4.2 Basic principles

4.2.1 Some technical terms

The main section of the editor is known as the editor window. It is in the window that the contents of the file you are editing is displayed.

The contents of the window are usually referred to as the buffer. Technically speaking, when you edit a file, the text in that file is copied into a buffer which is then displayed in the window. You actually edit the contents of the buffer, and never the file. When you save the buffer, its contents are then copied back to the actual file on disk. Working in this way ensures that there is always a copy of the file on disk -- if you make a mistake, or if your PC crashes due to a problem such as a power failure, the last version of the file saved will always be on disk, ensuring that you do not lose all of it.

We therefore use the term buffer rather than file when referring to the text in the window. This distinction is not something you need to keep in mind when using the editor.

Figure 4.2 Files and buffers in the editor window.

An editor can only have one window, although there can be many buffers in that window. This means that you can edit more than one file at a time. However, only one buffer can be displayed at a time in the window -- any others remain hidden.

Figure 4.2 shows the distinctions between the window, buffers and files on disk.


FreeLisp User's Guide - 5 FEB 1996

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