Languguage OS 2/Languguage OS II Version 10-94 (Knowledge Media)(1994).ISO/gnu/elispman.lha/elispman/elisp-4

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This is Info file elisp, produced by Makeinfo-1.55 from the input file
elisp.texi.
   This is edition 2.0 of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual, for
Emacs Version 19.
   Published by the Free Software Foundation, 675 Massachusetts Avenue,
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
   Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
   Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.
   Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that
the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
permission notice identical to this one.
   Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a
translation approved by the Foundation.
File: elisp,  Node: Predicates on Numbers,  Next: Comparison of Numbers,  Prev: Float Basics,  Up: Numbers
Type Predicates for Numbers
===========================
   The functions in this section test whether the argument is a number
or whether it is a certain sort of number.  The functions `integerp'
and `floatp' can take any type of Lisp object as argument (the
predicates would not be of much use otherwise); but the `zerop'
predicate requires a number as its argument.  See also
`integer-or-marker-p' and `number-or-marker-p', in *Note Predicates on
Markers::.
 - Function: floatp OBJECT
     This predicate tests whether its argument is a floating point
     number and returns `t' if so, `nil' otherwise.
     `floatp' does not exist in Emacs versions 18 and earlier.
 - Function: integerp OBJECT
     This predicate tests whether its argument is an integer, and
     returns `t' if so, `nil' otherwise.
 - Function: numberp OBJECT
     This predicate tests whether its argument is a number (either
     integer or floating point), and returns `t' if so, `nil' otherwise.
 - Function: natnump OBJECT
     The `natnump' predicate (whose name comes from the phrase
     "natural-number-p") tests to see whether its argument is a
     nonnegative integer, and returns `t' if so, `nil' otherwise.  0 is
     considered non-negative.
     Markers are not converted to integers, hence `natnump' of a marker
     is always `nil'.
     People have pointed out that this function is misnamed, because
     the term "natural number" is usually understood as excluding zero.
     We are open to suggestions for a better name to use in a future
     version.
 - Function: zerop NUMBER
     This predicate tests whether its argument is zero, and returns `t'
     if so, `nil' otherwise.  The argument must be a number.
     These two forms are equivalent: `(zerop x) == (= x 0)'.
File: elisp,  Node: Comparison of Numbers,  Next: Numeric Conversions,  Prev: Predicates on Numbers,  Up: Numbers
Comparison of Numbers
=====================
   Floating point numbers in Emacs Lisp actually take up storage, and
there can be many distinct floating point number objects with the same
numeric value.  If you use `eq' to compare them, then you test whether
two values are the same *object*.  If you want to compare just the
numeric values, use `='.
   If you use `eq' to compare two integers, it always returns `t' if
they have the same value.  This is sometimes useful, because `eq'
accepts arguments of any type and never causes an error, whereas `='
signals an error if the arguments are not numbers or markers.  However,
it is a good idea to use `=' if you can, even for comparing integers,
just in case we change the representation of integers in a future Emacs
version.
   There is another wrinkle: because floating point arithmetic is not
exact, it is often a bad idea to check for equality of two floating
point values.  Usually it is better to test for approximate equality.
Here's a function to do this:
     (defvar fuzz-factor 1.0e-6)

     (defun approx-equal (x y)
       (< (/ (abs (- x y))
             (max (abs x) (abs y)))
          fuzz-factor))
     Common Lisp note: because of the way numbers are implemented in
     Common Lisp, you generally need to use ``='' to test for equality
     between numbers of any kind.
 - Function: = NUMBER-OR-MARKER1 NUMBER-OR-MARKER2
     This function tests whether its arguments are the same number, and
     returns `t' if so, `nil' otherwise.
 - Function: /= NUMBER-OR-MARKER1 NUMBER-OR-MARKER2
     This function tests whether its arguments are not the same number,
     and returns `t' if so, `nil' otherwise.
 - Function: < NUMBER-OR-MARKER1 NUMBER-OR-MARKER2
     This function tests whether its first argument is strictly less
     than its second argument.  It returns `t' if so, `nil' otherwise.
 - Function: <= NUMBER-OR-MARKER1 NUMBER-OR-MARKER2
     This function tests whether its first argument is less than or
     equal to its second argument.  It returns `t' if so, `nil'
     otherwise.
 - Function: > NUMBER-OR-MARKER1 NUMBER-OR-MARKER2
     This function tests whether its first argument is strictly greater
     than its second argument.  It returns `t' if so, `nil' otherwise.
 - Function: >= NUMBER-OR-MARKER1 NUMBER-OR-MARKER2
     This function tests whether its first argument is greater than or
     equal to its second argument.  It returns `t' if so, `nil'
     otherwise.
 - Function: max NUMBER-OR-MARKER &rest NUMBERS-OR-MARKERS
     This function returns the largest of its arguments.
          (max 20)
               => 20
          (max 1 2)
               => 2
          (max 1 3 2)
               => 3
 - Function: min NUMBER-OR-MARKER &rest NUMBERS-OR-MARKERS
     This function returns the smallest of its arguments.
File: elisp,  Node: Numeric Conversions,  Next: Arithmetic Operations,  Prev: Comparison of Numbers,  Up: Numbers
Numeric Conversions
===================
   To convert an integer to floating point, use the function `float'.
 - Function: float NUMBER
     This returns NUMBER converted to floating point.  If NUMBER is
     already a floating point number, `float' returns it unchanged.
   There are four functions to convert floating point numbers to
integers; they differ in how they round.  You can call these functions
with an integer argument also; if you do, they return it without change.
 - Function: truncate NUMBER
     This returns NUMBER, converted to an integer by rounding towards
     zero.
 - Function: floor NUMBER
     This returns NUMBER, converted to an integer by rounding downward
     (towards negative infinity).
 - Function: ceiling NUMBER
     This returns NUMBER, converted to an integer by rounding upward
     (towards positive infinity).
 - Function: round NUMBER
     This returns NUMBER, converted to an integer by rounding towards
     the nearest integer.
File: elisp,  Node: Arithmetic Operations,  Next: Bitwise Operations,  Prev: Numeric Conversions,  Up: Numbers
Arithmetic Operations
=====================
   Emacs Lisp provides the traditional four arithmetic operations:
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  A remainder
function supplements the (integer) division function.  The functions to
add or subtract 1 are provided because they are traditional in Lisp and
commonly used.
   All of these functions except `%' return a floating point value if
any argument is floating.
   It is important to note that in GNU Emacs Lisp, arithmetic functions
do not check for overflow.  Thus `(1+ 8388607)' may equal -8388608,
depending on your hardware.
 - Function: 1+ NUMBER-OR-MARKER
     This function returns NUMBER-OR-MARKER plus 1.  For example,
          (setq foo 4)
               => 4
          (1+ foo)
               => 5
     This function is not analogous to the C operator `++'--it does not
     increment a variable.  It just computes a sum.  Thus,
          foo
               => 4
     If you want to increment the variable, you must use `setq', like
     this:
          (setq foo (1+ foo))
               => 5
 - Function: 1- NUMBER-OR-MARKER
     This function returns NUMBER-OR-MARKER minus 1.
 - Function: abs NUMBER
     This returns the absolute value of NUMBER.
 - Function: + &rest NUMBERS-OR-MARKERS
     This function adds its arguments together.  When given no
     arguments, `+' returns 0.  It does not check for overflow.
          (+)
               => 0
          (+ 1)
               => 1
          (+ 1 2 3 4)
               => 10
 - Function: - &optional NUMBER-OR-MARKER &rest OTHER-NUMBERS-OR-MARKERS
     The `-' function serves two purposes: negation and subtraction.
     When `-' has a single argument, the value is the negative of the
     argument.  When there are multiple arguments, each of the
     OTHER-NUMBERS-OR-MARKERS is subtracted from NUMBER-OR-MARKER,
     cumulatively.  If there are no arguments, the result is 0.  This
     function does not check for overflow.
          (- 10 1 2 3 4)
               => 0
          (- 10)
               => -10
          (-)
               => 0
 - Function: * &rest NUMBERS-OR-MARKERS
     This function multiplies its arguments together, and returns the
     product.  When given no arguments, `*' returns 1.  It does not
     check for overflow.
          (*)
               => 1
          (* 1)
               => 1
          (* 1 2 3 4)
               => 24
 - Function: / DIVIDEND DIVISOR &rest DIVISORS
     This function divides DIVIDEND by DIVISORS and returns the
     quotient.  If there are additional arguments DIVISORS, then
     DIVIDEND is divided by each divisor in turn.  Each argument may be
     a number or a marker.
     If all the arguments are integers, then the result is an integer
     too.  This means the result has to be rounded.  On most machines,
     the result is rounded towards zero after each division, but some
     machines may round differently with negative arguments.  This is
     because the Lisp function `/' is implemented using the C division
     operator, which has the same possibility for machine-dependent
     rounding.  As a practical matter, all known machines round in the
     standard fashion.
     If you divide by 0, an `arith-error' error is signaled.  (*Note
     Errors::.)
          (/ 6 2)
               => 3
          (/ 5 2)
               => 2
          (/ 25 3 2)
               => 4
          (/ -17 6)
               => -2
     Since the division operator in Emacs Lisp is implemented using the
     division operator in C, the result of dividing negative numbers
     may in principle vary from machine to machine, depending on how
     they round the result.  Thus, the result of `(/ -17 6)' could be
     -3 on some machines.  In practice, nearly all machines round the
     quotient towards 0.
 - Function: % DIVIDEND DIVISOR
     This function returns the value of DIVIDEND modulo DIVISOR; in
     other words, the integer remainder after division of DIVIDEND by
     DIVISOR.  The sign of the result is the sign of DIVIDEND.  The
     sign of DIVISOR is ignored.  The arguments must be integers.
     For negative arguments, the value is in principle machine-dependent
     since the quotient is; but in practice, all known machines behave
     alike.
     An `arith-error' results if DIVISOR is 0.
          (% 9 4)
               => 1
          (% -9 4)
               => -1
          (% 9 -4)
               => 1
          (% -9 -4)
               => -1
     For any two numbers DIVIDEND and DIVISOR,
          (+ (% DIVIDEND DIVISOR)
             (* (/ DIVIDEND DIVISOR) DIVISOR))
     always equals DIVIDEND.
File: elisp,  Node: Bitwise Operations,  Next: Transcendental Functions,  Prev: Arithmetic Operations,  Up: Numbers
Bitwise Operations on Integers
==============================
   In a computer, an integer is represented as a binary number, a
sequence of "bits" (digits which are either zero or one).  A bitwise
operation acts on the individual bits of such a sequence.  For example,
"shifting" moves the whole sequence left or right one or more places,
reproducing the same pattern "moved over".
   The bitwise operations in Emacs Lisp apply only to integers.
 - Function: lsh INTEGER1 COUNT
     `lsh', which is an abbreviation for "logical shift", shifts the
     bits in INTEGER1 to the left COUNT places, or to the right if
     COUNT is negative.  If COUNT is negative, `lsh' shifts zeros into
     the most-significant bit, producing a positive result even if
     INTEGER1 is negative.  Contrast this with `ash', below.
     Thus, the decimal number 5 is the binary number 00000101.  Shifted
     once to the left, with a zero put in the one's place, the number
     becomes 00001010, decimal 10.
     Here are two examples of shifting the pattern of bits one place to
     the left.  Since the contents of the rightmost place has been
     moved one place to the left, a value has to be inserted into the
     rightmost place.  With `lsh', a zero is placed into the rightmost
     place.  (These examples show only the low-order eight bits of the
     binary pattern; the rest are all zero.)
          (lsh 5 1)
               => 10

          ;; Decimal 5 becomes decimal 10.
          00000101 => 00001010

          (lsh 7 1)
               => 14

          ;; Decimal 7 becomes decimal 14.
          00000111 => 00001110
     As the examples illustrate, shifting the pattern of bits one place
     to the left produces a number that is twice the value of the
     previous number.
     Note, however that functions do not check for overflow, and a
     returned value may be negative (and in any case, no more than a 24
     bit value) when an integer is sufficiently left shifted.
     For example, left shifting 8,388,607 produces -2:
          (lsh 8388607 1)          ; left shift
               => -2
     In binary, in the 24 bit implementation, the numbers looks like
     this:
          ;; Decimal 8,388,607
          0111 1111  1111 1111  1111 1111
     which becomes the following when left shifted:
          ;; Decimal -2
          1111 1111  1111 1111  1111 1110
     Shifting the pattern of bits two places to the left produces
     results like this (with 8-bit binary numbers):
          (lsh 3 2)
               => 12

          ;; Decimal 3 becomes decimal 12.
          00000011 => 00001100
     On the other hand, shifting the pattern of bits one place to the
     right looks like this:
          (lsh 6 -1)
               => 3

          ;; Decimal 6 becomes decimal 3.
          00000110 => 00000011

          (lsh 5 -1)
               => 2

          ;; Decimal 5 becomes decimal 2.
          00000101 => 00000010
     As the example illustrates, shifting the pattern of bits one place
     to the right divides the value of the binary number by two,
     rounding downward.
 - Function: ash INTEGER1 COUNT
     `ash' ("arithmetic shift") shifts the bits in INTEGER1 to the left
     COUNT places, or to the right if COUNT is negative.
     `ash' gives the same results as `lsh' except when INTEGER1 and
     COUNT are both negative.  In that case, `ash' puts a one in the
     leftmost position, while `lsh' puts a zero in the leftmost
     position.
     Thus, with `ash', shifting the pattern of bits one place to the
     right looks like this:
          (ash -6 -1)
               => -3

          ;; Decimal -6
          ;; becomes decimal -3.

          1111 1111  1111 1111  1111 1010
               =>
          1111 1111  1111 1111  1111 1101
     In contrast, shifting the pattern of bits one place to the right
     with `lsh' looks like this:
          (lsh -6 -1)
               => 8388605

          ;; Decimal -6
          ;; becomes decimal 8,388,605.

          1111 1111  1111 1111  1111 1010
               =>
          0111 1111  1111 1111  1111 1101
     In this case, the 1 in the leftmost position is shifted one place
     to the right, and a zero is shifted into the leftmost position.
     Here are other examples:
          ;               24-bit binary values

          (lsh 5 2)          ;   5  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0101
               => 20         ;  20  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0001 0100
          (ash 5 2)
               => 20
          (lsh -5 2)         ;  -5  =  1111 1111  1111 1111  1111 1011
               => -20        ; -20  =  1111 1111  1111 1111  1110 1100
          (ash -5 2)
               => -20
          (lsh 5 -2)         ;   5  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0101
               => 1          ;   1  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0001
          (ash 5 -2)
               => 1
          (lsh -5 -2)        ;  -5  =  1111 1111  1111 1111  1111 1011
               => 4194302    ;         0011 1111  1111 1111  1111 1110
          (ash -5 -2)        ;  -5  =  1111 1111  1111 1111  1111 1011
               => -2         ;  -2  =  1111 1111  1111 1111  1111 1110
 - Function: logand &rest INTS-OR-MARKERS
     This function returns the "logical and" of the arguments: the Nth
     bit is set in the result if, and only if, the Nth bit is set in
     all the arguments.  ("Set" means that the value of the bit is 1
     rather than 0.)
     For example, using 4-bit binary numbers, the "logical and" of 13
     and 12 is 12: 1101 combined with 1100 produces 1100.
     In both the binary numbers, the leftmost two bits are set (i.e.,
     they are 1's), so the leftmost two bits of the returned value are
     set.  However, for the rightmost two bits, each is zero in at
     least one of the arguments, so the rightmost two bits of the
     returned value are 0's.
     Therefore,
          (logand 13 12)
               => 12
     If `logand' is not passed any argument, it returns a value of -1.
     This number is an identity element for `logand' because its binary
     representation consists entirely of ones.  If `logand' is passed
     just one argument, it returns that argument.
          ;                24-bit binary values

          (logand 14 13)     ; 14  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1110
                             ; 13  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1101
               => 12         ; 12  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1100
          (logand 14 13 4)   ; 14  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1110
                             ; 13  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1101
                             ;  4  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0100
               => 4          ;  4  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0100
          (logand)
               => -1         ; -1  =  1111 1111  1111 1111  1111 1111
 - Function: logior &rest INTS-OR-MARKERS
     This function returns the "inclusive or" of its arguments: the Nth
     bit is set in the result if, and only if, the Nth bit is set in at
     least one of the arguments.  If there are no arguments, the result
     is zero, which is an identity element for this operation.  If
     `logior' is passed just one argument, it returns that argument.
          ;               24-bit binary values

          (logior 12 5)      ; 12  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1100
                             ;  5  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0101
               => 13         ; 13  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1101
          (logior 12 5 7)    ; 12  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1100
                             ;  5  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0101
                             ;  7  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0111
               => 15         ; 15  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1111
 - Function: logxor &rest INTS-OR-MARKERS
     This function returns the "exclusive or" of its arguments: the Nth
     bit is set in the result if, and only if, the Nth bit is set in an
     odd number of the arguments.  If there are no arguments, the
     result is 0.  If `logxor' is passed just one argument, it returns
     that argument.
          ;               24-bit binary values

          (logxor 12 5)      ; 12  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1100
                             ;  5  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0101
               => 9          ;  9  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1001
          (logxor 12 5 7)    ; 12  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1100
                             ;  5  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0101
                             ;  7  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0111
               => 14         ; 14  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 1110
 - Function: lognot INTEGER
     This function returns the logical complement of its argument: the
     Nth bit is one in the result if, and only if, the Nth bit is zero
     in INTEGER, and vice-versa.
          ;;  5  =  0000 0000  0000 0000  0000 0101
          ;; becomes
          ;; -6  =  1111 1111  1111 1111  1111 1010

          (lognot 5)
               => -6
File: elisp,  Node: Transcendental Functions,  Next: Random Numbers,  Prev: Bitwise Operations,  Up: Numbers
Transcendental Functions
========================
   These mathematical functions are available if floating point is
supported.  They allow integers as well as floating point numbers as
arguments.
 - Function: sin ARG
 - Function: cos ARG
 - Function: tan ARG
     These are the ordinary trigonometric functions, with argument
     measured in radians.
 - Function: asin ARG
     The value of `(asin ARG)' is a number between - pi / 2 and pi / 2
     (inclusive) whose sine is ARG; if, however, ARG is out of range
     (outside [-1, 1]), then the result is a NaN.
 - Function: acos ARG
     The value of `(acos ARG)' is a number between 0 and pi (inclusive)
     whose cosine is ARG; if, however, ARG is out of range (outside
     [-1, 1]), then the result is a NaN.
 - Function: atan ARG
     The value of `(atan ARG)' is a number between - pi / 2 and pi / 2
     (exclusive) whose tangent is ARG.
 - Function: exp ARG
     This is the exponential function; it returns e to the power ARG.
 - Function: log ARG &optional BASE
     This function returns the logarithm of ARG, with base BASE.  If
     you don't specify BASE, the base E is used.  If ARG is negative,
     the result is a NaN.
 - Function: log10 ARG
     This function returns the logarithm of ARG, with base 10.  If ARG
     is negative, the result is a NaN.
 - Function: expt X Y
     This function returns X raised to power Y.
 - Function: sqrt ARG
     This returns the square root of ARG.
File: elisp,  Node: Random Numbers,  Prev: Transcendental Functions,  Up: Numbers
Random Numbers
==============
   In a computer, a series of pseudo-random numbers is generated in a
deterministic fashion.  The numbers are not truly random, but they have
certain properties that mimic a random series.  For example, all
possible values occur equally often in a pseudo-random series.
   In Emacs, pseudo-random numbers are generated from a "seed" number.
Starting from any given seed, the `random' function always generates
the same sequence of numbers.  Emacs always starts with the same seed
value, so the sequence of values of `random' is actually the same in
each Emacs run!  For example, in one operating system, the first call
to `(random)' after you start Emacs always returns -1457731, and the
second one always returns -7692030.  This is helpful for debugging.
   If you want truly unpredictable random numbers, execute `(random
t)'.  This chooses a new seed based on the current time of day and on
Emacs' process ID number.
 - Function: random &optional LIMIT
     This function returns a pseudo-random integer.  When called more
     than once, it returns a series of pseudo-random integers.
     If LIMIT is `nil', then the value may in principle be any integer.
     If LIMIT is a positive integer, the value is chosen to be
     nonnegative and less than LIMIT (only in Emacs 19).
     If LIMIT is `t', it means to choose a new seed based on the
     current time of day and on Emacs's process ID number.
     On some machines, any integer representable in Lisp may be the
     result of `random'.  On other machines, the result can never be
     larger than a certain maximum or less than a certain (negative)
     minimum.
File: elisp,  Node: Strings and Characters,  Next: Lists,  Prev: Numbers,  Up: Top
Strings and Characters
**********************
   A string in Emacs Lisp is an array that contains an ordered sequence
of characters.  Strings are used as names of symbols, buffers, and
files, to send messages to users, to hold text being copied between
buffers, and for many other purposes.  Because strings are so
important, many functions are provided expressly for manipulating them.
Emacs Lisp programs use strings more often than individual characters.
* Menu:
* Intro to Strings::          Basic properties of strings and characters.
* Predicates for Strings::    Testing whether an object is a string or char.
* Creating Strings::          Functions to allocate new strings.
* Text Comparison::           Comparing characters or strings.
* String Conversion::         Converting characters or strings and vice versa.
* Formatting Strings::        `format': Emacs's analog of `printf'.
* Character Case::            Case conversion functions.
* Case Table::              Customizing case conversion.
   *Note Strings of Events::, for special considerations when using
strings of keyboard character events.
File: elisp,  Node: Intro to Strings,  Next: Predicates for Strings,  Up: Strings and Characters
Introduction to Strings and Characters
======================================
   Strings in Emacs Lisp are arrays that contain an ordered sequence of
characters.  Characters are represented in Emacs Lisp as integers;
whether an integer was intended as a character or not is determined only
by how it is used.  Thus, strings really contain integers.
   The length of a string (like any array) is fixed and independent of
the string contents, and cannot be altered.  Strings in Lisp are *not*
terminated by a distinguished character code.  (By contrast, strings in
C are terminated by a character with ASCII code 0.) This means that any
character, including the null character (ASCII code 0), is a valid
element of a string.
   Since strings are considered arrays, you can operate on them with the
general array functions.  (*Note Sequences Arrays Vectors::.)  For
example, you can access or change individual characters in a string
using the functions `aref' and `aset' (*note Array Functions::.).
   Each character in a string is stored in a single byte.  Therefore,
numbers not in the range 0 to 255 are truncated when stored into a
string.  This means that a string takes up much less memory than a
vector of the same length.
   Sometimes key sequences are represented as strings.  When a string is
a key sequence, string elements in the range 128 to 255 represent meta
characters (which are extremely large integers) rather than keyboard
events in the range 128 to 255.
   Strings cannot hold characters that have the hyper, super or alt
modifiers; they can hold ASCII control characters, but no others.  They
do not distinguish case in ASCII control characters.  *Note Character
Type::, for more information about representation of meta and other
modifiers for keyboard input characters.
   Like a buffer, a string can contain text properties for the
characters in it, as well as the characters themselves.  *Note Text
Properties::.
   *Note Text::, for information about functions that display strings or
copy them into buffers.  *Note Character Type::, and *Note String
Type::, for information about the syntax of characters and strings.
File: elisp,  Node: Predicates for Strings,  Next: Creating Strings,  Prev: Intro to Strings,  Up: Strings and Characters
The Predicates for Strings
==========================
   For more information about general sequence and array predicates,
see *Note Sequences Arrays Vectors::, and *Note Arrays::.
 - Function: stringp OBJECT
     This function returns `t' if OBJECT is a string, `nil' otherwise.
 - Function: char-or-string-p OBJECT
     This function returns `t' if OBJECT is a string or a character
     (i.e., an integer), `nil' otherwise.
File: elisp,  Node: Creating Strings,  Next: Text Comparison,  Prev: Predicates for Strings,  Up: Strings and Characters
Creating Strings
================
   The following functions create strings, either from scratch, or by
putting strings together, or by taking them apart.
 - Function: make-string COUNT CHARACTER
     This function returns a string made up of COUNT repetitions of
     CHARACTER.  If COUNT is negative, an error is signaled.
          (make-string 5 ?x)
               => "xxxxx"
          (make-string 0 ?x)
               => ""
     Other functions to compare with this one include `char-to-string'
     (*note String Conversion::.), `make-vector' (*note Vectors::.), and
     `make-list' (*note Building Lists::.).
 - Function: substring STRING START &optional END
     This function returns a new string which consists of those
     characters from STRING in the range from (and including) the
     character at the index START up to (but excluding) the character
     at the index END.  The first character is at index zero.
          (substring "abcdefg" 0 3)
               => "abc"
     Here the index for `a' is 0, the index for `b' is 1, and the index
     for `c' is 2.  Thus, three letters, `abc', are copied from the
     full string.  The index 3 marks the character position up to which
     the substring is copied.  The character whose index is 3 is
     actually the fourth character in the string.
     A negative number counts from the end of the string, so that -1
     signifies the index of the last character of the string.  For
     example:
          (substring "abcdefg" -3 -1)
               => "ef"
     In this example, the index for `e' is -3, the index for `f' is -2,
     and the index for `g' is -1.  Therefore, `e' and `f' are included,
     and `g' is excluded.
     When `nil' is used as an index, it falls after the last character
     in the string.  Thus:
          (substring "abcdefg" -3 nil)
               => "efg"
     Omitting the argument END is equivalent to specifying `nil'.  It
     follows that `(substring STRING 0)' returns a copy of all of
     STRING.
          (substring "abcdefg" 0)
               => "abcdefg"
     But we recommend `copy-sequence' for this purpose (*note Sequence
     Functions::.).
     A `wrong-type-argument' error is signaled if either START or END
     are non-integers.  An `args-out-of-range' error is signaled if
     START indicates a character following END, or if either integer is
     out of range for STRING.
     Contrast this function with `buffer-substring' (*note Buffer
     Contents::.), which returns a string containing a portion of the
     text in the current buffer.  The beginning of a string is at index
     0, but the beginning of a buffer is at index 1.
 - Function: concat &rest SEQUENCES
     This function returns a new string consisting of the characters in
     the arguments passed to it.  The arguments may be strings, lists
     of numbers, or vectors of numbers; they are not themselves
     changed.  If no arguments are passed to `concat', it returns an
     empty string.
          (concat "abc" "-def")
               => "abc-def"
          (concat "abc" (list 120 (+ 256 121)) [122])
               => "abcxyz"
          (concat "The " "quick brown " "fox.")
               => "The quick brown fox."
          (concat)
               => ""
     The second example above shows how characters stored in strings are
     taken modulo 256.  In other words, each character in the string is
     stored in one byte.
     The `concat' function always constructs a new string that is not
     `eq' to any existing string.
     When an argument is an integer (not a sequence of integers), it is
     converted to a string of digits making up the decimal printed
     representation of the integer.  This special case exists for
     compatibility with Mocklisp, and we don't recommend you take
     advantage of it.  If you want to convert an integer in this way,
     use `format' (*note Formatting Strings::.) or `int-to-string'
     (*note String Conversion::.).
          (concat 137)
               => "137"
          (concat 54 321)
               => "54321"
     For information about other concatenation functions, see the
     description of `mapconcat' in *Note Mapping Functions::, `vconcat'
     in *Note Vectors::, and `append' in *Note Building Lists::.
File: elisp,  Node: Text Comparison,  Next: String Conversion,  Prev: Creating Strings,  Up: Strings and Characters
Comparison of Characters and Strings
====================================
 - Function: char-equal CHARACTER1 CHARACTER2
     This function returns `t' if the arguments represent the same
     character, `nil' otherwise.  This function ignores differences in
     case if `case-fold-search' is non-`nil'.
          (char-equal ?x ?x)
               => t
          (char-to-string (+ 256 ?x))
               => "x"
          (char-equal ?x  (+ 256 ?x))
               => t
 - Function: string= STRING1 STRING2
     This function returns `t' if the characters of the two strings
     match exactly; case is significant.
          (string= "abc" "abc")
               => t
          (string= "abc" "ABC")
               => nil
          (string= "ab" "ABC")
               => nil
 - Function: string-equal STRING1 STRING2
     `string-equal' is another name for `string='.
 - Function: string< STRING1 STRING2
     This function compares two strings a character at a time.  First it
     scans both the strings at once to find the first pair of
     corresponding characters that do not match.  If the lesser
     character of those two is the character from STRING1, then STRING1
     is less, and this function returns `t'.  If the lesser character
     is the one from STRING2, then STRING1 is greater, and this
     function returns `nil'.  If the two strings match entirely, the
     value is `nil'.
     Pairs of characters are compared by their ASCII codes.  Keep in
     mind that lower case letters have higher numeric values in the
     ASCII character set than their upper case counterparts; numbers and
     many punctuation characters have a lower numeric value than upper
     case letters.
          (string< "abc" "abd")
               => t
          (string< "abd" "abc")
               => nil
          (string< "123" "abc")
               => t
     When the strings have different lengths, and they match up to the
     length of STRING1, then the result is `t'.  If they match up to
     the length of STRING2, the result is `nil'.  A string without any
     characters in it is the smallest possible string.
          (string< "" "abc")
               => t
          (string< "ab" "abc")
               => t
          (string< "abc" "")
               => nil
          (string< "abc" "ab")
               => nil
          (string< "" "")
               => nil
 - Function: string-lessp STRING1 STRING2
     `string-lessp' is another name for `string<'.
   See `compare-buffer-substrings' in *Note Comparing Text::, for a way
to compare text in buffers.
File: elisp,  Node: String Conversion,  Next: Formatting Strings,  Prev: Text Comparison,  Up: Strings and Characters
Conversion of Characters and Strings
====================================
   Characters and strings may be converted into each other and into
integers.  `format' and `prin1-to-string' (*note Output Functions::.)
may also be used to convert Lisp objects into strings.
`read-from-string' (*note Input Functions::.) may be used to "convert"
a string representation of a Lisp object into an object.
   *Note Documentation::, for a description of functions which return a
string representing the Emacs standard notation of the argument
character (`single-key-description' and `text-char-description').
These functions are used primarily for printing help messages.
 - Function: char-to-string CHARACTER
     This function returns a new string with a length of one character.
     The value of CHARACTER, modulo 256, is used to initialize the
     element of the string.
     This function is similar to `make-string' with an integer argument
     of 1.  (*Note Creating Strings::.)  This conversion can also be
     done with `format' using the `%c' format specification.  (*Note
     Formatting Strings::.)
          (char-to-string ?x)
               => "x"
          (char-to-string (+ 256 ?x))
               => "x"
          (make-string 1 ?x)
               => "x"
 - Function: string-to-char STRING
     This function returns the first character in STRING.  If the
     string is empty, the function returns 0.  The value is also 0 when
     the first character of STRING is the null character, ASCII code 0.
          (string-to-char "ABC")
               => 65
          (string-to-char "xyz")
               => 120
          (string-to-char "")
               => 0
          (string-to-char "\000")
               => 0
     This function may be eliminated in the future if it does not seem
     useful enough to retain.
 - Function: number-to-string NUMBER
 - Function: int-to-string NUMBER
     This function returns a string consisting of the printed
     representation of NUMBER, which may be an integer or a floating
     point number.  The value starts with a sign if the argument is
     negative.
          (int-to-string 256)
               => "256"
          (int-to-string -23)
               => "-23"
          (int-to-string -23.5)
               => "-23.5"
     See also the function `format' in *Note Formatting Strings::.
 - Function: string-to-number STRING
 - Function: string-to-int STRING
     This function returns the integer value of the characters in
     STRING, read as a number in base ten.  It skips spaces at the
     beginning of STRING, then reads as much of STRING as it can
     interpret as a number.  (On some systems it ignores other
     whitespace at the beginning, not just spaces.)  If the first
     character after the ignored whitespace is not a digit or a minus
     sign, this function returns 0.
          (string-to-number "256")
               => 256
          (string-to-number "25 is a perfect square.")
               => 25
          (string-to-number "X256")
               => 0
          (string-to-number "-4.5")
               => -4.5
File: elisp,  Node: Formatting Strings,  Next: Character Case,  Prev: String Conversion,  Up: Strings and Characters
Formatting Strings
==================
   "Formatting" means constructing a string by substitution of computed
values at various places in a constant string.  This string controls
how the other values are printed as well as where they appear; it is
called a "format string".
   Formatting is often useful for computing messages to be displayed.
In fact, the functions `message' and `error' provide the same
formatting feature described here; they differ from `format' only in
how they use the result of formatting.
 - Function: format STRING &rest OBJECTS
     This function returns a new string that is made by copying STRING
     and then replacing any format specification in the copy with
     encodings of the corresponding OBJECTS.  The arguments OBJECTS are
     the computed values to be formatted.
   A format specification is a sequence of characters beginning with a
`%'.  Thus, if there is a `%d' in STRING, the `format' function
replaces it with the printed representation of one of the values to be
formatted (one of the arguments OBJECTS).  For example:
     (format "The value of fill-column is %d." fill-column)
          => "The value of fill-column is 72."
   If STRING contains more than one format specification, the format
specifications are matched with successive values from OBJECTS.  Thus,
the first format specification in STRING is matched with the first such
value, the second format specification is matched with the second such
value, and so on.  Any extra format specifications (those for which
there are no corresponding values) cause unpredictable behavior.  Any
extra values to be formatted will be ignored.
   Certain format specifications require values of particular types.
However, no error is signaled if the value actually supplied fails to
have the expected type.  Instead, the output is likely to be
meaningless.
   Here is a table of the characters that can follow `%' to make up a
format specification:
     Replace the specification with the printed representation of the
     object, made without quoting.  Thus, strings are represented by
     their contents alone, with no `"' characters, and symbols appear
     without `\' characters.
     If there is no corresponding object, the empty string is used.
     Replace the specification with the printed representation of the
     object, made with quoting.  Thus, strings are enclosed in `"'
     characters, and `\' characters appear where necessary before
     special characters.
     If there is no corresponding object, the empty string is used.
     Replace the specification with the base-eight representation of an
     integer.
     Replace the specification with the base-ten representation of an
     integer.
     Replace the specification with the base-sixteen representation of
     an integer.
     Replace the specification with the character which is the value
     given.
     Replace the specification with the exponential notation for a
     floating point number.
     Replace the specification with the decimal-point notation for a
     floating point number.
     Replace the specification with notation for a floating point
     number, using either exponential notation or decimal-point
     notation whichever is shorter.
     A single `%' is placed in the string.  This format specification is
     unusual in that it does not use a value.  For example, `(format "%%
     %d" 30)' returns `"% 30"'.
   Any other format character results in an `Invalid format operation'
error.
   Here are several examples:
     (format "The name of this buffer is %s." (buffer-name))
          => "The name of this buffer is strings.texi."

     (format "The buffer object prints as %s." (current-buffer))
          => "The buffer object prints as #<buffer strings.texi>."

     (format "The octal value of 18 is %o,
              and the hex value is %x." 18 18)
          => "The octal value of 18 is 22,
              and the hex value is 12."
   All the specification characters allow an optional numeric prefix
between the `%' and the character.  The optional numeric prefix defines
the minimum width for the object.  If the printed representation of the
object contains fewer characters than this, then it is padded.  The
padding is on the left if the prefix is positive (or starts with zero)
and on the right if the prefix is negative.  The padding character is
normally a space, but if the numeric prefix starts with a zero, zeros
are used for padding.
     (format "%06d will be padded on the left with zeros" 123)
          => "000123 will be padded on the left with zeros"

     (format "%-6d will be padded on the right" 123)
          => "123    will be padded on the right"
   `format' never truncates an object's printed representation, no
matter what width you specify.  Thus, you can use a numeric prefix to
specify a minimum spacing between columns with no risk of losing
information.
   In the following three examples, `%7s' specifies a minimum width of
7.  In the first case, the string inserted in place of `%7s' has only 3
letters, so 4 blank spaces are inserted for padding.  In the second
case, the string `"specification"' is 13 letters wide but is not
truncated.  In the third case, the padding is on the right.
     (format "The word `%7s' actually has %d letters in it." "foo"
             (length "foo"))
          => "The word `    foo' actually has 3 letters in it."
     (format "The word `%7s' actually has %d letters in it."
             "specification"
             (length "specification"))
          => "The word `specification' actually has 13 letters in it."
     (format "The word `%-7s' actually has %d letters in it." "foo"
             (length "foo"))
          => "The word `foo    ' actually has 3 letters in it."
File: elisp,  Node: Character Case,  Next: Case Table,  Prev: Formatting Strings,  Up: Strings and Characters
Character Case
==============
   The character case functions change the case of single characters or
of the contents of strings.  The functions convert only alphabetic
characters (the letters `A' through `Z' and `a' through `z'); other
characters are not altered.  The functions do not modify the strings
that are passed to them as arguments.
   The examples below use the characters `X' and `x' which have ASCII
codes 88 and 120 respectively.
 - Function: downcase STRING-OR-CHAR
     This function converts a character or a string to lower case.
     When the argument to `downcase' is a string, the function creates
     and returns a new string in which each letter in the argument that
     is upper case is converted to lower case.  When the argument to
     `downcase' is a character, `downcase' returns the corresponding
     lower case character.  This value is an integer.  If the original
     character is lower case, or is not a letter, then the value equals
     the original character.
          (downcase "The cat in the hat")
               => "the cat in the hat"

          (downcase ?X)
               => 120
 - Function: upcase STRING-OR-CHAR
     This function converts a character or a string to upper case.
     When the argument to `upcase' is a string, the function creates
     and returns a new string in which each letter in the argument that
     is lower case is converted to upper case.
     When the argument to `upcase' is a character, `upcase' returns the
     corresponding upper case character.  This value is an integer.  If
     the original character is upper case, or is not a letter, then the
     value equals the original character.
          (upcase "The cat in the hat")
               => "THE CAT IN THE HAT"

          (upcase ?x)
               => 88
 - Function: capitalize STRING-OR-CHAR
     This function capitalizes strings or characters.  If
     STRING-OR-CHAR is a string, the function creates and returns a new
     string, whose contents are a copy of STRING-OR-CHAR in which each
     word has been capitalized.  This means that the first character of
     each word is converted to upper case, and the rest are converted
     to lower case.
     The definition of a word is any sequence of consecutive characters
     that are assigned to the word constituent category in the current
     syntax table (*Note Syntax Class Table::).
     When the argument to `capitalize' is a character, `capitalize' has
     the same result as `upcase'.
          (capitalize "The cat in the hat")
               => "The Cat In The Hat"

          (capitalize "THE 77TH-HATTED CAT")
               => "The 77th-Hatted Cat"

          (capitalize ?x)
               => 88