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1.1 root 1: GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes. 3 Feb 1992
2: Copyright (C) 1988, 1990, 1992 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3: See the end for copying conditions.
4:
5: Changes in version 18.58.
6:
7: * RMAIL reply now properly parses nested comments in addresses.
8:
9: * The "visual bell" feature when used with X windows
10: now flashes only 1/4 of the window's total area. This is because
11: flashing the whole window is too slow on some systems.
12:
13: * call-process and call-process-region now return an indication
14: of the exit status of the subprocess: either a numeric exit code
15: or a string describing the signal which caused termination.
16:
17: * It is possible for regular expression matching to overflow the stack
18: of failure points. In the past, such overflow was treated as simple
19: failure to match. Now it causes an error.
20:
21: * You can use C-u to end a numeric argument. Thus, type C-u 1 0 0 C-u 1
22: to insert 100 1's.
23:
24: * Emacs now knows how to get resource values from the X server.
25:
26: * Job control commands in shell mode work properly on more systems
27: because they now work by "typing" signal characters such as C-c.
28:
29: * copy-keymap no longer recursively copies keymaps reached through
30: symbols' function definitions (i.e., those that have names). It does
31: copy nested keymaps that appear directly in the other copied keymaps.
32:
33: Changes in version 18.56.
34:
35: * C-g should now work to interrupt a running program
36: on all kinds of systems even when using X windows.
37:
38: * Quitting is inhibited while a filter or sentinel is running.
39: Those functions can run asynchronously while Emacs is waiting
40: for keyboard input, and if they allow quitting, they
41: make the behavior of C-g unpredictable.
42:
43: * Storing text into the X windows cut buffer
44: now clears out any selection.
45:
46: * The undo facility is completely rewritten, and now
47: uses Lisp data structures. It can record much more
48: information. You can use the variables undo-threshold
49: and undo-high-threshold to control how much.
50:
51: * There is no longer a maximum screen height or width.
52:
53: Changes in version 18.52.
54:
55: * X windows version 10 is supported under system V.
56:
57: * Pop-up menus are now supported with the same Lisp interface in
58: both version 10 and 11 of X windows.
59:
60: * C-x 4 a is a new command to edit a change-log entry in another window.
61:
62: * The emacs client program now allows an option +NNN to specify the
63: line number to go to in the file whose name follows. Thus,
64: emacsclient foo.c +45 bar.c
65: will find the files `foo.c' and `bar.c', going to line 45 in `bar.c'.
66:
67: * Dired allows empty directories to be deleted like files.
68:
69: * When the terminal type is used to find a terminal-specific file to
70: run, Emacs now tries the entire terminal type first. If that doesn't
71: yield a file that exists, the last hyphen and what follows it is
72: stripped. If that doesn't yield a file that exists, the previous
73: hyphen is stripped, and so on until all hyphens are gone. For
74: example, if the terminal type is `aaa-48-foo', Emacs will try first
75: `term/aaa-48-foo.el', then `term/aaa-48.el' and finally `term/aaa.el'.
76:
77: Underscores now receive the same treatment as hyphens.
78:
79: * Texinfo features: @defun, etc. texinfo-show-structure.
80: New template commands. texinfo-format-region.
81:
82: * The special "local variable" `eval' is now ignored if you are running
83: as root.
84:
85: * New command `c-macro-expand' shows the result of C macro expansion
86: in the region. It works using the C preprocessor, so its results
87: are completely accurate.
88:
89: * Errors in trying to auto save now flash error messages for a few seconds.
90:
91: * Killing a buffer now sends SIGHUP to the buffer's process.
92:
93: * New hooks.
94:
95: ** `spell-region' now allows you to filter the text before spelling-checking.
96: If the value of `spell-filter' is non-nil, it is called, with no arguments,
97: looking at a temporary buffer containing a copy of the text to be checked.
98: It can alter the text freely before the spell program sees it.
99:
100: ** The variable `lpr-command' now specifies the command to be used when
101: you use the commands to print text (such as M-x print-buffer).
102:
103: ** Posting netnews now calls the value of `news-inews-hook' (if not nil)
104: as a function of no arguments before the actual posting.
105:
106: ** Rmail now calls the value of `rmail-show-message-hook' (if not nil)
107: as a function of no arguments, each time a new message is selected.
108:
109: ** `kill-emacs' calls the value of `kill-emacs-hook' as a function of no args.
110:
111: * New libraries.
112: See the source code of each library for more information.
113:
114: ** icon.el: a major mode for editing programs written in Icon.
115:
116: ** life.el: a simulator for the cellular automaton "life". Load the
117: library and run M-x life.
118:
119: ** doctex.el: a library for converting the Emacs `etc/DOC' file of
120: documentation strings into TeX input.
121:
122: ** saveconf.el: a library which records the arrangement of windows and
123: buffers when you exit Emacs, and automatically recreates the same
124: setup the next time you start Emacs.
125:
126: ** uncompress.el: a library that automatically uncompresses files
127: when you visit them.
128:
129: ** c-fill.el: a mode for editing filled comments in C.
130:
131: ** kermit.el: an extended version of shell-mode designed for running kermit.
132:
133: ** spook.el: a library for adding some "distract the NSA" keywords to every
134: message you send.
135:
136: ** hideif.el: a library for hiding parts of a C program based on preprocessor
137: conditionals.
138:
139: ** autoinsert.el: a library to put in some initial text when you visit
140: a nonexistent file. The text used depends on the major mode, and
141: comes from a directory of files created by you.
142:
143: * New programming features.
144:
145: ** The variable `window-system-version' now contains the version number
146: of the window system you are using (if appropriate). When using X windows,
147: its value is either 10 or 11.
148:
149: ** (interactive "N") uses the prefix argument if any; otherwise, it reads
150: a number using the minibuffer.
151:
152: ** VMS: there are two new functions `vms-system-info' and `shrink-to-icon'.
153: The former allows you to get many kinds of system status information.
154: See its self-documentation for full details.
155: The second is used with the window system: it iconifies the Emacs window.
156:
157: ** VMS: the new function `define-logical-name' allows you to create
158: job-wide logical names. The old function `define-dcl-symbol' has been
159: removed.
160:
161: Changes in version 18.50.
162:
163: * X windows version 11 is supported.
164:
165: Define X11 in config.h if you want X version 11 instead of version 10.
166:
167: * The command M-x gdb runs the GDB debugger as an inferior.
168: It asks for the filename of the executable you want to debug.
169:
170: GDB runs as an inferior with I/O through an Emacs buffer. All the
171: facilities of Shell mode are available. In addition, each time your
172: program stops, and each time you select a new stack frame, the source
173: code is displayed in another window with an arrow added to the line
174: where the program is executing.
175:
176: Special GDB-mode commands include M-s, M-n, M-i, M-u, M-d, and C-c C-f
177: which send the GDB commands `step', `next', `stepi', `up', `down'
178: and `finish'.
179:
180: In any source file, the commands C-x SPC tells GDB to set a breakpoint
181: on the current line.
182:
183: * M-x calendar displays a three-month calendar.
184:
185: * C-u 0 C-x C-s never makes a backup file.
186:
187: This is a way you can explicitly request not to make a backup.
188:
189: * `term-setup-hook' is for users only.
190:
191: Emacs never uses this variable for internal purposes, so you can freely
192: set it in your `.emacs' file to make Emacs do something special after
193: loading any terminal-specific setup file from `lisp/term'.
194:
195: * `copy-keymap' now copies recursive submaps.
196:
197: * New overlay-arrow feature.
198:
199: If you set the variable `overlay-arrow-string' to a string
200: and `overlay-arrow-position' to a marker, that string is displayed on
201: the screen at the position of that marker, hiding whatever text would
202: have appeared there. If that position isn't on the screen, or if
203: the buffer the marker points into isn't displayed, there is no effect.
204:
205: * -batch mode can read from the terminal.
206:
207: It now works to use `read-char' to do terminal input in a noninteractive
208: Emacs run. End of file causes Emacs to exit.
209:
210: * Variables `data-bytes-used' and `data-bytes-free' removed.
211:
212: These variables cannot really work because the 24-bit range of an
213: integer in (most ports of) GNU Emacs is not large enough to hold their
214: values on many systems.
215:
216: Changes in version 18.45, since version 18.41.
217:
218: * C indentation parameter `c-continued-brace-offset'.
219:
220: This parameter's value is added to the indentation of any
221: line that is in a continuation context and starts with an open-brace.
222: For example, it applies to the open brace shown here:
223:
224: if (x)
225: {
226:
227: The default value is zero.
228:
229: * Dabbrev expansion (Meta-/) preserves case.
230:
231: When you use Meta-/ to search the buffer for an expansion of an
232: abbreviation, if the expansion found is all lower case except perhaps
233: for its first letter, then the case pattern of the abbreviation
234: is carried over to the expansion that replaces it.
235:
236: * TeX-mode syntax.
237:
238: \ is no longer given "escape character" syntax in TeX mode. It now
239: has the syntax of an ordinary punctuation character. As a result,
240: \[...\] and such like are considered to balance each other.
241:
242: * Mail-mode automatic Reply-to field.
243:
244: If the variable `mail-default-reply-to' is non-`nil', then each time
245: you start to compose a message, a Reply-to field is inserted with
246: its contents taken from the value of `mail-default-reply-to'.
247:
248: * Where is your .emacs file?
249:
250: If you run Emacs under `su', so your real and effective uids are
251: different, Emacs uses the home directory associated with the real uid
252: (the name you actually logged in under) to find the .emacs file.
253:
254: Otherwise, Emacs uses the environment variable HOME to find the .emacs
255: file.
256:
257: The .emacs file is not loaded at all if -batch is specified.
258:
259: * Prolog mode is the default for ".pl" files.
260:
261: * File names are not case-sensitive on VMS.
262:
263: On VMS systems, all file names that you specify are converted to upper
264: case. You can use either upper or lower case indiscriminately.
265:
266: * VMS-only function 'define-dcl-symbol'.
267:
268: This is a new name for the function formerly called
269: `define-logical-name'.
270:
271: Editing Changes in Emacs 18
272:
273: * Additional systems and machines are supported.
274:
275: GNU Emacs now runs on Vax VMS. However, many facilities that are normally
276: implemented by running subprocesses do not work yet. This includes listing
277: a directory and sending mail. There are features for running subprocesses
278: but they are incompatible with those on Unix. I hope that some of
279: the VMS users can reimplement these features for VMS (compatibly for
280: the user, if possible).
281:
282: VMS wizards are also asked to work on making the subprocess facilities
283: more upward compatible with those on Unix, and also to rewrite their
284: internals to use the same Lisp objects that are used on Unix to
285: represent processes.
286:
287: In addition, the TI Nu machine running Unix system V, the AT&T 3b, and
288: the Wicat, Masscomp, Integrated Solutions, Alliant, Amdahl uts, Mips,
289: Altos 3068 and Gould Unix systems are now supported. The IBM PC-RT is
290: supported under 4.2, but not yet under system V. The GEC 93 is close
291: to working. The port for the Elxsi is partly merged. See the file
292: MACHINES for full status information and machine-specific installation
293: advice.
294:
295: * Searching is faster.
296:
297: Forward search for a text string, or for a regexp that is equivalent
298: to a text string, is now several times faster. Motion by lines and
299: counting lines is also faster.
300:
301: * Memory usage improvements.
302:
303: It is no longer possible to run out of memory during garbage
304: collection. As a result, running out of memory is never fatal. This
305: is due to a new garbage collection algorithm which compactifies
306: strings in place rather than copying them. Another consequence of the
307: change is a reduction in total memory usage and a slight increase in
308: garbage collection speed.
309:
310: * Display changes.
311:
312: ** Editing above top of screen.
313:
314: When you delete or kill or alter text that reaches to the top of the
315: screen or above it, so that display would start in the middle of a
316: line, Emacs will usually attempt to scroll the text so that display
317: starts at the beginning of a line again.
318:
319: ** Yanking in the minibuffer.
320:
321: The message "Mark Set" is no longer printed when the minibuffer is
322: active. This is convenient with many commands, including C-y, that
323: normally print such a message.
324:
325: ** Cursor appears in last line during y-or-n questions.
326:
327: Questions that want a `y' or `n' answer now move the cursor
328: to the last line, following the question.
329:
330: * Library loading changes.
331:
332: `load' now considers all possible suffixes (`.elc', `.el' and none)
333: for each directory in `load-path' before going on to the next directory.
334: It now accepts an optional fourth argument which, if non-nil, says to
335: use no suffixes; then the file name must be given in full. The search
336: of the directories in `load-path' goes on as usual in this case, but
337: it too can be prevented by passing an absolute file name.
338:
339: The value of `load-path' no longer by default includes nil (meaning to
340: look in the current default directory). The idea is that `load' should
341: be used to search the path only for libraries to be found in the standard
342: places. If you want to override system libraries with your own, place
343: your own libraries in one special directory and add that directory to the
344: front of `load-path'.
345:
346: The function `load' is no longer a command; that is to say, `M-x load'
347: is no longer allowed. Instead, there are two commands for loading files.
348: `M-x load-library' is equivalent to the old meaning of `M-x load'.
349: `M-x load-file' reads a file name with completion and defaulting
350: and then loads exactly that file, with no searching and no suffixes.
351:
352: * Emulation of other editors.
353:
354: ** `edt-emulation-on' starts emulating DEC's EDT editor.
355:
356: Do `edt-emulation-off' to return Emacs to normal.
357:
358: ** `vi-mode' and `vip-mode' starts emulating vi.
359:
360: These are two different vi emulations provided by GNU Emacs users.
361: We are interested in feedback as to which emulation is preferable.
362:
363: See the documentation and source code for these functions
364: for more information.
365:
366: ** `set-gosmacs-bindings' emulates Gosling Emacs.
367:
368: This command changes many global bindings to resemble those of
369: Gosling Emacs. The previous bindings are saved and can be restored using
370: `set-gnu-bindings'.
371:
372: * Emulation of a display terminal.
373:
374: Within Emacs it is now possible to run programs (such as emacs or
375: supdup) which expect to do output to a visual display terminal.
376:
377: See the function `terminal-emulator' for more information.
378:
379: * New support for keypads and function keys.
380:
381: There is now a first attempt at terminal-independent support for
382: keypad and function keys.
383:
384: Emacs now defines a standard set of key-names for function and keypad
385: keys, and provides standard hooks for defining them. Most of the
386: standard key-names have default definitions built into Emacs; you can
387: override these in a terminal-independent manner. The default definitions
388: and the conventions for redefining them are in the file `lisp/keypad.el'.
389:
390: These keys on the terminal normally work by sending sequences of
391: characters starting with ESC. The exact sequences used vary from
392: terminal to terminal. Emacs interprets them in two stages:
393: in the first stage, terminal-dependent sequences are mapped into
394: the standard key-names; then second stage maps the standard key-names
395: into their definitions in a terminal-independent fashion.
396:
397: The terminal-specific file `term/$TERM.el' now is responsible only for
398: establishing the mapping from the terminal's escape sequences into
399: standard key-names. It no longer knows what Emacs commands are
400: assigned to the standard key-names.
401:
402: One other change in terminal-specific files: if the value of the TERM
403: variable contains a hyphen, only the part before the first hyphen is
404: used in forming the name of the terminal-specific file. Thus, for
405: terminal type `aaa-48', the file loaded is now `term/aaa.el' rather
406: than `term/aaa-48.el'.
407:
408: * New startup command line options.
409:
410: `-i FILE' or `-insert FILE' in the command line to Emacs tells Emacs to
411: insert the contents of FILE into the current buffer at that point in
412: command line processing. This is like using the command M-x insert-file.
413:
414: `-funcall', `-load', `-user' and `-no-init-file' are new synonyms for
415: `-f', `-l', `-u' and `-q'.
416:
417: `-nw' means don't use a window system. If you are using a terminal
418: emulator on the X window system and you want to run Emacs to work through
419: the terminal emulator instead of working directly with the window system,
420: use this switch.
421:
422: * Buffer-sorting commands.
423:
424: Various M-x commands whose names start with `sort-' sort parts of
425: the region:
426:
427: sort-lines divides the region into lines and sorts them alphabetically.
428: sort-pages divides into pages and sorts them alphabetically.
429: sort-paragraphs divides into paragraphs and sorts them alphabetically.
430: sort-fields divides into lines and sorts them alphabetically
431: according to one field in the line.
432: The numeric argument specifies which field (counting
433: from field 1 at the beginning of the line). Fields in a line
434: are separated by whitespace.
435: sort-numeric-fields
436: is similar but converts the specified fields to numbers
437: and sorts them numerically.
438: sort-columns divides into lines and sorts them according to the contents
439: of a specified range of columns.
440:
441: Refer to the self-documentation of these commands for full usage information.
442:
443: * Changes in various commands.
444:
445: ** `tags-query-replace' and `tags-search' change.
446:
447: These functions now display the name of the file being searched at the moment.
448:
449: ** `occur' output now serves as a menu. `occur-menu' command deleted.
450:
451: `M-x occur' now allows you to move quickly to any of the occurrences
452: listed. Select the `*Occur*' buffer that contains the output of `occur',
453: move point to the occurrence you want, and type C-c C-c.
454: This will move point to the same occurrence in the buffer that the
455: occurrences were found in.
456:
457: The command `occur-menu' is thus obsolete, and has been deleted.
458:
459: One way to get a list of matching lines without line numbers is to
460: copy the text to another buffer and use the command `keep-lines'.
461:
462: ** Incremental search changes.
463:
464: Ordinary and regexp incremental searches now have distinct default
465: search strings. Thus, regexp searches recall only previous regexp
466: searches.
467:
468: If you exit an incremental search when the search string is empty,
469: the old default search string is kept. The default does not become
470: empty.
471:
472: Reversing the direction of an incremental search with C-s or C-r
473: when the search string is empty now does not get the default search
474: string. It leaves the search string empty. A second C-s or C-r
475: will get the default search string. As a result, you can do a reverse
476: incremental regexp search with C-M-s C-r.
477:
478: If you add a `*', `?' or `\|' to an incremental search regexp,
479: point will back up if that is appropriate. For example, if
480: you have searched for `ab' and add a `*', point moves to the
481: first match for `ab*', which may be before the match for `ab'
482: that was previously found.
483:
484: If an incremental search is failing and you ask to repeat it,
485: it will start again from the beginning of the buffer (or the end,
486: if it is a backward search).
487:
488: The search-controlling parameters `isearch-slow-speed' and
489: `isearch-slow-window-lines' have now been renamed to start with
490: `search' instead of `isearch'. Now all the parameters' names start
491: with `search'.
492:
493: If `search-slow-window-lines' is negative, the slow search window
494: is put at the top of the screen, and the absolute value or the
495: negative number specifies the height of it.
496:
497: ** Undo changes
498:
499: The undo command now will mark the buffer as unmodified only when it is
500: identical to the contents of the visited file.
501:
502: ** C-M-v in minibuffer.
503:
504: If while in the minibuffer you request help in a way that uses a
505: window to display something, then until you exit the minibuffer C-M-v
506: in the minibuffer window scrolls the window of help.
507:
508: For example, if you request a list of possible completions, C-M-v can
509: be used reliably to scroll the completion list.
510:
511: ** M-TAB command.
512:
513: Meta-TAB performs completion on the Emacs Lisp symbol names. The sexp
514: in the buffer before point is compared against all existing nontrivial
515: Lisp symbols and completed as far as is uniquely determined by them.
516: Nontrivial symbols are those with either function definitions, values
517: or properties.
518:
519: If there are multiple possibilities for the very next character, a
520: list of possible completions is displayed.
521:
522: ** Dynamic abbreviation package.
523:
524: The new command Meta-/ expands an abbreviation in the buffer before point
525: by searching the buffer for words that start with the abbreviation.
526:
527: ** Changes in saving kbd macros.
528:
529: The commands `write-kbd-macro' and `append-kbd-macro' have been
530: deleted. The way to save a keyboard macro is to use the new command
531: `insert-kbd-macro', which inserts Lisp code to define the macro as
532: it is currently defined into the buffer before point. Visit a Lisp
533: file such as your Emacs init file `~/.emacs', insert the macro
534: definition (perhaps deleting an old definition for the same macro)
535: and then save the file.
536:
537: ** C-x ' command.
538:
539: The new command C-x ' (expand-abbrev) expands the word before point as
540: an abbrev, even if abbrev-mode is not turned on.
541:
542: ** Sending to inferior Lisp.
543:
544: The command C-M-x in Lisp mode, which sends the current defun to
545: an inferior Lisp process, now works by writing the text into a temporary
546: file and actually sending only a `load'-form to load the file.
547: As a result, it avoids the Unix bugs that used to strike when the
548: text was above a certain length.
549:
550: With a prefix argument, this command now makes the inferior Lisp buffer
551: appear on the screen and scrolls it so that the bottom is showing.
552:
553: Two variables `inferior-lisp-load-command' and `inferior-lisp-prompt',
554: exist to customize these feature for different Lisp implementations.
555:
556: ** C-x p now disabled.
557:
558: The command C-x p, a nonrecomended command which narrows to the current
559: page, is now initially disabled like C-x n.
560:
561: * Dealing with files.
562:
563: ** C-x C-v generalized
564:
565: This command is now allowed even if the current buffer is not visiting
566: a file. As usual, it kills the current buffer and replaces it with a
567: newly found file.
568:
569: ** M-x recover-file improved; auto save file names changed.
570:
571: M-x recover-file now checks whether the last auto-save file is more
572: recent than the real visited file before offering to read in the
573: auto-save file. If the auto-save file is newer, a directory listing
574: containing the two files is displayed while you are asked whether you
575: want the auto save file.
576:
577: Visiting a file also makes this check. If the auto-save file is more recent,
578: a message is printed suggesting that you consider using M-x recover file.
579:
580: Auto save file names now by default have a `#' at the end as well
581: as at the beginning. This is so that `*.c' in a shell command
582: will never match auto save files.
583:
584: On VMS, auto save file names are made by appending `_$' at the front
585: and `$' at the end.
586:
587: When you change the visited file name of a buffer, the auto save file
588: is now renamed to belong to the new visited file name.
589:
590: You can customize the way auto save file names are made by redefining
591: the two functions `make-auto-save-file-name' and `auto-save-file-name-p',
592: both of which are defined in `files.el'.
593:
594: ** Modifying a buffer whose file is changed on disk is detected instantly.
595:
596: On systems where clash detection (locking of files being edited) is
597: implemented, Emacs also checks the first time you modify a buffer
598: whether the file has changed on disk since it was last visited or saved.
599: If it has, you are asked to confirm that you want to change the buffer.
600:
601: ** Exiting Emacs offers to save `*mail*'.
602:
603: Emacs can now know about buffers that it should offer to save on exit
604: even though they are not visiting files. This is done for any buffer
605: which has a non-nil local value of `buffer-offer-save'. By default,
606: Mail mode provides such a local value.
607:
608: ** Backup file changes.
609:
610: If a backup file cannot be written in the directory of the visited file
611: due to fascist file protection, a backup file is now written in your home
612: directory as `~/%backup%~'. Only one such file is made, ever, so only
613: the most recently made such backup is available.
614:
615: When backup files are made by copying, the last-modification time of the
616: original file is now preserved in the backup copy.
617:
618: ** Visiting remote files.
619:
620: On an internet host, you can now visit and save files on any other
621: internet host directly from Emacs with the commands M-x ftp-find-file
622: and M-x ftp-write-file. Specify an argument of the form HOST:FILENAME.
623: Since standard internet FTP is used, the other host may be any kind
624: of machine and is not required to have any special facilities.
625:
626: The first time any one remote host is accessed, you will be asked to
627: give the user name and password for use on that host. FTP is reinvoked
628: each time you ask to use it, but previously specified user names and
629: passwords are remembered automatically.
630:
631: ** Dired `g' command.
632:
633: `g' in Dired mode is equivalent to M-x revert-buffer; it causes the
634: current contents of the same directory to be read in.
635:
636: * Changes in major modes.
637:
638: ** C mode indentation change.
639:
640: The binding of Linefeed is no longer changed by C mode. It once again
641: has its normal meaning, which is to insert a newline and then indent
642: afterward.
643:
644: The old definition did one additional thing: it reindented the line
645: before the new newline. This has been removed because it made the
646: command twice as slow. The only time it was really useful was after the
647: insertion of an `else', since the fact of starting with `else' may change
648: the way that line is indented. Now you will have to type TAB again
649: yourself to reindent the `else' properly.
650:
651: If the variable `c-tab-always-indent' is set to `nil', the TAB command
652: in C mode, with no argument, will just insert a tab character if there
653: is non-whitespace preceding point on the current line. Giving it a
654: prefix argument will force reindentation of the line (as well as
655: of the compound statement that begins after point, if any).
656:
657: ** Fortran mode now exists.
658:
659: This mode provides commands for motion and indentation of Fortran code,
660: plus built-in abbrevs for Fortran keywords. For details, see the manual
661: or the on-line documentation of the command `fortran-mode'.
662:
663: ** Scribe mode now exists.
664:
665: This mode does something useful for editing files of Scribe input.
666: It is used automatically for files with names ending in ".mss".
667:
668: ** Modula2 and Prolog modes now exist.
669:
670: These modes are for editing programs in the languages of the same names.
671: They can be selected with M-x modula-2-mode and M-x prolog-mode.
672:
673: ** Telnet mode changes.
674:
675: The telnet mode special commands have now been assigned to C-c keys.
676: Most of them are the same as in Shell mode.
677:
678: ** Picture mode changes.
679:
680: The special picture-mode commands to specify the direction of cursor
681: motion after insertion have been moved to C-c keys. The commands to
682: specify diagonal motion were already C-c keys; they are unchanged.
683: The keys to specify horizontal or vertical motion are now
684: C-c < (left), C-c > (right), C-c ^ (up) and C-c . (down).
685:
686: ** Nroff mode comments.
687:
688: Comments are now supported in Nroff mode. The standard comment commands
689: such as M-; and C-x ; know how to insert, align and delete comments
690: that start with backslash-doublequote.
691:
692: ** LaTeX mode.
693:
694: LaTeX mode now exists. Use M-x latex-mode to select this mode, and
695: M-x plain-tex-mode to select the previously existing mode for Plain
696: TeX. M-x tex-mode attempts to examine the contents of the buffer and
697: choose between latex-mode and plain-tex-mode accordingly; if the
698: buffer is empty or it cannot tell, the variable `TeX-default-mode'
699: controls the choice. Its value should be the symbol for the mode to
700: be used.
701:
702: The facilities for running TeX on all or part of the buffer
703: work with LaTeX as well.
704:
705: Some new commands available in both modes:
706:
707: C-c C-l recenter the window showing the TeX output buffer
708: so most recent line of output can be seen.
709: C-c C-k kill the TeX subprocess.
710: C-c C-q show the printer queue.
711: C-c C-f close a block (appropriate for LaTeX only).
712: If the current line contains a \begin{...},
713: this inserts an \end{...} on the following line
714: and puts point on a blank line between them.
715:
716: ** Outline mode changes.
717:
718: Invisible lines in outline mode are now indicated by `...' at the
719: end of the previous visible line.
720:
721: The special outline heading motion commands are now all on C-c keys.
722: A few new ones have been added. Here is a full list:
723:
724: C-c C-n Move to next visible heading (formerly M-})
725: C-c C-p Move to previous visible heading (formerly M-{)
726: C-c C-f Move to next visible heading at the same level.
727: Thus, if point is on a level-2 heading line,
728: this command moves to the next visible level-2 heading.
729: C-c C-b Move to previous visible heading at the same level.
730: C-c C-u Move up to previous visible heading at a higher level.
731:
732: The variable `outline-regexp' now controls recognition of heading lines.
733: Any line whose beginning matches this regexp is a heading line.
734: The depth in outline structure is determined by the length of
735: the string that matches.
736:
737: A line starting with a ^L (formfeed) is now by default considered
738: a header line.
739:
740: * Mail reading and sending.
741:
742: ** MH-E changes.
743:
744: MH-E has been extensively modified and improved since the v17 release.
745: It contains many new features, including commands to: extracted failed
746: messages, kill a draft message, undo changes to a mail folder, monitor
747: delivery of a letter, print multiple messages, page digests backwards,
748: insert signatures, and burst digests. Also, many commands have been
749: made to able to deal with named sequences of messages, instead of
750: single messages. MH-E also has had numerous bugs fixed and commands
751: made to run faster. Furthermore, its keybindings have been changed to
752: be compatible with Rmail and the rest of GNU Emacs.
753:
754: ** Mail mode changes.
755:
756: The C-c commands of mail mode have been rearranged:
757:
758: C-c s, C-c c, C-c t and C-c b (move point to various header fields)
759: have been reassigned as C-c C-f C-s, C-c C-f C-c, C-c C-f C-t and C-c
760: C-f C-b. C-c C-f is for "field".
761:
762: C-c y, C-c w and C-c q have been changed to C-c C-y, C-c C-w and C-c C-q.
763:
764: Thus, C-c LETTER is always unassigned.
765:
766: ** Rmail C-r command changed to w.
767:
768: The Rmail command to edit the current message is now `w'. This change
769: has been made because people frequently type C-r while in Rmail hoping
770: to do a reverse incremental search. That now works.
771:
772: * Rnews changes.
773:
774: ** Caesar rotation added.
775:
776: The function news-caesar-buffer-body performs encryption and
777: decryption of the body of a news message. It defaults to the USENET
778: standard of 13, and accepts any numeric arg between 1 to 25 and -25 to -1.
779: The function is bound to C-c C-r in both news-mode and news-reply-mode.
780:
781: ** rmail-output command added.
782:
783: The C-o command has been bound to rmail-output in news-mode.
784: This allows one to append an article to a file which is in either Unix
785: mail or RMAIL format.
786:
787: ** news-reply-mode changes.
788:
789: The C-c commands of news reply mode have been rearranged and changed,
790: so that C-c LETTER is always unassigned:
791:
792: C-c y, C-c w and C-c q have been changed to C-c C-y, C-c C-w and C-c C-q.
793:
794: C-c c, C-c t, and C-c b (move to various mail header fields) have been
795: deleted (they make no sense for posting and replying to USENET).
796:
797: C-c s (move to Subject: header field) has been reassigned as C-c C-f
798: C-s. C-c C-f is for "field". Several additional move to news header
799: field commands have been added.
800:
801: The local news-reply-mode bindings now look like this:
802:
803: C-c C-s news-inews (post the message) C-c C-c news-inews
804: C-c C-f move to a header field (and create it if there isn't):
805: C-c C-f C-n move to Newsgroups: C-c C-f C-s move to Subj:
806: C-c C-f C-f move to Followup-To: C-c C-f C-k move to Keywords:
807: C-c C-f C-d move to Distribution: C-c C-f C-a move to Summary:
808: C-c C-y news-reply-yank-original (insert current message, in NEWS).
809: C-c C-q mail-fill-yanked-message (fill what was yanked).
810: C-c C-r caesar rotate all letters by 13 places in the article's body (rot13).
811:
812: * Existing Emacs usable as a server.
813:
814: Programs such as mailers that invoke "the editor" as an inferior
815: to edit some text can now be told to use an existing Emacs process
816: instead of creating a new editor.
817:
818: To do this, you must have an Emacs process running and capable of
819: doing terminal I/O at the time you want to invoke it. This means that
820: either you are using a window system and give Emacs a separate window
821: or you run the other programs as inferiors of Emacs (such as, using
822: M-x shell).
823:
824: First prepare the existing Emacs process by loading the `server'
825: library and executing M-x server-start. (Your .emacs can do this
826: automatically.)
827:
828: Now tell the other programs to use, as "the editor", the Emacs client
829: program (etc/emacsclient, located in the same directory as this file).
830: This can be done by setting the environment variable EDITOR.
831:
832: When another program invokes the emacsclient as "the editor", the
833: client actually transfers the file names to be edited to the existing
834: Emacs, which automatically visits the files.
835:
836: When you are done editing a buffer for a client, do C-x # (server-edit).
837: This marks that buffer as done, and selects the next buffer that the client
838: asked for. When all the buffers requested by a client are marked in this
839: way, Emacs tells the client program to exit, so that the program that
840: invoked "the editor" will resume execution.
841:
842: You can only have one server Emacs at a time, but multiple client programs
843: can put in requests at the same time.
844:
845: The client/server work only on Berkeley Unix, since they use the Berkeley
846: sockets mechanism for their communication.
847:
848: Changes in Lisp programming in Emacs version 18.
849:
850: * Init file changes.
851:
852: ** Suffixes no longer accepted on `.emacs'.
853:
854: Emacs will no longer load a file named `.emacs.el' or `emacs.elc'
855: in place of `.emacs'. This is so that it will take less time to
856: find `.emacs'. If you want to compile your init file, give it another
857: name and make `.emacs' a link to the `.elc' file, or make it contain
858: a call to `load' to load the `.elc' file.
859:
860: ** `default-profile' renamed to `default', and loaded after `.emacs'.
861:
862: It used to be the case that the file `default-profile' was loaded if
863: and only if `.emacs' was not found.
864:
865: Now the name `default-profile' is not used at all. Instead, a library
866: named `default' is loaded after the `.emacs' file. `default' is loaded
867: whether the `.emacs' file exists or not. However, loading of `default'
868: can be prevented if the `.emacs' file sets `inhibit-default-init' to non-nil.
869:
870: In fact, you would call the default file `default.el' and probably would
871: byte-compile it to speed execution.
872:
873: Note that for most purposes you are better off using a `site-init' library
874: since that will be loaded before the runnable Emacs is dumped. By using
875: a `site-init' library, you avoid taking up time each time Emacs is started.
876:
877: ** inhibit-command-line has been eliminated.
878:
879: This variable used to exist for .emacs files to set. It has been
880: eliminated because you can get the same effect by setting
881: command-line-args to nil and setting inhibit-startup-message to t.
882:
883: * `apply' is more general.
884:
885: `apply' now accepts any number of arguments. The first one is a function;
886: the rest are individual arguments to pass to that function, except for the
887: last, which is a list of arguments to pass.
888:
889: Previously, `apply' required exactly two arguments. Its old behavior
890: follows as a special case of the new definition.
891:
892: * New code-letter for `interactive'.
893:
894: (interactive "NFoo: ") is like (interactive "nFoo: ") in reading
895: a number using the minibuffer to serve as the argument; however,
896: if a prefix argument was specified, it uses the prefix argument
897: value as the argument, and does not use the minibuffer at all.
898:
899: This is used by the `goto-line' and `goto-char' commands.
900:
901: * Semantics of variables.
902:
903: ** Built-in per-buffer variables improved.
904:
905: Several built-in variables which in the past had a different value in
906: each buffer now behave exactly as if `make-variable-buffer-local' had
907: been done to them.
908:
909: These variables are `tab-width', `ctl-arrow', `truncate-lines',
910: `fill-column', `left-margin', `mode-line-format', `abbrev-mode',
911: `overwrite-mode', `case-fold-search', `auto-fill-hook',
912: `selective-display', `selective-display-ellipses'.
913:
914: To be precise, each variable has a default value which shows through
915: in most buffers and can be accessed with `default-value' and set with
916: `set-default'. Setting the variable with `setq' makes the variable
917: local to the current buffer. Changing the default value has retroactive
918: effect on all buffers in which the variable is not local.
919:
920: The variables `default-case-fold-search', etc., are now obsolete.
921: They now refer to the default value of the variable, which is not
922: quite the same behavior as before, but it should enable old init files
923: to continue to work.
924:
925: ** New per-buffer variables.
926:
927: The variables `fill-prefix', `comment-column' and `indent-tabs-mode'
928: are now per-buffer. They work just like `fill-column', etc.
929:
930: ** New function `setq-default'.
931:
932: `setq-default' sets the default value of a variable, and uses the
933: same syntax that `setq' accepts: the variable name is not evaluated
934: and need not be quoted.
935:
936: `(setq-default case-fold-search nil)' would make searches case-sensitive
937: in all buffers that do not have local values for `case-fold-search'.
938:
939: ** Functions `global-set' and `global-value' deleted.
940:
941: These functions were never used except by mistake by users expecting
942: the functionality of `set-default' and `default-value'.
943:
944: * Changes in defaulting of major modes.
945:
946: When `default-major-mode' is `nil', new buffers are supposed to
947: get their major mode from the buffer that is current. However,
948: certain major modes (such as Dired mode, Rmail mode, Rmail Summary mode,
949: and others) are not reasonable to use in this way.
950:
951: Now such modes' names have been given non-`nil' `mode-class' properties.
952: If the current buffer's mode has such a property, Fundamental mode is
953: used as the default for newly created buffers.
954:
955: * `where-is-internal' requires additional arguments.
956:
957: This function now accepts three arguments, two of them required:
958: DEFINITION, the definition to search for; LOCAL-KEYMAP, the keymap
959: to use as the local map when doing the searching, and FIRST-ONLY,
960: which is nonzero to return only the first key found.
961:
962: This function returns a list of keys (strings) whose definitions
963: (in the LOCAL-KEYMAP or the current global map) are DEFINITION.
964:
965: If FIRST-ONLY is non-nil, it returns a single key (string).
966:
967: This function has changed incompatibly in that now two arguments
968: are required when previously only one argument was allowed. To get
969: the old behavior of this function, write `(current-local-map)' as
970: the expression for the second argument.
971:
972: The incompatibility is sad, but `nil' is a legitimate value for the
973: second argument (it means there is no local keymap), so it cannot also
974: serve as a default meaning to use the current local keymap.
975:
976: * Abbrevs with hooks.
977:
978: When an abbrev defined with a hook is expanded, it now performs the
979: usual replacement of the abbrev with the expansion before running the
980: hook. Previously the abbrev itself was deleted but the expansion was
981: not inserted.
982:
983: * Function `scan-buffer' deleted.
984:
985: Use `search-forward' or `search-backward' in place of `scan-buffer'.
986: You will have to rearrange the arguments.
987:
988: * X window interface improvements.
989:
990: ** Detect release of mouse buttons.
991:
992: Button-up events can now be detected. See the file `lisp/x-mouse.el'
993: for details.
994:
995: ** New pop-up menu facility.
996:
997: The new function `x-popup-menu' pops up a menu (in a X window)
998: and returns an indication of which selection the user made.
999: For more information, see its self-documentation.
1000:
1001: * M-x disassemble.
1002:
1003: This command prints the disassembly of a byte-compiled Emacs Lisp function.
1004:
1005: Would anyone like to interface this to the debugger?
1006:
1007: * `insert-buffer-substring' can insert part of the current buffer.
1008:
1009: The old restriction that the text being inserted had to come from
1010: a different buffer is now lifted.
1011:
1012: When inserting text from the current buffer, the text to be inserted
1013: is determined from the specified bounds before any copying takes place.
1014:
1015: * New function `substitute-key-definition'.
1016:
1017: This is a new way to replace one command with another command as the
1018: binding of whatever keys may happen to refer to it.
1019:
1020: (substitute-key-definition OLDDEF NEWDEF KEYMAP) looks through KEYMAP
1021: for keys defined to run OLDDEF, and rebinds those keys to run NEWDEF
1022: instead.
1023:
1024: * New function `insert-char'.
1025:
1026: Insert a specified character, a specified number of times.
1027:
1028: * `mark-marker' changed.
1029:
1030: When there is no mark, this now returns a marker that points
1031: nowhere, rather than `nil'.
1032:
1033: * `ding' accepts argument.
1034:
1035: When given an argument, the function `ding' does not terminate
1036: execution of a keyboard macro. Normally, `ding' does terminate
1037: all macros that are currently executing.
1038:
1039: * New function `minibuffer-depth'.
1040:
1041: This function returns the current depth in minibuffer activations.
1042: The value is zero when the minibuffer is not in use.
1043: Values greater than one are possible if the user has entered the
1044: minibuffer recursively.
1045:
1046: * New function `documentation-property'.
1047:
1048: (documentation-property SYMBOL PROPNAME) is like (get SYMBOL PROPNAME),
1049: except that if the property value is a number `documentation-property'
1050: will take that number (or its absolute value) as a character position
1051: in the DOC file and return the string found there.
1052:
1053: (documentation-property VAR 'variable-documentation) is the proper
1054: way for a Lisp program to get the documentation of variable VAR.
1055:
1056: * New documentation-string expansion feature.
1057:
1058: If a documentation string (for a variable or function) contains text
1059: of the form `\<FOO>', it means that all command names specified in
1060: `\[COMMAND]' construct from that point on should be turned into keys
1061: using the value of the variable FOO as the local keymap. Thus, for example,
1062:
1063: `\<emacs-lisp-mode-map>\[eval-defun] evaluates the defun containing point.'
1064:
1065: will expand into
1066:
1067: "ESC C-x evaluates the defun containing point."
1068:
1069: regardless of the current major mode, because ESC C-x is defined to
1070: run `eval-defun' in the keymap `emacs-lisp-mode-map'. The effect is
1071: to show the key for `eval-defun' in Emacs Lisp mode regardless of the
1072: current major mode.
1073:
1074: The `\<...>' construct applies to all `\[...]' constructs that follow it,
1075: up to the end of the documentation string or the next `\<...>'.
1076:
1077: Without `\<...>', the keys for commands specified in `\[...]' are found
1078: in the current buffer's local map.
1079:
1080: The current global keymap is always searched second, whether `\<...>'
1081: has been used or not.
1082:
1083: * Multiple hooks allowed in certain contexts.
1084:
1085: The old hook variables `find-file-hook', `find-file-not-found-hook' and
1086: `write-file-hook' have been replaced.
1087:
1088: The replacements are `find-file-hooks', `find-file-not-found-hooks'
1089: and `write-file-hooks'. Each holds a list of functions to be called;
1090: by default, `nil', for no functions. The functions are called in
1091: order of appearance in the list.
1092:
1093: In the case of `find-file-hooks', all the functions are executed.
1094:
1095: In the case of `find-file-not-found-hooks', if any of the functions
1096: returns non-`nil', the rest of the functions are not called.
1097:
1098: In the case of `write-file-hooks', if any of the functions returns
1099: non-`nil', the rest of the functions are not called, and the file is
1100: considered to have been written already; so actual writing in the
1101: usual way is not done. If `write-file-hooks' is local to a buffer,
1102: it is set to its global value if `set-visited-file-name' is called
1103: (and thus by C-x C-w as well).
1104:
1105: `find-file-not-found-hooks' and `write-file-hooks' can be used
1106: together to implement editing of files that are not stored as Unix
1107: files: stored in archives, or inside version control systems, or on
1108: other machines running other operating systems and accessible via ftp.
1109:
1110: * New hooks for suspending Emacs.
1111:
1112: Suspending Emacs runs the hook `suspend-hook' before suspending
1113: and the hook `suspend-resume-hook' if the suspended Emacs is resumed.
1114: Running a hook is done by applying the variable's value to no arguments
1115: if the variable has a non-`nil' value. If `suspend-hook' returns
1116: non-`nil', then suspending is inhibited and so is running the
1117: `suspend-resume-hook'. The non-`nil' value means that the `suspend-hook'
1118: has done whatever suspending is required.
1119:
1120: * Disabling commands can print a special message.
1121:
1122: A command is disabled by giving it a non-`nil' `disabled' property.
1123: Now, if this property is a string, it is included in the message
1124: printed when the user tries to run the command.
1125:
1126: * Emacs can open TCP connections.
1127:
1128: The function `open-network-stream' opens a TCP connection to
1129: a specified host and service. Its value is a Lisp object that represents
1130: the connection. The object is a kind of "subprocess", and I/O are
1131: done like I/O to subprocesses.
1132:
1133: * Display-related changes.
1134:
1135: ** New mode-line control features.
1136:
1137: The display of the mode line used to be controlled by a format-string
1138: that was the value of the variable `mode-line-format'.
1139:
1140: This variable still exists, but it now allows more general values,
1141: not just strings. Lists, cons cells and symbols are also meaningful.
1142:
1143: The mode line contents are created by outputting various mode elements
1144: one after the other. Here are the kinds of objects that can be
1145: used as mode elements, and what they do in the display:
1146:
1147: string the contents of the string are output to the mode line,
1148: and %-constructs are replaced by other text.
1149:
1150: t or nil ignored; no output results.
1151:
1152: symbol the symbol's value is used. If the value is a string,
1153: the string is output verbatim to the mode line
1154: (so %-constructs are not interpreted). Otherwise,
1155: the symbol's value is processed as a mode element.
1156:
1157: list (whose first element is a string or list or cons cell)
1158: the elements of the list are treated as as mode elements,
1159: so that the output they generate is concatenated,
1160:
1161: list (whose car is a symbol)
1162: if the symbol's value is non-nil, the second element of the
1163: list is treated as a mode element. Otherwise, the third
1164: element (if any) of the list is treated as a mode element.
1165:
1166: cons (whose car is a positive integer)
1167: the cdr of the cons is used as a mode element, but
1168: the text it produces is padded, if necessary, to have
1169: at least the width specified by the integer.
1170:
1171: cons (whose car is a negative integer)
1172: the cdr of the cons is used as a mode element, but
1173: the text it produces is truncated, if necessary, to have
1174: at most the width specified by the integer.
1175:
1176: There is always one mode element to start with, that being the value of
1177: `mode-line-format', but if this value is a list then it leads to several
1178: more mode elements, which can lead to more, and so on.
1179:
1180: There is one new %-construct for mode elements that are strings:
1181: `%n' displays ` Narrow' for a buffer that is narrowed.
1182:
1183: The default value of `mode-line-format' refers to several other variables.
1184: These variables are `mode-name', `mode-line-buffer-identification',
1185: `mode-line-process', `mode-line-modified', `global-mode-string' and
1186: `minor-mode-alist'. The first four are local in every buffer in which they
1187: are changed from the default.
1188:
1189: mode-name Name of buffer's major mode. Local in every buffer.
1190:
1191: mode-line-buffer-identification
1192: Normally the list ("Emacs: %17b"), it is responsible
1193: for displaying text to indicate what buffer is being shown
1194: and what kind of editing it is doing. `Emacs' means
1195: that a file of characters is being edited. Major modes
1196: such as Info and Dired which edit or view other kinds
1197: of data often change this value. This variables becomes
1198: local to the current buffer if it is setq'd.
1199:
1200: mode-line-process
1201: Normally nil, this variable is responsible for displaying
1202: information about the process running in the current buffer.
1203: M-x shell-mode and M-x compile alter this variable.
1204:
1205: mode-line-modified
1206: This variable is responsible for displaying the indication
1207: of whether the current buffer is modified or read-only.
1208: By default its value is `("--%*%*-")'.
1209:
1210: minor-mode-alist
1211: This variable is responsible for displaying text for those
1212: minor modes that are currently enabled. Its value
1213: is a list of elements of the form (VARIABLE STRING),
1214: where STRING is to be displayed if VARIABLE's value
1215: (in the buffer whose mode line is being displayed)
1216: is non-nil. This variable is not made local to particular
1217: buffers, but loading some libraries may add elements to it.
1218:
1219: global-mode-string
1220: This variable is used to display the time, if you ask
1221: for that.
1222:
1223: The idea of these variables is to eliminate the need for major modes
1224: to alter mode-line-format itself.
1225:
1226: ** `window-point' valid for selected window.
1227:
1228: The value returned by `window-point' used to be incorrect when its
1229: argument was the selected window. Now the value is correct.
1230:
1231: ** Window configurations may be saved as Lisp objects.
1232:
1233: The function `current-window-configuration' returns a special type of
1234: Lisp object that represents the current layout of windows: the
1235: sizes and positions of windows, which buffers appear in them, and
1236: which parts of the buffers appear on the screen.
1237:
1238: The function `set-window-configuration' takes one argument, which must
1239: be a window configuration object, and restores that configuration.
1240:
1241: ** New hook `temp-output-buffer-show-hook'.
1242:
1243: This hook allows you to control how help buffers are displayed.
1244: Whenever `with-output-to-temp-buffer' has executed its body and wants
1245: to display the temp buffer, if this variable is bound and non-`nil'
1246: then its value is called with one argument, the temp buffer.
1247: The hook function is solely responsible for displaying the buffer.
1248: The standard manner of display--making the buffer appear in a window--is
1249: used only if there is no hook function.
1250:
1251: ** New function `minibuffer-window'.
1252:
1253: This function returns the window used (sometimes) for displaying
1254: the minibuffer. It can be used even when the minibuffer is not active.
1255:
1256: ** New feature to `next-window'.
1257:
1258: If the optional second argument is neither `nil' nor `t', the minibuffer
1259: window is omitted from consideration even when active; if the starting
1260: window was the last non-minibuffer window, the value will be the first
1261: non-minibuffer window.
1262:
1263: ** New variable `minibuffer-scroll-window'.
1264:
1265: When this variable is non-`nil', the command `scroll-other-window'
1266: uses it as the window to be scrolled. Displays of completion-lists
1267: set this variable to the window containing the display.
1268:
1269: ** New argument to `sit-for'.
1270:
1271: A non-nil second argument to `sit-for' means do not redisplay;
1272: just wait for the specified time or until input is available.
1273:
1274: ** Deleted function `set-minor-mode'; minor modes must be changed.
1275:
1276: The function `set-minor-mode' has been eliminated. The display
1277: of minor mode names in the mode line is now controlled by the
1278: variable `minor-mode-alist'. To specify display of a new minor
1279: mode, it is sufficient to add an element to this list. Once that
1280: is done, you can turn the mode on and off just by setting a variable,
1281: and the display will show its status automatically.
1282:
1283: ** New variable `cursor-in-echo-area'.
1284:
1285: If this variable is non-nil, the screen cursor appears on the
1286: last line of the screen, at the end of the text displayed there.
1287:
1288: Binding this variable to t is useful at times when reading single
1289: characters of input with `read-char'.
1290:
1291: ** New per-buffer variable `selective-display-ellipses'.
1292:
1293: If this variable is non-nil, an ellipsis (`...') appears on the screen
1294: at the end of each text line that is followed by invisible text.
1295:
1296: If this variable is nil, no ellipses appear. Then there is no sign
1297: on the screen that invisible text is present.
1298:
1299: Text is made invisible under the control of the variable
1300: `selective-display'; this is how Outline mode and C-x $ work.
1301:
1302: ** New variable `no-redraw-on-reenter'.
1303:
1304: If you set this variable non-nil, Emacs will not clear the screen when
1305: you resume it after suspending it. This is for the sake of terminals
1306: with multiple screens of memory, where the termcap entry has been set
1307: up to switch between screens when Emacs is suspended and resumed.
1308:
1309: ** New argument to `set-screen-height' or `set-screen-width'.
1310:
1311: These functions now take an optional second argument which says
1312: what significance the newly specified height or width has.
1313:
1314: If the argument is nil, or absent, it means that Emacs should
1315: believe that the terminal height or width really is as just specified.
1316:
1317: If the argument is t, it means Emacs should not believe that the
1318: terminal really is this high or wide, but it should use the
1319: specific height or width as the number of lines or columns to display.
1320: Thus, you could display only 24 lines on a screen known to have 48 lines.
1321:
1322: What practical difference is there between using only 24 lines for display
1323: and really believing that the terminal has 24 lines?
1324:
1325: 1. The ``real'' height of the terminal says what the terminal command
1326: to move the cursor to the last line will do.
1327:
1328: 2. The ``real'' height of the terminal determines how much padding is
1329: needed.
1330:
1331: * File-related changes.
1332:
1333: ** New parameter `backup-by-copying-when-mismatch'.
1334:
1335: If this variable is non-`nil', then when Emacs is about to save a
1336: file, it will create the backup file by copying if that would avoid
1337: changing the file's uid or gid.
1338:
1339: The default value of this variable is `nil', because usually it is
1340: useful to have the uid of a file change according to who edited it
1341: last. I recommend thet this variable be left normally `nil' and
1342: changed with a local variables list in those particular files where
1343: the uid needs to be preserved.
1344:
1345: ** New parameter `file-precious-flag'.
1346:
1347: If this variable is non-`nil', saving the buffer tries to avoid
1348: leaving an incomplete file due to disk full or other I/O errors.
1349: It renames the old file before saving. If saving is successful,
1350: the renamed file is deleted; if saving gets an error, the renamed
1351: file is renamed back to the name you visited.
1352:
1353: Backups are always made by copying for such files.
1354:
1355: ** New variable `buffer-offer-save'.
1356:
1357: If the value of this variable is non-`nil' in a buffer then exiting
1358: Emacs will offer to save the buffer (if it is modified and nonempty)
1359: even if the buffer is not visiting a file. This variable is
1360: automatically made local to the current buffer whenever it is set.
1361:
1362: ** `rename-file', `copy-file', `add-name-to-file' and `make-symbolic-link'.
1363:
1364: The third argument to these functions used to be `t' or `nil'; `t'
1365: meaning go ahead even if the specified new file name already has a file,
1366: and `nil' meaning to get an error.
1367:
1368: Now if the third argument is a number it means to ask the user for
1369: confirmation in this case.
1370:
1371: ** New optional argument to `copy-file'.
1372:
1373: If `copy-file' receives a non-nil fourth argument, it attempts
1374: to give the new copy the same time-of-last-modification that the
1375: original file has.
1376:
1377: ** New function `file-newer-than-file-p'.
1378:
1379: (file-newer-than-file-p FILE1 FILE2) returns non-nil if FILE1 has been
1380: modified more recently than FILE2. If FILE1 does not exist, the value
1381: is always nil; otherwise, if FILE2 does not exist, the value is t.
1382: This is meant for use when FILE2 depends on FILE1, to see if changes
1383: in FILE1 make it necessary to recompute FILE2 from it.
1384:
1385: ** Changed function `file-exists-p'.
1386:
1387: This function is no longer the same as `file-readable-p'.
1388: `file-exists-p' can now return t for a file that exists but which
1389: the fascists won't allow you to read.
1390:
1391: ** New function `file-locked-p'.
1392:
1393: This function receives a file name as argument and returns `nil'
1394: if the file is not locked, `t' if locked by this Emacs, or a
1395: string giving the name of the user who has locked it.
1396:
1397: ** New function `file-name-sans-versions'.
1398:
1399: (file-name-sans-versions NAME) returns a substring of NAME, with any
1400: version numbers or other backup suffixes deleted from the end.
1401:
1402: ** New functions for directory names.
1403:
1404: Although a directory is really a kind of file, specifying a directory
1405: uses a somewhat different syntax from specifying a file.
1406: In Emacs, a directory name is used as part of a file name.
1407:
1408: On Unix, the difference is small: a directory name ends in a slash,
1409: while a file name does not: thus, `/usr/rms/' to name a directory,
1410: while `/usr/rms' names the file which holds that directory.
1411:
1412: On VMS, the difference is considerable: `du:[rms.foo]' specifies a
1413: directory, but the name of the file that holds that directory is
1414: `du:[rms]foo.dir'.
1415:
1416: There are two new functions for converting between directory names
1417: and file names. `directory-file-name' takes a directory name and
1418: returns the name of the file in which that directory's data is stored.
1419: `file-name-as-directory' takes the name of a file and returns
1420: the corresponding directory name. These always understand Unix file name
1421: syntax; on VMS, they understand VMS syntax as well.
1422:
1423: For example, (file-name-as-directory "/usr/rms") returns "/usr/rms/"
1424: and (directory-file-name "/usr/rms/") returns "/usr/rms".
1425: On VMS, (file-name-as-directory "du:[rms]foo.dir") returns "du:[rms.foo]"
1426: and (directory-file-name "du:[rms.foo]") returns "du:[rms]foo.dir".
1427:
1428: ** Value of `file-attributes' changed.
1429:
1430: The function file-attributes returns a list containing many kinds of
1431: information about a file. Now the list has eleven elements.
1432:
1433: The tenth element is `t' if deleting the file and creating another
1434: file of the same name would result in a change in the file's group;
1435: `nil' if there would be no change. You can also think of this as
1436: comparing the file's group with the default group for files created in
1437: the same directory by you.
1438:
1439: The eleventh element is the inode number of the file.
1440:
1441: ** VMS-only function `file-name-all-versions'.
1442:
1443: This function returns a list of all the completions, including version
1444: number, of a specified version-number-less file name. This is like
1445: `file-name-all-completions', except that the latter returns values
1446: that do not include version numbers.
1447:
1448: ** VMS-only variable `vms-stmlf-recfm'.
1449:
1450: On a VMS system, if this variable is non-nil, Emacs will give newly
1451: created files the record format `stmlf'. This is necessary for files
1452: that must contain lines of arbitrary length, such as compiled Emacs
1453: Lisp.
1454:
1455: When writing a new version of an existing file, Emacs always keeps
1456: the same record format as the previous version; so this variable has
1457: no effect.
1458:
1459: This variable has no effect on Unix systems.
1460:
1461: ** `insert-file-contents' on an empty file.
1462:
1463: This no longer sets the buffer's "modified" flag.
1464:
1465: ** New function (VMS only) `define-logical-name':
1466:
1467: (define-logical-name LOGICAL TRANSLATION) defines a VMS logical name
1468: LOGICAL whose translation is TRANSLATION. The new name applies to
1469: the current process only.
1470:
1471: ** Deleted variable `ask-about-buffer-names'.
1472:
1473: If you want buffer names for files to be generated in a special way,
1474: you must redefine `create-file-buffer'.
1475:
1476: * Subprocess-related changes.
1477:
1478: ** New function `process-list'.
1479:
1480: This function takes no arguments and returns a list of all
1481: of Emacs's asynchronous subprocesses.
1482:
1483: ** New function `process-exit-status'.
1484:
1485: This function, given a process, process name or buffer as argument,
1486: returns the exit status code or signal number of the process.
1487: If the process has not yet exited or died, this function returns 0.
1488:
1489: ** Process output ignores `buffer-read-only'.
1490:
1491: Output from a process will go into the process's buffer even if the
1492: buffer is read only.
1493:
1494: ** Switching buffers in filter functions and sentinels.
1495:
1496: Emacs no longer saves and restore the current buffer around calling
1497: the filter and sentinel functions, so these functions can now
1498: permanently alter the selected buffer in a straightforward manner.
1499:
1500: ** Specifying environment variables for subprocesses.
1501:
1502: When a subprocess is started with `start-process' or `call-process',
1503: the value of the variable `process-environment' is taken to
1504: specify the environment variables to give the subprocess. The
1505: value should be a list of strings, each of the form "VAR=VALUE".
1506:
1507: `process-environment' is initialized when Emacs starts up
1508: based on Emacs's environment.
1509:
1510: ** New variable `process-connection-type'.
1511:
1512: If this variable is `nil', when a subprocess is created, Emacs uses
1513: a pipe rather than a pty to communicate with it. Normally this
1514: variable is `t', telling Emacs to use a pty if ptys are supported
1515: and one is available.
1516:
1517: ** New function `waiting-for-user-input-p'.
1518:
1519: This function, given a subprocess as argument, returns `t' if that
1520: subprocess appears to be waiting for input sent from Emacs,
1521: or `nil' otherwise.
1522:
1523: ** New hook `shell-set-directory-error-hook'.
1524:
1525: The value of this variable is called, with no arguments, whenever
1526: Shell mode gets an error trying to keep track of directory-setting
1527: commands (such as `cd' and `pushd') used in the shell buffer.
1528:
1529: * New functions `user-uid' and `user-real-uid'.
1530:
1531: These functions take no arguments and return, respectively,
1532: the effective uid and the real uid of the Emacs process.
1533: The value in each case is an integer.
1534:
1535: * New variable `print-escape-newlines' controls string printing.
1536:
1537: If this variable is non-`nil', then when a Lisp string is printed
1538: by the Lisp printing function `prin1' or `print', newline characters
1539: are printed as `\n' rather than as a literal newline.
1540:
1541: * New function `sysnetunam' on HPUX.
1542:
1543: This function takes two arguments, a network address PATH and a
1544: login string LOGIN, and executes the system call `netunam'.
1545: It returns `t' if the call succeeds, otherwise `nil'.
1546:
1547: News regarding installation:
1548:
1549: * Many `s-...' file names changed.
1550:
1551: Many `s-...' files have been renamed. All periods in such names,
1552: except the ones just before the final `h', have been changed to
1553: hyphens. Thus, `s-bsd4.2.h' has been renamed to `s-bsd4-2.h'.
1554:
1555: This is so a Unix distribution can be moved mechanically to VMS.
1556:
1557: * `DOCSTR...' file now called `DOC-...'.
1558:
1559: The file of on-line documentation strings, that used to be
1560: `DOCSTR.mm.nn.oo' in this directory, is now called `DOC-mm.nn.oo'.
1561: This is so that it can port to VMS using the standard conventions
1562: for translating filenames for VMS.
1563:
1564: This file also now contains the doc strings for variables as
1565: well as functions.
1566:
1567: * Emacs no longer uses floating point arithmetic.
1568:
1569: This may make it easier to port to some machines.
1570:
1571: * Macros `XPNTR' and `XSETPNTR'; flag `DATA_SEG_BITS'.
1572:
1573: These macros exclusively are used to unpack a pointer from a Lisp_Object
1574: and to insert a pointer into a Lisp_Object. Redefining them may help
1575: port Emacs to machines in which all pointers to data objects have
1576: certain high bits set.
1577:
1578: If `DATA_SEG_BITS' is defined, it should be a number which contains
1579: the high bits to be inclusive or'ed with pointers that are unpacked.
1580:
1581: * New flag `HAVE_X_MENU'.
1582:
1583: Define this flag in `config.h' in addition to `HAVE_X_WINDOWS'
1584: to enable use of the Emacs interface to X Menus. On some operating
1585: systems, the rest of the X interface works properly but X Menus
1586: do not work; hence this separate flag. See the file `src/xmenu.c'
1587: for more information.
1588:
1589: * Macros `ARRAY_MARK_FLAG' and `DONT_COPY_FLAG'.
1590:
1591: * `HAVE_ALLOCA' prevents assembly of `alloca.s'.
1592:
1593: * `SYSTEM_MALLOC' prevents use of GNU `malloc.c'.
1594:
1595: SYSTEM_MALLOC, if defined, means use the system's own `malloc' routines
1596: rather than those that come with Emacs.
1597:
1598: Use this only if absolutely necessary, because if it is used you do
1599: not get warnings when space is getting low.
1600:
1601: * New flags to control unexec.
1602:
1603: See the file `unexec.c' for a long comment on the compilation
1604: switches that suffice to make it work on many machines.
1605:
1606: * `PNTR_COMPARISON_TYPE'
1607:
1608: Pointers that need to be compared for ordering are converted to this type
1609: first. Normally this is `unsigned int'.
1610:
1611: * `HAVE_VFORK', `HAVE_DUP2' and `HAVE_GETTIMEOFDAY'.
1612:
1613: These flags just say whether certain system calls are available.
1614:
1615: * New macros control compiler switches, linker switches and libraries.
1616:
1617: The m- and s- files can now control in a modular fashion the precise
1618: arguments passed to `cc' and `ld'.
1619:
1620: LIBS_STANDARD defines the standard C libraries. Default is `-lc'.
1621: LIBS_DEBUG defines the extra libraries to use when debugging. Default `-lg'.
1622: LIBS_SYSTEM can be defined by the s- file to specify extra libraries.
1623: LIBS_MACHINE can be defined by the m- file to specify extra libraries.
1624: LIBS_TERMCAP defines the libraries for Termcap or Terminfo.
1625: It is defined by default in a complicated fashion but the m- or s- file
1626: can override it.
1627:
1628: LD_SWITCH_SYSTEM can be defined by the s- file to specify extra `ld' switches.
1629: The default is `-X' on BSD systems except those few that use COFF object files.
1630: LD_SWITCH_MACHINE can be defined by the m- file to specify extra `ld' switches.
1631:
1632: C_DEBUG_SWITCH defines the switches to give `cc' when debugging. Default `-g'.
1633: C_OPTIMIZE_SWITCH defines the switches to give `cc' to optimize. Default `-O'.
1634: C_SWITCH_MACHINE can be defined by the m- file to specify extra `cc' switches.
1635:
1636: For older news, see the file ONEWS.
1637:
1638: ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1639: Copyright information:
1640:
1641: Copyright (C) 1988, 1990 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
1642:
1643: Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
1644: of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
1645: copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
1646: thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
1647:
1648: Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
1649: of this document, or of portions of it,
1650: under the above conditions, provided also that they
1651: carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
1652:
1653: Local variables:
1654: mode: text
1655: end:

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