GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual

For Emacs Version 20.3

Revision 2.5, May 1998

by Bil Lewis, Dan LaLiberte, Richard Stallman

and the GNU Manual Group

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
- Preamble
- TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
- How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs
Introduction
- Caveats
- Lisp History
- Conventions
- Version Information
- Acknowledgements
Lisp Data Types
- Printed Representation and Read Syntax
- Comments
- Programming Types
- Editing Types
- Type Predicates
- Equality Predicates
Numbers
- Integer Basics
- Floating Point Basics
- Type Predicates for Numbers
- Comparison of Numbers
- Numeric Conversions
- Arithmetic Operations
- Rounding Operations
- Bitwise Operations on Integers
- Standard Mathematical Functions
- Random Numbers
Strings and Characters
- String and Character Basics
- The Predicates for Strings
- Creating Strings
- Modifying Strings
- Comparison of Characters and Strings
- Conversion of Characters and Strings
- Formatting Strings
- Case Conversion in Lisp
- The Case Table
Lists
- Lists and Cons Cells
- Lists as Linked Pairs of Boxes
- Predicates on Lists
- Accessing Elements of Lists
- Building Cons Cells and Lists
- Modifying Existing List Structure
- Using Lists as Sets
- Association Lists
Sequences, Arrays, and Vectors
- Sequences
- Arrays
- Functions that Operate on Arrays
- Vectors
- Functions for Vectors
- Char-Tables
- Bool-vectors
Symbols
- Symbol Components
- Defining Symbols
- Creating and Interning Symbols
- Property Lists
Evaluation
- Kinds of Forms
- Quoting
- Eval
Control Structures
- Sequencing
- Conditionals
- Constructs for Combining Conditions
- Iteration
- Nonlocal Exits
Variables
- Global Variables
- Variables That Never Change
- Local Variables
- When a Variable is "Void"
- Defining Global Variables
- Tips for Defining Variables Robustly
- Accessing Variable Values
- How to Alter a Variable Value
- Scoping Rules for Variable Bindings
- Buffer-Local Variables
- Frame-Local Variables
- Possible Future Local Variables
Functions
- What Is a Function?
- Lambda Expressions
- Naming a Function
- Defining Functions
- Calling Functions
- Mapping Functions
- Anonymous Functions
- Accessing Function Cell Contents
- Inline Functions
- Other Topics Related to Functions
Macros
- A Simple Example of a Macro
- Expansion of a Macro Call
- Macros and Byte Compilation
- Defining Macros
- Backquote
- Common Problems Using Macros
Writing Customization Definitions
- Common Keywords for All Kinds of Items
- Defining Custom Groups
- Defining Customization Variables
- Customization Types
Loading
- How Programs Do Loading
- Library Search
- Loading Non-ASCII Characters
- Autoload
- Repeated Loading
- Features
- Unloading
- Hooks for Loading
Byte Compilation
- Performance of Byte-Compiled Code
- The Compilation Functions
- Documentation Strings and Compilation
- Dynamic Loading of Individual Functions
- Evaluation During Compilation
- Byte-Code Function Objects
- Disassembled Byte-Code
Advising Emacs Lisp Functions
- A Simple Advice Example
- Defining Advice
- Around-Advice
- Computed Advice
- Activation of Advice
- Enabling and Disabling Advice
- Preactivation
- Argument Access in Advice
- Definition of Subr Argument Lists
- The Combined Definition
Debugging Lisp Programs
- The Lisp Debugger
- Edebug
- Debugging Invalid Lisp Syntax
  - Excess Open Parentheses
  - Excess Close Parentheses
- Debugging Problems in Compilation
Reading and Printing Lisp Objects
- Introduction to Reading and Printing
- Input Streams
- Input Functions
- Output Streams
- Output Functions
- Variables Affecting Output
Minibuffers
- Introduction to Minibuffers
- Reading Text Strings with the Minibuffer
- Reading Lisp Objects with the Minibuffer
- Minibuffer History
- Completion
- Yes-or-No Queries
- Asking Multiple Y-or-N Questions
- Reading a Password
- Minibuffer Miscellany
Command Loop
- Command Loop Overview
- Defining Commands
- Interactive Call
- Information from the Command Loop
- Input Events
- Reading Input
- Special Events
- Waiting for Elapsed Time or Input
- Quitting
- Prefix Command Arguments
- Recursive Editing
- Disabling Commands
- Command History
- Keyboard Macros
Keymaps
- Keymap Terminology
- Format of Keymaps
- Creating Keymaps
- Inheritance and Keymaps
- Prefix Keys
- Active Keymaps
- Key Lookup
- Functions for Key Lookup
- Changing Key Bindings
- Commands for Binding Keys
- Scanning Keymaps
- Menu Keymaps
Major and Minor Modes
- Major Modes
- Minor Modes
- Mode Line Format
- Imenu
- Font Lock Mode
- Hooks
Documentation
- Documentation Basics
- Access to Documentation Strings
- Substituting Key Bindings in Documentation
- Describing Characters for Help Messages
- Help Functions
Files
- Visiting Files
  - Functions for Visiting Files
  - Subroutines of Visiting
- Saving Buffers
- Reading from Files
- Writing to Files
- File Locks
- Information about Files
- Changing File Names and Attributes
- File Names
- Contents of Directories
- Creating and Deleting Directories
- Making Certain File Names "Magic"
- File Format Conversion
Backups and Auto-Saving
- Backup Files
- Auto-Saving
- Reverting
Buffers
- Buffer Basics
- The Current Buffer
- Buffer Names
- Buffer File Name
- Buffer Modification
- Comparison of Modification Time
- Read-Only Buffers
- The Buffer List
- Creating Buffers
- Killing Buffers
- Indirect Buffers
Windows
- Basic Concepts of Emacs Windows
- Splitting Windows
- Deleting Windows
- Selecting Windows
- Cyclic Ordering of Windows
- Buffers and Windows
- Displaying Buffers in Windows
- Choosing a Window for Display
- Windows and Point
- The Window Start Position
- Vertical Scrolling
- Horizontal Scrolling
- The Size of a Window
- Changing the Size of a Window
- Coordinates and Windows
- Window Configurations
- Hooks for Window Scrolling and Changes
Frames
- Creating Frames
- Multiple Displays
- Frame Parameters
  - Access to Frame Parameters
  - Initial Frame Parameters
  - Window Frame Parameters
  - Frame Size And Position
- Frame Titles
- Deleting Frames
- Finding All Frames
- Frames and Windows
- Minibuffers and Frames
- Input Focus
- Visibility of Frames
- Raising and Lowering Frames
- Frame Configurations
- Mouse Tracking
- Mouse Position
- Pop-Up Menus
- Dialog Boxes
- Pointer Shapes
- Window System Selections
- Looking up Font Names
- Fontsets
- Color Names
- X Resources
- Data about the X Server
Positions
- Point
- Motion
- Excursions
- Narrowing
Markers
- Overview of Markers
- Predicates on Markers
- Functions That Create Markers
- Information from Markers
- Marker Insertion Types
- Moving Marker Positions
- The Mark
- The Region
Text
- Examining Text Near Point
- Examining Buffer Contents
- Comparing Text
- Inserting Text
- User-Level Insertion Commands
- Deleting Text
- User-Level Deletion Commands
- The Kill Ring
  - Kill Ring Concepts
  - Functions for Killing
  - Functions for Yanking
  - Low-Level Kill Ring
  - Internals of the Kill Ring
- Undo
- Maintaining Undo Lists
- Filling
- Margins for Filling
- Adaptive Fill Mode
- Auto Filling
- Sorting Text
- Counting Columns
- Indentation
  - Indentation Primitives
  - Indentation Controlled by Major Mode
  - Indenting an Entire Region
  - Indentation Relative to Previous Lines
  - Adjustable "Tab Stops"
  - Indentation-Based Motion Commands
- Case Changes
- Text Properties
  - Examining Text Properties
  - Changing Text Properties
  - Text Property Search Functions
  - Properties with Special Meanings
  - Formatted Text Properties
  - Stickiness of Text Properties
  - Saving Text Properties in Files
  - Lazy Computation of Text Properties
  - Defining Clickable Text
  - Why Text Properties are not Intervals
- Substituting for a Character Code
- Registers
- Transposition of Text
- Change Hooks
Non-ASCII Characters
- Text Representations
- Converting Text Representations
- Selecting a Representation
- Character Codes
- Character Sets
- Characters and Bytes
- Splitting Characters
- Scanning for Character Sets
- Translation of Characters
- Coding Systems
- Input Methods
Searching and Matching
- Searching for Strings
- Regular Expressions
  - Syntax of Regular Expressions
  - Complex Regexp Example
- Regular Expression Searching
- POSIX Regular Expression Searching
- Search and Replace
- The Match Data
- Searching and Case
- Standard Regular Expressions Used in Editing
Syntax Tables
- Syntax Table Concepts
- Syntax Descriptors
  - Table of Syntax Classes
  - Syntax Flags
- Syntax Table Functions
- Syntax Properties
- Motion and Syntax
- Parsing Balanced Expressions
- Some Standard Syntax Tables
- Syntax Table Internals
- Categories
Abbrevs And Abbrev Expansion
- Setting Up Abbrev Mode
- Abbrev Tables
- Defining Abbrevs
- Saving Abbrevs in Files
- Looking Up and Expanding Abbreviations
- Standard Abbrev Tables
Processes
- Functions that Create Subprocesses
- Shell Arguments
- Creating a Synchronous Process
- Creating an Asynchronous Process
- Deleting Processes
- Process Information
- Sending Input to Processes
- Sending Signals to Processes
- Receiving Output from Processes
- Sentinels: Detecting Process Status Changes
- Transaction Queues
- Network Connections
Operating System Interface
- Starting Up Emacs
- Getting Out of Emacs
  - Killing Emacs
  - Suspending Emacs
- Operating System Environment
- User Identification
- Time of Day
- Time Conversion
- Timers for Delayed Execution
- Terminal Input
- Terminal Output
- System-Specific X11 Keysyms
- Flow Control
- Batch Mode
Emacs Display
- Refreshing the Screen
- Truncation
- The Echo Area
- Invisible Text
- Selective Display
- The Overlay Arrow
- Temporary Displays
- Overlays
  - Overlay Properties
  - Managing Overlays
- Width
- Faces
- Blinking Parentheses
- Inverse Video
- Usual Display Conventions
- Display Tables
- Beeping
- Window Systems
Customizing the Calendar and Diary
- Customizing the Calendar
- Customizing the Holidays
- Date Display Format
- Time Display Format
- Daylight Savings Time
- Customizing the Diary
- Hebrew- and Islamic-Date Diary Entries
- Fancy Diary Display
- Sexp Entries and the Fancy Diary Display
- Customizing Appointment Reminders
Tips and Conventions
- Emacs Lisp Coding Conventions
- Tips for Making Compiled Code Fast
- Tips for Documentation Strings
- Tips on Writing Comments
- Conventional Headers for Emacs Libraries
GNU Emacs Internals
- Building Emacs
- Pure Storage
- Garbage Collection
- Memory Usage
- Writing Emacs Primitives
- Object Internals
Standard Errors
Buffer-Local Variables
Standard Keymaps
Standard Hooks
New Symbols Since the Previous Edition

This document was generated on 7 November 1998 using the texi2html translator version 1.52.