866 @code{src} block. Using this switch disables any options for syntax and
9867 label highlighting, and line numbering, which may be present. You may also
9868 use @code{-h} and @code{-w} switches to specify the height and width of the
9869 text area, which default to the number of lines in the example, and 80,
9870 respectively. For example
9873 #+BEGIN_EXAMPLE -t -w 40
9874 (defun org-xor (a b)
9881 @node CSS support, JavaScript support, Text areas in HTML export, HTML export
9882 @subsection CSS support
9883 @cindex CSS, for HTML export
9884 @cindex HTML export, CSS
9886 @vindex org-export-html-todo-kwd-class-prefix
9887 @vindex org-export-html-tag-class-prefix
9888 You can also give style information for the exported file. The HTML exporter
9889 assigns the following special CSS classes@footnote{If the classes on TODO
9890 keywords and tags lead to conflicts, use the variables
9891 @code{org-export-html-todo-kwd-class-prefix} and
9892 @code{org-export-html-tag-class-prefix} to make them unique.} to appropriate
9893 parts of the document---your style specifications may change these, in
9894 addition to any of the standard classes like for headlines, tables, etc.
9896 p.author @r{author information, including email}
9897 p.date @r{publishing date}
9898 p.creator @r{creator info, about org-mode version}
9899 .title @r{document title}
9900 .todo @r{TODO keywords, all not-done states}
9901 .done @r{the DONE keywords, all states that count as done}
9902 .WAITING @r{each TODO keyword also uses a class named after itself}
9903 .timestamp @r{timestamp}
9904 .timestamp-kwd @r{keyword associated with a timestamp, like SCHEDULED}
9905 .timestamp-wrapper @r{span around keyword plus timestamp}
9906 .tag @r{tag in a headline}
9907 ._HOME @r{each tag uses itself as a class, "@@" replaced by "_"}
9908 .target @r{target for links}
9909 .linenr @r{the line number in a code example}
9910 .code-highlighted @r{for highlighting referenced code lines}
9911 div.outline-N @r{div for outline level N (headline plus text))}
9912 div.outline-text-N @r{extra div for text at outline level N}
9913 .section-number-N @r{section number in headlines, different for each level}
9914 div.figure @r{how to format an inlined image}
9915 pre.src @r{formatted source code}
9916 pre.example @r{normal example}
9917 p.verse @r{verse paragraph}
9918 div.footnotes @r{footnote section headline}
9919 p.footnote @r{footnote definition paragraph, containing a footnote}
9920 .footref @r{a footnote reference number (always a <sup>)}
9921 .footnum @r{footnote number in footnote definition (always <sup>)}
9924 @vindex org-export-html-style-default
9925 @vindex org-export-html-style-include-default
9926 @vindex org-export-html-style
9927 @vindex org-export-html-extra
9928 @vindex org-export-html-style-default
9929 Each exported file contains a compact default style that defines these
9930 classes in a basic way@footnote{This style is defined in the constant
9931 @code{org-export-html-style-default}, which you should not modify. To turn
9932 inclusion of these defaults off, customize
9933 @code{org-export-html-style-include-default}}. You may overwrite these
9934 settings, or add to them by using the variables @code{org-export-html-style}
9935 (for Org-wide settings) and @code{org-export-html-style-extra} (for more
9936 fine-grained settings, like file-local settings). To set the latter variable
9937 individually for each file, you can use
9941 #+STYLE: <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" />
9945 For longer style definitions, you can use several such lines. You could also
9946 directly write a @code{<style>} @code{</style>} section in this way, without
9947 referring to an external file.
9949 In order to add styles to a subtree, use the @code{:HTML_CONTAINER_CLASS:}
9950 property to assign a class to the tree. In order to specify CSS styles for a
9951 particular headline, you can use the id specified in a @code{:CUSTOM_ID:}
9954 @c FIXME: More about header and footer styles
9955 @c FIXME: Talk about links and targets.
9957 @node JavaScript support, , CSS support, HTML export
9958 @subsection JavaScript supported display of web pages
9960 @cindex Rose, Sebastian
9961 Sebastian Rose has written a JavaScript program especially designed to
9962 enhance the web viewing experience of HTML files created with Org. This
9963 program allows you to view large files in two different ways. The first one
9964 is an @emph{Info}-like mode where each section is displayed separately and
9965 navigation can be done with the @kbd{n} and @kbd{p} keys (and some other keys
9966 as well, press @kbd{?} for an overview of the available keys). The second
9967 view type is a @emph{folding} view much like Org provides inside Emacs. The
9968 script is available at @url{http://orgmode.org/org-info.js} and you can find
9969 the documentation for it at @url{http://orgmode.org/worg/code/org-info-js/}.
9970 We host the script at our site, but if you use it a lot, you might
9971 not want to be dependent on @url{orgmode.org} and prefer to install a local
9972 copy on your own web server.
9974 To use the script, you need to make sure that the @file{org-jsinfo.el} module
9975 gets loaded. It should be loaded by default, but you can try @kbd{M-x
9976 customize-variable @key{RET} org-modules @key{RET}} to convince yourself that
9977 this is indeed the case. All it then takes to make use of the program is
9978 adding a single line to the Org file:
9980 @cindex #+INFOJS_OPT
9982 #+INFOJS_OPT: view:info toc:nil
9986 If this line is found, the HTML header will automatically contain the code
9987 needed to invoke the script. Using the line above, you can set the following
9991 path: @r{The path to the script. The default is to grab the script from}
9992 @r{@url{http://orgmode.org/org-info.js}, but you might want to have}
9993 @r{a local copy and use a path like @samp{../scripts/org-info.js}.}
9994 view: @r{Initial view when website is first shown. Possible values are:}
9995 info @r{Info-like interface with one section per page.}
9996 overview @r{Folding interface, initially showing only top-level.}
9997 content @r{Folding interface, starting with all headlines visible.}
9998 showall @r{Folding interface, all headlines and text visible.}
9999 sdepth: @r{Maximum headline level that will still become an independent}
10000 @r{section for info and folding modes. The default is taken from}
10001 @r{@code{org-export-headline-levels} (= the @code{H} switch in @code{#+OPTIONS}).}
10002 @r{If this is smaller than in @code{org-export-headline-levels}, each}
10003 @r{info/folding section can still contain child headlines.}
10004 toc: @r{Should the table of contents @emph{initially} be visible?}
10005 @r{Even when @code{nil}, you can always get to the "toc" with @kbd{i}.}
10006 tdepth: @r{The depth of the table of contents. The defaults are taken from}
10007 @r{the variables @code{org-export-headline-levels} and @code{org-export-with-toc}.}
10008 ftoc: @r{Does the CSS of the page specify a fixed position for the "toc"?}
10009 @r{If yes, the toc will never be displayed as a section.}
10010 ltoc: @r{Should there be short contents (children) in each section?}
10011 @r{Make this @code{above} if the section should be above initial text.}
10012 mouse: @r{Headings are highlighted when the mouse is over them. Should be}
10013 @r{@samp{underline} (default) or a background color like @samp{#cccccc}.}
10014 buttons: @r{Should view-toggle buttons be everywhere? When @code{nil} (the}
10015 @r{default), only one such button will be present.}
10018 @vindex org-infojs-options
10019 @vindex org-export-html-use-infojs
10020 You can choose default values for these options by customizing the variable
10021 @code{org-infojs-options}. If you always want to apply the script to your
10022 pages, configure the variable @code{org-export-html-use-infojs}.
10024 @node LaTeX and PDF export, DocBook export, HTML export, Exporting
10025 @section @LaTeX{} and PDF export
10026 @cindex @LaTeX{} export
10028 @cindex Guerry, Bastien
10030 Org-mode contains a @LaTeX{} exporter written by Bastien Guerry. With
10031 further processing@footnote{The default LaTeX output is designed for
10032 processing with pdftex or latex. It includes packages that are not
10033 compatible with xetex and possibly luatex. See the variables
10034 @code{org-export-latex-default-packages-alist} and
10035 @code{org-export-latex-packages-alist}.}, this backend is also used to
10036 produce PDF output. Since the @LaTeX{} output uses @file{hyperref} to
10037 implement links and cross references, the PDF output file will be fully
10038 linked. Beware of the fact that your @code{org} file has to be properly
10039 structured in order to be correctly exported: respect the hierarchy of
10043 * LaTeX/PDF export commands:: Which key invokes which commands
10044 * Header and sectioning:: Setting up the export file structure
10045 * Quoting LaTeX code:: Incorporating literal @LaTeX{} code
10046 * Tables in LaTeX export:: Options for exporting tables to @LaTeX{}
10047 * Images in LaTeX export:: How to insert figures into @LaTeX{} output
10048 * Beamer class export:: Turning the file into a presentation
10051 @node LaTeX/PDF export commands, Header and sectioning, LaTeX and PDF export, LaTeX and PDF export
10052 @subsection @LaTeX{} export commands
10054 @cindex region, active
10055 @cindex active region
10056 @cindex transient-mark-mode
10058 @orgcmd{C-c C-e l,org-export-as-latex}
10059 @cindex property EXPORT_FILE_NAME
10060 Export as @LaTeX{} file @file{myfile.tex}. For an Org file
10061 @file{myfile.org}, the ASCII file will be @file{myfile.tex}. The file will
10062 be overwritten without warning. If there is an active region@footnote{This
10063 requires @code{transient-mark-mode} be turned on.}, only the region will be
10064 exported. If the selected region is a single tree@footnote{To select the
10065 current subtree, use @kbd{C-c @@}.}, the tree head will become the document
10066 title. If the tree head entry has or inherits an @code{EXPORT_FILE_NAME}
10067 property, that name will be used for the export.
10068 @orgcmd{C-c C-e L,org-export-as-latex-to-buffer}
10069 Export to a temporary buffer. Do not create a file.
10070 @item C-c C-e v l/L
10071 Export only the visible part of the document.
10072 @item M-x org-export-region-as-latex
10073 Convert the region to @LaTeX{} under the assumption that it was Org-mode
10074 syntax before. This is a global command that can be invoked in any
10076 @item M-x org-replace-region-by-latex
10077 Replace the active region (assumed to be in Org-mode syntax) by @LaTeX{}
10079 @orgcmd{C-c C-e p,org-export-as-pdf}
10080 Export as @LaTeX{} and then process to PDF.
10081 @orgcmd{C-c C-e d,org-export-as-pdf-and-open}
10082 Export as @LaTeX{} and then process to PDF, then open the resulting PDF file.
10085 @cindex headline levels, for exporting
10086 @vindex org-latex-low-levels
10087 In the exported version, the first 3 outline levels will become
10088 headlines, defining a general document structure. Additional levels
10089 will be exported as description lists. The exporter can ignore them or
10090 convert them to a custom string depending on
10091 @code{org-latex-low-levels}.
10093 If you want that transition to occur at a different level, specify it
10094 with a numeric prefix argument. For example,
10097 @kbd{C-2 C-c C-e l}
10101 creates two levels of headings and does the rest as items.
10103 @node Header and sectioning, Quoting LaTeX code, LaTeX/PDF export commands, LaTeX and PDF export
10104 @subsection Header and sectioning structure
10105 @cindex @LaTeX{} class
10106 @cindex @LaTeX{} sectioning structure
10107 @cindex @LaTeX{} header
10108 @cindex header, for LaTeX files
10109 @cindex sectioning structure, for LaTeX export
10111 By default, the @LaTeX{} output uses the class @code{article}.
10113 @vindex org-export-latex-default-class
10114 @vindex org-export-latex-classes
10115 @vindex org-export-latex-default-packages-alist
10116 @vindex org-export-latex-packages-alist
10117 @cindex #+LATEX_HEADER
10118 @cindex #+LATEX_CLASS
10119 @cindex #+LATEX_CLASS_OPTIONS
10120 @cindex property, LATEX_CLASS
10121 @cindex property, LATEX_CLASS_OPTIONS
10122 You can change this globally by setting a different value for
10123 @code{org-export-latex-default-class} or locally by adding an option like
10124 @code{#+LaTeX_CLASS: myclass} in your file, or with a @code{:LaTeX_CLASS:}
10125 property that applies when exporting a region containing only this (sub)tree.
10126 The class must be listed in @code{org-export-latex-classes}. This variable
10127 defines a header template for each class@footnote{Into which the values of
10128 @code{org-export-latex-default-packages-alist} and
10129 @code{org-export-latex-packages-alist} are spliced.}, and allows you to
10130 define the sectioning structure for each class. You can also define your own
10131 classes there. @code{#+LaTeX_CLASS_OPTIONS} or a @code{LaTeX_CLASS_OPTIONS}
10132 property can specify the options for the @code{\documentclass} macro. You
10133 can also use @code{#+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage@{xyz@}} to add lines to the
10134 header. See the docstring of @code{org-export-latex-classes} for more
10137 @node Quoting LaTeX code, Tables in LaTeX export, Header and sectioning, LaTeX and PDF export
10138 @subsection Quoting @LaTeX{} code
10140 Embedded @LaTeX{} as described in @ref{Embedded LaTeX}, will be correctly
10141 inserted into the @LaTeX{} file. This includes simple macros like
10142 @samp{\ref@{LABEL@}} to create a cross reference to a figure. Furthermore,
10143 you can add special code that should only be present in @LaTeX{} export with
10144 the following constructs:
10147 @cindex #+BEGIN_LaTeX
10149 #+LaTeX: Literal LaTeX code for export
10153 @cindex #+BEGIN_LaTeX
10157 All lines between these markers are exported literally
10162 @node Tables in LaTeX export, Images in LaTeX export, Quoting LaTeX code, LaTeX and PDF export
10163 @subsection Tables in @LaTeX{} export
10164 @cindex tables, in @LaTeX{} export
10166 For @LaTeX{} export of a table, you can specify a label, a caption and
10167 placement options (@pxref{Images and tables}). You can also use the
10168 @code{ATTR_LaTeX} line to request a @code{longtable} environment for the
10169 table, so that it may span several pages, or to change the default table
10170 environment from @code{table} to @code{table*} or to change the default inner
10171 tabular environment to @code{tabularx} or @code{tabulary}. Finally, you can
10172 set the alignment string, and (with @code{tabularx} or @code{tabulary}) the
10177 @cindex #+ATTR_LaTeX
10179 #+CAPTION: A long table
10181 #+ATTR_LaTeX: longtable align=l|lp@{3cm@}r|l
10186 or to specify a multicolumn table with @code{tabulary}
10190 @cindex #+ATTR_LaTeX
10192 #+CAPTION: A wide table with tabulary
10194 #+ATTR_LaTeX: table* tabulary width=\textwidth
10199 @node Images in LaTeX export, Beamer class export, Tables in LaTeX export, LaTeX and PDF export
10200 @subsection Images in @LaTeX{} export
10201 @cindex images, inline in @LaTeX{}
10202 @cindex inlining images in @LaTeX{}
10204 Images that are linked to without a description part in the link, like
10205 @samp{[[file:img.jpg]]} or @samp{[[./img.jpg]]} will be inserted into the PDF
10206 output file resulting from @LaTeX{} processing. Org will use an
10207 @code{\includegraphics} macro to insert the image. If you have specified a
10208 caption and/or a label as described in @ref{Images and tables}, the figure
10209 will be wrapped into a @code{figure} environment and thus become a floating
10210 element. You can use an @code{#+ATTR_LaTeX:} line to specify the various
10211 options that can be used in the optional argument of the
10212 @code{\includegraphics} macro. To modify the placement option of the
10213 @code{figure} environment, add something like @samp{placement=[h!]} to the
10214 Attributes. It is to be noted this option can be used with tables as well.
10215 The options are passed as the placement option to floating environments like
10216 @code{figure} or @code{table}. One can pass other compatible options as well.
10217 For example the @code{#+ATTR_LaTeX:} line below is exported as the
10218 @code{figure} environment below it.
10220 @cindex #+ATTR_LaTeX
10222 #+ATTR_LaTeX: placement=[<options>]\footnotesize
10224 \begin{figure}[<options>]\footnotesize
10229 If you would like to let text flow around the image, add the word @samp{wrap}
10230 to the @code{#+ATTR_LaTeX:} line, which will make the figure occupy the left
10231 half of the page. To fine-tune, the @code{placement} field will be the set
10232 of additional arguments needed by the @code{wrapfigure} environment. Note
10233 that if you change the size of the image, you need to use compatible settings
10234 for @code{\includegraphics} and @code{wrapfigure}.
10238 @cindex #+ATTR_LaTeX
10240 #+CAPTION: The black-body emission of the disk around HR 4049
10241 #+LABEL: fig:SED-HR4049
10242 #+ATTR_LaTeX: width=5cm,angle=90
10243 [[./img/sed-hr4049.pdf]]
10245 #+ATTR_LaTeX: width=0.38\textwidth wrap placement=@{r@}@{0.4\textwidth@}
10249 If you need references to a label created in this way, write
10250 @samp{\ref@{fig:SED-HR4049@}} just like in @LaTeX{}.
10252 @node Beamer class export, , Images in LaTeX export, LaTeX and PDF export
10253 @subsection Beamer class export
10255 The LaTeX class @file{beamer} allows production of high quality presentations
10256 using LaTeX and pdf processing. Org-mode has special support for turning an
10257 Org-mode file or tree into a @file{beamer} presentation.
10259 When the LaTeX class for the current buffer (as set with @code{#+LaTeX_CLASS:
10260 beamer}) or subtree (set with a @code{LaTeX_CLASS} property) is
10261 @code{beamer}, a special export mode will turn the file or tree into a beamer
10262 presentation. Any tree with not-too-deep level nesting should in principle be
10263 exportable as a beamer presentation. By default, the top-level entries (or
10264 the first level below the selected subtree heading) will be turned into
10265 frames, and the outline structure below this level will become itemize lists.
10266 You can also configure the variable @code{org-beamer-frame-level} to a
10267 different level---then the hierarchy above frames will produce the sectioning
10268 structure of the presentation.
10270 A template for useful in-buffer settings or properties can be inserted into
10271 the buffer with @kbd{M-x org-insert-beamer-options-template}. Among other
10272 things, this will install a column view format which is very handy for
10273 editing special properties used by beamer.
10275 You can influence the structure of the presentation using the following
10280 The environment that should be used to format this entry. Valid environments
10281 are defined in the constant @code{org-beamer-environments-default}, and you
10282 can define more in @code{org-beamer-environments-extra}. If this property is
10283 set, the entry will also get a @code{:B_environment:} tag to make this
10284 visible. This tag has no semantic meaning, it is only a visual aid.
10285 @item BEAMER_envargs
10286 The beamer-special arguments that should be used for the environment, like
10287 @code{[t]} or @code{[<+->]} of @code{<2-3>}. If the @code{BEAMER_col}
10288 property is also set, something like @code{C[t]} can be added here as well to
10289 set an options argument for the implied @code{columns} environment.
10290 @code{c[t]} or @code{c<2->} will set an options for the implied @code{column}
10293 The width of a column that should start with this entry. If this property is
10294 set, the entry will also get a @code{:BMCOL:} property to make this visible.
10295 Also this tag is only a visual aid. When this is a plain number, it will be
10296 interpreted as a fraction of @code{\textwidth}. Otherwise it will be assumed
10297 that you have specified the units, like @samp{3cm}. The first such property
10298 in a frame will start a @code{columns} environment to surround the columns.
10299 This environment is closed when an entry has a @code{BEAMER_col} property
10300 with value 0 or 1, or automatically at the end of the frame.
10302 Additional commands that should be inserted after the environment has been
10303 opened. For example, when creating a frame, this can be used to specify
10307 Frames will automatically receive a @code{fragile} option if they contain
10308 source code that uses the verbatim environment. Special @file{beamer}
10309 specific code can be inserted using @code{#+BEAMER:} and
10310 @code{#+BEGIN_beamer...#+end_beamer} constructs, similar to other export
10311 backends, but with the difference that @code{#+LaTeX:} stuff will be included
10312 in the presentation as well.
10314 Outline nodes with @code{BEAMER_env} property value @samp{note} or
10315 @samp{noteNH} will be formatted as beamer notes, i,e, they will be wrapped
10316 into @code{\note@{...@}}. The former will include the heading as part of the
10317 note text, the latter will ignore the heading of that node. To simplify note
10318 generation, it is actually enough to mark the note with a @emph{tag} (either
10319 @code{:B_note:} or @code{:B_noteNH:}) instead of creating the
10320 @code{BEAMER_env} property.
10322 You can turn on a special minor mode @code{org-beamer-mode} for editing
10330 @orgcmd{C-c C-b,org-beamer-select-environment}
10331 In @code{org-beamer-mode}, this key offers fast selection of a beamer
10332 environment or the @code{BEAMER_col} property.
10335 Column view provides a great way to set the environment of a node and other
10336 important parameters. Make sure you are using a COLUMN format that is geared
10337 toward this special purpose. The command @kbd{M-x
10338 org-insert-beamer-options-template} defines such a format.
10340 Here is a simple example Org document that is intended for beamer export.
10343 #+LaTeX_CLASS: beamer
10344 #+TITLE: Example Presentation
10345 #+AUTHOR: Carsten Dominik
10346 #+LaTeX_CLASS_OPTIONS: [presentation]
10347 #+BEAMER_FRAME_LEVEL: 2
10348 #+BEAMER_HEADER_EXTRA: \usetheme@{Madrid@}\usecolortheme@{default@}
10349 #+COLUMNS: %35ITEM %10BEAMER_env(Env) %10BEAMER_envargs(Args) %4BEAMER_col(Col) %8BEAMER_extra(Ex)
10351 * This is the first structural section
10353 ** Frame 1 \\ with a subtitle
10354 *** Thanks to Eric Fraga :BMCOL:B_block:
10357 :BEAMER_envargs: C[t]
10360 for the first viable beamer setup in Org
10361 *** Thanks to everyone else :BMCOL:B_block:
10365 :BEAMER_envargs: <2->
10367 for contributing to the discussion
10368 **** This will be formatted as a beamer note :B_note:
10369 ** Frame 2 \\ where we will not use columns
10370 *** Request :B_block:
10371 Please test this stuff!
10377 For more information, see the documentation on Worg.
10379 @node DocBook export, TaskJuggler export, LaTeX and PDF export, Exporting
10380 @section DocBook export
10381 @cindex DocBook export
10383 @cindex Cui, Baoqiu
10385 Org contains a DocBook exporter written by Baoqiu Cui. Once an Org file is
10386 exported to DocBook format, it can be further processed to produce other
10387 formats, including PDF, HTML, man pages, etc., using many available DocBook
10388 tools and stylesheets.
10390 Currently DocBook exporter only supports DocBook V5.0.
10393 * DocBook export commands:: How to invoke DocBook export
10394 * Quoting DocBook code:: Incorporating DocBook code in Org files
10395 * Recursive sections:: Recursive sections in DocBook
10396 * Tables in DocBook export:: Tables are exported as HTML tables
10397 * Images in DocBook export:: How to insert figures into DocBook output
10398 * Special characters:: How to handle special characters
10401 @node DocBook export commands, Quoting DocBook code, DocBook export, DocBook export
10402 @subsection DocBook export commands
10404 @cindex region, active
10405 @cindex active region
10406 @cindex transient-mark-mode
10408 @orgcmd{C-c C-e D,org-export-as-docbook}
10409 @cindex property EXPORT_FILE_NAME
10410 Export as DocBook file. For an Org file, @file{myfile.org}, the DocBook XML
10411 file will be @file{myfile.xml}. The file will be overwritten without
10412 warning. If there is an active region@footnote{This requires
10413 @code{transient-mark-mode} to be turned on}, only the region will be
10414 exported. If the selected region is a single tree@footnote{To select the
10415 current subtree, use @kbd{C-c @@}.}, the tree head will become the document
10416 title. If the tree head entry has, or inherits, an @code{EXPORT_FILE_NAME}
10417 property, that name will be used for the export.
10418 @orgcmd{C-c C-e V,org-export-as-docbook-pdf-and-open}
10419 Export as DocBook file, process to PDF, then open the resulting PDF file.
10421 @vindex org-export-docbook-xslt-proc-command
10422 @vindex org-export-docbook-xsl-fo-proc-command
10423 Note that, in order to produce PDF output based on exported DocBook file, you
10424 need to have XSLT processor and XSL-FO processor software installed on your
10425 system. Check variables @code{org-export-docbook-xslt-proc-command} and
10426 @code{org-export-docbook-xsl-fo-proc-command}.
10428 @vindex org-export-docbook-xslt-stylesheet
10429 The stylesheet argument @code{%s} in variable
10430 @code{org-export-docbook-xslt-proc-command} is replaced by the value of
10431 variable @code{org-export-docbook-xslt-stylesheet}, which needs to be set by
10432 the user. You can also overrule this global setting on a per-file basis by
10433 adding an in-buffer setting @code{#+XSLT:} to the Org file.
10435 @orgkey{C-c C-e v D}
10436 Export only the visible part of the document.
10439 @node Quoting DocBook code, Recursive sections, DocBook export commands, DocBook export
10440 @subsection Quoting DocBook code
10442 You can quote DocBook code in Org files and copy it verbatim into exported
10443 DocBook file with the following constructs:
10446 @cindex #+BEGIN_DOCBOOK
10448 #+DOCBOOK: Literal DocBook code for export
10452 @cindex #+BEGIN_DOCBOOK
10456 All lines between these markers are exported by DocBook exporter
10461 For example, you can use the following lines to include a DocBook warning
10462 admonition. As to what this warning says, you should pay attention to the
10463 document context when quoting DocBook code in Org files. You may make
10464 exported DocBook XML files invalid by not quoting DocBook code correctly.
10469 <para>You should know what you are doing when quoting DocBook XML code
10470 in your Org file. Invalid DocBook XML may be generated by
10471 DocBook exporter if you are not careful!</para>
10476 @node Recursive sections, Tables in DocBook export, Quoting DocBook code, DocBook export
10477 @subsection Recursive sections
10478 @cindex DocBook recursive sections
10480 DocBook exporter exports Org files as articles using the @code{article}
10481 element in DocBook. Recursive sections, i.e.@: @code{section} elements, are
10482 used in exported articles. Top level headlines in Org files are exported as
10483 top level sections, and lower level headlines are exported as nested
10484 sections. The entire structure of Org files will be exported completely, no
10485 matter how many nested levels of headlines there are.
10487 Using recursive sections makes it easy to port and reuse exported DocBook
10488 code in other DocBook document types like @code{book} or @code{set}.
10490 @node Tables in DocBook export, Images in DocBook export, Recursive sections, DocBook export
10491 @subsection Tables in DocBook export
10492 @cindex tables, in DocBook export
10494 Tables in Org files are exported as HTML tables, which have been supported since
10497 If a table does not have a caption, an informal table is generated using the
10498 @code{informaltable} element; otherwise, a formal table will be generated
10499 using the @code{table} element.
10501 @node Images in DocBook export, Special characters, Tables in DocBook export, DocBook export
10502 @subsection Images in DocBook export
10503 @cindex images, inline in DocBook
10504 @cindex inlining images in DocBook
10506 Images that are linked to without a description part in the link, like
10507 @samp{[[file:img.jpg]]} or @samp{[[./img.jpg]]}, will be exported to DocBook
10508 using @code{mediaobject} elements. Each @code{mediaobject} element contains
10509 an @code{imageobject} that wraps an @code{imagedata} element. If you have
10510 specified a caption for an image as described in @ref{Images and tables}, a
10511 @code{caption} element will be added in @code{mediaobject}. If a label is
10512 also specified, it will be exported as an @code{xml:id} attribute of the
10513 @code{mediaobject} element.
10515 @vindex org-export-docbook-default-image-attributes
10516 Image attributes supported by the @code{imagedata} element, like @code{align}
10517 or @code{width}, can be specified in two ways: you can either customize
10518 variable @code{org-export-docbook-default-image-attributes} or use the
10519 @code{#+ATTR_DOCBOOK:} line. Attributes specified in variable
10520 @code{org-export-docbook-default-image-attributes} are applied to all inline
10521 images in the Org file to be exported (unless they are overridden by image
10522 attributes specified in @code{#+ATTR_DOCBOOK:} lines).
10524 The @code{#+ATTR_DOCBOOK:} line can be used to specify additional image
10525 attributes or override default image attributes for individual images. If
10526 the same attribute appears in both the @code{#+ATTR_DOCBOOK:} line and
10527 variable @code{org-export-docbook-default-image-attributes}, the former
10528 takes precedence. Here is an example about how image attributes can be
10533 @cindex #+ATTR_DOCBOOK
10535 #+CAPTION: The logo of Org-mode
10536 #+LABEL: unicorn-svg
10537 #+ATTR_DOCBOOK: scalefit="1" width="100%" depth="100%"
10538 [[./img/org-mode-unicorn.svg]]
10541 @vindex org-export-docbook-inline-image-extensions
10542 By default, DocBook exporter recognizes the following image file types:
10543 @file{jpeg}, @file{jpg}, @file{png}, @file{gif}, and @file{svg}. You can
10544 customize variable @code{org-export-docbook-inline-image-extensions} to add
10545 more types to this list as long as DocBook supports them.
10547 @node Special characters, , Images in DocBook export, DocBook export
10548 @subsection Special characters in DocBook export
10549 @cindex Special characters in DocBook export
10551 @vindex org-export-docbook-doctype
10552 @vindex org-entities
10553 Special characters that are written in @TeX{}-like syntax, such as @code{\alpha},
10554 @code{\Gamma}, and @code{\Zeta}, are supported by DocBook exporter. These
10555 characters are rewritten to XML entities, like @code{α},
10556 @code{Γ}, and @code{Ζ}, based on the list saved in variable
10557 @code{org-entities}. As long as the generated DocBook file includes the
10558 corresponding entities, these special characters are recognized.
10560 You can customize variable @code{org-export-docbook-doctype} to include the
10561 entities you need. For example, you can set variable
10562 @code{org-export-docbook-doctype} to the following value to recognize all
10563 special characters included in XHTML entities:
10566 "<!DOCTYPE article [
10567 <!ENTITY % xhtml1-symbol PUBLIC
10568 \"-//W3C//ENTITIES Symbol for HTML//EN//XML\"
10569 \"http://www.w3.org/2003/entities/2007/xhtml1-symbol.ent\"
10576 @node TaskJuggler export, Freemind export, DocBook export, Exporting
10577 @section TaskJuggler export
10578 @cindex TaskJuggler export
10579 @cindex Project management
10581 @uref{http://www.taskjuggler.org/, TaskJuggler} is a project management tool.
10582 It provides an optimizing scheduler that computes your project time lines and
10583 resource assignments based on the project outline and the constraints that
10586 The TaskJuggler exporter is a bit different from other exporters, such as the
10587 HTML and LaTeX exporters for example, in that it does not export all the
10588 nodes of a document or strictly follow the order of the nodes in the
10591 Instead the TaskJuggler exporter looks for a tree that defines the tasks and
10592 a optionally tree that defines the resources for this project. It then
10593 creates a TaskJuggler file based on these trees and the attributes defined in
10596 @subsection TaskJuggler export commands
10599 @orgcmd{C-c C-e j,org-export-as-taskjuggler}
10600 Export as TaskJuggler file.
10602 @orgcmd{C-c C-e J,org-export-as-taskjuggler-and-open}
10603 Export as TaskJuggler file and then open the file with TaskJugglerUI.
10608 @vindex org-export-taskjuggler-project-tag
10609 Create your tasks as you usually do with Org-mode. Assign efforts to each
10610 task using properties (it's easiest to do this in the column view). You
10611 should end up with something similar to the example by Peter Jones in
10612 @url{http://www.contextualdevelopment.com/static/artifacts/articles/2008/project-planning/project-planning.org}.
10613 Now mark the top node of your tasks with a tag named
10614 @code{:taskjuggler_project:} (or whatever you customized
10615 @code{org-export-taskjuggler-project-tag} to). You are now ready to export
10616 the project plan with @kbd{C-c C-e J} which will export the project plan and
10617 open a gantt chart in TaskJugglerUI.
10619 @subsection Resources
10621 @vindex org-export-taskjuggler-resource-tag
10622 Next you can define resources and assign those to work on specific tasks. You
10623 can group your resources hierarchically. Tag the top node of the resources
10624 with @code{:taskjuggler_resource:} (or whatever you customized
10625 @code{org-export-taskjuggler-resource-tag} to). You can optionally assign an
10626 identifier (named @samp{resource_id}) to the resources (using the standard
10627 Org properties commands, @pxref{Property syntax}) or you can let the exporter
10628 generate identifiers automatically (the exporter picks the first word of the
10629 headline as the identifier as long as it is unique---see the documentation of
10630 @code{org-taskjuggler-get-unique-id}). Using that identifier you can then
10631 allocate resources to tasks. This is again done with the @samp{allocate}
10632 property on the tasks. Do this in column view or when on the task type
10633 @kbd{C-c C-x p allocate @key{RET} <resource_id> @key{RET}}.
10635 Once the allocations are done you can again export to TaskJuggler and check
10636 in the Resource Allocation Graph which person is working on what task at what
10639 @subsection Export of properties
10641 The exporter also takes TODO state information into consideration, i.e.@: if a
10642 task is marked as done it will have the corresponding attribute in
10643 TaskJuggler (@samp{complete 100}). Also it will export any property on a task
10644 resource or resource node which is known to TaskJuggler, such as
10645 @samp{limits}, @samp{vacation}, @samp{shift}, @samp{booking},
10646 @samp{efficiency}, @samp{journalentry}, @samp{rate} for resources or
10647 @samp{account}, @samp{start}, @samp{note}, @samp{duration}, @samp{end},
10648 @samp{journalentry}, @samp{milestone}, @samp{reference}, @samp{responsible},
10649 @samp{scheduling}, etc for tasks.
10651 @subsection Dependencies
10653 The exporter will handle dependencies that are defined in the tasks either
10654 with the @samp{ORDERED} attribute (@pxref{TODO dependencies}), with the
10655 @samp{BLOCKER} attribute (see @file{org-depend.el}) or alternatively with a
10656 @samp{depends} attribute. Both the @samp{BLOCKER} and the @samp{depends}
10657 attribute can be either @samp{previous-sibling} or a reference to an
10658 identifier (named @samp{task_id}) which is defined for another task in the
10659 project. @samp{BLOCKER} and the @samp{depends} attribute can define multiple
10660 dependencies separated by either space or comma. You can also specify
10661 optional attributes on the dependency by simply appending it. The following
10662 examples should illustrate this:
10667 :task_id: preparation
10670 * Training material
10672 :task_id: training_material
10675 ** Markup Guidelines
10679 ** Workflow Guidelines
10686 :BLOCKER: training_material @{ gapduration 1d @} preparation
10690 @subsection Reports
10692 @vindex org-export-taskjuggler-default-reports
10693 TaskJuggler can produce many kinds of reports (e.g.@: gantt chart, resource
10694 allocation, etc). The user defines what kind of reports should be generated
10695 for a project in the TaskJuggler file. The exporter will automatically insert
10696 some default reports in the file. These defaults are defined in
10697 @code{org-export-taskjuggler-default-reports}. They can be modified using
10698 customize along with a number of other options. For a more complete list, see
10699 @kbd{M-x customize-group @key{RET} org-export-taskjuggler @key{RET}}.
10701 For more information and examples see the Org-taskjuggler tutorial at
10702 @uref{http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/org-taskjuggler.html}.
10704 @node Freemind export, XOXO export, TaskJuggler export, Exporting
10705 @section Freemind export
10706 @cindex Freemind export
10709 The Freemind exporter was written by Lennart Borgman.
10712 @orgcmd{C-c C-e m,org-export-as-freemind}
10713 Export as Freemind mind map @file{myfile.mm}.
10716 @node XOXO export, iCalendar export, Freemind export, Exporting
10717 @section XOXO export
10718 @cindex XOXO export
10720 Org-mode contains an exporter that produces XOXO-style output.
10721 Currently, this exporter only handles the general outline structure and
10722 does not interpret any additional Org-mode features.
10725 @orgcmd{C-c C-e x,org-export-as-xoxo}
10726 Export as XOXO file @file{myfile.html}.
10727 @orgkey{C-c C-e v x}
10728 Export only the visible part of the document.
10731 @node iCalendar export, , XOXO export, Exporting
10732 @section iCalendar export
10733 @cindex iCalendar export
10735 @vindex org-icalendar-include-todo
10736 @vindex org-icalendar-use-deadline
10737 @vindex org-icalendar-use-scheduled
10738 @vindex org-icalendar-categories
10739 @vindex org-icalendar-alarm-time
10740 Some people use Org-mode for keeping track of projects, but still prefer a
10741 standard calendar application for anniversaries and appointments. In this
10742 case it can be useful to show deadlines and other time-stamped items in Org
10743 files in the calendar application. Org-mode can export calendar information
10744 in the standard iCalendar format. If you also want to have TODO entries
10745 included in the export, configure the variable
10746 @code{org-icalendar-include-todo}. Plain timestamps are exported as VEVENT,
10747 and TODO items as VTODO. It will also create events from deadlines that are
10748 in non-TODO items. Deadlines and scheduling dates in TODO items will be used
10749 to set the start and due dates for the TODO entry@footnote{See the variables
10750 @code{org-icalendar-use-deadline} and @code{org-icalendar-use-scheduled}.}.
10751 As categories, it will use the tags locally defined in the heading, and the
10752 file/tree category@footnote{To add inherited tags or the TODO state,
10753 configure the variable @code{org-icalendar-categories}.}. See the variable
10754 @code{org-icalendar-alarm-time} for a way to assign alarms to entries with a
10757 @vindex org-icalendar-store-UID
10758 @cindex property, ID
10759 The iCalendar standard requires each entry to have a globally unique
10760 identifier (UID). Org creates these identifiers during export. If you set
10761 the variable @code{org-icalendar-store-UID}, the UID will be stored in the
10762 @code{:ID:} property of the entry and re-used next time you report this
10763 entry. Since a single entry can give rise to multiple iCalendar entries (as
10764 a timestamp, a deadline, a scheduled item, and as a TODO item), Org adds
10765 prefixes to the UID, depending on what triggered the inclusion of the entry.
10766 In this way the UID remains unique, but a synchronization program can still
10767 figure out from which entry all the different instances originate.
10770 @orgcmd{C-c C-e i,org-export-icalendar-this-file}
10771 Create iCalendar entries for the current file and store them in the same
10772 directory, using a file extension @file{.ics}.
10773 @orgcmd{C-c C-e I, org-export-icalendar-all-agenda-files}
10774 @vindex org-agenda-files
10775 Like @kbd{C-c C-e i}, but do this for all files in
10776 @code{org-agenda-files}. For each of these files, a separate iCalendar
10777 file will be written.
10778 @orgcmd{C-c C-e c,org-export-icalendar-combine-agenda-files}
10779 @vindex org-combined-agenda-icalendar-file
10780 Create a single large iCalendar file from all files in
10781 @code{org-agenda-files} and write it to the file given by
10782 @code{org-combined-agenda-icalendar-file}.
10785 @vindex org-use-property-inheritance
10786 @vindex org-icalendar-include-body
10787 @cindex property, SUMMARY
10788 @cindex property, DESCRIPTION
10789 @cindex property, LOCATION
10790 The export will honor SUMMARY, DESCRIPTION and LOCATION@footnote{The LOCATION
10791 property can be inherited from higher in the hierarchy if you configure
10792 @code{org-use-property-inheritance} accordingly.} properties if the selected
10793 entries have them. If not, the summary will be derived from the headline,
10794 and the description from the body (limited to
10795 @code{org-icalendar-include-body} characters).
10797 How this calendar is best read and updated, depends on the application
10798 you are using. The FAQ covers this issue.
10800 @node Publishing, Working With Source Code, Exporting, Top
10801 @chapter Publishing
10804 Org includes a publishing management system that allows you to configure
10805 automatic HTML conversion of @emph{projects} composed of interlinked org
10806 files. You can also configure Org to automatically upload your exported HTML
10807 pages and related attachments, such as images and source code files, to a web
10810 You can also use Org to convert files into PDF, or even combine HTML and PDF
10811 conversion so that files are available in both formats on the server.
10813 Publishing has been contributed to Org by David O'Toole.
10816 * Configuration:: Defining projects
10817 * Uploading files:: How to get files up on the server
10818 * Sample configuration:: Example projects
10819 * Triggering publication:: Publication commands
10822 @node Configuration, Uploading files, Publishing, Publishing
10823 @section Configuration
10825 Publishing needs significant configuration to specify files, destination
10826 and many other properties of a project.
10829 * Project alist:: The central configuration variable
10830 * Sources and destinations:: From here to there
10831 * Selecting files:: What files are part of the project?
10832 * Publishing action:: Setting the function doing the publishing
10833 * Publishing options:: Tweaking HTML/@LaTeX{} export
10834 * Publishing links:: Which links keep working after publishing?
10835 * Sitemap:: Generating a list of all pages
10836 * Generating an index:: An index that reaches across pages
10839 @node Project alist, Sources and destinations, Configuration, Configuration
10840 @subsection The variable @code{org-publish-project-alist}
10841 @cindex org-publish-project-alist
10842 @cindex projects, for publishing
10844 @vindex org-publish-project-alist
10845 Publishing is configured almost entirely through setting the value of one
10846 variable, called @code{org-publish-project-alist}. Each element of the list
10847 configures one project, and may be in one of the two following forms:
10850 ("project-name" :property value :property value ...)
10851 @r{i.e.@: a well-formed property list with alternating keys and values}
10853 ("project-name" :components ("project-name" "project-name" ...))
10857 In both cases, projects are configured by specifying property values. A
10858 project defines the set of files that will be published, as well as the
10859 publishing configuration to use when publishing those files. When a project
10860 takes the second form listed above, the individual members of the
10861 @code{:components} property are taken to be sub-projects, which group
10862 together files requiring different publishing options. When you publish such
10863 a ``meta-project'', all the components will also be published, in the
10866 @node Sources and destinations, Selecting files, Project alist, Configuration
10867 @subsection Sources and destinations for files
10868 @cindex directories, for publishing
10870 Most properties are optional, but some should always be set. In
10871 particular, Org needs to know where to look for source files,
10872 and where to put published files.
10874 @multitable @columnfractions 0.3 0.7
10875 @item @code{:base-directory}
10876 @tab Directory containing publishing source files
10877 @item @code{:publishing-directory}
10878 @tab Directory where output files will be published. You can directly
10879 publish to a webserver using a file name syntax appropriate for
10880 the Emacs @file{tramp} package. Or you can publish to a local directory and
10881 use external tools to upload your website (@pxref{Uploading files}).
10882 @item @code{:preparation-function}
10883 @tab Function or list of functions to be called before starting the
10884 publishing process, for example, to run @code{make} for updating files to be
10885 published. The project property list is scoped into this call as the
10886 variable @code{project-plist}.
10887 @item @code{:completion-function}
10888 @tab Function or list of functions called after finishing the publishing
10889 process, for example, to change permissions of the resulting files. The
10890 project property list is scoped into this call as the variable
10891 @code{project-plist}.
10895 @node Selecting files, Publishing action, Sources and destinations, Configuration
10896 @subsection Selecting files
10897 @cindex files, selecting for publishing
10899 By default, all files with extension @file{.org} in the base directory
10900 are considered part of the project. This can be modified by setting the
10902 @multitable @columnfractions 0.25 0.75
10903 @item @code{:base-extension}
10904 @tab Extension (without the dot!) of source files. This actually is a
10905 regular expression. Set this to the symbol @code{any} if you want to get all
10906 files in @code{:base-directory}, even without extension.
10908 @item @code{:exclude}
10909 @tab Regular expression to match file names that should not be
10910 published, even though they have been selected on the basis of their
10913 @item @code{:include}
10914 @tab List of files to be included regardless of @code{:base-extension}
10915 and @code{:exclude}.
10917 @item @code{:recursive}
10918 @tab Non-nil means, check base-directory recursively for files to publish.
10921 @node Publishing action, Publishing options, Selecting files, Configuration
10922 @subsection Publishing action
10923 @cindex action, for publishing
10925 Publishing means that a file is copied to the destination directory and
10926 possibly transformed in the process. The default transformation is to export
10927 Org files as HTML files, and this is done by the function
10928 @code{org-publish-org-to-html} which calls the HTML exporter (@pxref{HTML
10929 export}). But you also can publish your content as PDF files using
10930 @code{org-publish-org-to-pdf}, or as @code{ascii}, @code{latin1} or
10931 @code{utf8} encoded files using the corresponding functions. If you want to
10932 publish the Org file itself, but with @i{archived}, @i{commented}, and
10933 @i{tag-excluded} trees removed, use @code{org-publish-org-to-org} and set the
10934 parameters @code{:plain-source} and/or @code{:htmlized-source}. This will
10935 produce @file{file.org} and @file{file.org.html} in the publishing
10936 directory@footnote{@file{file-source.org} and @file{file-source.org.html} if
10937 source and publishing directories are equal. Note that with this kind of
10938 setup, you need to add @code{:exclude "-source\\.org"} to the project
10939 definition in @code{org-publish-project-alist} to prevent the published
10940 source files from being considered as new org files the next time the project
10941 is published.}. Other files like images only need to be copied to the
10942 publishing destination; for this you may use @code{org-publish-attachment}.
10943 For non-Org files, you always need to specify the publishing function:
10945 @multitable @columnfractions 0.3 0.7
10946 @item @code{:publishing-function}
10947 @tab Function executing the publication of a file. This may also be a
10948 list of functions, which will all be called in turn.
10949 @item @code{:plain-source}
10950 @tab Non-nil means, publish plain source.
10951 @item @code{:htmlized-source}
10952 @tab Non-nil means, publish htmlized source.
10955 The function must accept three arguments: a property list containing at least
10956 a @code{:publishing-directory} property, the name of the file to be
10957 published, and the path to the publishing directory of the output file. It
10958 should take the specified file, make the necessary transformation (if any)
10959 and place the result into the destination folder.
10961 @node Publishing options, Publishing links, Publishing action, Configuration
10962 @subsection Options for the HTML/@LaTeX{} exporters
10963 @cindex options, for publishing
10965 The property list can be used to set many export options for the HTML
10966 and @LaTeX{} exporters. In most cases, these properties correspond to user
10967 variables in Org. The table below lists these properties along
10968 with the variable they belong to. See the documentation string for the
10969 respective variable for details.
10971 @vindex org-export-html-link-up
10972 @vindex org-export-html-link-home
10973 @vindex org-export-default-language
10974 @vindex org-display-custom-times
10975 @vindex org-export-headline-levels
10976 @vindex org-export-with-section-numbers
10977 @vindex org-export-section-number-format
10978 @vindex org-export-with-toc
10979 @vindex org-export-preserve-breaks
10980 @vindex org-export-with-archived-trees
10981 @vindex org-export-with-emphasize
10982 @vindex org-export-with-sub-superscripts
10983 @vindex org-export-with-special-strings
10984 @vindex org-export-with-footnotes
10985 @vindex org-export-with-drawers
10986 @vindex org-export-with-tags
10987 @vindex org-export-with-todo-keywords
10988 @vindex org-export-with-tasks
10989 @vindex org-export-with-done-tasks
10990 @vindex org-export-with-priority
10991 @vindex org-export-with-TeX-macros
10992 @vindex org-export-with-LaTeX-fragments
10993 @vindex org-export-skip-text-before-1st-heading
10994 @vindex org-export-with-fixed-width
10995 @vindex org-export-with-timestamps
10996 @vindex org-export-author-info
10997 @vindex org-export-email-info
10998 @vindex org-export-creator-info
10999 @vindex org-export-time-stamp-file
11000 @vindex org-export-with-tables
11001 @vindex org-export-highlight-first-table-line
11002 @vindex org-export-html-style-include-default
11003 @vindex org-export-html-style-include-scripts
11004 @vindex org-export-html-style
11005 @vindex org-export-html-style-extra
11006 @vindex org-export-html-link-org-files-as-html
11007 @vindex org-export-html-inline-images
11008 @vindex org-export-html-extension
11009 @vindex org-export-html-table-tag
11010 @vindex org-export-html-expand
11011 @vindex org-export-html-with-timestamp
11012 @vindex org-export-publishing-directory
11013 @vindex org-export-html-preamble
11014 @vindex org-export-html-postamble
11015 @vindex user-full-name
11016 @vindex user-mail-address
11017 @vindex org-export-select-tags
11018 @vindex org-export-exclude-tags
11020 @multitable @columnfractions 0.32 0.68
11021 @item @code{:link-up} @tab @code{org-export-html-link-up}
11022 @item @code{:link-home} @tab @code{org-export-html-link-home}
11023 @item @code{:language} @tab @code{org-export-default-language}
11024 @item @code{:customtime} @tab @code{org-display-custom-times}
11025 @item @code{:headline-levels} @tab @code{org-export-headline-levels}
11026 @item @code{:section-numbers} @tab @code{org-export-with-section-numbers}
11027 @item @code{:section-number-format} @tab @code{org-export-section-number-format}
11028 @item @code{:table-of-contents} @tab @code{org-export-with-toc}
11029 @item @code{:preserve-breaks} @tab @code{org-export-preserve-breaks}
11030 @item @code{:archived-trees} @tab @code{org-export-with-archived-trees}
11031 @item @code{:emphasize} @tab @code{org-export-with-emphasize}
11032 @item @code{:sub-superscript} @tab @code{org-export-with-sub-superscripts}
11033 @item @code{:special-strings} @tab @code{org-export-with-special-strings}
11034 @item @code{:footnotes} @tab @code{org-export-with-footnotes}
11035 @item @code{:drawers} @tab @code{org-export-with-drawers}
11036 @item @code{:tags} @tab @code{org-export-with-tags}
11037 @item @code{:todo-keywords} @tab @code{org-export-with-todo-keywords}
11038 @item @code{:tasks} @tab @code{org-export-with-tasks}
11039 @item @code{:priority} @tab @code{org-export-with-priority}
11040 @item @code{:TeX-macros} @tab @code{org-export-with-TeX-macros}
11041 @item @code{:LaTeX-fragments} @tab @code{org-export-with-LaTeX-fragments}
11042 @item @code{:latex-listings} @tab @code{org-export-latex-listings}
11043 @item @code{:skip-before-1st-heading} @tab @code{org-export-skip-text-before-1st-heading}
11044 @item @code{:fixed-width} @tab @code{org-export-with-fixed-width}
11045 @item @code{:timestamps} @tab @code{org-export-with-timestamps}
11046 @item @code{:author} @tab @code{user-full-name}
11047 @item @code{:email} @tab @code{user-mail-address} : @code{addr;addr;..}
11048 @item @code{:author-info} @tab @code{org-export-author-info}
11049 @item @code{:email-info} @tab @code{org-export-email-info}
11050 @item @code{:creator-info} @tab @code{org-export-creator-info}
11051 @item @code{:tables} @tab @code{org-export-with-tables}
11052 @item @code{:table-auto-headline} @tab @code{org-export-highlight-first-table-line}
11053 @item @code{:style-include-default} @tab @code{org-export-html-style-include-default}
11054 @item @code{:style-include-scripts} @tab @code{org-export-html-style-include-scripts}
11055 @item @code{:style} @tab @code{org-export-html-style}
11056 @item @code{:style-extra} @tab @code{org-export-html-style-extra}
11057 @item @code{:convert-org-links} @tab @code{org-export-html-link-org-files-as-html}
11058 @item @code{:inline-images} @tab @code{org-export-html-inline-images}
11059 @item @code{:html-extension} @tab @code{org-export-html-extension}
11060 @item @code{:html-preamble} @tab @code{org-export-html-preamble}
11061 @item @code{:html-postamble} @tab @code{org-export-html-postamble}
11062 @item @code{:xml-declaration} @tab @code{org-export-html-xml-declaration}
11063 @item @code{:html-table-tag} @tab @code{org-export-html-table-tag}
11064 @item @code{:expand-quoted-html} @tab @code{org-export-html-expand}
11065 @item @code{:timestamp} @tab @code{org-export-html-with-timestamp}
11066 @item @code{:publishing-directory} @tab @code{org-export-publishing-directory}
11067 @item @code{:select-tags} @tab @code{org-export-select-tags}
11068 @item @code{:exclude-tags} @tab @code{org-export-exclude-tags}
11069 @item @code{:latex-image-options} @tab @code{org-export-latex-image-default-option}
11072 Most of the @code{org-export-with-*} variables have the same effect in
11073 both HTML and @LaTeX{} exporters, except for @code{:TeX-macros} and
11074 @code{:LaTeX-fragments} options, respectively @code{nil} and @code{t} in the
11075 @LaTeX{} export. See @code{org-export-plist-vars} to check this list of
11080 @vindex org-publish-project-alist
11081 When a property is given a value in @code{org-publish-project-alist},
11082 its setting overrides the value of the corresponding user variable (if
11083 any) during publishing. Options set within a file (@pxref{Export
11084 options}), however, override everything.
11086 @node Publishing links, Sitemap, Publishing options, Configuration
11087 @subsection Links between published files
11088 @cindex links, publishing
11090 To create a link from one Org file to another, you would use
11091 something like @samp{[[file:foo.org][The foo]]} or simply
11092 @samp{file:foo.org.} (@pxref{Hyperlinks}). When published, this link
11093 becomes a link to @file{foo.html}. In this way, you can interlink the
11094 pages of your "org web" project and the links will work as expected when
11095 you publish them to HTML. If you also publish the Org source file and want
11096 to link to that, use an @code{http:} link instead of a @code{file:} link,
11097 because @code{file:} links are converted to link to the corresponding
11100 You may also link to related files, such as images. Provided you are careful
11101 with relative file names, and provided you have also configured Org to upload
11102 the related files, these links will work too. See @ref{Complex example}, for
11103 an example of this usage.
11105 Sometimes an Org file to be published may contain links that are
11106 only valid in your production environment, but not in the publishing
11107 location. In this case, use the property
11109 @multitable @columnfractions 0.4 0.6
11110 @item @code{:link-validation-function}
11111 @tab Function to validate links
11115 to define a function for checking link validity. This function must
11116 accept two arguments, the file name and a directory relative to which
11117 the file name is interpreted in the production environment. If this
11118 function returns @code{nil}, then the HTML generator will only insert a
11119 description into the HTML file, but no link. One option for this
11120 function is @code{org-publish-validate-link} which checks if the given
11121 file is part of any project in @code{org-publish-project-alist}.
11123 @node Sitemap, Generating an index, Publishing links, Configuration
11124 @subsection Generating a sitemap
11125 @cindex sitemap, of published pages
11127 The following properties may be used to control publishing of
11128 a map of files for a given project.
11130 @multitable @columnfractions 0.35 0.65
11131 @item @code{:auto-sitemap}
11132 @tab When non-nil, publish a sitemap during @code{org-publish-current-project}
11133 or @code{org-publish-all}.
11135 @item @code{:sitemap-filename}
11136 @tab Filename for output of sitemap. Defaults to @file{sitemap.org} (which
11137 becomes @file{sitemap.html}).
11139 @item @code{:sitemap-title}
11140 @tab Title of sitemap page. Defaults to name of file.
11142 @item @code{:sitemap-function}
11143 @tab Plug-in function to use for generation of the sitemap.
11144 Defaults to @code{org-publish-org-sitemap}, which generates a plain list
11145 of links to all files in the project.
11147 @item @code{:sitemap-sort-folders}
11148 @tab Where folders should appear in the sitemap. Set this to @code{first}
11149 (default) or @code{last} to display folders first or last,
11150 respectively. Any other value will mix files and folders.
11152 @item @code{:sitemap-sort-files}
11153 @tab How the files are sorted in the site map. Set this to
11154 @code{alphabetically} (default), @code{chronologically} or
11155 @code{anti-chronologically}. @code{chronologically} sorts the files with
11156 older date first while @code{anti-chronologically} sorts the files with newer
11157 date first. @code{alphabetically} sorts the files alphabetically. The date of
11158 a file is retrieved with @code{org-publish-find-date}.
11160 @item @code{:sitemap-ignore-case}
11161 @tab Should sorting be case-sensitive? Default @code{nil}.
11163 @item @code{:sitemap-file-entry-format}
11164 @tab With this option one can tell how a sitemap's entry is formated in the
11165 sitemap. This is a format string with some escape sequences: @code{%t} stands
11166 for the title of the file, @code{%a} stands for the author of the file and
11167 @code{%d} stands for the date of the file. The date is retrieved with the
11168 @code{org-publish-find-date} function and formated with
11169 @code{org-publish-sitemap-date-format}. Default @code{%t}.
11171 @item @code{:sitemap-date-format}
11172 @tab Format string for the @code{format-time-string} function that tells how
11173 a sitemap entry's date is to be formated. This property bypasses
11174 @code{org-publish-sitemap-date-format} which defaults to @code{%Y-%m-%d}.
11176 @item @code{:sitemap-sans-extension}
11177 @tab When non-nil, remove filenames' extensions from the generated sitemap.
11178 Useful to have cool URIs (see @uref{http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI}).
11179 Defaults to @code{nil}.
11183 @node Generating an index, , Sitemap, Configuration
11184 @subsection Generating an index
11185 @cindex index, in a publishing project
11187 Org-mode can generate an index across the files of a publishing project.
11189 @multitable @columnfractions 0.25 0.75
11190 @item @code{:makeindex}
11191 @tab When non-nil, generate in index in the file @file{theindex.org} and
11192 publish it as @file{theindex.html}.
11195 The file will be created when first publishing a project with the
11196 @code{:makeindex} set. The file only contains a statement @code{#+include:
11197 "theindex.inc"}. You can then build around this include statement by adding
11198 a title, style information, etc.
11200 @node Uploading files, Sample configuration, Configuration, Publishing
11201 @section Uploading files
11205 For those people already utilizing third party sync tools such as
11206 @command{rsync} or @command{unison}, it might be preferable not to use the built in
11207 @i{remote} publishing facilities of Org-mode which rely heavily on
11208 Tramp. Tramp, while very useful and powerful, tends not to be
11209 so efficient for multiple file transfer and has been known to cause problems
11212 Specialized synchronization utilities offer several advantages. In addition
11213 to timestamp comparison, they also do content and permissions/attribute
11214 checks. For this reason you might prefer to publish your web to a local
11215 directory (possibly even @i{in place} with your Org files) and then use
11216 @file{unison} or @file{rsync} to do the synchronization with the remote host.
11218 Since Unison (for example) can be configured as to which files to transfer to
11219 a certain remote destination, it can greatly simplify the project publishing
11220 definition. Simply keep all files in the correct location, process your Org
11221 files with @code{org-publish} and let the synchronization tool do the rest.
11222 You do not need, in this scenario, to include attachments such as @file{jpg},
11223 @file{css} or @file{gif} files in the project definition since the 3rd party
11226 Publishing to a local directory is also much faster than to a remote one, so
11227 that you can afford more easily to republish entire projects. If you set
11228 @code{org-publish-use-timestamps-flag} to @code{nil}, you gain the main
11229 benefit of re-including any changed external files such as source example
11230 files you might include with @code{#+INCLUDE}. The timestamp mechanism in
11231 Org is not smart enough to detect if included files have been modified.
11233 @node Sample configuration, Triggering publication, Uploading files, Publishing
11234 @section Sample configuration
11236 Below we provide two example configurations. The first one is a simple
11237 project publishing only a set of Org files. The second example is
11238 more complex, with a multi-component project.
11241 * Simple example:: One-component publishing
11242 * Complex example:: A multi-component publishing example
11245 @node Simple example, Complex example, Sample configuration, Sample configuration
11246 @subsection Example: simple publishing configuration
11248 This example publishes a set of Org files to the @file{public_html}
11249 directory on the local machine.
11252 (setq org-publish-project-alist
11254 :base-directory "~/org/"
11255 :publishing-directory "~/public_html"
11256 :section-numbers nil
11257 :table-of-contents nil
11258 :style "<link rel=\"stylesheet\"
11259 href=\"../other/mystyle.css\"
11260 type=\"text/css\"/>")))
11263 @node Complex example, , Simple example, Sample configuration
11264 @subsection Example: complex publishing configuration
11266 This more complicated example publishes an entire website, including
11267 Org files converted to HTML, image files, Emacs Lisp source code, and
11268 style sheets. The publishing directory is remote and private files are
11271 To ensure that links are preserved, care should be taken to replicate
11272 your directory structure on the web server, and to use relative file
11273 paths. For example, if your Org files are kept in @file{~/org} and your
11274 publishable images in @file{~/images}, you would link to an image with
11277 file:../images/myimage.png
11280 On the web server, the relative path to the image should be the
11281 same. You can accomplish this by setting up an "images" folder in the
11282 right place on the web server, and publishing images to it.
11285 (setq org-publish-project-alist
11287 :base-directory "~/org/"
11288 :base-extension "org"
11289 :publishing-directory "/ssh:user@@host:~/html/notebook/"
11290 :publishing-function org-publish-org-to-html
11291 :exclude "PrivatePage.org" ;; regexp
11293 :section-numbers nil
11294 :table-of-contents nil
11295 :style "<link rel=\"stylesheet\"
11296 href=\"../other/mystyle.css\" type=\"text/css\"/>"
11300 :base-directory "~/images/"
11301 :base-extension "jpg\\|gif\\|png"
11302 :publishing-directory "/ssh:user@@host:~/html/images/"
11303 :publishing-function org-publish-attachment)
11306 :base-directory "~/other/"
11307 :base-extension "css\\|el"
11308 :publishing-directory "/ssh:user@@host:~/html/other/"
11309 :publishing-function org-publish-attachment)
11310 ("website" :components ("orgfiles" "images" "other"))))
11313 @node Triggering publication, , Sample configuration, Publishing
11314 @section Triggering publication
11316 Once properly configured, Org can publish with the following commands:
11319 @orgcmd{C-c C-e X,org-publish}
11320 Prompt for a specific project and publish all files that belong to it.
11321 @orgcmd{C-c C-e P,org-publish-current-project}
11322 Publish the project containing the current file.
11323 @orgcmd{C-c C-e F,org-publish-current-file}
11324 Publish only the current file.
11325 @orgcmd{C-c C-e E,org-publish-all}
11326 Publish every project.
11329 @vindex org-publish-use-timestamps-flag
11330 Org uses timestamps to track when a file has changed. The above functions
11331 normally only publish changed files. You can override this and force
11332 publishing of all files by giving a prefix argument to any of the commands
11333 above, or by customizing the variable @code{org-publish-use-timestamps-flag}.
11334 This may be necessary in particular if files include other files via
11335 @code{#+SETUPFILE:} or @code{#+INCLUDE:}.
11337 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
11338 @comment Working With Source Code, Miscellaneous, Publishing, Top
11340 @node Working With Source Code, Miscellaneous, Publishing, Top
11341 @chapter Working with source code
11342 @cindex Schulte, Eric
11343 @cindex Davison, Dan
11344 @cindex source code, working with
11346 Source code can be included in Org-mode documents using a @samp{src} block,
11350 #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
11351 (defun org-xor (a b)
11357 Org-mode provides a number of features for working with live source code,
11358 including editing of code blocks in their native major-mode, evaluation of
11359 code blocks, converting code blocks into source files (known as @dfn{tangling}
11360 in literate programming), and exporting code blocks and their
11361 results in several formats. This functionality was contributed by Eric
11362 Schulte and Dan Davison, and was originally named Org-babel.
11364 The following sections describe Org-mode's code block handling facilities.
11367 * Structure of code blocks:: Code block syntax described
11368 * Editing source code:: Language major-mode editing
11369 * Exporting code blocks:: Export contents and/or results
11370 * Extracting source code:: Create pure source code files
11371 * Evaluating code blocks:: Place results of evaluation in the Org-mode buffer
11372 * Library of Babel:: Use and contribute to a library of useful code blocks
11373 * Languages:: List of supported code block languages
11374 * Header arguments:: Configure code block functionality
11375 * Results of evaluation:: How evaluation results are handled
11376 * Noweb reference syntax:: Literate programming in Org-mode
11377 * Key bindings and useful functions:: Work quickly with code blocks
11378 * Batch execution:: Call functions from the command line
11381 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
11382 @comment Structure of code blocks, Editing source code, Working With Source Code, Working With Source Code
11384 @node Structure of code blocks, Editing source code, Working With Source Code, Working With Source Code
11385 @section Structure of code blocks
11386 @cindex code block, structure
11387 @cindex source code, block structure
11389 The structure of code blocks is as follows:
11393 #+begin_src <language> <switches> <header arguments>
11398 Switches and header arguments are optional. Code can also be embedded in text
11402 src_<language>@{<body>@}
11408 src_<language>[<header arguments>]@{<body>@}
11413 This name is associated with the code block. This is similar to the
11414 @samp{#+tblname} lines that can be used to name tables in Org-mode files.
11415 Referencing the name of a code block makes it possible to evaluate the
11416 block from other places in the file, other files, or from Org-mode table
11417 formulas (see @ref{The spreadsheet}).
11419 The language of the code in the block.
11421 Optional switches controlling exportation of the code block (see switches discussion in
11422 @ref{Literal examples})
11423 @item <header arguments>
11424 Optional header arguments control many aspects of evaluation, export and
11425 tangling of code blocks. See the @ref{Header arguments}
11426 section. Header arguments can also be set on a per-buffer or per-subtree
11427 basis using properties.
11432 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
11433 @comment Editing source code, Exporting code blocks, Structure of code blocks, Working With Source Code
11435 @node Editing source code, Exporting code blocks, Structure of code blocks, Working With Source Code
11436 @section Editing source code
11437 @cindex code block, editing
11438 @cindex source code, editing
11441 Use @kbd{C-c '} to edit the current code block. This brings up
11442 a language major-mode edit buffer containing the body of the code
11443 block. Saving this buffer will write the new contents back to the Org
11444 buffer. Use @kbd{C-c '} again to exit.
11446 The @code{org-src-mode} minor mode will be active in the edit buffer. The
11447 following variables can be used to configure the behavior of the edit
11448 buffer. See also the customization group @code{org-edit-structure} for
11449 further configuration options.
11452 @item org-src-lang-modes
11453 If an Emacs major-mode named @code{<lang>-mode} exists, where
11454 @code{<lang>} is the language named in the header line of the code block,
11455 then the edit buffer will be placed in that major-mode. This variable
11456 can be used to map arbitrary language names to existing major modes.
11457 @item org-src-window-setup
11458 Controls the way Emacs windows are rearranged when the edit buffer is created.
11459 @item org-src-preserve-indentation
11460 This variable is especially useful for tangling languages such as
11461 Python, in which whitespace indentation in the output is critical.
11462 @item org-src-ask-before-returning-to-edit-buffer
11463 By default, Org will ask before returning to an open edit buffer. Set
11464 this variable to nil to switch without asking.
11467 To turn on native code fontification in the @emph{Org} buffer, configure the
11468 variable @code{org-src-fontify-natively}.
11470 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
11471 @comment Exporting code blocks, Extracting source code, Editing source code, Working With Source Code
11473 @node Exporting code blocks, Extracting source code, Editing source code, Working With Source Code
11474 @section Exporting code blocks
11475 @cindex code block, exporting
11476 @cindex source code, exporting
11478 It is possible to export the @emph{contents} of code blocks, the
11479 @emph{results} of code block evaluation, @emph{neither}, or @emph{both}. For
11480 most languages, the default exports the contents of code blocks. However, for
11481 some languages (e.g.@: @code{ditaa}) the default exports the results of code
11482 block evaluation. For information on exporting code block bodies, see
11483 @ref{Literal examples}.
11485 The @code{:exports} header argument can be used to specify export
11488 @subsubheading Header arguments:
11490 @item :exports code
11491 The default in most languages. The body of the code block is exported, as
11492 described in @ref{Literal examples}.
11493 @item :exports results
11494 The code block will be evaluated and the results will be placed in the
11495 Org-mode buffer for export, either updating previous results of the code
11496 block located anywhere in the buffer or, if no previous results exist,
11497 placing the results immediately after the code block. The body of the code
11498 block will not be exported.
11499 @item :exports both
11500 Both the code block and its results will be exported.
11501 @item :exports none
11502 Neither the code block nor its results will be exported.
11505 It is possible to inhibit the evaluation of code blocks during export.
11506 Setting the @code{org-export-babel-evaluate} variable to @code{nil} will
11507 ensure that no code blocks are evaluated as part of the export process. This
11508 can be useful in situations where potentially untrusted Org-mode files are
11509 exported in an automated fashion, for example when Org-mode is used as the
11510 markup language for a wiki.
11512 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
11513 @comment Extracting source code, Evaluating code blocks, Exporting code blocks, Working With Source Code
11514 @node Extracting source code, Evaluating code blocks, Exporting code blocks, Working With Source Code
11515 @section Extracting source code
11517 @cindex source code, extracting
11518 @cindex code block, extracting source code
11520 Creating pure source code files by extracting code from source blocks is
11521 referred to as ``tangling''---a term adopted from the literate programming
11522 community. During ``tangling'' of code blocks their bodies are expanded
11523 using @code{org-babel-expand-src-block} which can expand both variable and
11524 ``noweb'' style references (see @ref{Noweb reference syntax}).
11526 @subsubheading Header arguments
11529 The default. The code block is not included in the tangled output.
11531 Include the code block in the tangled output. The output file name is the
11532 name of the org file with the extension @samp{.org} replaced by the extension
11533 for the block language.
11534 @item :tangle filename
11535 Include the code block in the tangled output to file @samp{filename}.
11539 @subsubheading Functions
11541 @item org-babel-tangle
11542 Tangle the current file. Bound to @kbd{C-c C-v t}.
11543 @item org-babel-tangle-file
11544 Choose a file to tangle. Bound to @kbd{C-c C-v f}.
11547 @subsubheading Hooks
11549 @item org-babel-post-tangle-hook
11550 This hook is run from within code files tangled by @code{org-babel-tangle}.
11551 Example applications could include post-processing, compilation or evaluation
11552 of tangled code files.
11555 @node Evaluating code blocks, Library of Babel, Extracting source code, Working With Source Code
11556 @section Evaluating code blocks
11557 @cindex code block, evaluating
11558 @cindex source code, evaluating
11560 Code blocks can be evaluated@footnote{Whenever code is evaluated there is a
11561 potential for that code to do harm. Org-mode provides a number of safeguards
11562 to ensure that it only evaluates code with explicit confirmation from the
11563 user. For information on these safeguards (and on how to disable them) see
11564 @ref{Code evaluation security}.} and the results placed in the Org-mode
11565 buffer. By default, evaluation is only turned on for @code{emacs-lisp} code
11566 blocks, however support exists for evaluating blocks in many languages. See
11567 @ref{Languages} for a list of supported languages. See @ref{Structure of
11568 code blocks} for information on the syntax used to define a code block.
11571 There are a number of ways to evaluate code blocks. The simplest is to press
11572 @kbd{C-c C-c} or @kbd{C-c C-v e} with the point on a code block@footnote{The
11573 @code{org-babel-no-eval-on-ctrl-c-ctrl-c} variable can be used to remove code
11574 evaluation from the @kbd{C-c C-c} key binding.}. This will call the
11575 @code{org-babel-execute-src-block} function to evaluate the block and insert
11576 its results into the Org-mode buffer.
11578 It is also possible to evaluate named code blocks from anywhere in an
11579 Org-mode buffer or an Org-mode table. @code{#+call} (or synonymously
11580 @code{#+function} or @code{#+lob}) lines can be used to remotely execute code
11581 blocks located in the current Org-mode buffer or in the ``Library of Babel''
11582 (see @ref{Library of Babel}). These lines use the following syntax.
11585 #+call: <name>(<arguments>)
11586 #+call: <name>[<header arguments>](<arguments>) <header arguments>
11591 The name of the code block to be evaluated.
11593 Arguments specified in this section will be passed to the code block. These
11594 arguments should relate to @code{:var} header arguments in the called code
11595 block expressed using standard function call syntax. For example if the
11596 original code block named @code{double} has the header argument @code{:var
11597 n=2}, then the call line passing the number four to that block would be
11598 written as @code{#+call: double(n=2)}.
11599 @item <header arguments>
11600 Header arguments can be placed either inside the call to the code block or at
11601 the end of the line as shown below.
11604 #+call: code_bloc_name[XXXX](arguments) YYYY
11607 Header arguments located in these two locations are treated differently.
11611 Those placed in the @code{XXXX} location are passed through and applied to
11612 the code block being called. These header arguments affect how the code
11613 block is evaluated, for example @code{[:results output]} will collect the
11614 results from @code{STDOUT} of the called code block.
11616 Those placed in the @code{YYYY} location are applied to the call line and do
11617 not affect the code block being called. These header arguments affect how
11618 the results are incorporated into the Org-mode buffer when the call line is
11619 evaluated, and how the call line is exported. For example @code{:results
11620 org} at the end of the call line will insert the results of the call line
11621 inside of an Org-mode block.
11624 For more examples of passing header arguments to @code{#+call:} lines see
11625 @ref{Header arguments in function calls}.
11628 @node Library of Babel, Languages, Evaluating code blocks, Working With Source Code
11629 @section Library of Babel
11630 @cindex babel, library of
11631 @cindex source code, library
11632 @cindex code block, library
11634 The ``Library of Babel'' is a library of code blocks
11635 that can be called from any Org-mode file. The library is housed in an
11636 Org-mode file located in the @samp{contrib} directory of Org-mode.
11637 Org-mode users can deposit functions they believe to be generally
11638 useful in the library.
11640 Code blocks defined in the ``Library of Babel'' can be called remotely as if
11641 they were in the current Org-mode buffer (see @ref{Evaluating code blocks}
11642 for information on the syntax of remote code block evaluation).
11645 Code blocks located in any Org-mode file can be loaded into the ``Library of
11646 Babel'' with the @code{org-babel-lob-ingest} function, bound to @kbd{C-c C-v
11649 @node Languages, Header arguments, Library of Babel, Working With Source Code
11651 @cindex babel, languages
11652 @cindex source code, languages
11653 @cindex code block, languages
11655 Code blocks in the following languages are supported.
11657 @multitable @columnfractions 0.28 0.3 0.22 0.2
11658 @item @b{Language} @tab @b{Identifier} @tab @b{Language} @tab @b{Identifier}
11659 @item Asymptote @tab asymptote @tab Emacs Calc @tab calc
11660 @item C @tab C @tab C++ @tab C++
11661 @item Clojure @tab clojure @tab CSS @tab css
11662 @item ditaa @tab ditaa @tab Graphviz @tab dot
11663 @item Emacs Lisp @tab emacs-lisp @tab gnuplot @tab gnuplot
11664 @item Haskell @tab haskell @tab Javascript @tab js
11665 @item LaTeX @tab latex @tab Ledger @tab ledger
11666 @item Lisp @tab lisp @tab MATLAB @tab matlab
11667 @item Mscgen @tab mscgen @tab Objective Caml @tab ocaml
11668 @item Octave @tab octave @tab Org-mode @tab org
11669 @item Oz @tab oz @tab Perl @tab perl
11670 @item Plantuml @tab plantuml @tab Python @tab python
11671 @item R @tab R @tab Ruby @tab ruby
11672 @item Sass @tab sass @tab Scheme @tab scheme
11673 @item GNU Screen @tab screen @tab shell @tab sh
11674 @item SQL @tab sql @tab SQLite @tab sqlite
11677 Language-specific documentation is available for some languages. If
11678 available, it can be found at
11679 @uref{http://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel/languages}.
11681 The @code{org-babel-load-languages} controls which languages are enabled for
11682 evaluation (by default only @code{emacs-lisp} is enabled). This variable can
11683 be set using the customization interface or by adding code like the following
11684 to your emacs configuration.
11687 The following disables @code{emacs-lisp} evaluation and enables evaluation of
11688 @code{R} code blocks.
11692 (org-babel-do-load-languages
11693 'org-babel-load-languages
11694 '((emacs-lisp . nil)
11698 It is also possible to enable support for a language by loading the related
11699 elisp file with @code{require}.
11702 The following adds support for evaluating @code{clojure} code blocks.
11706 (require 'ob-clojure)
11709 @node Header arguments, Results of evaluation, Languages, Working With Source Code
11710 @section Header arguments
11711 @cindex code block, header arguments
11712 @cindex source code, block header arguments
11714 Code block functionality can be configured with header arguments. This
11715 section provides an overview of the use of header arguments, and then
11716 describes each header argument in detail.
11719 * Using header arguments:: Different ways to set header arguments
11720 * Specific header arguments:: List of header arguments
11723 @node Using header arguments, Specific header arguments, Header arguments, Header arguments
11724 @subsection Using header arguments
11726 The values of header arguments can be set in six different ways, each more
11727 specific (and having higher priority) than the last.
11729 * System-wide header arguments:: Set global default values
11730 * Language-specific header arguments:: Set default values by language
11731 * Buffer-wide header arguments:: Set default values for a specific buffer
11732 * Header arguments in Org-mode properties:: Set default values for a buffer or heading
11733 * Code block specific header arguments:: The most common way to set values
11734 * Header arguments in function calls:: The most specific level
11738 @node System-wide header arguments, Language-specific header arguments, Using header arguments, Using header arguments
11739 @subsubheading System-wide header arguments
11740 @vindex org-babel-default-header-args
11741 System-wide values of header arguments can be specified by customizing the
11742 @code{org-babel-default-header-args} variable:
11746 :results => "replace"
11753 @c org-babel-default-header-args is a variable defined in `org-babel.el'.
11755 @c ((:session . "none")
11756 @c (:results . "replace")
11757 @c (:exports . "code")
11759 @c (:noweb . "no"))
11763 @c Default arguments to use when evaluating a code block.
11766 For example, the following example could be used to set the default value of
11767 @code{:noweb} header arguments to @code{yes}. This would have the effect of
11768 expanding @code{:noweb} references by default when evaluating source code
11772 (setq org-babel-default-header-args
11773 (cons '(:noweb . "yes")
11774 (assq-delete-all :noweb org-babel-default-header-args)))
11777 @node Language-specific header arguments, Buffer-wide header arguments, System-wide header arguments, Using header arguments
11778 @subsubheading Language-specific header arguments
11779 Each language can define its own set of default header arguments. See the
11780 language-specific documentation available online at
11781 @uref{http://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel}.
11783 @node Buffer-wide header arguments, Header arguments in Org-mode properties, Language-specific header arguments, Using header arguments
11784 @subsubheading Buffer-wide header arguments
11785 Buffer-wide header arguments may be specified through the use of a special
11786 line placed anywhere in an Org-mode file. The line consists of the
11787 @code{#+BABEL:} keyword followed by a series of header arguments which may be
11788 specified using the standard header argument syntax.
11790 For example the following would set @code{session} to @code{*R*}, and
11791 @code{results} to @code{silent} for every code block in the buffer, ensuring
11792 that all execution took place in the same session, and no results would be
11793 inserted into the buffer.
11796 #+BABEL: :session *R* :results silent
11799 @node Header arguments in Org-mode properties, Code block specific header arguments, Buffer-wide header arguments, Using header arguments
11800 @subsubheading Header arguments in Org-mode properties
11802 Header arguments are also read from Org-mode properties (see @ref{Property
11803 syntax}), which can be set on a buffer-wide or per-heading basis. An example
11804 of setting a header argument for all code blocks in a buffer is
11807 #+property: tangle yes
11810 When properties are used to set default header arguments, they are looked up
11811 with inheritance, so the value of the @code{:cache} header argument will default
11812 to @code{yes} in all code blocks in the subtree rooted at the following
11823 @vindex org-babel-default-header-args
11824 Properties defined in this way override the properties set in
11825 @code{org-babel-default-header-args}. It is convenient to use the
11826 @code{org-set-property} function bound to @kbd{C-c C-x p} to set properties
11827 in Org-mode documents.
11829 @node Code block specific header arguments, Header arguments in function calls, Header arguments in Org-mode properties, Using header arguments
11830 @subsubheading Code block specific header arguments
11832 The most common way to assign values to header arguments is at the
11833 code block level. This can be done by listing a sequence of header
11834 arguments and their values as part of the @code{#+begin_src} line.
11835 Properties set in this way override both the values of
11836 @code{org-babel-default-header-args} and header arguments specified as
11837 properties. In the following example, the @code{:results} header argument
11838 is set to @code{silent}, meaning the results of execution will not be
11839 inserted in the buffer, and the @code{:exports} header argument is set to
11840 @code{code}, meaning only the body of the code block will be
11841 preserved on export to HTML or LaTeX.
11844 #+source: factorial
11845 #+begin_src haskell :results silent :exports code :var n=0
11847 fac n = n * fac (n-1)
11850 Similarly, it is possible to set header arguments for inline code blocks:
11853 src_haskell[:exports both]@{fac 5@}
11856 Code block header arguments can span multiple lines using =#+header:= or
11857 =#+headers:= lines preceding a code block or nested in between the name and
11858 body of a named code block.
11860 Multi-line header arguments on an un-named code block:
11862 #+headers: :var data1=1
11863 #+begin_src emacs-lisp :var data2=2
11864 (message "data1:%S, data2:%S" data1 data2)
11871 Multi-line header arguments on a named code block:
11873 #+source: named-block
11874 #+header: :var data=2
11875 #+begin_src emacs-lisp
11876 (message "data:%S" data)
11879 #+results: named-block
11883 @node Header arguments in function calls, , Code block specific header arguments, Using header arguments
11884 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
11885 @subsubheading Header arguments in function calls
11887 At the most specific level, header arguments for ``Library of Babel'' or
11888 function call lines can be set as shown in the two examples below. For more
11889 information on the structure of @code{#+call:} lines see @ref{Evaluating code
11892 The following will apply the @code{:exports results} header argument to the
11893 evaluation of the @code{#+call:} line.
11895 #+call: factorial(n=5) :exports results
11898 The following will apply the @code{:session special} header argument to the
11899 evaluation of the @code{factorial} code block.
11901 #+call: factorial[:session special](n=5)
11904 @node Specific header arguments, , Using header arguments, Header arguments
11905 @subsection Specific header arguments
11906 The following header arguments are defined:
11909 * var:: Pass arguments to code blocks
11910 * results:: Specify the type of results and how they will
11911 be collected and handled
11912 * file:: Specify a path for file output
11913 * dir:: Specify the default (possibly remote)
11914 directory for code block execution
11915 * exports:: Export code and/or results
11916 * tangle:: Toggle tangling and specify file name
11917 * mkdirp:: Toggle creation of parent directories of target
11918 files during tangling
11919 * comments:: Toggle insertion of comments in tangled
11921 * padline:: Control insertion of padding lines in tangled
11923 * no-expand:: Turn off variable assignment and noweb
11924 expansion during tangling
11925 * session:: Preserve the state of code evaluation
11926 * noweb:: Toggle expansion of noweb references
11927 * cache:: Avoid re-evaluating unchanged code blocks
11928 * sep:: Delimiter for writing tabular results outside Org
11929 * hlines:: Handle horizontal lines in tables
11930 * colnames:: Handle column names in tables
11931 * rownames:: Handle row names in tables
11932 * shebang:: Make tangled files executable
11933 * eval:: Limit evaluation of specific code blocks
11936 Additional header arguments are defined on a language-specific basis, see
11939 @node var, results, Specific header arguments, Specific header arguments
11940 @subsubsection @code{:var}
11941 The @code{:var} header argument is used to pass arguments to code blocks.
11942 The specifics of how arguments are included in a code block vary by language;
11943 these are addressed in the language-specific documentation. However, the
11944 syntax used to specify arguments is the same across all languages. The
11945 values passed to arguments can be literal values, values from org-mode tables
11946 and literal example blocks, the results of other code blocks, or Emacs Lisp
11947 code---see the ``Emacs Lisp evaluation of variables'' heading below.
11949 These values can be indexed in a manner similar to arrays---see the
11950 ``indexable variable values'' heading below.
11952 The following syntax is used to pass arguments to code blocks using the
11953 @code{:var} header argument.
11959 where @code{assign} can take one of the following forms
11962 @item literal value
11963 either a string @code{"string"} or a number @code{9}.
11968 #+tblname: example-table
11974 #+source: table-length
11975 #+begin_src emacs-lisp :var table=example-table
11979 #+results: table-length
11983 a code block name, as assigned by @code{#+srcname:}, followed by
11987 #+begin_src emacs-lisp :var length=table-length()
11995 In addition, an argument can be passed to the code block referenced
11996 by @code{:var}. The argument is passed within the parentheses following the
12001 #+begin_src emacs-lisp :var input=8
12009 #+begin_src emacs-lisp :var input=double(input=1)
12018 @subsubheading Alternate argument syntax
12019 It is also possible to specify arguments in a potentially more natural way
12020 using the @code{#+source:} line of a code block. As in the following
12021 example arguments can be packed inside of parenthesis, separated by commas,
12022 following the source name.
12025 #+source: double(input=0, x=2)
12026 #+begin_src emacs-lisp
12031 @subsubheading Indexable variable values
12032 It is possible to reference portions of variable values by ``indexing'' into
12033 the variables. Indexes are 0 based with negative values counting back from
12034 the end. If an index is separated by @code{,}s then each subsequent section
12035 will index into the next deepest nesting or dimension of the value. Note
12036 that this indexing occurs @emph{before} other table related header arguments
12037 like @code{:hlines}, @code{:colnames} and @code{:rownames} are applied. The
12038 following example assigns the last cell of the first row the table
12039 @code{example-table} to the variable @code{data}:
12042 #+results: example-table
12048 #+begin_src emacs-lisp :var data=example-table[0,-1]
12056 Ranges of variable values can be referenced using two integers separated by a
12057 @code{:}, in which case the entire inclusive range is referenced. For
12058 example the following assigns the middle three rows of @code{example-table}
12062 #+results: example-table
12069 #+begin_src emacs-lisp :var data=example-table[1:3]
12079 Additionally, an empty index, or the single character @code{*}, are both
12080 interpreted to mean the entire range and as such are equivalent to
12081 @code{0:-1}, as shown in the following example in which the entire first
12082 column is referenced.
12085 #+results: example-table
12091 #+begin_src emacs-lisp :var data=example-table[,0]
12099 It is possible to index into the results of code blocks as well as tables.
12100 Any number of dimensions can be indexed. Dimensions are separated from one
12101 another by commas, as shown in the following example.
12105 #+begin_src emacs-lisp
12106 '(((1 2 3) (4 5 6) (7 8 9))
12107 ((10 11 12) (13 14 15) (16 17 18))
12108 ((19 20 21) (22 23 24) (25 26 27)))
12111 #+begin_src emacs-lisp :var data=3D[1,,1]
12119 @subsubheading Emacs Lisp evaluation of variables
12121 Emacs lisp code can be used to initialize variable values. When a variable
12122 value starts with @code{(}, @code{[}, @code{'} or @code{`} it will be evaluated as
12123 Emacs Lisp and the result of the evaluation will be assigned as the variable
12124 value. The following example demonstrates use of this evaluation to reliably
12125 pass the file-name of the org-mode buffer to a code block---note that
12126 evaluation of header arguments is guaranteed to take place in the original
12127 org-mode file, while there is no such guarantee for evaluation of the code
12131 #+begin_src sh :var filename=(buffer-file-name) :exports both
12136 Note that values read from tables and lists will not be evaluated as
12137 Emacs Lisp, as shown in the following example.
12143 #+headers: :var data=table[0,0]
12152 @node results, file, var, Specific header arguments
12153 @subsubsection @code{:results}
12155 There are three classes of @code{:results} header argument. Only one option
12156 per class may be supplied per code block.
12160 @b{collection} header arguments specify how the results should be collected
12161 from the code block
12163 @b{type} header arguments specify what type of result the code block will
12164 return---which has implications for how they will be inserted into the
12167 @b{handling} header arguments specify how the results of evaluating the code
12168 block should be handled.
12171 @subsubheading Collection
12172 The following options are mutually exclusive, and specify how the results
12173 should be collected from the code block.
12177 This is the default. The result is the value of the last statement in the
12178 code block. This header argument places the evaluation in functional
12179 mode. Note that in some languages, e.g., Python, use of this result type
12180 requires that a @code{return} statement be included in the body of the source
12181 code block. E.g., @code{:results value}.
12182 @item @code{output}
12183 The result is the collection of everything printed to STDOUT during the
12184 execution of the code block. This header argument places the
12185 evaluation in scripting mode. E.g., @code{:results output}.
12188 @subsubheading Type
12190 The following options are mutually exclusive and specify what type of results
12191 the code block will return. By default, results are inserted as either a
12192 table or scalar depending on their value.
12195 @item @code{table}, @code{vector}
12196 The results should be interpreted as an Org-mode table. If a single value is
12197 returned, it will be converted into a table with one row and one column.
12198 E.g., @code{:results value table}.
12200 The results should be interpreted as an Org-mode list. If a single scalar
12201 value is returned it will be converted into a list with only one element.
12202 @item @code{scalar}, @code{verbatim}
12203 The results should be interpreted literally---they will not be
12204 converted into a table. The results will be inserted into the Org-mode
12205 buffer as quoted text. E.g., @code{:results value verbatim}.
12207 The results will be interpreted as the path to a file, and will be inserted
12208 into the Org-mode buffer as a file link. E.g., @code{:results value file}.
12209 @item @code{raw}, @code{org}
12210 The results are interpreted as raw Org-mode code and are inserted directly
12211 into the buffer. If the results look like a table they will be aligned as
12212 such by Org-mode. E.g., @code{:results value raw}.
12214 Results are assumed to be HTML and will be enclosed in a @code{begin_html}
12215 block. E.g., @code{:results value html}.
12217 Results assumed to be LaTeX and are enclosed in a @code{begin_latex} block.
12218 E.g., @code{:results value latex}.
12220 Result are assumed to be parseable code and are enclosed in a code block.
12221 E.g., @code{:results value code}.
12223 The result is converted to pretty-printed code and is enclosed in a code
12224 block. This option currently supports Emacs Lisp, Python, and Ruby. E.g.,
12225 @code{:results value pp}.
12227 The result is wrapped in a @code{begin_result} block. This can be useful for
12228 inserting @code{raw} or @code{org} syntax results in such a way that their
12229 extend is known and they can be automatically removed or replaced.
12232 @subsubheading Handling
12233 The following results options indicate what happens with the
12234 results once they are collected.
12237 @item @code{silent}
12238 The results will be echoed in the minibuffer but will not be inserted into
12239 the Org-mode buffer. E.g., @code{:results output silent}.
12240 @item @code{replace}
12241 The default value. Any existing results will be removed, and the new results
12242 will be inserted into the Org-mode buffer in their place. E.g.,
12243 @code{:results output replace}.
12244 @item @code{append}
12245 If there are pre-existing results of the code block then the new results will
12246 be appended to the existing results. Otherwise the new results will be
12247 inserted as with @code{replace}.
12248 @item @code{prepend}
12249 If there are pre-existing results of the code block then the new results will
12250 be prepended to the existing results. Otherwise the new results will be
12251 inserted as with @code{replace}.
12254 @node file, dir, results, Specific header arguments
12255 @subsubsection @code{:file}
12257 The header argument @code{:file} is used to specify an external file in which
12258 to save code block results. After code block evaluation an Org-mode style
12259 @code{[[file:]]} link (see @ref{Link format}) to the file will be inserted
12260 into the Org-mode buffer. Some languages including R, gnuplot, dot, and
12261 ditaa provide special handling of the @code{:file} header argument
12262 automatically wrapping the code block body in the boilerplate code required
12263 to save output to the specified file. This is often useful for saving
12264 graphical output of a code block to the specified file.
12266 The argument to @code{:file} should be either a string specifying the path to
12267 a file, or a list of two strings in which case the first element of the list
12268 should be the path to a file and the second a description for the link.
12270 @node dir, exports, file, Specific header arguments
12271 @subsubsection @code{:dir} and remote execution
12273 While the @code{:file} header argument can be used to specify the path to the
12274 output file, @code{:dir} specifies the default directory during code block
12275 execution. If it is absent, then the directory associated with the current
12276 buffer is used. In other words, supplying @code{:dir path} temporarily has
12277 the same effect as changing the current directory with @kbd{M-x cd path}, and
12278 then not supplying @code{:dir}. Under the surface, @code{:dir} simply sets
12279 the value of the Emacs variable @code{default-directory}.
12281 When using @code{:dir}, you should supply a relative path for file output
12282 (e.g.@: @code{:file myfile.jpg} or @code{:file results/myfile.jpg}) in which
12283 case that path will be interpreted relative to the default directory.
12285 In other words, if you want your plot to go into a folder called @file{Work}
12286 in your home directory, you could use
12289 #+begin_src R :file myplot.png :dir ~/Work
12290 matplot(matrix(rnorm(100), 10), type="l")
12294 @subsubheading Remote execution
12295 A directory on a remote machine can be specified using tramp file syntax, in
12296 which case the code will be evaluated on the remote machine. An example is
12299 #+begin_src R :file plot.png :dir /dand@@yakuba.princeton.edu:
12300 plot(1:10, main=system("hostname", intern=TRUE))
12304 Text results will be returned to the local Org-mode buffer as usual, and file
12305 output will be created on the remote machine with relative paths interpreted
12306 relative to the remote directory. An Org-mode link to the remote file will be
12309 So, in the above example a plot will be created on the remote machine,
12310 and a link of the following form will be inserted in the org buffer:
12313 [[file:/scp:dand@@yakuba.princeton.edu:/home/dand/plot.png][plot.png]]
12316 Most of this functionality follows immediately from the fact that @code{:dir}
12317 sets the value of the Emacs variable @code{default-directory}, thanks to
12318 tramp. Those using XEmacs, or GNU Emacs prior to version 23 may need to
12319 install tramp separately in order for these features to work correctly.
12321 @subsubheading Further points
12325 If @code{:dir} is used in conjunction with @code{:session}, although it will
12326 determine the starting directory for a new session as expected, no attempt is
12327 currently made to alter the directory associated with an existing session.
12329 @code{:dir} should typically not be used to create files during export with
12330 @code{:exports results} or @code{:exports both}. The reason is that, in order
12331 to retain portability of exported material between machines, during export
12332 links inserted into the buffer will *not* be expanded against @code{default
12333 directory}. Therefore, if @code{default-directory} is altered using
12334 @code{:dir}, it is probable that the file will be created in a location to
12335 which the link does not point.
12338 @node exports, tangle, dir, Specific header arguments
12339 @subsubsection @code{:exports}
12341 The @code{:exports} header argument specifies what should be included in HTML
12342 or LaTeX exports of the Org-mode file.
12346 The default. The body of code is included into the exported file. E.g.,
12347 @code{:exports code}.
12348 @item @code{results}
12349 The result of evaluating the code is included in the exported file. E.g.,
12350 @code{:exports results}.
12352 Both the code and results are included in the exported file. E.g.,
12353 @code{:exports both}.
12355 Nothing is included in the exported file. E.g., @code{:exports none}.
12358 @node tangle, mkdirp, exports, Specific header arguments
12359 @subsubsection @code{:tangle}
12361 The @code{:tangle} header argument specifies whether or not the code
12362 block should be included in tangled extraction of source code files.
12365 @item @code{tangle}
12366 The code block is exported to a source code file named after the
12367 basename (name w/o extension) of the Org-mode file. E.g., @code{:tangle
12370 The default. The code block is not exported to a source code file.
12371 E.g., @code{:tangle no}.
12373 Any other string passed to the @code{:tangle} header argument is interpreted
12374 as a file basename to which the block will be exported. E.g., @code{:tangle
12378 @node mkdirp, comments, tangle, Specific header arguments
12379 @subsubsection @code{:mkdirp}
12381 The @code{:mkdirp} header argument can be used to create parent directories
12382 of tangled files when missing. This can be set to @code{yes} to enable
12383 directory creation or to @code{no} to inhibit directory creation.
12385 @node comments, padline, mkdirp, Specific header arguments
12386 @subsubsection @code{:comments}
12387 By default code blocks are tangled to source-code files without any insertion
12388 of comments beyond those which may already exist in the body of the code
12389 block. The @code{:comments} header argument can be set as follows to control
12390 the insertion of extra comments into the tangled code file.
12394 The default. No extra comments are inserted during tangling.
12396 The code block is wrapped in comments which contain pointers back to the
12397 original Org file from which the code was tangled.
12399 A synonym for ``link'' to maintain backwards compatibility.
12401 Include text from the org-mode file as a comment.
12403 The text is picked from the leading context of the tangled code and is
12404 limited by the nearest headline or source block as the case may be.
12406 Turns on both the ``link'' and ``org'' comment options.
12408 Turns on the ``link'' comment option, and additionally wraps expanded noweb
12409 references in the code block body in link comments.
12412 @node padline, no-expand, comments, Specific header arguments
12413 Control in insertion of padding lines around code block bodies in tangled
12414 code files. The default value is @code{yes} which results in insertion of
12415 newlines before and after each tangled code block. The following arguments
12420 Insert newlines before and after each code block body in tangled code files.
12422 Do not insert any newline padding in tangled output.
12425 @node no-expand, session, padline, Specific header arguments
12426 @subsubsection @code{:no-expand}
12428 By default, code blocks are expanded with @code{org-babel-expand-src-block}
12429 during tangling. This has the effect of assigning values to variables
12430 specified with @code{:var} (see @ref{var}), and of replacing ``noweb''
12431 references (see @ref{Noweb reference syntax}) with their targets. The
12432 @code{:no-expand} header argument can be used to turn off this behavior.
12434 @node session, noweb, no-expand, Specific header arguments
12435 @subsubsection @code{:session}
12437 The @code{:session} header argument starts a session for an interpreted
12438 language where state is preserved.
12440 By default, a session is not started.
12442 A string passed to the @code{:session} header argument will give the session
12443 a name. This makes it possible to run concurrent sessions for each
12444 interpreted language.
12446 @node noweb, cache, session, Specific header arguments
12447 @subsubsection @code{:noweb}
12449 The @code{:noweb} header argument controls expansion of ``noweb'' style (see
12450 @ref{Noweb reference syntax}) references in a code block. This header
12451 argument can have one of three values: @code{yes} @code{no} or @code{tangle}.
12455 All ``noweb'' syntax references in the body of the code block will be
12456 expanded before the block is evaluated, tangled or exported.
12458 The default. No ``noweb'' syntax specific action is taken on evaluating
12459 code blocks, However, noweb references will still be expanded during
12461 @item @code{tangle}
12462 All ``noweb'' syntax references in the body of the code block will be
12463 expanded before the block is tangled, however ``noweb'' references will not
12464 be expanded when the block is evaluated or exported.
12467 @subsubheading Noweb prefix lines
12468 Noweb insertions are now placed behind the line prefix of the
12469 @code{<<reference>>}.
12470 This behavior is illustrated in the following example. Because the
12471 @code{<<example>>} noweb reference appears behind the SQL comment syntax,
12472 each line of the expanded noweb reference will be commented.
12485 -- multi-line body of example
12488 Note that noweb replacement text that does not contain any newlines will not
12489 be affected by this change, so it is still possible to use inline noweb
12492 @node cache, sep, noweb, Specific header arguments
12493 @subsubsection @code{:cache}
12495 The @code{:cache} header argument controls the use of in-buffer caching of
12496 the results of evaluating code blocks. It can be used to avoid re-evaluating
12497 unchanged code blocks. This header argument can have one of two
12498 values: @code{yes} or @code{no}.
12502 The default. No caching takes place, and the code block will be evaluated
12503 every time it is called.
12505 Every time the code block is run a SHA1 hash of the code and arguments
12506 passed to the block will be generated. This hash is packed into the
12507 @code{#+results:} line and will be checked on subsequent
12508 executions of the code block. If the code block has not
12509 changed since the last time it was evaluated, it will not be re-evaluated.
12512 Code block caches notice if the value of a variable argument
12513 to the code block has changed. If this is the case, the cache is
12514 invalidated and the code block is re-run. In the following example,
12515 @code{caller} will not be re-run unless the results of @code{random} have
12516 changed since it was last run.
12520 #+begin_src R :cache yes
12524 #+results[a2a72cd647ad44515fab62e144796432793d68e1]: random
12528 #+begin_src emacs-lisp :var x=random :cache yes
12532 #+results[bec9c8724e397d5df3b696502df3ed7892fc4f5f]: caller
12536 @node sep, hlines, cache, Specific header arguments
12537 @subsubsection @code{:sep}
12539 The @code{:sep} header argument can be used to control the delimiter used
12540 when writing tabular results out to files external to Org-mode. This is used
12541 either when opening tabular results of a code block by calling the
12542 @code{org-open-at-point} function bound to @kbd{C-c C-o} on the code block,
12543 or when writing code block results to an external file (see @ref{file})
12546 By default, when @code{:sep} is not specified output tables are tab
12549 @node hlines, colnames, sep, Specific header arguments
12550 @subsubsection @code{:hlines}
12552 Tables are frequently represented with one or more horizontal lines, or
12553 hlines. The @code{:hlines} argument to a code block accepts the
12554 values @code{yes} or @code{no}, with a default value of @code{no}.
12558 Strips horizontal lines from the input table. In most languages this is the
12559 desired effect because an @code{hline} symbol is interpreted as an unbound
12560 variable and raises an error. Setting @code{:hlines no} or relying on the
12561 default value yields the following results.
12564 #+tblname: many-cols
12571 #+source: echo-table
12572 #+begin_src python :var tab=many-cols
12576 #+results: echo-table
12583 Leaves hlines in the table. Setting @code{:hlines yes} has this effect.
12586 #+tblname: many-cols
12593 #+source: echo-table
12594 #+begin_src python :var tab=many-cols :hlines yes
12598 #+results: echo-table
12607 @node colnames, rownames, hlines, Specific header arguments
12608 @subsubsection @code{:colnames}
12610 The @code{:colnames} header argument accepts the values @code{yes},
12611 @code{no}, or @code{nil} for unassigned. The default value is @code{nil}.
12615 If an input table looks like it has column names
12616 (because its second row is an hline), then the column
12617 names will be removed from the table before
12618 processing, then reapplied to the results.
12621 #+tblname: less-cols
12627 #+srcname: echo-table-again
12628 #+begin_src python :var tab=less-cols
12629 return [[val + '*' for val in row] for row in tab]
12632 #+results: echo-table-again
12639 Please note that column names are not removed before the table is indexed
12640 using variable indexing @xref{var, Indexable variable values}.
12643 No column name pre-processing takes place
12646 Column names are removed and reapplied as with @code{nil} even if the table
12647 does not ``look like'' it has column names (i.e.@: the second row is not an
12651 @node rownames, shebang, colnames, Specific header arguments
12652 @subsubsection @code{:rownames}
12654 The @code{:rownames} header argument can take on the values @code{yes}
12655 or @code{no}, with a default value of @code{no}.
12659 No row name pre-processing will take place.
12662 The first column of the table is removed from the table before processing,
12663 and is then reapplied to the results.
12666 #+tblname: with-rownames
12667 | one | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
12668 | two | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
12670 #+srcname: echo-table-once-again
12671 #+begin_src python :var tab=with-rownames :rownames yes
12672 return [[val + 10 for val in row] for row in tab]
12675 #+results: echo-table-once-again
12676 | one | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
12677 | two | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
12680 Please note that row names are not removed before the table is indexed using
12681 variable indexing @xref{var, Indexable variable values}.
12685 @node shebang, eval, rownames, Specific header arguments
12686 @subsubsection @code{:shebang}
12688 Setting the @code{:shebang} header argument to a string value
12689 (e.g.@: @code{:shebang "#!/bin/bash"}) causes the string to be inserted as the
12690 first line of any tangled file holding the code block, and the file
12691 permissions of the tangled file are set to make it executable.
12693 @node eval, , shebang, Specific header arguments
12694 @subsubsection @code{:eval}
12695 The @code{:eval} header argument can be used to limit the evaluation of
12696 specific code blocks. @code{:eval} accepts two arguments ``never'' and
12697 ``query''. @code{:eval never} will ensure that a code block is never
12698 evaluated, this can be useful for protecting against the evaluation of
12699 dangerous code blocks. @code{:eval query} will require a query for every
12700 execution of a code block regardless of the value of the
12701 @code{org-confirm-babel-evaluate} variable.
12703 @node Results of evaluation, Noweb reference syntax, Header arguments, Working With Source Code
12704 @section Results of evaluation
12705 @cindex code block, results of evaluation
12706 @cindex source code, results of evaluation
12708 The way in which results are handled depends on whether a session is invoked,
12709 as well as on whether @code{:results value} or @code{:results output} is
12710 used. The following table shows the table possibilities. For a full listing
12711 of the possible results header arguments see @ref{results}.
12713 @multitable @columnfractions 0.26 0.33 0.41
12714 @item @tab @b{Non-session} @tab @b{Session}
12715 @item @code{:results value} @tab value of last expression @tab value of last expression
12716 @item @code{:results output} @tab contents of STDOUT @tab concatenation of interpreter output
12719 Note: With @code{:results value}, the result in both @code{:session} and
12720 non-session is returned to Org-mode as a table (a one- or two-dimensional
12721 vector of strings or numbers) when appropriate.
12723 @subsection Non-session
12724 @subsubsection @code{:results value}
12725 This is the default. Internally, the value is obtained by wrapping the code
12726 in a function definition in the external language, and evaluating that
12727 function. Therefore, code should be written as if it were the body of such a
12728 function. In particular, note that Python does not automatically return a
12729 value from a function unless a @code{return} statement is present, and so a
12730 @samp{return} statement will usually be required in Python.
12732 This is the only one of the four evaluation contexts in which the code is
12733 automatically wrapped in a function definition.
12735 @subsubsection @code{:results output}
12736 The code is passed to the interpreter as an external process, and the
12737 contents of the standard output stream are returned as text. (In certain
12738 languages this also contains the error output stream; this is an area for
12741 @subsection Session
12742 @subsubsection @code{:results value}
12743 The code is passed to the interpreter running as an interactive Emacs
12744 inferior process. The result returned is the result of the last evaluation
12745 performed by the interpreter. (This is obtained in a language-specific
12746 manner: the value of the variable @code{_} in Python and Ruby, and the value
12747 of @code{.Last.value} in R).
12749 @subsubsection @code{:results output}
12750 The code is passed to the interpreter running as an interactive Emacs
12751 inferior process. The result returned is the concatenation of the sequence of
12752 (text) output from the interactive interpreter. Notice that this is not
12753 necessarily the same as what would be sent to @code{STDOUT} if the same code
12754 were passed to a non-interactive interpreter running as an external
12755 process. For example, compare the following two blocks:
12758 #+begin_src python :results output
12769 In non-session mode, the `2' is not printed and does not appear.
12771 #+begin_src python :results output :session
12783 But in @code{:session} mode, the interactive interpreter receives input `2'
12784 and prints out its value, `2'. (Indeed, the other print statements are
12787 @node Noweb reference syntax, Key bindings and useful functions, Results of evaluation, Working With Source Code
12788 @section Noweb reference syntax
12789 @cindex code block, noweb reference
12790 @cindex syntax, noweb
12791 @cindex source code, noweb reference
12793 The ``noweb'' (see @uref{http://www.cs.tufts.edu/~nr/noweb/}) Literate
12794 Programming system allows named blocks of code to be referenced by using the
12795 familiar Noweb syntax:
12798 <<code-block-name>>
12801 When a code block is tangled or evaluated, whether or not ``noweb''
12802 references are expanded depends upon the value of the @code{:noweb} header
12803 argument. If @code{:noweb yes}, then a Noweb reference is expanded before
12804 evaluation. If @code{:noweb no}, the default, then the reference is not
12805 expanded before evaluation.
12807 Note: the default value, @code{:noweb no}, was chosen to ensure that
12808 correct code is not broken in a language, such as Ruby, where
12809 @code{<<arg>>} is a syntactically valid construct. If @code{<<arg>>} is not
12810 syntactically valid in languages that you use, then please consider setting
12813 @node Key bindings and useful functions, Batch execution, Noweb reference syntax, Working With Source Code
12814 @section Key bindings and useful functions
12815 @cindex code block, key bindings
12817 Many common Org-mode key sequences are re-bound depending on
12820 Within a code block, the following key bindings
12823 @multitable @columnfractions 0.25 0.75
12825 @item @kbd{C-c C-c} @tab @code{org-babel-execute-src-block}
12827 @item @kbd{C-c C-o} @tab @code{org-babel-open-src-block-result}
12829 @item @kbd{C-@key{up}} @tab @code{org-babel-load-in-session}
12831 @item @kbd{M-@key{down}} @tab @code{org-babel-pop-to-session}
12834 In an Org-mode buffer, the following key bindings are active:
12836 @multitable @columnfractions 0.45 0.55
12838 @kindex C-c C-v C-a
12839 @item @kbd{C-c C-v a} @ @ @r{or} @ @ @kbd{C-c C-v C-a} @tab @code{org-babel-sha1-hash}
12841 @kindex C-c C-v C-b
12842 @item @kbd{C-c C-v b} @ @ @r{or} @ @ @kbd{C-c C-v C-b} @tab @code{org-babel-execute-buffer}
12844 @kindex C-c C-v C-f
12845 @item @kbd{C-c C-v f} @ @ @r{or} @ @ @kbd{C-c C-v C-f} @tab @code{org-babel-tangle-file}
12847 @item @kbd{C-c C-v g} @tab @code{org-babel-goto-named-source-block}
12849 @item @kbd{C-c C-v h} @tab @code{org-babel-describe-bindings}
12851 @kindex C-c C-v C-l
12852 @item @kbd{C-c C-v l} @ @ @r{or} @ @ @kbd{C-c C-v C-l} @tab @code{org-babel-lob-ingest}
12854 @kindex C-c C-v C-p
12855 @item @kbd{C-c C-v p} @ @ @r{or} @ @ @kbd{C-c C-v C-p} @tab @code{org-babel-expand-src-block}
12857 @kindex C-c C-v C-s
12858 @item @kbd{C-c C-v s} @ @ @r{or} @ @ @kbd{C-c C-v C-s} @tab @code{org-babel-execute-subtree}
12860 @kindex C-c C-v C-t
12861 @item @kbd{C-c C-v t} @ @ @r{or} @ @ @kbd{C-c C-v C-t} @tab @code{org-babel-tangle}
12863 @kindex C-c C-v C-z
12864 @item @kbd{C-c C-v z} @ @ @r{or} @ @ @kbd{C-c C-v C-z} @tab @code{org-babel-switch-to-session}
12867 @c When possible these keybindings were extended to work when the control key is
12868 @c kept pressed, resulting in the following additional keybindings.
12870 @c @multitable @columnfractions 0.25 0.75
12871 @c @item @kbd{C-c C-v C-a} @tab @code{org-babel-sha1-hash}
12872 @c @item @kbd{C-c C-v C-b} @tab @code{org-babel-execute-buffer}
12873 @c @item @kbd{C-c C-v C-f} @tab @code{org-babel-tangle-file}
12874 @c @item @kbd{C-c C-v C-l} @tab @code{org-babel-lob-ingest}
12875 @c @item @kbd{C-c C-v C-p} @tab @code{org-babel-expand-src-block}
12876 @c @item @kbd{C-c C-v C-s} @tab @code{org-babel-execute-subtree}
12877 @c @item @kbd{C-c C-v C-t} @tab @code{org-babel-tangle}
12878 @c @item @kbd{C-c C-v C-z} @tab @code{org-babel-switch-to-session}
12881 @node Batch execution, , Key bindings and useful functions, Working With Source Code
12882 @section Batch execution
12883 @cindex code block, batch execution
12884 @cindex source code, batch execution
12886 It is possible to call functions from the command line. This shell
12887 script calls @code{org-babel-tangle} on every one of its arguments.
12889 Be sure to adjust the paths to fit your system.
12893 # -*- mode: shell-script -*-
12895 # tangle files with org-mode
12899 ORGINSTALL="~/src/org/lisp/org-install.el"
12901 # wrap each argument in the code required to call tangle on it
12903 FILES="$FILES \"$i\""
12906 emacs -Q --batch -l $ORGINSTALL \
12908 (add-to-list 'load-path (expand-file-name \"~/src/org/lisp/\"))
12909 (add-to-list 'load-path (expand-file-name \"~/src/org/contrib/lisp/\"))
12910 (require 'org)(require 'org-exp)(require 'ob)(require 'ob-tangle)
12911 (mapc (lambda (file)
12912 (find-file (expand-file-name file \"$DIR\"))
12914 (kill-buffer)) '($FILES)))" 2>&1 |grep tangled
12917 @node Miscellaneous, Hacking, Working With Source Code, Top
12918 @chapter Miscellaneous
12921 * Completion:: M-TAB knows what you need
12922 * Easy Templates:: Quick insertion of structural elements
12923 * Speed keys:: Electric commands at the beginning of a headline
12924 * Code evaluation security:: Org mode files evaluate inline code
12925 * Customization:: Adapting Org to your taste
12926 * In-buffer settings:: Overview of the #+KEYWORDS
12927 * The very busy C-c C-c key:: When in doubt, press C-c C-c
12928 * Clean view:: Getting rid of leading stars in the outline
12929 * TTY keys:: Using Org on a tty
12930 * Interaction:: Other Emacs packages
12931 * org-crypt.el:: Encrypting Org files
12935 @node Completion, Easy Templates, Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous
12936 @section Completion
12937 @cindex completion, of @TeX{} symbols
12938 @cindex completion, of TODO keywords
12939 @cindex completion, of dictionary words
12940 @cindex completion, of option keywords
12941 @cindex completion, of tags
12942 @cindex completion, of property keys
12943 @cindex completion, of link abbreviations
12944 @cindex @TeX{} symbol completion
12945 @cindex TODO keywords completion
12946 @cindex dictionary word completion
12947 @cindex option keyword completion
12948 @cindex tag completion
12949 @cindex link abbreviations, completion of
12951 Emacs would not be Emacs without completion, and Org-mode uses it whenever it
12952 makes sense. If you prefer an @i{iswitchb}- or @i{ido}-like interface for
12953 some of the completion prompts, you can specify your preference by setting at
12954 most one of the variables @code{org-completion-use-iswitchb}
12955 @code{org-completion-use-ido}.
12957 Org supports in-buffer completion. This type of completion does
12958 not make use of the minibuffer. You simply type a few letters into
12959 the buffer and use the key to complete text right there.
12962 @kindex M-@key{TAB}
12964 Complete word at point
12967 At the beginning of a headline, complete TODO keywords.
12969 After @samp{\}, complete @TeX{} symbols supported by the exporter.
12971 After @samp{*}, complete headlines in the current buffer so that they
12972 can be used in search links like @samp{[[*find this headline]]}.
12974 After @samp{:} in a headline, complete tags. The list of tags is taken
12975 from the variable @code{org-tag-alist} (possibly set through the
12976 @samp{#+TAGS} in-buffer option, @pxref{Setting tags}), or it is created
12977 dynamically from all tags used in the current buffer.
12979 After @samp{:} and not in a headline, complete property keys. The list
12980 of keys is constructed dynamically from all keys used in the current
12983 After @samp{[}, complete link abbreviations (@pxref{Link abbreviations}).
12985 After @samp{#+}, complete the special keywords like @samp{TYP_TODO} or
12986 @samp{OPTIONS} which set file-specific options for Org-mode. When the
12987 option keyword is already complete, pressing @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} again
12988 will insert example settings for this keyword.
12990 In the line after @samp{#+STARTUP: }, complete startup keywords,
12991 i.e.@: valid keys for this line.
12993 Elsewhere, complete dictionary words using Ispell.
12997 @node Easy Templates, Speed keys, Completion, Miscellaneous
12998 @section Easy Templates
12999 @cindex template insertion
13000 @cindex insertion, of templates
13002 Org-mode supports insertion of empty structural elements (like
13003 @code{#+BEGIN_SRC} and @code{#+END_SRC} pairs) with just a few key
13004 strokes. This is achieved through a native template expansion mechanism.
13005 Note that Emacs has several other template mechanisms which could be used in
13006 a similar way, for example @file{yasnippet}.
13008 To insert a structural element, type a @samp{<}, followed by a template
13009 selector and @kbd{@key{TAB}}. Completion takes effect only when the above
13010 keystrokes are typed on a line by itself.
13012 The following template selectors are currently supported.
13014 @multitable @columnfractions 0.1 0.9
13015 @item @kbd{s} @tab @code{#+begin_src ... #+end_src}
13016 @item @kbd{e} @tab @code{#+begin_example ... #+end_example}
13017 @item @kbd{q} @tab @code{#+begin_quote ... #+end_quote}
13018 @item @kbd{v} @tab @code{#+begin_verse ... #+end_verse}
13019 @item @kbd{c} @tab @code{#+begin_center ... #+end_center}
13020 @item @kbd{l} @tab @code{#+begin_latex ... #+end_latex}
13021 @item @kbd{L} @tab @code{#+latex:}
13022 @item @kbd{h} @tab @code{#+begin_html ... #+end_html}
13023 @item @kbd{H} @tab @code{#+html:}
13024 @item @kbd{a} @tab @code{#+begin_ascii ... #+end_ascii}
13025 @item @kbd{A} @tab @code{#+ascii:}
13026 @item @kbd{i} @tab @code{#+index:} line
13027 @item @kbd{I} @tab @code{#+include:} line
13030 For example, on an empty line, typing "<e" and then pressing TAB, will expand
13031 into a complete EXAMPLE template.
13033 You can install additional templates by customizing the variable
13034 @code{org-structure-template-alist}. See the docstring of the variable for
13035 additional details.
13037 @node Speed keys, Code evaluation security, Easy Templates, Miscellaneous
13038 @section Speed keys
13040 @vindex org-use-speed-commands
13041 @vindex org-speed-commands-user
13043 Single keys can be made to execute commands when the cursor is at the
13044 beginning of a headline, i.e.@: before the first star. Configure the variable
13045 @code{org-use-speed-commands} to activate this feature. There is a
13046 pre-defined list of commands, and you can add more such commands using the
13047 variable @code{org-speed-commands-user}. Speed keys do not only speed up
13048 navigation and other commands, but they also provide an alternative way to
13049 execute commands bound to keys that are not or not easily available on a TTY,
13050 or on a small mobile device with a limited keyboard.
13052 To see which commands are available, activate the feature and press @kbd{?}
13053 with the cursor at the beginning of a headline.
13055 @node Code evaluation security, Customization, Speed keys, Miscellaneous
13056 @section Code evaluation and security issues
13058 Org provides tools to work with the code snippets, including evaluating them.
13060 Running code on your machine always comes with a security risk. Badly
13061 written or malicious code can be executed on purpose or by accident. Org has
13062 default settings which will only evaluate such code if you give explicit
13063 permission to do so, and as a casual user of these features you should leave
13064 these precautions intact.
13066 For people who regularly work with such code, the confirmation prompts can
13067 become annoying, and you might want to turn them off. This can be done, but
13068 you must be aware of the risks that are involved.
13070 Code evaluation can happen under the following circumstances:
13073 @item Source code blocks
13074 Source code blocks can be evaluated during export, or when pressing @kbd{C-c
13075 C-c} in the block. The most important thing to realize here is that Org mode
13076 files which contain code snippets are, in a certain sense, like executable
13077 files. So you should accept them and load them into Emacs only from trusted
13078 sources---just like you would do with a program you install on your computer.
13080 Make sure you know what you are doing before customizing the variables
13081 which take off the default security brakes.
13083 @defopt org-confirm-babel-evaluate
13084 When t (the default), the user is asked before every code block evaluation.
13085 When nil, the user is not asked. When set to a function, it is called with
13086 two arguments (language and body of the code block) and should return t to
13087 ask and nil not to ask.
13090 For example, here is how to execute "ditaa" code (which is considered safe)
13093 (defun my-org-confirm-babel-evaluate (lang body)
13094 (not (string= lang "ditaa"))) ; don't ask for ditaa
13095 (setq org-confirm-babel-evaluate 'my-org-confirm-babel-evaluate)
13098 @item Following @code{shell} and @code{elisp} links
13099 Org has two link types that can directly evaluate code (@pxref{External
13100 links}). These links can be problematic because the code to be evaluated is
13103 @defopt org-confirm-shell-link-function
13104 Function to queries user about shell link execution.
13106 @defopt org-confirm-elisp-link-function
13107 Functions to query user for Emacs Lisp link execution.
13110 @item Formulas in tables
13111 Formulas in tables (@pxref{The spreadsheet}) are code that is evaluated
13112 either by the @i{calc} interpreter, or by the @i{Emacs Lisp} interpreter.
13115 @node Customization, In-buffer settings, Code evaluation security, Miscellaneous
13116 @section Customization
13117 @cindex customization
13118 @cindex options, for customization
13119 @cindex variables, for customization
13121 There are more than 180 variables that can be used to customize
13122 Org. For the sake of compactness of the manual, I am not
13123 describing the variables here. A structured overview of customization
13124 variables is available with @kbd{M-x org-customize}. Or select
13125 @code{Browse Org Group} from the @code{Org->Customization} menu. Many
13126 settings can also be activated on a per-file basis, by putting special
13127 lines into the buffer (@pxref{In-buffer settings}).
13129 @node In-buffer settings, The very busy C-c C-c key, Customization, Miscellaneous
13130 @section Summary of in-buffer settings
13131 @cindex in-buffer settings
13132 @cindex special keywords
13134 Org-mode uses special lines in the buffer to define settings on a
13135 per-file basis. These lines start with a @samp{#+} followed by a
13136 keyword, a colon, and then individual words defining a setting. Several
13137 setting words can be in the same line, but you can also have multiple
13138 lines for the keyword. While these settings are described throughout
13139 the manual, here is a summary. After changing any of those lines in the
13140 buffer, press @kbd{C-c C-c} with the cursor still in the line to
13141 activate the changes immediately. Otherwise they become effective only
13142 when the file is visited again in a new Emacs session.
13144 @vindex org-archive-location
13146 @item #+ARCHIVE: %s_done::
13147 This line sets the archive location for the agenda file. It applies for
13148 all subsequent lines until the next @samp{#+ARCHIVE} line, or the end
13149 of the file. The first such line also applies to any entries before it.
13150 The corresponding variable is @code{org-archive-location}.
13152 This line sets the category for the agenda file. The category applies
13153 for all subsequent lines until the next @samp{#+CATEGORY} line, or the
13154 end of the file. The first such line also applies to any entries before it.
13155 @item #+COLUMNS: %25ITEM .....
13156 @cindex property, COLUMNS
13157 Set the default format for columns view. This format applies when
13158 columns view is invoked in locations where no @code{COLUMNS} property
13160 @item #+CONSTANTS: name1=value1 ...
13161 @vindex org-table-formula-constants
13162 @vindex org-table-formula
13163 Set file-local values for constants to be used in table formulas. This
13164 line sets the local variable @code{org-table-formula-constants-local}.
13165 The global version of this variable is
13166 @code{org-table-formula-constants}.
13167 @item #+FILETAGS: :tag1:tag2:tag3:
13168 Set tags that can be inherited by any entry in the file, including the
13170 @item #+DRAWERS: NAME1 .....
13171 @vindex org-drawers
13172 Set the file-local set of drawers. The corresponding global variable is
13173 @code{org-drawers}.
13174 @item #+LINK: linkword replace
13175 @vindex org-link-abbrev-alist
13176 These lines (several are allowed) specify link abbreviations.
13177 @xref{Link abbreviations}. The corresponding variable is
13178 @code{org-link-abbrev-alist}.
13179 @item #+PRIORITIES: highest lowest default
13180 @vindex org-highest-priority
13181 @vindex org-lowest-priority
13182 @vindex org-default-priority
13183 This line sets the limits and the default for the priorities. All three
13184 must be either letters A-Z or numbers 0-9. The highest priority must
13185 have a lower ASCII number than the lowest priority.
13186 @item #+PROPERTY: Property_Name Value
13187 This line sets a default inheritance value for entries in the current
13188 buffer, most useful for specifying the allowed values of a property.
13189 @cindex #+SETUPFILE
13190 @item #+SETUPFILE: file
13191 This line defines a file that holds more in-buffer setup. Normally this is
13192 entirely ignored. Only when the buffer is parsed for option-setting lines
13193 (i.e.@: when starting Org-mode for a file, when pressing @kbd{C-c C-c} in a
13194 settings line, or when exporting), then the contents of this file are parsed
13195 as if they had been included in the buffer. In particular, the file can be
13196 any other Org-mode file with internal setup. You can visit the file the
13197 cursor is in the line with @kbd{C-c '}.
13200 This line sets options to be used at startup of Org-mode, when an
13201 Org file is being visited.
13203 The first set of options deals with the initial visibility of the outline
13204 tree. The corresponding variable for global default settings is
13205 @code{org-startup-folded}, with a default value @code{t}, which means
13207 @vindex org-startup-folded
13208 @cindex @code{overview}, STARTUP keyword
13209 @cindex @code{content}, STARTUP keyword
13210 @cindex @code{showall}, STARTUP keyword
13211 @cindex @code{showeverything}, STARTUP keyword
13213 overview @r{top-level headlines only}
13214 content @r{all headlines}
13215 showall @r{no folding of any entries}
13216 showeverything @r{show even drawer contents}
13219 @vindex org-startup-indented
13220 @cindex @code{indent}, STARTUP keyword
13221 @cindex @code{noindent}, STARTUP keyword
13222 Dynamic virtual indentation is controlled by the variable
13223 @code{org-startup-indented}@footnote{Emacs 23 and Org-mode 6.29 are required}
13225 indent @r{start with @code{org-indent-mode} turned on}
13226 noindent @r{start with @code{org-indent-mode} turned off}
13229 @vindex org-startup-align-all-tables
13230 Then there are options for aligning tables upon visiting a file. This
13231 is useful in files containing narrowed table columns. The corresponding
13232 variable is @code{org-startup-align-all-tables}, with a default value
13234 @cindex @code{align}, STARTUP keyword
13235 @cindex @code{noalign}, STARTUP keyword
13237 align @r{align all tables}
13238 noalign @r{don't align tables on startup}
13241 @vindex org-startup-with-inline-images
13242 When visiting a file, inline images can be automatically displayed. The
13243 corresponding variable is @code{org-startup-with-inline-images}, with a
13244 default value @code{nil} to avoid delays when visiting a file.
13245 @cindex @code{inlineimages}, STARTUP keyword
13246 @cindex @code{noinlineimages}, STARTUP keyword
13248 inlineimages @r{show inline images}
13249 noinlineimages @r{don't show inline images on startup}
13252 @vindex org-log-done
13253 @vindex org-log-note-clock-out
13254 @vindex org-log-repeat
13255 Logging the closing and reopening of TODO items and clock intervals can be
13256 configured using these options (see variables @code{org-log-done},
13257 @code{org-log-note-clock-out} and @code{org-log-repeat})
13258 @cindex @code{logdone}, STARTUP keyword
13259 @cindex @code{lognotedone}, STARTUP keyword
13260 @cindex @code{nologdone}, STARTUP keyword
13261 @cindex @code{lognoteclock-out}, STARTUP keyword
13262 @cindex @code{nolognoteclock-out}, STARTUP keyword
13263 @cindex @code{logrepeat}, STARTUP keyword
13264 @cindex @code{lognoterepeat}, STARTUP keyword
13265 @cindex @code{nologrepeat}, STARTUP keyword
13266 @cindex @code{logreschedule}, STARTUP keyword
13267 @cindex @code{lognotereschedule}, STARTUP keyword
13268 @cindex @code{nologreschedule}, STARTUP keyword
13269 @cindex @code{logredeadline}, STARTUP keyword
13270 @cindex @code{lognoteredeadline}, STARTUP keyword
13271 @cindex @code{nologredeadline}, STARTUP keyword
13272 @cindex @code{logrefile}, STARTUP keyword
13273 @cindex @code{lognoterefile}, STARTUP keyword
13274 @cindex @code{nologrefile}, STARTUP keyword
13276 logdone @r{record a timestamp when an item is marked DONE}
13277 lognotedone @r{record timestamp and a note when DONE}
13278 nologdone @r{don't record when items are marked DONE}
13279 logrepeat @r{record a time when reinstating a repeating item}
13280 lognoterepeat @r{record a note when reinstating a repeating item}
13281 nologrepeat @r{do not record when reinstating repeating item}
13282 lognoteclock-out @r{record a note when clocking out}
13283 nolognoteclock-out @r{don't record a note when clocking out}
13284 logreschedule @r{record a timestamp when scheduling time changes}
13285 lognotereschedule @r{record a note when scheduling time changes}
13286 nologreschedule @r{do not record when a scheduling date changes}
13287 logredeadline @r{record a timestamp when deadline changes}
13288 lognoteredeadline @r{record a note when deadline changes}
13289 nologredeadline @r{do not record when a deadline date changes}
13290 logrefile @r{record a timestamp when refiling}
13291 lognoterefile @r{record a note when refiling}
13292 nologrefile @r{do not record when refiling}
13294 @vindex org-hide-leading-stars
13295 @vindex org-odd-levels-only
13296 Here are the options for hiding leading stars in outline headings, and for
13297 indenting outlines. The corresponding variables are
13298 @code{org-hide-leading-stars} and @code{org-odd-levels-only}, both with a
13299 default setting @code{nil} (meaning @code{showstars} and @code{oddeven}).
13300 @cindex @code{hidestars}, STARTUP keyword
13301 @cindex @code{showstars}, STARTUP keyword
13302 @cindex @code{odd}, STARTUP keyword
13303 @cindex @code{even}, STARTUP keyword
13305 hidestars @r{make all but one of the stars starting a headline invisible.}
13306 showstars @r{show all stars starting a headline}
13307 indent @r{virtual indentation according to outline level}
13308 noindent @r{no virtual indentation according to outline level}
13309 odd @r{allow only odd outline levels (1,3,...)}
13310 oddeven @r{allow all outline levels}
13312 @vindex org-put-time-stamp-overlays
13313 @vindex org-time-stamp-overlay-formats
13314 To turn on custom format overlays over timestamps (variables
13315 @code{org-put-time-stamp-overlays} and
13316 @code{org-time-stamp-overlay-formats}), use
13317 @cindex @code{customtime}, STARTUP keyword
13319 customtime @r{overlay custom time format}
13321 @vindex constants-unit-system
13322 The following options influence the table spreadsheet (variable
13323 @code{constants-unit-system}).
13324 @cindex @code{constcgs}, STARTUP keyword
13325 @cindex @code{constSI}, STARTUP keyword
13327 constcgs @r{@file{constants.el} should use the c-g-s unit system}
13328 constSI @r{@file{constants.el} should use the SI unit system}
13330 @vindex org-footnote-define-inline
13331 @vindex org-footnote-auto-label
13332 @vindex org-footnote-auto-adjust
13333 To influence footnote settings, use the following keywords. The
13334 corresponding variables are @code{org-footnote-define-inline},
13335 @code{org-footnote-auto-label}, and @code{org-footnote-auto-adjust}.
13336 @cindex @code{fninline}, STARTUP keyword
13337 @cindex @code{nofninline}, STARTUP keyword
13338 @cindex @code{fnlocal}, STARTUP keyword
13339 @cindex @code{fnprompt}, STARTUP keyword
13340 @cindex @code{fnauto}, STARTUP keyword
13341 @cindex @code{fnconfirm}, STARTUP keyword
13342 @cindex @code{fnplain}, STARTUP keyword
13343 @cindex @code{fnadjust}, STARTUP keyword
13344 @cindex @code{nofnadjust}, STARTUP keyword
13346 fninline @r{define footnotes inline}
13347 fnnoinline @r{define footnotes in separate section}
13348 fnlocal @r{define footnotes near first reference, but not inline}
13349 fnprompt @r{prompt for footnote labels}
13350 fnauto @r{create @code{[fn:1]}-like labels automatically (default)}
13351 fnconfirm @r{offer automatic label for editing or confirmation}
13352 fnplain @r{create @code{[1]}-like labels automatically}
13353 fnadjust @r{automatically renumber and sort footnotes}
13354 nofnadjust @r{do not renumber and sort automatically}
13356 @cindex org-hide-block-startup
13357 To hide blocks on startup, use these keywords. The corresponding variable is
13358 @code{org-hide-block-startup}.
13359 @cindex @code{hideblocks}, STARTUP keyword
13360 @cindex @code{nohideblocks}, STARTUP keyword
13362 hideblocks @r{Hide all begin/end blocks on startup}
13363 nohideblocks @r{Do not hide blocks on startup}
13365 @cindex org-pretty-entities
13366 The display of entities as UTF-8 characters is governed by the variable
13367 @code{org-pretty-entities} and the keywords
13368 @cindex @code{entitiespretty}, STARTUP keyword
13369 @cindex @code{entitiesplain}, STARTUP keyword
13371 entitiespretty @r{Show entities as UTF-8 characters where possible}
13372 entitiesplain @r{Leave entities plain}
13374 @item #+TAGS: TAG1(c1) TAG2(c2)
13375 @vindex org-tag-alist
13376 These lines (several such lines are allowed) specify the valid tags in
13377 this file, and (potentially) the corresponding @emph{fast tag selection}
13378 keys. The corresponding variable is @code{org-tag-alist}.
13380 This line contains the formulas for the table directly above the line.
13381 @item #+TITLE:, #+AUTHOR:, #+EMAIL:, #+LANGUAGE:, #+TEXT:, #+DATE:,
13382 @itemx #+OPTIONS:, #+BIND:, #+XSLT:,
13383 @itemx #+DESCRIPTION:, #+KEYWORDS:,
13384 @itemx #+LATEX_HEADER:, #+STYLE:, #+LINK_UP:, #+LINK_HOME:,
13385 @itemx #+EXPORT_SELECT_TAGS:, #+EXPORT_EXCLUDE_TAGS:
13386 These lines provide settings for exporting files. For more details see
13387 @ref{Export options}.
13388 @item #+TODO: #+SEQ_TODO: #+TYP_TODO:
13389 @vindex org-todo-keywords
13390 These lines set the TODO keywords and their interpretation in the
13391 current file. The corresponding variable is @code{org-todo-keywords}.
13394 @node The very busy C-c C-c key, Clean view, In-buffer settings, Miscellaneous
13395 @section The very busy C-c C-c key
13397 @cindex C-c C-c, overview
13399 The key @kbd{C-c C-c} has many purposes in Org, which are all
13400 mentioned scattered throughout this manual. One specific function of
13401 this key is to add @emph{tags} to a headline (@pxref{Tags}). In many
13402 other circumstances it means something like @emph{``Hey Org, look
13403 here and update according to what you see here''}. Here is a summary of
13404 what this means in different contexts.
13408 If there are highlights in the buffer from the creation of a sparse
13409 tree, or from clock display, remove these highlights.
13411 If the cursor is in one of the special @code{#+KEYWORD} lines, this
13412 triggers scanning the buffer for these lines and updating the
13415 If the cursor is inside a table, realign the table. This command
13416 works even if the automatic table editor has been turned off.
13418 If the cursor is on a @code{#+TBLFM} line, re-apply the formulas to
13421 If the current buffer is a capture buffer, close the note and file it.
13422 With a prefix argument, file it, without further interaction, to the
13425 If the cursor is on a @code{<<<target>>>}, update radio targets and
13426 corresponding links in this buffer.
13428 If the cursor is in a property line or at the start or end of a property
13429 drawer, offer property commands.
13431 If the cursor is at a footnote reference, go to the corresponding
13432 definition, and vice versa.
13434 If the cursor is on a statistics cookie, update it.
13436 If the cursor is in a plain list item with a checkbox, toggle the status
13439 If the cursor is on a numbered item in a plain list, renumber the
13442 If the cursor is on the @code{#+BEGIN} line of a dynamic block, the
13446 @node Clean view, TTY keys, The very busy C-c C-c key, Miscellaneous
13447 @section A cleaner outline view
13448 @cindex hiding leading stars
13449 @cindex dynamic indentation
13450 @cindex odd-levels-only outlines
13451 @cindex clean outline view
13453 Some people find it noisy and distracting that the Org headlines start with a
13454 potentially large number of stars, and that text below the headlines is not
13455 indented. While this is no problem when writing a @emph{book-like} document
13456 where the outline headings are really section headings, in a more
13457 @emph{list-oriented} outline, indented structure is a lot cleaner:
13461 * Top level headline | * Top level headline
13462 ** Second level | * Second level
13463 *** 3rd level | * 3rd level
13464 some text | some text
13465 *** 3rd level | * 3rd level
13466 more text | more text
13467 * Another top level headline | * Another top level headline
13473 If you are using at least Emacs 23.2@footnote{Emacs 23.1 can actually crash
13474 with @code{org-indent-mode}} and version 6.29 of Org, this kind of view can
13475 be achieved dynamically at display time using @code{org-indent-mode}. In
13476 this minor mode, all lines are prefixed for display with the necessary amount
13477 of space@footnote{@code{org-indent-mode} also sets the @code{wrap-prefix}
13478 property, such that @code{visual-line-mode} (or purely setting
13479 @code{word-wrap}) wraps long lines (including headlines) correctly indented.
13480 }. Also headlines are prefixed with additional stars, so that the amount of
13481 indentation shifts by two@footnote{See the variable
13482 @code{org-indent-indentation-per-level}.} spaces per level. All headline
13483 stars but the last one are made invisible using the @code{org-hide}
13484 face@footnote{Turning on @code{org-indent-mode} sets
13485 @code{org-hide-leading-stars} to @code{t} and @code{org-adapt-indentation} to
13486 @code{nil}.} - see below under @samp{2.} for more information on how this
13487 works. You can turn on @code{org-indent-mode} for all files by customizing
13488 the variable @code{org-startup-indented}, or you can turn it on for
13489 individual files using
13495 If you want a similar effect in an earlier version of Emacs and/or Org, or if
13496 you want the indentation to be hard space characters so that the plain text
13497 file looks as similar as possible to the Emacs display, Org supports you in
13502 @emph{Indentation of text below headlines}@*
13503 You may indent text below each headline to make the left boundary line up
13504 with the headline, like
13508 more text, now indented
13511 @vindex org-adapt-indentation
13512 Org supports this with paragraph filling, line wrapping, and structure
13513 editing@footnote{See also the variable @code{org-adapt-indentation}.},
13514 preserving or adapting the indentation as appropriate.
13517 @vindex org-hide-leading-stars
13518 @emph{Hiding leading stars}@* You can modify the display in such a way that
13519 all leading stars become invisible. To do this in a global way, configure
13520 the variable @code{org-hide-leading-stars} or change this on a per-file basis
13524 #+STARTUP: hidestars
13525 #+STARTUP: showstars
13528 With hidden stars, the tree becomes:
13532 * Top level headline
13540 @vindex org-hide @r{(face)}
13541 The leading stars are not truly replaced by whitespace, they are only
13542 fontified with the face @code{org-hide} that uses the background color as
13543 font color. If you are not using either white or black background, you may
13544 have to customize this face to get the wanted effect. Another possibility is
13545 to set this font such that the extra stars are @i{almost} invisible, for
13546 example using the color @code{grey90} on a white background.
13549 @vindex org-odd-levels-only
13550 Things become cleaner still if you skip all the even levels and use only odd
13551 levels 1, 3, 5..., effectively adding two stars to go from one outline level
13552 to the next@footnote{When you need to specify a level for a property search
13553 or refile targets, @samp{LEVEL=2} will correspond to 3 stars, etc@.}. In this
13554 way we get the outline view shown at the beginning of this section. In order
13555 to make the structure editing and export commands handle this convention
13556 correctly, configure the variable @code{org-odd-levels-only}, or set this on
13557 a per-file basis with one of the following lines:
13564 You can convert an Org file from single-star-per-level to the
13565 double-star-per-level convention with @kbd{M-x org-convert-to-odd-levels
13566 RET} in that file. The reverse operation is @kbd{M-x
13567 org-convert-to-oddeven-levels}.
13570 @node TTY keys, Interaction, Clean view, Miscellaneous
13571 @section Using Org on a tty
13572 @cindex tty key bindings
13574 Because Org contains a large number of commands, by default many of
13575 Org's core commands are bound to keys that are generally not
13576 accessible on a tty, such as the cursor keys (@key{left}, @key{right},
13577 @key{up}, @key{down}), @key{TAB} and @key{RET}, in particular when used
13578 together with modifiers like @key{Meta} and/or @key{Shift}. To access
13579 these commands on a tty when special keys are unavailable, the following
13580 alternative bindings can be used. The tty bindings below will likely be
13581 more cumbersome; you may find for some of the bindings below that a
13582 customized workaround suits you better. For example, changing a timestamp
13583 is really only fun with @kbd{S-@key{cursor}} keys, whereas on a
13584 tty you would rather use @kbd{C-c .} to re-insert the timestamp.
13586 @multitable @columnfractions 0.15 0.2 0.1 0.2
13587 @item @b{Default} @tab @b{Alternative 1} @tab @b{Speed key} @tab @b{Alternative 2}
13588 @item @kbd{S-@key{TAB}} @tab @kbd{C-u @key{TAB}} @tab @kbd{C} @tab
13589 @item @kbd{M-@key{left}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x l} @tab @kbd{l} @tab @kbd{@key{Esc} @key{left}}
13590 @item @kbd{M-S-@key{left}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x L} @tab @kbd{L} @tab
13591 @item @kbd{M-@key{right}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x r} @tab @kbd{r} @tab @kbd{@key{Esc} @key{right}}
13592 @item @kbd{M-S-@key{right}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x R} @tab @kbd{R} @tab
13593 @item @kbd{M-@key{up}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x u} @tab @kbd{ } @tab @kbd{@key{Esc} @key{up}}
13594 @item @kbd{M-S-@key{up}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x U} @tab @kbd{U} @tab
13595 @item @kbd{M-@key{down}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x d} @tab @kbd{ } @tab @kbd{@key{Esc} @key{down}}
13596 @item @kbd{M-S-@key{down}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x D} @tab @kbd{D} @tab
13597 @item @kbd{S-@key{RET}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x c} @tab @kbd{ } @tab
13598 @item @kbd{M-@key{RET}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x m} @tab @kbd{ } @tab @kbd{@key{Esc} @key{RET}}
13599 @item @kbd{M-S-@key{RET}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x M} @tab @kbd{ } @tab
13600 @item @kbd{S-@key{left}} @tab @kbd{C-c @key{left}} @tab @kbd{ } @tab
13601 @item @kbd{S-@key{right}} @tab @kbd{C-c @key{right}} @tab @kbd{ } @tab
13602 @item @kbd{S-@key{up}} @tab @kbd{C-c @key{up}} @tab @kbd{ } @tab
13603 @item @kbd{S-@key{down}} @tab @kbd{C-c @key{down}} @tab @kbd{ } @tab
13604 @item @kbd{C-S-@key{left}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x @key{left}} @tab @kbd{ } @tab
13605 @item @kbd{C-S-@key{right}} @tab @kbd{C-c C-x @key{right}} @tab @kbd{ } @tab
13609 @node Interaction, org-crypt.el, TTY keys, Miscellaneous
13610 @section Interaction with other packages
13611 @cindex packages, interaction with other
13612 Org lives in the world of GNU Emacs and interacts in various ways
13613 with other code out there.
13616 * Cooperation:: Packages Org cooperates with
13617 * Conflicts:: Packages that lead to conflicts
13620 @node Cooperation, Conflicts, Interaction, Interaction
13621 @subsection Packages that Org cooperates with
13624 @cindex @file{calc.el}
13625 @cindex Gillespie, Dave
13626 @item @file{calc.el} by Dave Gillespie
13627 Org uses the Calc package for implementing spreadsheet
13628 functionality in its tables (@pxref{The spreadsheet}). Org
13629 checks for the availability of Calc by looking for the function
13630 @code{calc-eval} which will have been autoloaded during setup if Calc has
13631 been installed properly. As of Emacs 22, Calc is part of the Emacs
13632 distribution. Another possibility for interaction between the two
13633 packages is using Calc for embedded calculations. @xref{Embedded Mode,
13634 , Embedded Mode, Calc, GNU Emacs Calc Manual}.
13635 @item @file{constants.el} by Carsten Dominik
13636 @cindex @file{constants.el}
13637 @cindex Dominik, Carsten
13638 @vindex org-table-formula-constants
13639 In a table formula (@pxref{The spreadsheet}), it is possible to use
13640 names for natural constants or units. Instead of defining your own
13641 constants in the variable @code{org-table-formula-constants}, install
13642 the @file{constants} package which defines a large number of constants
13643 and units, and lets you use unit prefixes like @samp{M} for
13644 @samp{Mega}, etc@. You will need version 2.0 of this package, available
13645 at @url{http://www.astro.uva.nl/~dominik/Tools}. Org checks for
13646 the function @code{constants-get}, which has to be autoloaded in your
13647 setup. See the installation instructions in the file
13648 @file{constants.el}.
13649 @item @file{cdlatex.el} by Carsten Dominik
13650 @cindex @file{cdlatex.el}
13651 @cindex Dominik, Carsten
13652 Org-mode can make use of the CDLa@TeX{} package to efficiently enter
13653 @LaTeX{} fragments into Org files. See @ref{CDLaTeX mode}.
13654 @item @file{imenu.el} by Ake Stenhoff and Lars Lindberg
13655 @cindex @file{imenu.el}
13656 Imenu allows menu access to an index of items in a file. Org-mode
13657 supports Imenu---all you need to do to get the index is the following:
13659 (add-hook 'org-mode-hook
13660 (lambda () (imenu-add-to-menubar "Imenu")))
13662 @vindex org-imenu-depth
13663 By default the index is two levels deep---you can modify the depth using
13664 the option @code{org-imenu-depth}.
13665 @item @file{remember.el} by John Wiegley
13666 @cindex @file{remember.el}
13667 @cindex Wiegley, John
13668 Org used to use this package for capture, but no longer does.
13669 @item @file{speedbar.el} by Eric M. Ludlam
13670 @cindex @file{speedbar.el}
13671 @cindex Ludlam, Eric M.
13672 Speedbar is a package that creates a special frame displaying files and
13673 index items in files. Org-mode supports Speedbar and allows you to
13674 drill into Org files directly from the Speedbar. It also allows you to
13675 restrict the scope of agenda commands to a file or a subtree by using
13676 the command @kbd{<} in the Speedbar frame.
13677 @cindex @file{table.el}
13678 @item @file{table.el} by Takaaki Ota
13680 @cindex table editor, @file{table.el}
13681 @cindex @file{table.el}
13682 @cindex Ota, Takaaki
13684 Complex ASCII tables with automatic line wrapping, column- and row-spanning,
13685 and alignment can be created using the Emacs table package by Takaaki Ota
13686 (@uref{http://sourceforge.net/projects/table}, and also part of Emacs 22).
13687 Org-mode will recognize these tables and export them properly. Because of
13688 interference with other Org-mode functionality, you unfortunately cannot edit
13689 these tables directly in the buffer. Instead, you need to use the command
13690 @kbd{C-c '} to edit them, similar to source code snippets.
13693 @orgcmd{C-c ',org-edit-special}
13694 Edit a @file{table.el} table. Works when the cursor is in a table.el table.
13696 @orgcmd{C-c ~,org-table-create-with-table.el}
13697 Insert a @file{table.el} table. If there is already a table at point, this
13698 command converts it between the @file{table.el} format and the Org-mode
13699 format. See the documentation string of the command
13700 @code{org-convert-table} for the restrictions under which this is
13703 @file{table.el} is part of Emacs since Emacs 22.
13704 @item @file{footnote.el} by Steven L. Baur
13705 @cindex @file{footnote.el}
13706 @cindex Baur, Steven L.
13707 Org-mode recognizes numerical footnotes as provided by this package.
13708 However, Org-mode also has its own footnote support (@pxref{Footnotes}),
13709 which makes using @file{footnote.el} unnecessary.
13712 @node Conflicts, , Cooperation, Interaction
13713 @subsection Packages that lead to conflicts with Org-mode
13717 @cindex @code{shift-selection-mode}
13718 @vindex org-support-shift-select
13719 In Emacs 23, @code{shift-selection-mode} is on by default, meaning that
13720 cursor motions combined with the shift key should start or enlarge regions.
13721 This conflicts with the use of @kbd{S-@key{cursor}} commands in Org to change
13722 timestamps, TODO keywords, priorities, and item bullet types if the cursor is
13723 at such a location. By default, @kbd{S-@key{cursor}} commands outside
13724 special contexts don't do anything, but you can customize the variable
13725 @code{org-support-shift-select}. Org-mode then tries to accommodate shift
13726 selection by (i) using it outside of the special contexts where special
13727 commands apply, and by (ii) extending an existing active region even if the
13728 cursor moves across a special context.
13730 @item @file{CUA.el} by Kim. F. Storm
13731 @cindex @file{CUA.el}
13732 @cindex Storm, Kim. F.
13733 @vindex org-replace-disputed-keys
13734 Key bindings in Org conflict with the @kbd{S-<cursor>} keys used by CUA mode
13735 (as well as @code{pc-select-mode} and @code{s-region-mode}) to select and extend the
13736 region. In fact, Emacs 23 has this built-in in the form of
13737 @code{shift-selection-mode}, see previous paragraph. If you are using Emacs
13738 23, you probably don't want to use another package for this purpose. However,
13739 if you prefer to leave these keys to a different package while working in
13740 Org-mode, configure the variable @code{org-replace-disputed-keys}. When set,
13741 Org will move the following key bindings in Org files, and in the agenda
13742 buffer (but not during date selection).
13745 S-UP @result{} M-p S-DOWN @result{} M-n
13746 S-LEFT @result{} M-- S-RIGHT @result{} M-+
13747 C-S-LEFT @result{} M-S-- C-S-RIGHT @result{} M-S-+
13750 @vindex org-disputed-keys
13751 Yes, these are unfortunately more difficult to remember. If you want
13752 to have other replacement keys, look at the variable
13753 @code{org-disputed-keys}.
13755 @item @file{yasnippet.el}
13756 @cindex @file{yasnippet.el}
13757 The way Org mode binds the TAB key (binding to @code{[tab]} instead of
13758 @code{"\t"}) overrules YASnippet's access to this key. The following code
13759 fixed this problem:
13762 (add-hook 'org-mode-hook
13764 (org-set-local 'yas/trigger-key [tab])
13765 (define-key yas/keymap [tab] 'yas/next-field-group)))
13768 The latest version of yasnippet doesn't play well with Org mode. If the
13769 above code does not fix the conflict, start by defining the following
13773 (defun yas/org-very-safe-expand ()
13774 (let ((yas/fallback-behavior 'return-nil)) (yas/expand)))
13777 Then, tell Org mode what to do with the new function:
13780 (add-hook 'org-mode-hook
13782 (make-variable-buffer-local 'yas/trigger-key)
13783 (setq yas/trigger-key [tab])
13784 (add-to-list 'org-tab-first-hook 'yas/org-very-safe-expand)
13785 (define-key yas/keymap [tab] 'yas/next-field)))
13788 @item @file{windmove.el} by Hovav Shacham
13789 @cindex @file{windmove.el}
13790 This package also uses the @kbd{S-<cursor>} keys, so everything written
13791 in the paragraph above about CUA mode also applies here. If you want make
13792 the windmove function active in locations where Org-mode does not have
13793 special functionality on @kbd{S-@key{cursor}}, add this to your
13797 ;; Make windmove work in org-mode:
13798 (add-hook 'org-shiftup-final-hook 'windmove-up)
13799 (add-hook 'org-shiftleft-final-hook 'windmove-left)
13800 (add-hook 'org-shiftdown-final-hook 'windmove-down)
13801 (add-hook 'org-shiftright-final-hook 'windmove-right)
13804 @item @file{viper.el} by Michael Kifer
13805 @cindex @file{viper.el}
13807 Viper uses @kbd{C-c /} and therefore makes this key not access the
13808 corresponding Org-mode command @code{org-sparse-tree}. You need to find
13809 another key for this command, or override the key in
13810 @code{viper-vi-global-user-map} with
13813 (define-key viper-vi-global-user-map "C-c /" 'org-sparse-tree)
13818 +@node org-crypt.el, , Interaction, Miscellaneous
13819 +@section org-crypt.el
13820 +@cindex @file{org-crypt.el}
13821 +@cindex @code{org-decrypt-entry}
13823 Org-crypt will encrypt the text of an entry, but not the headline, or
13824 properties. Org-crypt uses the Emacs EasyPG library to encrypt and decrypt
13827 Any text below a headline that has a @samp{:crypt:} tag will be
13828 automatically be encrypted when the file is saved. If you want to use a
13829 different tag just customize the @code{org-crypt-tag-matcher} setting.
13831 To use org-crypt it is suggested that you have the following in your
13835 (require 'org-crypt)
13836 (org-crypt-use-before-save-magic)
13837 (setq org-tags-exclude-from-inheritance (quote ("crypt")))
13838 ;; GPG key to use for encryption
13839 ;; Either the Key ID or set to nil to use symmetric encryption.
13840 (setq org-crypt-key nil)
13843 Excluding the crypt tag from inheritance prevents already encrypted text
13844 being encrypted again.
13846 @node Hacking, MobileOrg, Miscellaneous, Top
13850 This appendix covers some aspects where users can extend the functionality of
13854 * Hooks:: Who to reach into Org's internals
13855 * Add-on packages:: Available extensions
13856 * Adding hyperlink types:: New custom link types
13857 * Context-sensitive commands:: How to add functionality to such commands
13858 * Tables in arbitrary syntax:: Orgtbl for @LaTeX{} and other programs
13859 * Dynamic blocks:: Automatically filled blocks
13860 * Special agenda views:: Customized views
13861 * Extracting agenda information:: Postprocessing of agenda information
13862 * Using the property API:: Writing programs that use entry properties
13863 * Using the mapping API:: Mapping over all or selected entries
13866 @node Hooks, Add-on packages, Hacking, Hacking
13870 Org has a large number of hook variables that can be used to add
13871 functionality. This appendix about hacking is going to illustrate the
13872 use of some of them. A complete list of all hooks with documentation is
13873 maintained by the Worg project and can be found at
13874 @uref{http://orgmode.org/worg/org-configs/org-hooks.php}.
13876 @node Add-on packages, Adding hyperlink types, Hooks, Hacking
13877 @section Add-on packages
13878 @cindex add-on packages
13880 A large number of add-on packages have been written by various authors.
13881 These packages are not part of Emacs, but they are distributed as contributed
13882 packages with the separate release available at the Org-mode home page at
13883 @uref{http://orgmode.org}. The list of contributed packages, along with
13884 documentation about each package, is maintained by the Worg project at
13885 @uref{http://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/}.
13889 @node Adding hyperlink types, Context-sensitive commands, Add-on packages, Hacking
13890 @section Adding hyperlink types
13891 @cindex hyperlinks, adding new types
13893 Org has a large number of hyperlink types built-in
13894 (@pxref{Hyperlinks}). If you would like to add new link types, Org
13895 provides an interface for doing so. Let's look at an example file,
13896 @file{org-man.el}, that will add support for creating links like
13897 @samp{[[man:printf][The printf manpage]]} to show Unix manual pages inside
13901 ;;; org-man.el - Support for links to manpages in Org
13905 (org-add-link-type "man" 'org-man-open)
13906 (add-hook 'org-store-link-functions 'org-man-store-link)
13908 (defcustom org-man-command 'man
13909 "The Emacs command to be used to display a man page."
13911 :type '(choice (const man) (const woman)))
13913 (defun org-man-open (path)
13914 "Visit the manpage on PATH.
13915 PATH should be a topic that can be thrown at the man command."
13916 (funcall org-man-command path))
13918 (defun org-man-store-link ()
13919 "Store a link to a manpage."
13920 (when (memq major-mode '(Man-mode woman-mode))
13921 ;; This is a man page, we do make this link
13922 (let* ((page (org-man-get-page-name))
13923 (link (concat "man:" page))
13924 (description (format "Manpage for %s" page)))
13925 (org-store-link-props
13928 :description description))))
13930 (defun org-man-get-page-name ()
13931 "Extract the page name from the buffer name."
13932 ;; This works for both `Man-mode' and `woman-mode'.
13933 (if (string-match " \\(\\S-+\\)\\*" (buffer-name))
13934 (match-string 1 (buffer-name))
13935 (error "Cannot create link to this man page")))
13939 ;;; org-man.el ends here
13943 You would activate this new link type in @file{.emacs} with
13950 Let's go through the file and see what it does.
13953 It does @code{(require 'org)} to make sure that @file{org.el} has been
13956 The next line calls @code{org-add-link-type} to define a new link type
13957 with prefix @samp{man}. The call also contains the name of a function
13958 that will be called to follow such a link.
13960 @vindex org-store-link-functions
13961 The next line adds a function to @code{org-store-link-functions}, in
13962 order to allow the command @kbd{C-c l} to record a useful link in a
13963 buffer displaying a man page.
13966 The rest of the file defines the necessary variables and functions.
13967 First there is a customization variable that determines which Emacs
13968 command should be used to display man pages. There are two options,
13969 @code{man} and @code{woman}. Then the function to follow a link is
13970 defined. It gets the link path as an argument---in this case the link
13971 path is just a topic for the manual command. The function calls the
13972 value of @code{org-man-command} to display the man page.
13974 Finally the function @code{org-man-store-link} is defined. When you try
13975 to store a link with @kbd{C-c l}, this function will be called to
13976 try to make a link. The function must first decide if it is supposed to
13977 create the link for this buffer type; we do this by checking the value
13978 of the variable @code{major-mode}. If not, the function must exit and
13979 return the value @code{nil}. If yes, the link is created by getting the
13980 manual topic from the buffer name and prefixing it with the string
13981 @samp{man:}. Then it must call the command @code{org-store-link-props}
13982 and set the @code{:type} and @code{:link} properties. Optionally you
13983 can also set the @code{:description} property to provide a default for
13984 the link description when the link is later inserted into an Org
13985 buffer with @kbd{C-c C-l}.
13987 When it makes sense for your new link type, you may also define a function
13988 @code{org-PREFIX-complete-link} that implements special (e.g.@: completion)
13989 support for inserting such a link with @kbd{C-c C-l}. Such a function should
13990 not accept any arguments, and return the full link with prefix.
13992 @node Context-sensitive commands, Tables in arbitrary syntax, Adding hyperlink types, Hacking
13993 @section Context-sensitive commands
13994 @cindex context-sensitive commands, hooks
13995 @cindex add-ons, context-sensitive commands
13996 @vindex org-ctrl-c-ctrl-c-hook
13998 Org has several commands that act differently depending on context. The most
13999 important example it the @kbd{C-c C-c} (@pxref{The very busy C-c C-c key}).
14000 Also the @kbd{M-cursor} and @kbd{M-S-cursor} keys have this property.
14002 Add-ons can tap into this functionality by providing a function that detects
14003 special context for that add-on and executes functionality appropriate for
14004 the context. Here is an example from Dan Davison's @file{org-R.el} which
14005 allows you to evaluate commands based on the @file{R} programming language
14006 @footnote{@file{org-R.el} has been replaced by the org-mode functionality
14007 described in @ref{Working With Source Code} and is now obsolete.}. For this
14008 package, special contexts are lines that start with @code{#+R:} or
14012 (defun org-R-apply-maybe ()
14013 "Detect if this is context for org-R and execute R commands."
14014 (if (save-excursion
14015 (beginning-of-line 1)
14016 (looking-at "#\\+RR?:"))
14017 (progn (call-interactively 'org-R-apply)
14018 t) ;; to signal that we took action
14019 nil)) ;; to signal that we did not
14021 (add-hook 'org-ctrl-c-ctrl-c-hook 'org-R-apply-maybe)
14024 The function first checks if the cursor is in such a line. If that is the
14025 case, @code{org-R-apply} is called and the function returns @code{t} to
14026 signal that action was taken, and @kbd{C-c C-c} will stop looking for other
14027 contexts. If the function finds it should do nothing locally, it returns @code{nil} so that other, similar functions can have a try.
14030 @node Tables in arbitrary syntax, Dynamic blocks, Context-sensitive commands, Hacking
14031 @section Tables and lists in arbitrary syntax
14032 @cindex tables, in other modes
14033 @cindex lists, in other modes
14034 @cindex Orgtbl mode
14036 Since Orgtbl mode can be used as a minor mode in arbitrary buffers, a
14037 frequent feature request has been to make it work with native tables in
14038 specific languages, for example @LaTeX{}. However, this is extremely
14039 hard to do in a general way, would lead to a customization nightmare,
14040 and would take away much of the simplicity of the Orgtbl-mode table
14043 This appendix describes a different approach. We keep the Orgtbl mode
14044 table in its native format (the @i{source table}), and use a custom
14045 function to @i{translate} the table to the correct syntax, and to
14046 @i{install} it in the right location (the @i{target table}). This puts
14047 the burden of writing conversion functions on the user, but it allows
14048 for a very flexible system.
14050 Bastien added the ability to do the same with lists, in Orgstruct mode. You
14051 can use Org's facilities to edit and structure lists by turning
14052 @code{orgstruct-mode} on, then locally exporting such lists in another format
14053 (HTML, @LaTeX{} or Texinfo.)
14057 * Radio tables:: Sending and receiving radio tables
14058 * A LaTeX example:: Step by step, almost a tutorial
14059 * Translator functions:: Copy and modify
14060 * Radio lists:: Doing the same for lists
14063 @node Radio tables, A LaTeX example, Tables in arbitrary syntax, Tables in arbitrary syntax
14064 @subsection Radio tables
14065 @cindex radio tables
14067 To define the location of the target table, you first need to create two
14068 lines that are comments in the current mode, but contain magic words for
14069 Orgtbl mode to find. Orgtbl mode will insert the translated table
14070 between these lines, replacing whatever was there before. For example:
14073 /* BEGIN RECEIVE ORGTBL table_name */
14074 /* END RECEIVE ORGTBL table_name */
14078 Just above the source table, we put a special line that tells
14079 Orgtbl mode how to translate this table and where to install it. For
14083 #+ORGTBL: SEND table_name translation_function arguments....
14087 @code{table_name} is the reference name for the table that is also used
14088 in the receiver lines. @code{translation_function} is the Lisp function
14089 that does the translation. Furthermore, the line can contain a list of
14090 arguments (alternating key and value) at the end. The arguments will be
14091 passed as a property list to the translation function for
14092 interpretation. A few standard parameters are already recognized and
14093 acted upon before the translation function is called:
14097 Skip the first N lines of the table. Hlines do count as separate lines for
14100 @item :skipcols (n1 n2 ...)
14101 List of columns that should be skipped. If the table has a column with
14102 calculation marks, that column is automatically discarded as well.
14103 Please note that the translator function sees the table @emph{after} the
14104 removal of these columns, the function never knows that there have been
14105 additional columns.
14109 The one problem remaining is how to keep the source table in the buffer
14110 without disturbing the normal workings of the file, for example during
14111 compilation of a C file or processing of a @LaTeX{} file. There are a
14112 number of different solutions:
14116 The table could be placed in a block comment if that is supported by the
14117 language. For example, in C mode you could wrap the table between
14118 @samp{/*} and @samp{*/} lines.
14120 Sometimes it is possible to put the table after some kind of @i{END}
14121 statement, for example @samp{\bye} in @TeX{} and @samp{\end@{document@}}
14124 You can just comment the table line-by-line whenever you want to process
14125 the file, and uncomment it whenever you need to edit the table. This
14126 only sounds tedious---the command @kbd{M-x orgtbl-toggle-comment}
14127 makes this comment-toggling very easy, in particular if you bind it to a
14131 @node A LaTeX example, Translator functions, Radio tables, Tables in arbitrary syntax
14132 @subsection A @LaTeX{} example of radio tables
14133 @cindex @LaTeX{}, and Orgtbl mode
14135 The best way to wrap the source table in @LaTeX{} is to use the
14136 @code{comment} environment provided by @file{comment.sty}. It has to be
14137 activated by placing @code{\usepackage@{comment@}} into the document
14138 header. Orgtbl mode can insert a radio table skeleton@footnote{By
14139 default this works only for @LaTeX{}, HTML, and Texinfo. Configure the
14140 variable @code{orgtbl-radio-tables} to install templates for other
14141 modes.} with the command @kbd{M-x orgtbl-insert-radio-table}. You will
14142 be prompted for a table name, let's say we use @samp{salesfigures}. You
14143 will then get the following template:
14145 @cindex #+ORGTBL, SEND
14147 % BEGIN RECEIVE ORGTBL salesfigures
14148 % END RECEIVE ORGTBL salesfigures
14150 #+ORGTBL: SEND salesfigures orgtbl-to-latex
14156 @vindex @LaTeX{}-verbatim-environments
14157 The @code{#+ORGTBL: SEND} line tells Orgtbl mode to use the function
14158 @code{orgtbl-to-latex} to convert the table into @LaTeX{} and to put it
14159 into the receiver location with name @code{salesfigures}. You may now
14160 fill in the table---feel free to use the spreadsheet features@footnote{If
14161 the @samp{#+TBLFM} line contains an odd number of dollar characters,
14162 this may cause problems with font-lock in @LaTeX{} mode. As shown in the
14163 example you can fix this by adding an extra line inside the
14164 @code{comment} environment that is used to balance the dollar
14165 expressions. If you are using AUC@TeX{} with the font-latex library, a
14166 much better solution is to add the @code{comment} environment to the
14167 variable @code{LaTeX-verbatim-environments}.}:
14170 % BEGIN RECEIVE ORGTBL salesfigures
14171 % END RECEIVE ORGTBL salesfigures
14173 #+ORGTBL: SEND salesfigures orgtbl-to-latex
14174 | Month | Days | Nr sold | per day |
14175 |-------+------+---------+---------|
14176 | Jan | 23 | 55 | 2.4 |
14177 | Feb | 21 | 16 | 0.8 |
14178 | March | 22 | 278 | 12.6 |
14179 #+TBLFM: $4=$3/$2;%.1f
14180 % $ (optional extra dollar to keep font-lock happy, see footnote)
14185 When you are done, press @kbd{C-c C-c} in the table to get the converted
14186 table inserted between the two marker lines.
14188 Now let's assume you want to make the table header by hand, because you
14189 want to control how columns are aligned, etc@. In this case we make sure
14190 that the table translator skips the first 2 lines of the source
14191 table, and tell the command to work as a @i{splice}, i.e.@: to not produce
14192 header and footer commands of the target table:
14195 \begin@{tabular@}@{lrrr@}
14196 Month & \multicolumn@{1@}@{c@}@{Days@} & Nr.\ sold & per day\\
14197 % BEGIN RECEIVE ORGTBL salesfigures
14198 % END RECEIVE ORGTBL salesfigures
14202 #+ORGTBL: SEND salesfigures orgtbl-to-latex :splice t :skip 2
14203 | Month | Days | Nr sold | per day |
14204 |-------+------+---------+---------|
14205 | Jan | 23 | 55 | 2.4 |
14206 | Feb | 21 | 16 | 0.8 |
14207 | March | 22 | 278 | 12.6 |
14208 #+TBLFM: $4=$3/$2;%.1f
14212 The @LaTeX{} translator function @code{orgtbl-to-latex} is already part of
14213 Orgtbl mode. It uses a @code{tabular} environment to typeset the table
14214 and marks horizontal lines with @code{\hline}. Furthermore, it
14215 interprets the following parameters (see also @pxref{Translator functions}):
14218 @item :splice nil/t
14219 When set to t, return only table body lines, don't wrap them into a
14220 tabular environment. Default is nil.
14223 A format to be used to wrap each field, it should contain @code{%s} for the
14224 original field value. For example, to wrap each field value in dollars,
14225 you could use @code{:fmt "$%s$"}. This may also be a property list with
14226 column numbers and formats. for example @code{:fmt (2 "$%s$" 4 "%s\\%%")}.
14227 A function of one argument can be used in place of the strings; the
14228 function must return a formatted string.
14231 Use this format to print numbers with exponentials. The format should
14232 have @code{%s} twice for inserting mantissa and exponent, for example
14233 @code{"%s\\times10^@{%s@}"}. The default is @code{"%s\\,(%s)"}. This
14234 may also be a property list with column numbers and formats, for example
14235 @code{:efmt (2 "$%s\\times10^@{%s@}$" 4 "$%s\\cdot10^@{%s@}$")}. After
14236 @code{efmt} has been applied to a value, @code{fmt} will also be
14237 applied. Similar to @code{fmt}, functions of two arguments can be
14238 supplied instead of strings.
14241 @node Translator functions, Radio lists, A LaTeX example, Tables in arbitrary syntax
14242 @subsection Translator functions
14243 @cindex HTML, and Orgtbl mode
14244 @cindex translator function
14246 Orgtbl mode has several translator functions built-in: @code{orgtbl-to-csv}
14247 (comma-separated values), @code{orgtbl-to-tsv} (TAB-separated values)
14248 @code{orgtbl-to-latex}, @code{orgtbl-to-html}, and @code{orgtbl-to-texinfo}.
14249 Except for @code{orgtbl-to-html}@footnote{The HTML translator uses the same
14250 code that produces tables during HTML export.}, these all use a generic
14251 translator, @code{orgtbl-to-generic}. For example, @code{orgtbl-to-latex}
14252 itself is a very short function that computes the column definitions for the
14253 @code{tabular} environment, defines a few field and line separators and then
14254 hands processing over to the generic translator. Here is the entire code:
14258 (defun orgtbl-to-latex (table params)
14259 "Convert the Orgtbl mode TABLE to LaTeX."
14260 (let* ((alignment (mapconcat (lambda (x) (if x "r" "l"))
14261 org-table-last-alignment ""))
14264 :tstart (concat "\\begin@{tabular@}@{" alignment "@}")
14265 :tend "\\end@{tabular@}"
14266 :lstart "" :lend " \\\\" :sep " & "
14267 :efmt "%s\\,(%s)" :hline "\\hline")))
14268 (orgtbl-to-generic table (org-combine-plists params2 params))))
14272 As you can see, the properties passed into the function (variable
14273 @var{PARAMS}) are combined with the ones newly defined in the function
14274 (variable @var{PARAMS2}). The ones passed into the function (i.e.@: the
14275 ones set by the @samp{ORGTBL SEND} line) take precedence. So if you
14276 would like to use the @LaTeX{} translator, but wanted the line endings to
14277 be @samp{\\[2mm]} instead of the default @samp{\\}, you could just
14278 overrule the default with
14281 #+ORGTBL: SEND test orgtbl-to-latex :lend " \\\\[2mm]"
14284 For a new language, you can either write your own converter function in
14285 analogy with the @LaTeX{} translator, or you can use the generic function
14286 directly. For example, if you have a language where a table is started
14287 with @samp{!BTBL!}, ended with @samp{!ETBL!}, and where table lines are
14288 started with @samp{!BL!}, ended with @samp{!EL!}, and where the field
14289 separator is a TAB, you could call the generic translator like this (on
14293 #+ORGTBL: SEND test orgtbl-to-generic :tstart "!BTBL!" :tend "!ETBL!"
14294 :lstart "!BL! " :lend " !EL!" :sep "\t"
14298 Please check the documentation string of the function
14299 @code{orgtbl-to-generic} for a full list of parameters understood by
14300 that function, and remember that you can pass each of them into
14301 @code{orgtbl-to-latex}, @code{orgtbl-to-texinfo}, and any other function
14302 using the generic function.
14304 Of course you can also write a completely new function doing complicated
14305 things the generic translator cannot do. A translator function takes
14306 two arguments. The first argument is the table, a list of lines, each
14307 line either the symbol @code{hline} or a list of fields. The second
14308 argument is the property list containing all parameters specified in the
14309 @samp{#+ORGTBL: SEND} line. The function must return a single string
14310 containing the formatted table. If you write a generally useful
14311 translator, please post it on @email{emacs-orgmode@@gnu.org} so that
14312 others can benefit from your work.
14314 @node Radio lists, , Translator functions, Tables in arbitrary syntax
14315 @subsection Radio lists
14316 @cindex radio lists
14317 @cindex org-list-insert-radio-list
14319 Sending and receiving radio lists works exactly the same way as sending and
14320 receiving radio tables (@pxref{Radio tables}). As for radio tables, you can
14321 insert radio list templates in HTML, @LaTeX{} and Texinfo modes by calling
14322 @code{org-list-insert-radio-list}.
14324 Here are the differences with radio tables:
14328 Orgstruct mode must be active.
14330 Use the @code{ORGLST} keyword instead of @code{ORGTBL}.
14332 The available translation functions for radio lists don't take
14335 @kbd{C-c C-c} will work when pressed on the first item of the list.
14338 Here is a @LaTeX{} example. Let's say that you have this in your
14343 % BEGIN RECEIVE ORGLST to-buy
14344 % END RECEIVE ORGLST to-buy
14346 #+ORGLST: SEND to-buy org-list-to-latex
14355 Pressing `C-c C-c' on @code{a new house} and will insert the converted
14356 @LaTeX{} list between the two marker lines.
14358 @node Dynamic blocks, Special agenda views, Tables in arbitrary syntax, Hacking
14359 @section Dynamic blocks
14360 @cindex dynamic blocks
14362 Org documents can contain @emph{dynamic blocks}. These are
14363 specially marked regions that are updated by some user-written function.
14364 A good example for such a block is the clock table inserted by the
14365 command @kbd{C-c C-x C-r} (@pxref{Clocking work time}).
14367 Dynamic blocks are enclosed by a BEGIN-END structure that assigns a name
14368 to the block and can also specify parameters for the function producing
14369 the content of the block.
14371 @cindex #+BEGIN:dynamic block
14373 #+BEGIN: myblock :parameter1 value1 :parameter2 value2 ...
14378 Dynamic blocks are updated with the following commands
14381 @orgcmd{C-c C-x C-u,org-dblock-update}
14382 Update dynamic block at point.
14383 @orgkey{C-u C-c C-x C-u}
14384 Update all dynamic blocks in the current file.
14387 Updating a dynamic block means to remove all the text between BEGIN and
14388 END, parse the BEGIN line for parameters and then call the specific
14389 writer function for this block to insert the new content. If you want
14390 to use the original content in the writer function, you can use the
14391 extra parameter @code{:content}.
14393 For a block with name @code{myblock}, the writer function is
14394 @code{org-dblock-write:myblock} with as only parameter a property list
14395 with the parameters given in the begin line. Here is a trivial example
14396 of a block that keeps track of when the block update function was last
14400 #+BEGIN: block-update-time :format "on %m/%d/%Y at %H:%M"
14406 The corresponding block writer function could look like this:
14409 (defun org-dblock-write:block-update-time (params)
14410 (let ((fmt (or (plist-get params :format) "%d. %m. %Y")))
14411 (insert "Last block update at: "
14412 (format-time-string fmt (current-time)))))
14415 If you want to make sure that all dynamic blocks are always up-to-date,
14416 you could add the function @code{org-update-all-dblocks} to a hook, for
14417 example @code{before-save-hook}. @code{org-update-all-dblocks} is
14418 written in a way such that it does nothing in buffers that are not in
14421 You can narrow the current buffer to the current dynamic block (like any
14422 other block) with @code{org-narrow-to-block}.
14424 @node Special agenda views, Extracting agenda information, Dynamic blocks, Hacking
14425 @section Special agenda views
14426 @cindex agenda views, user-defined
14428 @vindex org-agenda-skip-function
14429 @vindex org-agenda-skip-function-global
14430 Org provides a special hook that can be used to narrow down the selection
14431 made by these agenda views: @code{agenda}, @code{todo}, @code{alltodo},
14432 @code{tags}, @code{tags-todo}, @code{tags-tree}. You may specify a function
14433 that is used at each match to verify if the match should indeed be part of
14434 the agenda view, and if not, how much should be skipped. You can specify a
14435 global condition that will be applied to all agenda views, this condition
14436 would be stored in the variable @code{org-agenda-skip-function-global}. More
14437 commonly, such a definition is applied only to specific custom searches,
14438 using @code{org-agenda-skip-function}.
14440 Let's say you want to produce a list of projects that contain a WAITING
14441 tag anywhere in the project tree. Let's further assume that you have
14442 marked all tree headings that define a project with the TODO keyword
14443 PROJECT. In this case you would run a TODO search for the keyword
14444 PROJECT, but skip the match unless there is a WAITING tag anywhere in
14445 the subtree belonging to the project line.
14447 To achieve this, you must write a function that searches the subtree for
14448 the tag. If the tag is found, the function must return @code{nil} to
14449 indicate that this match should not be skipped. If there is no such
14450 tag, return the location of the end of the subtree, to indicate that
14451 search should continue from there.
14454 (defun my-skip-unless-waiting ()
14455 "Skip trees that are not waiting"
14456 (let ((subtree-end (save-excursion (org-end-of-subtree t))))
14457 (if (re-search-forward ":waiting:" subtree-end t)
14458 nil ; tag found, do not skip
14459 subtree-end))) ; tag not found, continue after end of subtree
14462 Now you may use this function in an agenda custom command, for example
14466 (org-add-agenda-custom-command
14467 '("b" todo "PROJECT"
14468 ((org-agenda-skip-function 'my-skip-unless-waiting)
14469 (org-agenda-overriding-header "Projects waiting for something: "))))
14472 @vindex org-agenda-overriding-header
14473 Note that this also binds @code{org-agenda-overriding-header} to get a
14474 meaningful header in the agenda view.
14476 @vindex org-odd-levels-only
14477 @vindex org-agenda-skip-function
14478 A general way to create custom searches is to base them on a search for
14479 entries with a certain level limit. If you want to study all entries with
14480 your custom search function, simply do a search for
14481 @samp{LEVEL>0}@footnote{Note that, when using @code{org-odd-levels-only}, a
14482 level number corresponds to order in the hierarchy, not to the number of
14483 stars.}, and then use @code{org-agenda-skip-function} to select the entries
14484 you really want to have.
14486 You may also put a Lisp form into @code{org-agenda-skip-function}. In
14487 particular, you may use the functions @code{org-agenda-skip-entry-if}
14488 and @code{org-agenda-skip-subtree-if} in this form, for example:
14491 @item '(org-agenda-skip-entry-if 'scheduled)
14492 Skip current entry if it has been scheduled.
14493 @item '(org-agenda-skip-entry-if 'notscheduled)
14494 Skip current entry if it has not been scheduled.
14495 @item '(org-agenda-skip-entry-if 'deadline)
14496 Skip current entry if it has a deadline.
14497 @item '(org-agenda-skip-entry-if 'scheduled 'deadline)
14498 Skip current entry if it has a deadline, or if it is scheduled.
14499 @item '(org-agenda-skip-entry-if 'todo '("TODO" "WAITING"))
14500 Skip current entry if the TODO keyword is TODO or WAITING.
14501 @item '(org-agenda-skip-entry-if 'todo 'done)
14502 Skip current entry if the TODO keyword marks a DONE state.
14503 @item '(org-agenda-skip-entry-if 'timestamp)
14504 Skip current entry if it has any timestamp, may also be deadline or scheduled.
14505 @item '(org-agenda-skip-entry 'regexp "regular expression")
14506 Skip current entry if the regular expression matches in the entry.
14507 @item '(org-agenda-skip-entry 'notregexp "regular expression")
14508 Skip current entry unless the regular expression matches.
14509 @item '(org-agenda-skip-subtree-if 'regexp "regular expression")
14510 Same as above, but check and skip the entire subtree.
14513 Therefore we could also have written the search for WAITING projects
14514 like this, even without defining a special function:
14517 (org-add-agenda-custom-command
14518 '("b" todo "PROJECT"
14519 ((org-agenda-skip-function '(org-agenda-skip-subtree-if
14520 'regexp ":waiting:"))
14521 (org-agenda-overriding-header "Projects waiting for something: "))))
14524 @node Extracting agenda information, Using the property API, Special agenda views, Hacking
14525 @section Extracting agenda information
14526 @cindex agenda, pipe
14527 @cindex Scripts, for agenda processing
14529 @vindex org-agenda-custom-commands
14530 Org provides commands to access agenda information for the command
14531 line in Emacs batch mode. This extracted information can be sent
14532 directly to a printer, or it can be read by a program that does further
14533 processing of the data. The first of these commands is the function
14534 @code{org-batch-agenda}, that produces an agenda view and sends it as
14535 ASCII text to STDOUT. The command takes a single string as parameter.
14536 If the string has length 1, it is used as a key to one of the commands
14537 you have configured in @code{org-agenda-custom-commands}, basically any
14538 key you can use after @kbd{C-c a}. For example, to directly print the
14539 current TODO list, you could use
14542 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -eval '(org-batch-agenda "t")' | lpr
14545 If the parameter is a string with 2 or more characters, it is used as a
14546 tags/TODO match string. For example, to print your local shopping list
14547 (all items with the tag @samp{shop}, but excluding the tag
14548 @samp{NewYork}), you could use
14551 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs \
14552 -eval '(org-batch-agenda "+shop-NewYork")' | lpr
14556 You may also modify parameters on the fly like this:
14559 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs \
14560 -eval '(org-batch-agenda "a" \
14561 org-agenda-span month \
14562 org-agenda-include-diary nil \
14563 org-agenda-files (quote ("~/org/project.org")))' \
14568 which will produce a 30-day agenda, fully restricted to the Org file
14569 @file{~/org/projects.org}, not even including the diary.
14571 If you want to process the agenda data in more sophisticated ways, you
14572 can use the command @code{org-batch-agenda-csv} to get a comma-separated
14573 list of values for each agenda item. Each line in the output will
14574 contain a number of fields separated by commas. The fields in a line
14578 category @r{The category of the item}
14579 head @r{The headline, without TODO keyword, TAGS and PRIORITY}
14580 type @r{The type of the agenda entry, can be}
14581 todo @r{selected in TODO match}
14582 tagsmatch @r{selected in tags match}
14583 diary @r{imported from diary}
14584 deadline @r{a deadline}
14585 scheduled @r{scheduled}
14586 timestamp @r{appointment, selected by timestamp}
14587 closed @r{entry was closed on date}
14588 upcoming-deadline @r{warning about nearing deadline}
14589 past-scheduled @r{forwarded scheduled item}
14590 block @r{entry has date block including date}
14591 todo @r{The TODO keyword, if any}
14592 tags @r{All tags including inherited ones, separated by colons}
14593 date @r{The relevant date, like 2007-2-14}
14594 time @r{The time, like 15:00-16:50}
14595 extra @r{String with extra planning info}
14596 priority-l @r{The priority letter if any was given}
14597 priority-n @r{The computed numerical priority}
14601 Time and date will only be given if a timestamp (or deadline/scheduled)
14602 led to the selection of the item.
14604 A CSV list like this is very easy to use in a post-processing script.
14605 For example, here is a Perl program that gets the TODO list from
14606 Emacs/Org and prints all the items, preceded by a checkbox:
14611 # define the Emacs command to run
14612 $cmd = "emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -eval '(org-batch-agenda-csv \"t\")'";
14614 # run it and capture the output
14615 $agenda = qx@{$cmd 2>/dev/null@};
14617 # loop over all lines
14618 foreach $line (split(/\n/,$agenda)) @{
14619 # get the individual values
14620 ($category,$head,$type,$todo,$tags,$date,$time,$extra,
14621 $priority_l,$priority_n) = split(/,/,$line);
14622 # process and print
14623 print "[ ] $head\n";
14627 @node Using the property API, Using the mapping API, Extracting agenda information, Hacking
14628 @section Using the property API
14629 @cindex API, for properties
14630 @cindex properties, API
14632 Here is a description of the functions that can be used to work with
14635 @defun org-entry-properties &optional pom which
14636 Get all properties of the entry at point-or-marker POM.@*
14637 This includes the TODO keyword, the tags, time strings for deadline,
14638 scheduled, and clocking, and any additional properties defined in the
14639 entry. The return value is an alist. Keys may occur multiple times
14640 if the property key was used several times.@*
14641 POM may also be nil, in which case the current entry is used.
14642 If WHICH is nil or `all', get all properties. If WHICH is
14643 `special' or `standard', only get that subclass.
14645 @vindex org-use-property-inheritance
14646 @defun org-entry-get pom property &optional inherit
14647 Get value of PROPERTY for entry at point-or-marker POM. By default,
14648 this only looks at properties defined locally in the entry. If INHERIT
14649 is non-nil and the entry does not have the property, then also check
14650 higher levels of the hierarchy. If INHERIT is the symbol
14651 @code{selective}, use inheritance if and only if the setting of
14652 @code{org-use-property-inheritance} selects PROPERTY for inheritance.
14655 @defun org-entry-delete pom property
14656 Delete the property PROPERTY from entry at point-or-marker POM.
14659 @defun org-entry-put pom property value
14660 Set PROPERTY to VALUE for entry at point-or-marker POM.
14663 @defun org-buffer-property-keys &optional include-specials
14664 Get all property keys in the current buffer.
14667 @defun org-insert-property-drawer
14668 Insert a property drawer at point.
14671 @defun org-entry-put-multivalued-property pom property &rest values
14672 Set PROPERTY at point-or-marker POM to VALUES. VALUES should be a list of
14673 strings. They will be concatenated, with spaces as separators.
14676 @defun org-entry-get-multivalued-property pom property
14677 Treat the value of the property PROPERTY as a whitespace-separated list of
14678 values and return the values as a list of strings.
14681 @defun org-entry-add-to-multivalued-property pom property value
14682 Treat the value of the property PROPERTY as a whitespace-separated list of
14683 values and make sure that VALUE is in this list.
14686 @defun org-entry-remove-from-multivalued-property pom property value
14687 Treat the value of the property PROPERTY as a whitespace-separated list of
14688 values and make sure that VALUE is @emph{not} in this list.
14691 @defun org-entry-member-in-multivalued-property pom property value
14692 Treat the value of the property PROPERTY as a whitespace-separated list of
14693 values and check if VALUE is in this list.
14696 @defopt org-property-allowed-value-functions
14697 Hook for functions supplying allowed values for a specific property.
14698 The functions must take a single argument, the name of the property, and
14699 return a flat list of allowed values. If @samp{:ETC} is one of
14700 the values, use the values as completion help, but allow also other values
14701 to be entered. The functions must return @code{nil} if they are not
14702 responsible for this property.
14705 @node Using the mapping API, , Using the property API, Hacking
14706 @section Using the mapping API
14707 @cindex API, for mapping
14708 @cindex mapping entries, API
14710 Org has sophisticated mapping capabilities to find all entries satisfying
14711 certain criteria. Internally, this functionality is used to produce agenda
14712 views, but there is also an API that can be used to execute arbitrary
14713 functions for each or selected entries. The main entry point for this API
14716 @defun org-map-entries func &optional match scope &rest skip
14717 Call FUNC at each headline selected by MATCH in SCOPE.
14719 FUNC is a function or a Lisp form. The function will be called without
14720 arguments, with the cursor positioned at the beginning of the headline.
14721 The return values of all calls to the function will be collected and
14722 returned as a list.
14724 The call to FUNC will be wrapped into a save-excursion form, so FUNC
14725 does not need to preserve point. After evaluation, the cursor will be
14726 moved to the end of the line (presumably of the headline of the
14727 processed entry) and search continues from there. Under some
14728 circumstances, this may not produce the wanted results. For example,
14729 if you have removed (e.g.@: archived) the current (sub)tree it could
14730 mean that the next entry will be skipped entirely. In such cases, you
14731 can specify the position from where search should continue by making
14732 FUNC set the variable `org-map-continue-from' to the desired buffer
14735 MATCH is a tags/property/todo match as it is used in the agenda match view.
14736 Only headlines that are matched by this query will be considered during
14737 the iteration. When MATCH is nil or t, all headlines will be
14738 visited by the iteration.
14740 SCOPE determines the scope of this command. It can be any of:
14743 nil @r{the current buffer, respecting the restriction if any}
14744 tree @r{the subtree started with the entry at point}
14745 file @r{the current buffer, without restriction}
14747 @r{the current buffer, and any archives associated with it}
14748 agenda @r{all agenda files}
14749 agenda-with-archives
14750 @r{all agenda files with any archive files associated with them}
14752 @r{if this is a list, all files in the list will be scanned}
14755 The remaining args are treated as settings for the skipping facilities of
14756 the scanner. The following items can be given here:
14758 @vindex org-agenda-skip-function
14760 archive @r{skip trees with the archive tag}
14761 comment @r{skip trees with the COMMENT keyword}
14762 function or Lisp form
14763 @r{will be used as value for @code{org-agenda-skip-function},}
14764 @r{so whenever the function returns t, FUNC}
14765 @r{will not be called for that entry and search will}
14766 @r{continue from the point where the function leaves it}
14770 The function given to that mapping routine can really do anything you like.
14771 It can use the property API (@pxref{Using the property API}) to gather more
14772 information about the entry, or in order to change metadata in the entry.
14773 Here are a couple of functions that might be handy:
14775 @defun org-todo &optional arg
14776 Change the TODO state of the entry. See the docstring of the functions for
14777 the many possible values for the argument ARG.
14780 @defun org-priority &optional action
14781 Change the priority of the entry. See the docstring of this function for the
14782 possible values for ACTION.
14785 @defun org-toggle-tag tag &optional onoff
14786 Toggle the tag TAG in the current entry. Setting ONOFF to either @code{on}
14787 or @code{off} will not toggle tag, but ensure that it is either on or off.
14791 Promote the current entry.
14795 Demote the current entry.
14798 Here is a simple example that will turn all entries in the current file with
14799 a tag @code{TOMORROW} into TODO entries with the keyword @code{UPCOMING}.
14800 Entries in comment trees and in archive trees will be ignored.
14804 '(org-todo "UPCOMING")
14805 "+TOMORROW" 'file 'archive 'comment)
14808 The following example counts the number of entries with TODO keyword
14809 @code{WAITING}, in all agenda files.
14812 (length (org-map-entries t "/+WAITING" 'agenda))
14815 @node MobileOrg, History and Acknowledgments, Hacking, Top
14816 @appendix MobileOrg
14820 @uref{http://mobileorg.ncogni.to/, MobileOrg} is an application for the
14821 @i{iPhone/iPod Touch} series of devices, developed by Richard Moreland.
14822 @i{MobileOrg} offers offline viewing and capture support for an Org-mode
14823 system rooted on a ``real'' computer. It does also allow you to record
14824 changes to existing entries. Android users should check out
14825 @uref{http://wiki.github.com/matburt/mobileorg-android/, MobileOrg Android}
14828 This appendix describes the support Org has for creating agenda views in a
14829 format that can be displayed by @i{MobileOrg}, and for integrating notes
14830 captured and changes made by @i{MobileOrg} into the main system.
14832 For changing tags and TODO states in MobileOrg, you should have set up the
14833 customization variables @code{org-todo-keywords} and @code{org-tags-alist} to
14834 cover all important tags and TODO keywords, even if individual files use only
14835 part of these. MobileOrg will also offer you states and tags set up with
14836 in-buffer settings, but it will understand the logistics of TODO state
14837 @i{sets} (@pxref{Per-file keywords}) and @i{mutually exclusive} tags
14838 (@pxref{Setting tags}) only for those set in these variables.
14841 * Setting up the staging area:: Where to interact with the mobile device
14842 * Pushing to MobileOrg:: Uploading Org files and agendas
14843 * Pulling from MobileOrg:: Integrating captured and flagged items
14846 @node Setting up the staging area, Pushing to MobileOrg, MobileOrg, MobileOrg
14847 @section Setting up the staging area
14849 MobileOrg needs to interact with Emacs through a directory on a server. If you
14850 are using a public server, you should consider to encrypt the files that are
14851 uploaded to the server. This can be done with Org-mode 7.02 and with
14852 @i{MobileOrg 1.5} (iPhone version), and you need an @file{openssl}
14853 installation on your system. To turn on encryption, set a password in
14854 @i{MobileOrg} and, on the Emacs side, configure the variable
14855 @code{org-mobile-use-encryption}@footnote{If you can safely store the
14856 password in your Emacs setup, you might also want to configure
14857 @code{org-mobile-encryption-password}. Please read the docstring of that
14858 variable. Note that encryption will apply only to the contents of the
14859 @file{.org} files. The file names themselves will remain visible.}.
14861 The easiest way to create that directory is to use a free
14862 @uref{http://dropbox.com,Dropbox.com} account@footnote{If you cannot use
14863 Dropbox, or if your version of MobileOrg does not support it, you can use a
14864 webdav server. For more information, check out the documentation of MobileOrg and also this
14865 @uref{http://orgmode.org/worg/org-faq.html#mobileorg_webdav, FAQ entry}.}.
14866 When MobileOrg first connects to your Dropbox, it will create a directory
14867 @i{MobileOrg} inside the Dropbox. After the directory has been created, tell
14871 (setq org-mobile-directory "~/Dropbox/MobileOrg")
14874 Org-mode has commands to put files for @i{MobileOrg} into that directory,
14875 and to read captured notes from there.
14877 @node Pushing to MobileOrg, Pulling from MobileOrg, Setting up the staging area, MobileOrg
14878 @section Pushing to MobileOrg
14880 This operation copies all files currently listed in @code{org-mobile-files}
14881 to the directory @code{org-mobile-directory}. By default this list contains
14882 all agenda files (as listed in @code{org-agenda-files}), but additional files
14883 can be included by customizing @code{org-mobiles-files}. File names will be
14884 staged with paths relative to @code{org-directory}, so all files should be
14885 inside this directory. The push operation also creates a special Org file
14886 @file{agendas.org} with all custom agenda view defined by the
14887 user@footnote{While creating the agendas, Org-mode will force ID properties
14888 on all referenced entries, so that these entries can be uniquely identified
14889 if @i{MobileOrg} flags them for further action. If you do not want to get
14890 these properties in so many entries, you can set the variable
14891 @code{org-mobile-force-id-on-agenda-items} to @code{nil}. Org mode will then
14892 rely on outline paths, in the hope that these will be unique enough.}.
14893 Finally, Org writes the file @file{index.org}, containing links to all other
14894 files. @i{MobileOrg} first reads this file from the server, and then
14895 downloads all agendas and Org files listed in it. To speed up the download,
14896 MobileOrg will only read files whose checksums@footnote{stored automatically
14897 in the file @file{checksums.dat}} have changed.
14899 @node Pulling from MobileOrg, , Pushing to MobileOrg, MobileOrg
14900 @section Pulling from MobileOrg
14902 When @i{MobileOrg} synchronizes with the server, it not only pulls the Org
14903 files for viewing. It also appends captured entries and pointers to flagged
14904 and changed entries to the file @file{mobileorg.org} on the server. Org has
14905 a @emph{pull} operation that integrates this information into an inbox file
14906 and operates on the pointers to flagged entries. Here is how it works:
14910 Org moves all entries found in
14911 @file{mobileorg.org}@footnote{@file{mobileorg.org} will be empty after this
14912 operation.} and appends them to the file pointed to by the variable
14913 @code{org-mobile-inbox-for-pull}. Each captured entry and each editing event
14914 will be a top-level entry in the inbox file.
14916 After moving the entries, Org will attempt to implement the changes made in
14917 @i{MobileOrg}. Some changes are applied directly and without user
14918 interaction. Examples are all changes to tags, TODO state, headline and body
14919 text that can be cleanly applied. Entries that have been flagged for further
14920 action will receive a tag @code{:FLAGGED:}, so that they can be easily found
14921 again. When there is a problem finding an entry or applying the change, the
14922 pointer entry will remain in the inbox and will be marked with an error
14923 message. You need to later resolve these issues by hand.
14925 Org will then generate an agenda view with all flagged entries. The user
14926 should then go through these entries and do whatever actions are necessary.
14927 If a note has been stored while flagging an entry in @i{MobileOrg}, that note
14928 will be displayed in the echo area when the cursor is on the corresponding
14933 Pressing @kbd{?} in that special agenda will display the full flagging note in
14934 another window and also push it onto the kill ring. So you could use @kbd{?
14935 z C-y C-c C-c} to store that flagging note as a normal note in the entry.
14936 Pressing @kbd{?} twice in succession will offer to remove the
14937 @code{:FLAGGED:} tag along with the recorded flagging note (which is stored
14938 in a property). In this way you indicate that the intended processing for
14939 this flagged entry is finished.
14944 If you are not able to process all flagged entries directly, you can always
14945 return to this agenda view@footnote{Note, however, that there is a subtle
14946 difference. The view created automatically by @kbd{M-x org-mobile-pull
14947 @key{RET}} is guaranteed to search all files that have been addressed by the
14948 last pull. This might include a file that is not currently in your list of
14949 agenda files. If you later use @kbd{C-c a ?} to regenerate the view, only
14950 the current agenda files will be searched.} using @kbd{C-c a ?}.
14952 @node History and Acknowledgments, Main Index, MobileOrg, Top
14953 @appendix History and acknowledgments
14954 @cindex acknowledgments
14958 Org was born in 2003, out of frustration over the user interface of the Emacs
14959 Outline mode. I was trying to organize my notes and projects, and using
14960 Emacs seemed to be the natural way to go. However, having to remember eleven
14961 different commands with two or three keys per command, only to hide and show
14962 parts of the outline tree, that seemed entirely unacceptable to me. Also,
14963 when using outlines to take notes, I constantly wanted to restructure the
14964 tree, organizing it parallel to my thoughts and plans. @emph{Visibility
14965 cycling} and @emph{structure editing} were originally implemented in the
14966 package @file{outline-magic.el}, but quickly moved to the more general
14967 @file{org.el}. As this environment became comfortable for project planning,
14968 the next step was adding @emph{TODO entries}, basic @emph{timestamps}, and
14969 @emph{table support}. These areas highlighted the two main goals that Org
14970 still has today: to be a new, outline-based, plain text mode with innovative
14971 and intuitive editing features, and to incorporate project planning
14972 functionality directly into a notes file.
14974 Since the first release, literally thousands of emails to me or to
14975 @email{emacs-orgmode@@gnu.org} have provided a constant stream of bug
14976 reports, feedback, new ideas, and sometimes patches and add-on code.
14977 Many thanks to everyone who has helped to improve this package. I am
14978 trying to keep here a list of the people who had significant influence
14979 in shaping one or more aspects of Org. The list may not be
14980 complete, if I have forgotten someone, please accept my apologies and
14983 Before I get to this list, a few special mentions are in order:
14986 @item Bastien Guerry
14987 Bastien has written a large number of extensions to Org (most of them
14988 integrated into the core by now), including the LaTeX exporter and the plain
14989 list parser. His support during the early days, when he basically acted as
14990 co-maintainer, was central to the success of this project. Bastien also
14991 invented Worg, helped establishing the Web presence of Org, and sponsors
14992 hosting costs for the orgmode.org website.
14993 @item Eric Schulte and Dan Davison
14994 Eric and Dan are jointly responsible for the Org-babel system, which turns
14995 Org into a multi-language environment for evaluating code and doing literate
14996 programming and reproducible research.
14998 John has contributed a number of great ideas and patches directly to Org,
14999 including the attachment system (@file{org-attach.el}), integration with
15000 Apple Mail (@file{org-mac-message.el}), hierarchical dependencies of TODO
15001 items, habit tracking (@file{org-habits.el}), and encryption
15002 (@file{org-crypt.el}). Also, the capture system is really an extended copy
15003 of his great @file{remember.el}.
15004 @item Sebastian Rose
15005 Without Sebastian, the HTML/XHTML publishing of Org would be the pitiful work
15006 of an ignorant amateur. Sebastian has pushed this part of Org onto a much
15007 higher level. He also wrote @file{org-info.js}, a Java script for displaying
15008 webpages derived from Org using an Info-like or a folding interface with
15009 single-key navigation.
15012 @noindent OK, now to the full list of contributions! Again, please let me
15013 know what I am missing here!
15018 @i{Russel Adams} came up with the idea for drawers.
15020 @i{Thomas Baumann} wrote @file{org-bbdb.el} and @file{org-mhe.el}.
15022 @i{Christophe Bataillon} created the great unicorn logo that we use on the
15025 @i{Alex Bochannek} provided a patch for rounding timestamps.
15027 @i{Jan Böcker} wrote @file{org-docview.el}.
15029 @i{Brad Bozarth} showed how to pull RSS feed data into Org-mode files.
15031 @i{Tom Breton} wrote @file{org-choose.el}.
15033 @i{Charles Cave}'s suggestion sparked the implementation of templates
15034 for Remember, which are now templates for capture.
15036 @i{Pavel Chalmoviansky} influenced the agenda treatment of items with
15039 @i{Gregory Chernov} patched support for Lisp forms into table
15040 calculations and improved XEmacs compatibility, in particular by porting
15041 @file{nouline.el} to XEmacs.
15043 @i{Sacha Chua} suggested copying some linking code from Planner.
15045 @i{Baoqiu Cui} contributed the DocBook exporter.
15047 @i{Eddward DeVilla} proposed and tested checkbox statistics. He also
15048 came up with the idea of properties, and that there should be an API for
15051 @i{Nick Dokos} tracked down several nasty bugs.
15053 @i{Kees Dullemond} used to edit projects lists directly in HTML and so
15054 inspired some of the early development, including HTML export. He also
15055 asked for a way to narrow wide table columns.
15057 @i{Thomas S. Dye} contributed documentation on Worg and helped integrating
15058 the Org-Babel documentation into the manual.
15060 @i{Christian Egli} converted the documentation into Texinfo format, inspired
15061 the agenda, patched CSS formatting into the HTML exporter, and wrote
15062 @file{org-taskjuggler.el}.
15064 @i{David Emery} provided a patch for custom CSS support in exported
15067 @i{Nic Ferrier} contributed mailcap and XOXO support.
15069 @i{Miguel A. Figueroa-Villanueva} implemented hierarchical checkboxes.
15071 @i{John Foerch} figured out how to make incremental search show context
15072 around a match in a hidden outline tree.
15074 @i{Raimar Finken} wrote @file{org-git-line.el}.
15076 @i{Mikael Fornius} works as a mailing list moderator.
15078 @i{Austin Frank} works as a mailing list moderator.
15080 @i{Eric Fraga} drove the development of BEAMER export with ideas and
15083 @i{Barry Gidden} did proofreading the manual in preparation for the book
15084 publication through Network Theory Ltd.
15086 @i{Niels Giesen} had the idea to automatically archive DONE trees.
15088 @i{Nicolas Goaziou} rewrote much of the plain list code.
15090 @i{Kai Grossjohann} pointed out key-binding conflicts with other packages.
15092 @i{Brian Gough} of Network Theory Ltd publishes the Org mode manual as a
15095 @i{Bernt Hansen} has driven much of the support for auto-repeating tasks,
15096 task state change logging, and the clocktable. His clear explanations have
15097 been critical when we started to adopt the Git version control system.
15099 @i{Manuel Hermenegildo} has contributed various ideas, small fixes and
15102 @i{Phil Jackson} wrote @file{org-irc.el}.
15104 @i{Scott Jaderholm} proposed footnotes, control over whitespace between
15105 folded entries, and column view for properties.
15107 @i{Matt Jones} wrote @i{MobileOrg Android}.
15109 @i{Tokuya Kameshima} wrote @file{org-wl.el} and @file{org-mew.el}.
15111 @i{Shidai Liu} ("Leo") asked for embedded @LaTeX{} and tested it. He also
15112 provided frequent feedback and some patches.
15114 @i{Matt Lundin} has proposed last-row references for table formulas and named
15115 invisible anchors. He has also worked a lot on the FAQ.
15117 @i{David Maus} wrote @file{org-atom.el}, maintains the issues file for Org,
15118 and is a prolific contributor on the mailing list with competent replies,
15119 small fixes and patches.
15121 @i{Jason F. McBrayer} suggested agenda export to CSV format.
15123 @i{Max Mikhanosha} came up with the idea of refiling.
15125 @i{Dmitri Minaev} sent a patch to set priority limits on a per-file
15128 @i{Stefan Monnier} provided a patch to keep the Emacs-Lisp compiler
15131 @i{Richard Moreland} wrote @i{MobileOrg} for the iPhone.
15133 @i{Rick Moynihan} proposed allowing multiple TODO sequences in a file
15134 and being able to quickly restrict the agenda to a subtree.
15136 @i{Todd Neal} provided patches for links to Info files and Elisp forms.
15138 @i{Greg Newman} refreshed the unicorn logo into its current form.
15140 @i{Tim O'Callaghan} suggested in-file links, search options for general
15141 file links, and TAGS.
15143 @i{Osamu Okano} wrote @file{orgcard2ref.pl}, a Perl program to create a text
15144 version of the reference card.
15146 @i{Takeshi Okano} translated the manual and David O'Toole's tutorial
15149 @i{Oliver Oppitz} suggested multi-state TODO items.
15151 @i{Scott Otterson} sparked the introduction of descriptive text for
15152 links, among other things.
15154 @i{Pete Phillips} helped during the development of the TAGS feature, and
15155 provided frequent feedback.
15157 @i{Martin Pohlack} provided the code snippet to bundle character insertion
15158 into bundles of 20 for undo.
15160 @i{T.V. Raman} reported bugs and suggested improvements.
15162 @i{Matthias Rempe} (Oelde) provided ideas, Windows support, and quality
15165 @i{Paul Rivier} provided the basic implementation of named footnotes. He
15166 also acted as mailing list moderator for some time.
15168 @i{Kevin Rogers} contributed code to access VM files on remote hosts.
15170 @i{Frank Ruell} solved the mystery of the @code{keymapp nil} bug, a
15171 conflict with @file{allout.el}.
15173 @i{Jason Riedy} generalized the send-receive mechanism for Orgtbl tables with
15176 @i{Philip Rooke} created the Org reference card, provided lots
15177 of feedback, developed and applied standards to the Org documentation.
15179 @i{Christian Schlauer} proposed angular brackets around links, among
15182 @i{Paul Sexton} wrote @file{org-ctags.el}.
15184 Linking to VM/BBDB/Gnus was first inspired by @i{Tom Shannon}'s
15185 @file{organizer-mode.el}.
15187 @i{Ilya Shlyakhter} proposed the Archive Sibling, line numbering in literal
15188 examples, and remote highlighting for referenced code lines.
15190 @i{Stathis Sideris} wrote the @file{ditaa.jar} ASCII to PNG converter that is
15191 now packaged into Org's @file{contrib} directory.
15193 @i{Daniel Sinder} came up with the idea of internal archiving by locking
15196 @i{Dale Smith} proposed link abbreviations.
15198 @i{James TD Smith} has contributed a large number of patches for useful
15199 tweaks and features.
15201 @i{Adam Spiers} asked for global linking commands, inspired the link
15202 extension system, added support for mairix, and proposed the mapping API.
15204 @i{Ulf Stegemann} created the table to translate special symbols to HTML,
15205 LaTeX, UTF-8, Latin-1 and ASCII.
15207 @i{Andy Stewart} contributed code to @file{org-w3m.el}, to copy HTML content
15208 with links transformation to Org syntax.
15210 @i{David O'Toole} wrote @file{org-publish.el} and drafted the manual
15211 chapter about publishing.
15213 @i{Sebastien Vauban} reported many issues with LaTeX and BEAMER export and
15214 enabled source code highlighling in Gnus.
15216 @i{Stefan Vollmar} organized a video-recorded talk at the
15217 Max-Planck-Institute for Neurology. He also inspired the creation of a
15218 concept index for HTML export.
15220 @i{J@"urgen Vollmer} contributed code generating the table of contents
15223 @i{Samuel Wales} has provided important feedback and bug reports.
15225 @i{Chris Wallace} provided a patch implementing the @samp{QUOTE}
15228 @i{David Wainberg} suggested archiving, and improvements to the linking
15231 @i{Carsten Wimmer} suggested some changes and helped fix a bug in
15234 @i{Roland Winkler} requested additional key bindings to make Org
15237 @i{Piotr Zielinski} wrote @file{org-mouse.el}, proposed agenda blocks
15238 and contributed various ideas and code snippets.
15242 @node Main Index, Key Index, History and Acknowledgments, Top
15243 @unnumbered Concept index
15247 @node Key Index, Command and Function Index, Main Index, Top
15248 @unnumbered Key index
15252 @node Command and Function Index, Variable Index, Key Index, Top
15253 @unnumbered Command and function index
15257 @node Variable Index, , Command and Function Index, Top
15258 @unnumbered Variable index
15260 This is not a complete index of variables and faces, only the ones that are
15261 mentioned in the manual. For a more complete list, use @kbd{M-x
15262 org-customize @key{RET}} and then click yourself through the tree.
15269 arch-tag: 7893d1Fe-cc57-4d13-b5e5-f494a1CBC7ac
15272 @c Local variables:
15274 @c indent-tabs-mode: nil
15275 @c paragraph-start: "
\b\\|^@[a-zA-Z]*[ \n]\\|^@x?org\\(key\\|cmd\\)\\|\f\\|[ ]*$"
15276 @c paragraph-separate: "
\b\\|^@[a-zA-Z]*[ \n]\\|^@x?org\\(key\\|cmd\\)\\|[ \f]*$"
15280 @c LocalWords: webdavhost pre