DP Tool Club 8/CDASC08.ISO/VRAC/E17INFO.ZIP/EMACS-14

GNU Info File | 1993-07-18 | 47.7 KB | 1,215 lines

This is Info file ../info/emacs, produced by Makeinfo-1.54 from the
input file emacs.texi.


File: emacs,  Node: General Calendar,  Next: Holidays,  Prev: Counting Days,  Up: Calendar/Diary

Miscellaneous Calendar Commands
===============================

`p d'
     Display day-in-year (`calendar-print-day-of-year').

`C-c C-l'
     Regenerate the calendar window (`redraw-calendar').

`q'
     Exit from calendar (`exit-calendar').

   To print the number of days elapsed since the start of the year, or
the number of days remaining in the year, type the `p d' command
(`calendar-print-day-of-year').  This displays both of those numbers in
the echo area.  The number of days elapsed includes the selected date.
The number of days remaining does not include that date.

   If the calendar window gets corrupted, type `C-c C-l'
(`redraw-calendar') to redraw it.

   To exit from the calendar, type `q' (`exit-calendar').  This buries
all buffers related to the calendar and returns the window display to
what it was when you entered the calendar.


File: emacs,  Node: Holidays,  Next: Sunrise/Sunset,  Prev: General Calendar,  Up: Calendar/Diary

Holidays
========

   The Emacs calendar knows about all major and many minor holidays,
and can display them.

`h'
     Display holidays for the selected date
     (`calendar-cursor-holidays').

`x'
     Mark holidays in the calendar window (`mark-calendar-holidays').

`u'
     Unmark calendar window (`calendar-unmark').

`a'
     List all holidays for the displayed three months in another window
     (`list-calendar-holidays').

`M-x holidays'
     List all holidays for three months around today's date in another
     window.

   To see if any holidays fall on a given date, position point on that
date in the calendar window and use the `h' command.  This names the
holidays for that date, in the echo area if they fit there, otherwise
in a separate window.

   To find the distribution of holidays for a wider period, use the `x'
command.  This displays a `*' after each date on which a holiday falls.
The command applies both to the currently visible months and to other
months that subsequently become visible by scrolling.  To turn marking
off and erase the current marks, type `u', which also erases any diary
marks (*note Diary::.).

   To get even more detailed information, use the `a' command, which
displays a separate buffer containing a list of all holidays in the
current three-month range.

   The command `M-x holidays' displays the list of holidays for the
current month and the preceding and succeeding months; this works even
if you don't have a calendar window.  If you want the list of holidays
centered around a different month, use `C-u M-x holidays', which
prompts for the month and year.

   The holidays known to Emacs include American holidays and the major
Christian, Jewish, and Islamic holidays; when floating point is
available, the calendar also knows about solstices and equinoxes.

   The dates used by Emacs for holidays are based on *current
practice*, not historical fact.  Historically, for instance, the start
of daylight savings time and even its existence have varied from year to
year, but present American law mandates that daylight savings time
begins on the first Sunday in April.  Emacs always uses this definition,
even though it is wrong for some prior years.


File: emacs,  Node: Sunrise/Sunset,  Next: Lunar Phases,  Prev: Holidays,  Up: Calendar/Diary

Times of Sunrise and Sunset
===========================

   Emacs can tell you, to within a minute or two, the times of sunrise
and sunset for any date, if floating point is available.

`S'
     Display times of sunrise and sunset for the selected date
     (`calendar-sunrise-sunset').

`M-x sunrise-sunset'
     Display times of sunrise and sunset for today's date.

`C-u M-x sunrise-sunset'
     Display times of sunrise and sunset for a specified date.

   Within the calendar, to display the *local times* of sunrise and
sunset in the echo area, move point to the date you want, and type `S'.

   The command `M-x sunrise-sunset' is available outside the calendar
to print this information for today's date or a specified date.  To
specify a date other than today, use `C-u M-x sunrise-sunset', which
prompts for the year, month, and day.

   Because the times of sunrise and sunset depend on the location on
earth, you need to tell Emacs your latitude, longitude, and location
name before using these commands.  Here is an example of what to set:

     (setq calendar-latitude 40.1)
     (setq calendar-longitude -88.2)
     (setq calendar-location-name "Urbana, IL")

Use one decimal place in the values of `calendar-latitude' and
`calendar-longitude'.

   Your time zone also affects the local time of sunrise and sunset.
Emacs usually gets this information from the operating system, but if
these values are not what you want (or if the operating system does not
supply them), you must set them yourself.  Here is an example:

     (setq calendar-time-zone -360)
     (setq calendar-standard-time-zone-name "CST")
     (setq calendar-daylight-time-zone-name "CDT")

The value of `calendar-time-zone' is the number of minutes difference
between your local standard time and Coordinated Universal Time
(Greenwich time).  The values of `calendar-standard-time-zone-name' and
`calendar-daylight-time-zone-name' are the abbreviations used in your
time zone.

   Emacs displays the times of sunrise and sunset *corrected for
daylight savings time*.  The default rule for the starting and stopping
dates of daylight savings time is the American rule.  *Note Daylight
Savings::, for how to specify a different rule.

   You can display the times of sunrise and sunset for any location and
any date with `C-u C-u M-x sunrise-sunset'.  This asks you for a
longitude, latitude, number of minutes difference from Coordinated
Universal Time, and date, and then tells you the times of sunrise and
sunset for that location on that date.


File: emacs,  Node: Lunar Phases,  Next: Other Calendars,  Prev: Sunrise/Sunset,  Up: Calendar/Diary

Phases of the Moon
==================

   Emacs can tell you the dates and times of the phases of the moon (new
moon, first quarter, full moon, last quarter), if floating point is
available.  This feature is useful for debugging problems that "depend
on the phase of the moon."

`M'
     Display the dates and times for all the quarters of the moon for
     the three-month period shown (`calendar-phases-of-moon').

`M-x phases-of-moon'
     Display dates and times of the quarters of the moon for three
     months around today's date.

   Within the calendar, use the `M' command to display a separate
buffer of the phases of the moon for the current three-month range.  The
dates and times listed are accurate to within a few minutes.

   Outside the calendar, use the command `M-x phases-of-moon' to
display the list of the phases of the moon for the current month and the
preceding and succeeding months.  For information about a different
month, use `C-u M-x phases-of-moon', which prompts for the month and
year.

   The dates and times given for the phases of the moon are given in
local time (corrected for daylight savings, when appropriate); but if
the variable `calendar-time-zone' is void, Coordinated Universal Time
(the Greenwich time zone) is used.  *Note Daylight Savings::.


File: emacs,  Node: Other Calendars,  Next: Diary,  Prev: Lunar Phases,  Up: Calendar/Diary

Conversion To and From Other Calendars
======================================

   The Emacs calendar displayed is *always* the Gregorian calendar,
sometimes called the "new style" calendar, which is used in most of the
world today.  However, this calendar did not exist before the sixteenth
century and was not widely used before the eighteenth century; it did
not fully displace the Julian calendar and gain universal acceptance
until the early twentieth century.  The Emacs calendar can display any
month since January, year 1 of the current era, but the calendar
displayed is the Gregorian, even for a date at which the Gregorian
calendar did not exist.

   While Emacs cannot display other calendars, it can convert dates to
and from several other calendars.

* Menu:

* Calendar Systems::      The calendars Emacs understands
                (aside from Gregorian).
* To Other Calendar::     Converting the selected date to various calendars.
* From Other Calendar::   Moving to a date specified in another calendar.
* Mayan Calendar::      Moving to a date specified in a Mayan calendar.


File: emacs,  Node: Calendar Systems,  Next: To Other Calendar,  Up: Other Calendars

Supported Calendar Systems
--------------------------

   The ISO commercial calendar is used largely in Europe.

   The Julian calendar, named after Julius Caesar, was the one used in
Europe throughout medieval times, and in many countries up until the
nineteenth century.

   Astronomers use a simple counting of days elapsed since noon, Monday,
January 1, 4713 B.C. on the Julian calendar.  The number of days elapsed
is called the *Julian day number* or the *Astronomical day number*.

   The Hebrew calendar is the one used to determine the dates of Jewish
holidays.  Hebrew calendar dates begin and end at sunset.

   The Islamic (Moslem) calendar is the one used to determine the dates
of Moslem holidays.  There is no universal agreement in the Islamic
world about the calendar; Emacs uses a widely accepted version, but the
precise dates of Islamic holidays often depend on proclamation by
religious authorities, not on calculations.  As a consequence, the
actual dates of occurrence can vary slightly from the dates computed by
Emacs.  Islamic calendar dates begin and end at sunset.

   The French Revolutionary calendar was created by the Jacobins after
the 1789 revolution, to represent a more secular and nature-based view
of the annual cycle, and to install a 10-day week in a rationalization
measure similar to the metric system.  The French government officially
abandoned this calendar at the end of 1805.

   The Maya of Central America used three separate, overlapping calendar
systems, the *long count*, the *tzolkin*, and the *haab*.  Emacs knows
about all three of these calendars.  Experts dispute the exact
correlation between the Mayan calendar and our calendar; Emacs uses the
Goodman-Martinez-Thompson correlation in its calculations.


File: emacs,  Node: To Other Calendar,  Next: From Other Calendar,  Prev: Calendar Systems,  Up: Other Calendars

Converting To Other Calendars
-----------------------------

   The following commands describe the selected date (the date at point)
in various other calendar systems:

`p c'
     Display ISO commercial calendar equivalent for selected day
     (`calendar-print-iso-date').

`p j'
     Display Julian date for selected day
     (`calendar-print-julian-date').

`p a'
     Display astronomical (Julian) day number for selected day
     (`calendar-print-astro-day-number').

`p h'
     Display Hebrew date for selected day
     (`calendar-print-hebrew-date').

`p i'
     Display Islamic date for selected day
     (`calendar-print-islamic-date').

`p f'
     Display French Revolutionary date for selected day
     (`calendar-print-french-date').

`p m'
     Display Mayan date for selected day (`calendar-print-mayan-date').

   Put point on the desired date of the Gregorian calendar, then type
the appropriate keys.  The `p' is a mnemonic for "print" since Emacs
"prints" the equivalent date in the echo area.


File: emacs,  Node: From Other Calendar,  Next: Mayan Calendar,  Prev: To Other Calendar,  Up: Other Calendars

Converting From Other Calendars
-------------------------------

   You can move to dates that you specify on the Commercial, Julian,
astronomical, Hebrew, Islamic, or French calendars:

`g c'
     Move to a date specified in the ISO commercial calendar
     (`calendar-goto-iso-date').

`g j'
     Move to a date specified in the Julian calendar
     (`calendar-goto-julian-date').

`g a'
     Move to a date specified in astronomical (Julian) day number
     (`calendar-goto-astro-day-number').

`g h'
     Move to a date specified in the Hebrew calendar
     (`calendar-goto-hebrew-date').

`g i'
     Move to a date specified in the Islamic calendar
     (`calendar-goto-islamic-date').

`g f'
     Move to a date specified in the French Revolutionary calendar
     (`calendar-goto-french-date').

   These commands ask you for a date on the other calendar, move point
to the Gregorian calendar date equivalent to that date, and display the
other calendar's date in the echo area.  Emacs uses strict completion
(*note Completion::.) whenever it asks you to type a month name, so you
don't have to worry about the spelling of Hebrew, Islamic, or French
names.

   One common question concerning the Hebrew calendar is the computation
of the anniversary of a date of death, called a "yahrzeit."  The Emacs
calendar includes a facility for such calculations.  If you are in the
calendar, the command `M-x list-yahrzeit-dates' asks you for a range of
years and then displays a list of the yahrzeit dates for those years
for the date given by point.  If you are not in the calendar, this
command first asks you for the date of death and the range of years,
and then displays the list of yahrzeit dates.


File: emacs,  Node: Mayan Calendar,  Prev: From Other Calendar,  Up: Other Calendars

Converting from the Mayan Calendar
----------------------------------

   Here are the commands to select dates based on the Mayan calendar:

`g m l'
     Move to a date specified by the long count calendar
     (`calendar-goto-mayan-long-count-date').

`g m p t'
     Move to the previous occurrence of a place in the tzolkin calendar
     (`calendar-previous-tzolkin-date').

`g m n t'
     Move to the next occurrence of a place in the tzolkin calendar
     (`calendar-next-tzolkin-date').

`g m p h'
     Move to the previous occurrence of a place in the haab calendar
     (`calendar-previous-haab-date').

`g m n h'
     Move to the next occurrence of a place in the haab calendar
     (`calendar-next-haab-date').

`g m p c'
     Move to the previous occurrence of a place in the calendar round
     (`calendar-previous-calendar-round-date').

`g m n c'
     Move to the next occurrence of a place in the calendar round
     (`calendar-next-calendar-round-date').

   To understand these commands, you need to understand the Mayan
calendars.  The "long count" is a counting of days with these units:

     1 kin = 1 day   1 uinal = 20 kin   1 tun = 18 uinal
     1 katun = 20 tun   1 baktun = 20 katun

Thus, the long count date 12.16.11.16.6 means 12 baktun, 16 katun, 11
tun, 16 uinal, and 6 kin.  The Emacs calendar can handle Mayan long
count dates as early as 7.17.18.13.1, but no earlier.  When you use the
`g m l' command, type the Mayan long count date with the baktun, katun,
tun, uinal, and kin separated by periods.

   The Mayan tzolkin calendar is a cycle of 260 days formed by a pair of
independent cycles of 13 and 20 days.  Since this cycle repeats
endlessly, Emacs provides commands to move backward and forward to the
previous or next point in the cycle.  Type `g m p t' to go to the
previous tzolkin date; Emacs asks you for a tzolkin date and moves point
to the previous occurrence of that date.  Similarly, type `g m n t' to
go to the next occurrence of a tzolkin date.

   The Mayan haab calendar is a cycle of 365 days arranged as 18 months
of 20 days each, followed a 5-day monthless period.  Like the tzolkin
cycle, this cycle repeats endlessly, and there are commands to move
backward and forward to the previous or next point in the cycle.  Type
`g m p h' to go to the previous haab date; Emacs asks you for a haab
date and moves point to the previous occurrence of that date.
Similarly, type `g m n h' to go to the next occurrence of a haab date.

   The Maya also used the combination of the tzolkin date and the haab
date.  This combination is a cycle of about 52 years called a *calendar
round*.  If you type `g m p c', Emacs asks you for both a haab and a
tzolkin date and then moves point to the previous occurrence of that
combination.  Use `g m p c' to move point to the next occurrence of a
combination.  Emacs signals an error if the haab/tzolkin date you have
typed is impossible.

   Emacs uses strict completion (*note Completion::.) whenever it asks
you to type a Mayan name, so you don't have to worry about spelling.


File: emacs,  Node: Diary,  Next: Appointments,  Prev: Other Calendars,  Up: Calendar/Diary

The Diary
=========

   The Emacs diary keeps track of appointments or other events on a
daily basis, in conjunction with the calendar.  To use the diary
feature, you must first create a "diary file" containing a list of
events and their dates.  Then Emacs can automatically pick out and
display the events for today, for the immediate future, or for any
specified date.

   By default, Emacs uses `~/diary' as the diary file.  This is the
same file that the `calendar' utility uses.  A sample `~/diary' file is:

     12/22/1988 Twentieth wedding anniversary!!
     &1/1. Happy New Year!
     10/22 Ruth's birthday.
     * 21, *: Payday
     Tuesday--weekly meeting with grad students at 10am
              Supowit, Shen, Bitner, and Kapoor to attend.
     1/13/89 Friday the thirteenth!!
     &thu 4pm squash game with Lloyd.
     mar 16 Dad's birthday
     April 15, 1989 Income tax due.
     &* 15 time cards due.

   Although you probably will start by creating a diary manually, Emacs
provides a number of commands to let you view, add, and change diary
entries.

* Menu:

* Diary Commands::         Viewing diary entries and associated calendar dates.
* Format of Diary File::   Entering events in your diary.
* Date Formats::       Various ways you can specify dates.
* Adding to Diary::       Commands to create diary entries.
* Special Diary Entries::  Anniversaries, blocks of dates, cyclic entries, etc.


File: emacs,  Node: Diary Commands,  Next: Format of Diary File,  Up: Diary

Commands Displaying Diary Entries
---------------------------------

   Once you have created a `~/diary' file, you can view it from within
the calendar.  You can also view today's events outside of Calendar
mode.

`d'
     Display any diary entries for the selected date
     (`view-diary-entries').

`s'
     Display entire diary file (`show-all-diary-entries').

`m'
     Mark all visible dates that have diary entries
     (`mark-diary-entries').

`u'
     Unmark calendar window (`calendar-unmark').

`M-x print-diary-entries'
     Print hard copy of the diary display as it appears.

`M-x diary'
     Display any diary entries for today's date.

   Displaying the diary entries with `d' shows in a separate window the
diary entries for the selected date in the calendar.  The mode line of
the new window shows the date of the diary entries and any holidays
that fall on that date.

   If you specify a numeric argument with `d', it shows all the diary
entries for that many successive days.  Thus, `2 d' displays all the
entries for the selected date and for the following day.

   To get a broader view of which days are mentioned in the diary, use
the `m' command.  This places a `+' after each date which has a diary
entry.  The command applies both to the currently visible months and to
other months that subsequently become visible by scrolling.  To turn
marking off and erase the current marks, type `u', which also turns off
holiday marks (*note Holidays::.).

   To see the full diary file, rather than just some of the entries, use
the `s' command.

   Display of selected diary entries uses the selective display feature
to hide entries that don't apply.  This is the same feature that Outline
mode uses to show part of an outline (*note Outline Mode::.).  The diary
buffer as you see it is an illusion, so simply printing the buffer does
not print what you see on your screen.

   There is a special command to print hard copy of the diary buffer
*as it appears*; this command is `M-x print-diary-entries'.  It sends
the data directly to the printer.  You can customize it like
`lpr-region' (*note Hardcopy::.).

   The command `M-x diary' displays the diary entries for the current
date, independently of the calendar display, and optionally for the next
few days as well; the variable `number-of-diary-entries' specifies how
many days to include.  *Note Calendar/Diary Options:
(elisp)Calendar/Diary Options.

   If you put `(diary)' in your `.emacs' file, this automatically
displays a window with the day's diary entries, when you enter Emacs.
The mode line of the displayed window shows the date and any holidays
that fall on that date.


File: emacs,  Node: Format of Diary File,  Next: Date Formats,  Prev: Diary Commands,  Up: Diary

The Diary File
--------------

   Your "diary file" is a file that records events associated with
particular dates.  The name of the diary file is specified by the
variable `diary-file'; `~/diary' is the default.  You can use the same
file for the `calendar' utility program, since its formats are a subset
of the ones allowed by the Emacs diary facilities.

   Each entry in the diary file describes one event and consists of one
or more lines.  An entry always begins with a date specification at the
left margin.  The rest of the entry is simply text to describe the
event.  If the entry has more than one line, then the lines after the
first must begin with whitespace to indicate they continue a previous
entry.  Lines that do not begin with valid dates and do not continue a
preceding entry are ignored.

   You can inhibit the marking of certain diary entries in the calendar
window; to do this, insert an ampersand (`&') at the beginning of the
entry, before the date.  This has no effect on display of the entry in
the diary window; it affects only marks on dates in the calendar
window.  Nonmarking entries are especially useful for generic entries
that would otherwise mark many different dates.

   If the first line of a diary entry consists only of the date or day
name with no following blanks or punctuation, then the diary window
display doesn't include that line; only the continuation lines appear.
For example:

     02/11/1989
           Bill B. visits Princeton today
           2pm Cognitive Studies Committee meeting
           2:30-5:30 Liz at Lawrenceville
           4:00pm Dentist appt
           7:30pm Dinner at George's
           8:00-10:00pm concert

appears in the diary window without the date line at the beginning.
This style of entry looks neater when you display just a single day's
entries, but can cause confusion if you ask for more than one day's
entries.

   You can edit the diary entries as they appear in the window, but it
is important to remember that the buffer displayed contains the *entire*
diary file, with portions of it concealed from view.  This means, for
instance, that the `C-f' (`forward-char') command can put point at what
appears to be the end of the line, but what is in reality the middle of
some concealed line.

   *Be careful when editing the diary entries!*  Inserting additional
lines or adding/deleting characters in the middle of a visible line
cannot cause problems, but editing at the end of a line may not do what
you expect.  Deleting a line may delete other invisible entries that
follow it.  Before editing the diary, it is best to display the entire
file with `s' (`show-all-diary-entries').


File: emacs,  Node: Date Formats,  Next: Adding to Diary,  Prev: Format of Diary File,  Up: Diary

Date Formats
------------

   Here are some sample diary entries, illustrating different ways of
formatting a date.  The examples all show dates in American order
(month, day, year), but Calendar mode supports European order (day,
month, year) as an option.

     4/20/93  Switch-over to new tabulation system
     apr. 25  Start tabulating annual results
     4/30  Results for April are due
     */25  Monthly cycle finishes
     Friday  Don't leave without backing up files

   The first entry appears only once, on April 20, 1993.  The second and
third appear every year on the specified dates, and the fourth uses a
wildcard (asterisk) for the month, so it appears on the 25th of every
month.  The final entry appears every week on Friday.

   You can use just numbers to express a date, as in `MONTH/DAY' or
`MONTH/DAY/YEAR'.  This must be followed by a nondigit.  In the date
itself, MONTH and DAY are numbers of one or two digits.  YEAR is a
number and may be abbreviated to the last two digits; that is, you can
use `11/12/1989' or `11/12/89'.

   Dates can also have the form `MONTHNAME DAY' or `MONTHNAME DAY,
YEAR', where the month's name can be spelled in full or abbreviated to
three characters (with or without a period).  Case is not significant.

   A date may be "generic", or partially unspecified.  Then the entry
applies to all dates that match the specification.  If the date does not
contain a year, it is generic and applies to any year.  Alternatively,
MONTH, DAY, or YEAR can be a `*'; this matches any month, day, or year,
respectively.  Thus, a diary entry `3/*/*' matches any day in March of
any year; so does `march *'.

   If you prefer the European style of writing dates--in which the day
comes before the month--type `M-x european-calendar' while in the
calendar, or set the variable `european-calendar-style' to `t' *before*
using any calendar or diary command.  This mode interprets all dates in
the diary in the European manner, and also uses European style for
displaying diary dates.  (Note that there is no comma after the
MONTHNAME in the European style.)  To go back to the (default) American
style of writing dates, type `M-x american-calendar'.

   You can use the name of a day of the week as a generic date which
applies to any date falling on that day of the week.  You can abbreviate
the day of the week to three letters (with or without a period) or spell
it in full; case is not significant.


File: emacs,  Node: Adding to Diary,  Next: Special Diary Entries,  Prev: Date Formats,  Up: Diary

Commands to Add to the Diary
----------------------------

   While in the calendar, there are several commands to create diary
entries:

`i d'
     Add a diary entry for the selected date (`insert-diary-entry').

`i w'
     Add a diary entry for the selected day of the week
     (`insert-weekly-diary-entry').

`i m'
     Add a diary entry for the selected day of the month
     (`insert-monthly-diary-entry').

`i y'
     Add a diary entry for the selected day of the year
     (`insert-yearly-diary-entry').

   You can make a diary entry for a specific date by selecting that date
in the calendar window and typing the `i d' command.  This command
displays the end of your diary file in another window and inserts the
date; you can then type the rest of the diary entry.

   If you want to make a diary entry that applies to a specific day of
the week, select that day of the week (any occurrence will do) and type
`i w'.  This inserts the day-of-week as a generic date; you can then
type the rest of the diary entry.

   You can make a monthly diary entry in the same fashion.  Select the
day of the month, use the `i m' command, and type rest of the entry.
Similarly, you can insert a yearly diary entry with the `i y' command.

   All of the above commands make marking diary entries.  If you want
the diary entry to be nonmarking, give a prefix argument to the command.
For example, `C-u i w' makes a nonmarking, weekly diary entry.

   When you modify the diary file, be sure to save the file before
exiting Emacs.


File: emacs,  Node: Special Diary Entries,  Prev: Adding to Diary,  Up: Diary

Special Diary Entries
---------------------

   In addition to entries based on calendar dates, your diary file can
contain "special entries" for regular events such as anniversaries.
These entries are based on Lisp expressions (sexps) that Emacs evaluates
as it scans the diary file.  Instead of a date, a special entry contains
`%%' followed by a Lisp expression which must begin and end with
parentheses.  The Lisp expression determines which dates the entry
applies to.

   Calendar mode provides commands to insert certain commonly used
special entries:

`i a'
     Add an anniversary diary entry for the selected date
     (`insert-anniversary-diary-entry').

`i b'
     Add a block diary entry for the current region
     (`insert-block-diary-entry').

`i c'
     Add a cyclic diary entry starting at the date
     (`insert-cyclic-diary-entry').

   If you want to make a diary entry that applies to the anniversary of
a specific date, move point to that date and use the `i a' command.
This displays the end of your diary file in another window and inserts
the anniversary description; you can then type the rest of the diary
entry.  The entry looks like this:

     %%(diary-anniversary 10 31 1948) Arthur's birthday

This entry applies to October 31 in any year after 1948; `10 31 1948'
specifies the date.  (If you are using the European calendar style, the
month and day are interchanged.)  The reason this expression requires a
beginning year is that advanced diary functions can use it to calculate
the number of elapsed years.

   You can make a diary entry entry for a block of dates by setting the
mark at the date at one end of the block, moving point to the date at
the other end of the block, and using the `i b' command.  This command
causes the end of your diary file to be displayed in another window and
the block description to be inserted; you can then type the diary
entry.  Here is a block diary entry that applies to all dates from June
24, 1990 through July 10, 1990:

     %%(diary-block 6 24 1990 7 10 1990) Vacation

The `6 24 1990' indicates the starting date and the `7 10 1990'
indicates the stopping date.  (Again, if you are using the European
calendar style, the month and day are interchanged.)

   "Cyclic" diary entries repeat after a fixed interval of days.  To
create one, select the starting date and use the `i c' command.  The
command prompts for the length of interval, then inserts the entry.  It
looks like this:

     %%(diary-cyclic 50 3 1 1990) Renew medication

which applies to March 1, 1990 and every 50th day following; `3 1 1990'
specifies the starting date.  (If you are using the European calendar
style, the month and day are interchanged.)

   All three of the these commands make marking diary entries.  If you
want the diary entry to be nonmarking, give a numeric argument to the
command.  For example, `C-u i a' makes a nonmarking anniversary diary
entry.

   Marking sexp diary entries in the calendar is *extremely*
time-consuming, since every date visible in the calendar window must be
individually checked.  So it's a good idea to make sexp diary entries
nonmarking (with `&') when possible.

   Another sophisticated kind of sexp entry, a "floating" diary entry,
specifies a regularly-occurring event by offsets specified in days,
weeks, and months.  It is comparable to a crontab entry interpreted by
the `cron' utility.  Here is a nonmarking, floating diary entry that
applies to the last Thursday in November:

     &%%(diary-float 11 4 -1) American Thanksgiving

The 11 specifies November (the eleventh month), the 4 specifies Thursday
(the fourth day of the week, where Sunday is numbered zero), and the -1
specifies "last" (1 would mean "first", 2 would mean "second", -2 would
mean "second-to-last", and so on).  The month can be a single month or
a list of months.  Thus you could change the 11 above to `'(1 2 3)' and
have the entry apply to the last Thursday of January, February, and
March.  If the month is `t', the entry applies to all months of the
year.

   Most generally, special diary entries can perform arbitrary
computations to determine when they apply.  *Note Sexp Diary Entries:
(elisp)Sexp Diary Entries.


File: emacs,  Node: Appointments,  Next: Daylight Savings,  Prev: Diary,  Up: Calendar/Diary

Appointments
============

   If you have a diary entry for an appointment, and that diary entry
begins with a recognizable time of day, Emacs can warn you, several
minutes beforehand, that that appointment is pending.  Emacs alerts you
to the appointment by displaying a message in the mode line.

   To enable appointment notification, you must enable the time display
feature of Emacs, `M-x display-time' (*note Mode Line::.).  You must
also add the function `appt-make-list' to the `diary-display-hook',
like this:

     (add-hook 'diary-display-hook 'appt-make-list)

   With these preparations done, when you display the diary (either with
the `d' command in the calendar window or with the `M-x diary'
command), it sets up an appointment list of all the diary entries found
with recognizable times of day, and reminds you just before each of
them.

   For example, if you the diary file contains these lines:

     Monday
       9:30am Coffee break
      12:00pm Lunch

Then on Mondays, after you have displayed the diary, you will be
reminded at 9:20am about your coffee break and at 11:50am about lunch.

   Diary entries can have the time in the conventional American style,
or in "military" style.  You need not be consistent; your diary file can
have a mixture of the two styles.

   Emacs updates the appointments list automatically just after
midnight.  This also displays the next days' diary entries in the diary
buffer, unless you set `appt-display-diary' to `nil'.

   You can also use the appointment notification facility like an alarm
clock.  The command `M-x appt-add' adds entries to the appointment list
without affecting your diary file.  You delete entries from the
appointment list with `M-x appt-delete'.

   You can turn off the appointment notification feature at any time by
setting `appt-issue-message' to `nil'.


File: emacs,  Node: Daylight Savings,  Prev: Appointments,  Up: Calendar/Diary

Daylight Savings Time
=====================

   Emacs understands the difference between standard time and daylight
savings time--the times given for sunrise, sunset, solstices,
equinoxes, and the phases of the moon take that into account.  The rules
for daylight savings time vary from place to place and have also varied
historically from year to year.  To do the job properly, Emacs needs to
know which rules to use.

   Some operating systems keep track of the rules that apply to the
place where you are; on these systems, Emacs gets the information it
needs from the system automatically.  If the system does not know the
rules, you can tell Emacs the rules to use by setting certain variables.

   If the system's data indicate that your area currently uses daylight
savings time, the default starting and stopping dates for daylight
savings time are the present-day American rules of the first Sunday in
April until the last Sunday in October.  If this isn't right, you can
specify whatever rules you want by setting
`calendar-daylight-savings-starts' and
`calendar-daylight-savings-ends'.  Their values should be Lisp
expressions that refer to the variable `year', and evaluate to the
Gregorian date on which daylight savings time starts or (respectively)
ends, in the form of a list `(MONTH DAY YEAR)'.  The values should be
`nil' if your area does not use daylight savings time.

   Emacs uses these expressions to determine the starting date of
daylight savings time for the holiday list and for correcting times of
day in the solar and lunar calculations.

   The default value of `calendar-daylight-savings-starts' is this,

     (calendar-nth-named-day 1 0 4 year)

which computes the first 0th day (Sunday) of the fourth month (April) in
the year specified by `year'.  If daylight savings time were changed to
start on October 1, you would set `calendar-daylight-savings-starts' to
this:

     (list 10 1 year)

   If there is no daylight savings time at your location, or if you want
all times in standard time, set `calendar-daylight-savings-starts' and
`calendar-daylight-savings-ends' to `nil'.

   In some areas, the difference between daylight savings time and
standard time is not one hour.  If this is so in your location, set the
variable `calendar-daylight-time-offset' to the difference, measured in
minutes.

   If the transition to or from daylight savings time does not take
place at 2AM, you can specify when it takes place by setting the
variable `calendar-daylight-savings-switchover-time'.  Its value is the
number of minutes after midnight of the time when the transition should
occur.


File: emacs,  Node: GNUS,  Next: Sorting,  Prev: Calendar/Diary,  Up: Top

GNUS
====

   GNUS is an Emacs subsystem for reading and responding to netnews.
You can use GNUS to browse through news groups, look at summaries of
articles in specific group, and read articles of interest.  You can
respond to authors or write replies to all the readers of a news group.

   This section introduces GNUS and describes several basic features.
Full documentation will appear elsewhere.

   To start GNUS, type `M-x gnus RET'.

* Menu:

* Buffers of GNUS::   The Newsgroups, Summary and Article buffers.
* GNUS Startup::      What you should know about starting GNUS.
* Summary of GNUS::   A short description of the basic GNUS commands.


File: emacs,  Node: Buffers of GNUS,  Next: GNUS Startup,  Up: GNUS

GNUS's Three Buffers
--------------------

   GNUS creates and uses three Emacs buffers, each with its own
particular purpose and its own major mode.

   The "Newsgroup buffer" contains a list of newsgroups.  This is the
first buffer that GNUS displays when it starts up.  Normally the list
contains only the newsgroups to which you subscribe (which are listed in
your `.newsrc' file) and which contain unread articles.  Use this
buffer to select a specific newsgroup.

   The "Summary buffer" lists the articles in a single newsgroup,
including their subjects, their numbers, and who posted them.  GNUS
creates a Summary buffer for a newsgroup when you select the group in
the Newsgroup buffer.  Use this buffer to select an article, and to move
around in an article.

   The "Article buffer" displays the text of an article.  You rarely
need to select this buffer because you can read the text while keeping
the Summary buffer selected.


File: emacs,  Node: GNUS Startup,  Next: Summary of GNUS,  Prev: Buffers of GNUS,  Up: GNUS

When GNUS Starts Up
-------------------

   At startup, GNUS reads your `.newsrc' news initialization file and
attempts to communicate with the local news server, which is a
repository of news articles.  The news server need not be the same
computer you are logged in on.

   If you start GNUS and connect to the server, but do not see any
newsgroups listed in the Newsgroup buffer, type `L' to get a listing of
all the newsgroups.  Then type `u' to unsubscribe from particular
newsgroups.  (Move the cursor using `n' and `p' or the usual Emacs
commands.)

   When you quit GNUS with `q', it automatically records in your
`.newsrc' initialization file the subscribed or unsubscribed status of
all newsgroups, except for groups you have "killed".  (You do not need
to edit this file yourself, but you may.)  When new newsgroups come
into existence, GNUS adds them automatically.


File: emacs,  Node: Summary of GNUS,  Prev: GNUS Startup,  Up: GNUS

Summary of GNUS Commands
------------------------

   Reading news is a two step process:

  1. Choose a newsgroup in the Newsgroup buffer.

  2. Select articles from the Summary buffer.  Each article selected is
     displayed in the Article buffer in a large window, below the
     Summary buffer in its small window.

   Each buffer has commands particular to it, but commands that do the
same things have similar keybindings.  Here are commands for the
Newsgroup and Summary buffers:

`z'
     In the Newsgroup buffer, suspend GNUS.  You can return to GNUS
     later by selecting the Newsgroup buffer and typing `g' to get
     newly arrived articles.

`q'
     In the Newsgroup buffer, update your `.newsrc' initialization file
     and quit GNUS.

     In the Summary buffer, exit the current newsgroup and return to the
     Newsgroup buffer.  Thus, typing `q' twice quits GNUS.

`L'
     In the Newsgroup buffer, list all the newsgroups available on your
     news server.  This may be a long list!

`l'
     In the Newsgroup buffer, list only the newsgroups to which you
     subscribe and which contain unread articles.

`u'
     In the Newsgroup buffer, unsubscribe from (or subscribe to) the
     newsgroup listed in the line that point is on.  When you quit GNUS
     by typing `q', GNUS lists your subscribed-to newsgroups in your
     `.newsrc' file.  The next time you start GNUS, you see only the
     newsgroups listed in your `.newsrc' file.

`C-k'
     In the Newsgroup buffer, "kill" the current line's newsgroup--don't
     show it in the Newsgroup buffer from now on.  This affects future
     GNUS sessions as well as the present session.

     When you quit GNUS by typing `q', GNUS writes information in the
     file `.newsrc' describing all newsgroups except those you have
     "killed."

`SPC'
     In the Newsgroup buffer, select the group on the line under the
     cursor and display the first unread article in that group.

     In the Summary buffer,

        - Select the article on the line under the cursor if none is
          selected.

        - Scroll the text of the selected article (if there is one).

        - Select the next unread article if at the end of the current
          article.

     Thus, you can move through all the articles by repeatedly typing
     SPC.

`DEL'
     In the Newsgroup Buffer, move point to the previous newsgroup
     containing unread articles.

     In the Summary buffer, scroll the text of the article backwards.

`n'
     Move point to the next unread newsgroup, or select the next unread
     article.

`p'
     Move point to the previous unread newsgroup, or select the previous
     unread article.

`C-n'
`C-p'
     Move point to the next or previous item, even if it is marked as
     read.  This does not select the article or newsgroup on that line.

`s'
     In the Summary buffer, do an incremental search of the current
     text in the Article buffer, just as if you switched to the Article
     buffer and typed `C-s'.

`M-s REGEXP RET'
     In the Summary buffer, search forward for articles containing a
     match for REGEXP.

`C-c C-s C-n'
`C-c C-s C-s'
`C-c C-s C-d'
`C-c C-s C-a'
     In the Summary buffer, sort the list of articles by number,
     subject, date, or author.

`C-M-n'
`C-M-p'
     In the Summary buffer, read the next or previous article with the
     same subject as the current article.


File: emacs,  Node: Sorting,  Next: Shell,  Prev: GNUS,  Up: Top

Sorting Text
============

   Emacs provides several commands for sorting text in the buffer.  All
operate on the contents of the region (the text between point and the
mark).  They divide the text of the region into many "sort records",
identify a "sort key" for each record, and then reorder the records
into the order determined by the sort keys.  The records are ordered so
that their keys are in alphabetical order, or, for numeric sorting, in
numeric order.  In alphabetic sorting, all upper case letters `A'
through `Z' come before lower case `a', in accord with the ASCII
character sequence.

   The various sort commands differ in how they divide the text into
sort records and in which part of each record is used as the sort key.
Most of the commands make each line a separate sort record, but some
commands use paragraphs or pages as sort records.  Most of the sort
commands use each entire sort record as its own sort key, but some use
only a portion of the record as the sort key.

`M-x sort-lines'
     Divide the region into lines, and sort by comparing the entire
     text of a line.  A prefix argument means sort into descending
     order.

`M-x sort-paragraphs'
     Divide the region into paragraphs, and sort by comparing the entire
     text of a paragraph (except for leading blank lines).  A prefix
     argument means sort into descending order.

`M-x sort-pages'
     Divide the region into pages, and sort by comparing the entire
     text of a page (except for leading blank lines).  A prefix
     argument means sort into descending order.

`M-x sort-fields'
     Divide the region into lines, and sort by comparing the contents of
     one field in each line.  Fields are defined as separated by
     whitespace, so the first run of consecutive non-whitespace
     characters in a line constitutes field 1, the second such run
     constitutes field 2, etc.

     Specify which field to sort by with a numeric argument: 1 to sort
     by field 1, etc.  A negative argument means sort into descending
     order.  Thus, minus 2 means sort by field 2 in
     reverse-alphabetical order.  If several lines have identical
     contents in the field being sorted, they keep same relative order
     that they had in the original buffer.

`M-x sort-numeric-fields'
     Like `M-x sort-fields' except the specified field is converted to
     a number for each line, and the numbers are compared.  `10' comes
     before `2' when considered as text, but after it when considered
     as a number.

`M-x sort-columns'
     Like `M-x sort-fields' except that the text within each line used
     for comparison comes from a fixed range of columns.  See below for
     an explanation.

   For example, if the buffer contains this:

     On systems where clash detection (locking of files being edited) is
     implemented, Emacs also checks the first time you modify a buffer
     whether the file has changed on disk since it was last visited or
     saved.  If it has, you are asked to confirm that you want to change
     the buffer.

then applying `M-x sort-lines' to the entire buffer produces this:

     On systems where clash detection (locking of files being edited) is
     implemented, Emacs also checks the first time you modify a buffer
     saved.  If it has, you are asked to confirm that you want to change
     the buffer.
     whether the file has changed on disk since it was last visited or

where the upper case `O' sorts before all lower case letters.  If you
use `C-u 2 M-x sort-fields' instead, you get this:

     implemented, Emacs also checks the first time you modify a buffer
     saved.  If it has, you are asked to confirm that you want to change
     the buffer.
     On systems where clash detection (locking of files being edited) is
     whether the file has changed on disk since it was last visited or

where the sort keys were `Emacs', `If', `buffer', `systems' and `the'.

   `M-x sort-columns' requires more explanation.  You specify the
columns by putting point at one of the columns and the mark at the other
column.  Because this means you cannot put point or the mark at the
beginning of the first line to sort, this command uses an unusual
definition of `region': all of the line point is in is considered part
of the region, and so is all of the line the mark is in.

   For example, to sort a table by information found in columns 10 to
15, you could put the mark on column 10 in the first line of the table,
and point on column 15 in the last line of the table, and then run
`sort-columns'.  Equivalently, you could run it with the mark on column
15 in the first line and point on column 10 in the last line.

   This can be thought of as sorting the rectangle specified by point
and the mark, except that the text on each line to the left or right of
the rectangle moves along with the text inside the rectangle.  *Note
Rectangles::.


File: emacs,  Node: Shell,  Next: Narrowing,  Prev: Sorting,  Up: Top

Running Shell Commands from Emacs
=================================

   Emacs has commands for passing single command lines to inferior shell
processes; it can also run a shell interactively with input and output
to an Emacs buffer `*shell*'.

`M-!'
     Run a specified shell command line and display the output
     (`shell-command').

`M-|'
     Run a specified shell command line with region contents as input;
     optionally replace the region with the output
     (`shell-command-on-region').

`M-x shell'
     Run a subshell with input and output through an Emacs buffer.  You
     can then give commands interactively.

* Menu:

* Single Shell::           How to run one shell command and return.
* Interactive Shell::      Permanent shell taking input via Emacs.
* Shell Mode::             Special Emacs commands used with permanent shell.
* History: Shell History.  Repeating previous commands in a shell buffer.