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GNU Info File | 1995-09-11 | 47.4 KB | 1,187 lines

This is Info file ../info/emacs, produced by Makeinfo-1.55 from the input file emacs.texi. File: emacs, Node: Several Buffers, Next: Indirect Buffers, Prev: Kill Buffer, Up: Buffers Operating on Several Buffers ============================ The "buffer-menu" facility is like a "Dired for buffers"; it allows you to request operations on various Emacs buffers by editing an Emacs buffer containing a list of them. You can save buffers, kill them (here called "deleting" them, for consistency with Dired), or display them. `M-x buffer-menu' Begin editing a buffer listing all Emacs buffers. The command `buffer-menu' writes a list of all Emacs buffers into the buffer `*Buffer List*', and selects that buffer in Buffer Menu mode. The buffer is read-only, and can be changed only through the special commands described in this section. The usual Emacs cursor motion commands can be used in the `*Buffer List*' buffer. The following commands apply to the buffer described on the current line. `d' Request to delete (kill) the buffer, then move down. The request shows as a `D' on the line, before the buffer name. Requested deletions take place when you type the `x' command. `C-d' Like `d' but move up afterwards instead of down. `s' Request to save the buffer. The request shows as an `S' on the line. Requested saves take place when you type the `x' command. You may request both saving and deletion for the same buffer. `x' Perform previously requested deletions and saves. `u' Remove any request made for the current line, and move down. `DEL' Move to previous line and remove any request made for that line. The `d', `C-d', `s' and `u' commands to add or remove flags also move down (or up) one line. They accept a numeric argument as a repeat count. These commands operate immediately on the buffer listed on the current line: `~' Mark the buffer "unmodified". The command `~' does this immediately when you type it. `%' Toggle the buffer's read-only flag. The command `%' does this immediately when you type it. `t' Visit the buffer as a tags table. *Note Select Tags Table::. There are also commands to select another buffer or buffers: `q' Quit the buffer menu--immediately display the most recent formerly visible buffer in its place. `RET' `f' Immediately select this line's buffer in place of the `*Buffer List*' buffer. `o' Immediately select this line's buffer in another window as if by `C-x 4 b', leaving `*Buffer List*' visible. `C-o' Immediately display this line's buffer in another window, but don't select the window. `1' Immediately select this line's buffer in a full-screen window. `2' Immediately set up two windows, with this line's buffer in one, and the previously selected buffer (aside from the buffer `*Buffer List*') in the other. `m' Mark this line's buffer to be displayed in another window if you exit with the `v' command. The request shows as a `>' at the beginning of the line. (A single buffer may not have both a delete request and a display request.) `v' Immediately select this line's buffer, and also display in other windows any buffers previously marked with the `m' command. If you have not marked any buffers, this command is equivalent to `1'. All that `buffer-menu' does directly is create and switch to a suitable buffer, and turn on Buffer Menu mode. Everything else described above is implemented by the special commands provided in Buffer Menu mode. One consequence of this is that you can switch from the `*Buffer List*' buffer to another Emacs buffer, and edit there. You can reselect the `*Buffer List*' buffer later, to perform the operations already requested, or you can kill it, or pay no further attention to it. The only difference between `buffer-menu' and `list-buffers' is that `buffer-menu' switches to the `*Buffer List*' buffer in the selected window; `list-buffers' displays it in another window. If you run `list-buffers' (that is, type `C-x C-b') and select the buffer list manually, you can use all of the commands described here. The buffer `*Buffer List*' is not updated automatically when buffers are created and killed; its contents are just text. If you have created, deleted or renamed buffers, the way to update `*Buffer List*' to show what you have done is to type `g' (`revert-buffer') or repeat the `buffer-menu' command. File: emacs, Node: Indirect Buffers, Prev: Several Buffers, Up: Buffers Indirect Buffers ================ An "indirect buffer" shares the text of some other buffer, which is called the "base buffer" of the indirect buffer. In some ways it is the analogue, for buffers, of a symbolic link between files. `M-x make-indirect-buffer BASE-BUFFER RET INDIRECT-NAME RET' Create an indirect buffer named INDIRECT-NAME whose base buffer is BASE-BUFFER. The text of the indirect buffer is always identical to the text of its base buffer; changes made by editing either one are visible immediately in the other. But in all other respects, the indirect buffer and its base buffer are completely separate. They have different names, different values of point, different narrowing, different markers, different major modes, and different local variables. An indirect buffer cannot visit a file, but its base buffer can. If you try to save the indirect buffer, that actually works by saving the base buffer. Killing the base buffer effectively kills the indirect buffer, but killing an indirect buffer has no effect on its base buffer. One way to use indirect buffers is to display multiple views of an outline. *Note Outline Views::. File: emacs, Node: Windows, Next: Frames, Prev: Buffers, Up: Top Multiple Windows **************** Emacs can split a frame into two or many windows. Multiple windows can display parts of different buffers, or different parts of one buffer. Multiple frames always imply multiple windows, because each frame has its own set of windows. Each window belongs to one and only one frame. * Menu: * Basic Window:: Introduction to Emacs windows. * Split Window:: New windows are made by splitting existing windows. * Other Window:: Moving to another window or doing something to it. * Pop Up Window:: Finding a file or buffer in another window. * Force Same Window:: Forcing certain buffers to appear in the selected window rather than in another window. * Change Window:: Deleting windows and changing their sizes. File: emacs, Node: Basic Window, Next: Split Window, Up: Windows Concepts of Emacs Windows ========================= Each Emacs window displays one Emacs buffer at any time. A single buffer may appear in more than one window; if it does, any changes in its text are displayed in all the windows where it appears. But the windows showing the same buffer can show different parts of it, because each window has its own value of point. At any time, one of the windows is the "selected window"; the buffer this window is displaying is the current buffer. The terminal's cursor shows the location of point in this window. Each other window has a location of point as well, but since the terminal has only one cursor there is no way to show where those locations are. When multiple frames are visible in X Windows, each frame has a cursor which appears in the frame's selected window. The cursor in the selected frame is solid; the cursor in other frames is a hollow box. Commands to move point affect the value of point for the selected Emacs window only. They do not change the value of point in any other Emacs window, even one showing the same buffer. The same is true for commands such as `C-x b' to change the selected buffer in the selected window; they do not affect other windows at all. However, there are other commands such as `C-x 4 b' that select a different window and switch buffers in it. Also, all commands that display information in a window, including (for example) `C-h f' (`describe-function') and `C-x C-b' (`list-buffers'), work by switching buffers in a nonselected window without affecting the selected window. When multiple windows show the same buffer, they can have different regions, because they can have different values of point. This means that in Transient Mark mode, each window highlights a different part of the buffer. The part that is highlighted in the selected window is the region that editing commands use. Each window has its own mode line, which displays the buffer name, modification status and major and minor modes of the buffer that is displayed in the window. *Note Mode Line::, for full details on the mode line. File: emacs, Node: Split Window, Next: Other Window, Prev: Basic Window, Up: Windows Splitting Windows ================= `C-x 2' Split the selected window into two windows, one above the other (`split-window-vertically'). `C-x 3' Split the selected window into two windows positioned side by side (`split-window-horizontally'). `C-Mouse-2' In the mode line or scroll bar of a window, split that window. The command `C-x 2' (`split-window-vertically') breaks the selected window into two windows, one above the other. Both windows start out displaying the same buffer, with the same value of point. By default the two windows each get half the height of the window that was split; a numeric argument specifies how many lines to give to the top window. `C-x 3' (`split-window-horizontally') breaks the selected window into two side-by-side windows. A numeric argument specifies how many columns to give the one on the left. A line of vertical bars separates the two windows. Windows that are not the full width of the screen have mode lines, but they are truncated; also, they do not always appear in inverse video, because the Emacs display routines have not been taught how to display a region of inverse video that is only part of a line on the screen. You can split a window horizontally or vertically by clicking `C-Mouse-2' in the mode line or the scroll bar. The line of splitting goes through the place where you click: if you click on the mode line, the new scroll bar goes above the spot; if you click in the scroll bar, the mode line of the split window is side by side with your click. When a window is less than the full width, text lines too long to fit are frequent. Continuing all those lines might be confusing. The variable `truncate-partial-width-windows' can be set non-`nil' to force truncation in all windows less than the full width of the screen, independent of the buffer being displayed and its value for `truncate-lines'. *Note Continuation Lines::. Horizontal scrolling is often used in side-by-side windows. *Note Display::. If `split-window-keep-point' is non-nil, `C-x 2' tries to avoid shifting any text on the screen by putting point in whichever window happens to contain the screen line the cursor is already on. The default is that `split-window-keep-point' is non-nil on slow terminals. File: emacs, Node: Other Window, Next: Pop Up Window, Prev: Split Window, Up: Windows Using Other Windows =================== `C-x o' Select another window (`other-window'). That is `o', not zero. `C-M-v' Scroll the next window (`scroll-other-window'). `M-x compare-windows' Find next place where the text in the selected window does not match the text in the next window. `Mouse-1' `Mouse-1', in a window's mode line, selects that window but does not move point in it (`mouse-select-region'). To select a different window, click with `Mouse-1' on its mode line. With the keyboard, you can switch windows by typing `C-x o' (`other-window'). That is an `o', for `other', not a zero. When there are more than two windows, this command moves through all the windows in a cyclic order, generally top to bottom and left to right. After the rightmost and bottommost window, it goes back to the one at the upper left corner. A numeric argument means to move several steps in the cyclic order of windows. A negative argument moves around the cycle in the opposite order. When the minibuffer is active, the minibuffer is the last window in the cycle; you can switch from the minibuffer window to one of the other windows, and later switch back and finish supplying the minibuffer argument that is requested. *Note Minibuffer Edit::. The usual scrolling commands (*note Display::.) apply to the selected window only, but there is one command to scroll the next window. `C-M-v' (`scroll-other-window') scrolls the window that `C-x o' would select. It takes arguments, positive and negative, like `C-v'. (In the minibuffer, `C-M-v' scrolls the window that contains the minibuffer help display, if any, rather than the next window in the standard cyclic order.) The command `M-x compare-windows' lets you compare two files or buffers visible in two windows, by moving through them to the next mismatch. *Note Comparing Files::, for details. File: emacs, Node: Pop Up Window, Next: Force Same Window, Prev: Other Window, Up: Windows Displaying in Another Window ============================ `C-x 4' is a prefix key for commands that select another window (splitting the window if there is only one) and select a buffer in that window. Different `C-x 4' commands have different ways of finding the buffer to select. `C-x 4 b BUFNAME RET' Select buffer BUFNAME in another window. This runs `switch-to-buffer-other-window'. `C-x 4 C-o BUFNAME RET' Display buffer BUFNAME in another window, but don't select that buffer or that window. This runs `display-buffer'. `C-x 4 f FILENAME RET' Visit file FILENAME and select its buffer in another window. This runs `find-file-other-window'. *Note Visiting::. `C-x 4 d DIRECTORY RET' Select a Dired buffer for directory DIRECTORY in another window. This runs `dired-other-window'. *Note Dired::. `C-x 4 m' Start composing a mail message in another window. This runs `mail-other-window'; its same-window analogue is `C-x m' (*note Sending Mail::.). `C-x 4 .' Find a tag in the current tags table, in another window. This runs `find-tag-other-window', the multiple-window variant of `M-.' (*note Tags::.). `C-x 4 r FILENAME RET' Visit file FILENAME read-only, and select its buffer in another window. This runs `find-file-read-only-other-window'. *Note Visiting::. File: emacs, Node: Force Same Window, Next: Change Window, Prev: Pop Up Window, Up: Windows Forcing Display in the Same Window ================================== Certain Emacs commands switch to a specific buffer with special contents. For example, `M-x shell' switches to a buffer named `*Shell*'. By convention, all these commands are written to pop up the buffer in a separate window. But you can specify that certain of these buffers should appear in the selected window. If you add a buffer name to the list `same-window-buffer-names', the effect is that such commands display that particular buffer by switching to it in the selected window. For example, if you add the element `"*grep*"' to the list, the `grep' command will display its output buffer in the selected window. The default value of `same-window-buffer-names' is not `nil'. It specifies the buffers `*info*', `*mail*' and `*shell*'. This is why `M-x shell' normally switches to the `*shell*' buffer in the selected window. If you delete this element from the value of `same-window-buffer-names', the behavior of `M-x shell' will change--it will pop up the buffer in another window instead. You can specify these buffers more generally with the variable `same-window-regexps'. Set it to a list of regular expressions; then any buffer whose name matches one of those regular expressions is displayed by switching to it in the selected window. (Once again, this applies only to buffers that normally get displayed for you in a separate window.) The default value of this variable specifies Telnet and rlogin buffers. An analogous feature lets you specify buffers which should be displayed in their own individual frames. *Note Special Buffer Frames::. File: emacs, Node: Change Window, Prev: Force Same Window, Up: Windows Deleting and Rearranging Windows ================================ `C-x 0' Delete the selected window (`delete-window'). That is a zero. `C-x 1' Delete all windows in the selected frame except the selected window (`delete-other-windows'). `C-x ^' Make selected window taller (`enlarge-window'). `C-x }' Make selected window wider (`enlarge-window-horizontally'). `Drag-Mouse-1' Dragging a window's mode line up or down with `Mouse-1' changes window heights. `Mouse-2' `Mouse-2' in a window's mode line deletes all other windows in the frame (`mouse-delete-other-windows'). `Mouse-3' `Mouse-3' in a window's mode line deletes that window (`mouse-delete-window'). To delete a window, type `C-x 0' (`delete-window'). (That is a zero.) The space occupied by the deleted window is given to an adjacent window (but not the minibuffer window, even if that is active at the time). Once a window is deleted, its attributes are forgotten; only restoring a window configuration can bring it back. Deleting the window has no effect on the buffer it used to display; the buffer continues to exist, and you can select it in any window with `C-x b'. `C-x 1' (`delete-other-windows') is more powerful than `C-x 0'; it deletes all the windows except the selected one (and the minibuffer); the selected window expands to use the whole frame except for the echo area. You can also delete a window by clicking on its mode line with `Mouse-2', and expand a window to fill its frame by clicking on its mode line with `Mouse-3'. The easiest way to adjust window heights is with a mouse. If you press `Mouse-1' on a mode line, you can drag that mode line up or down, changing the heights of the windows above and below it. To readjust the division of space among vertically adjacent windows, use `C-x ^' (`enlarge-window'). It makes the currently selected window get one line bigger, or as many lines as is specified with a numeric argument. With a negative argument, it makes the selected window smaller. `C-x }' (`enlarge-window-horizontally') makes the selected window wider by the specified number of columns. The extra screen space given to a window comes from one of its neighbors, if that is possible. If this makes any window too small, it is deleted and its space is given to an adjacent window. The minimum size is specified by the variables `window-min-height' and `window-min-width'. *Note Minibuffer Edit::, for information about the Resize-Minibuffer mode, which automatically changes the size of the minibuffer window to fit the text in the minibuffer. File: emacs, Node: Frames, Next: Major Modes, Prev: Windows, Up: Top Frames and X Windows ******************** When using the X Window System, you can create multiple windows at the X level in a single Emacs session. Each X window that belongs to Emacs displays a "frame" which can contain one or several Emacs windows. A frame initially contains a single general-purpose Emacs window which you can subdivide vertically or horizontally into smaller windows. A frame normally contains its own echo area and minibuffer, but you can make frames that don't have these--they use the echo area and minibuffer of another frame. Editing you do in one frame also affects the other frames. For instance, if you put text in the kill ring in one frame, you can yank it in another frame. If you exit Emacs through `C-x C-c' in one frame, it terminates all the frames. To delete just one frame, use `C-x 5 0'. To avoid confusion, we reserve the word "window" for the subdivisions that Emacs implements, and never use it to refer to a frame. * Menu: * Mouse Commands:: Moving, cutting, and pasting, with the mouse. * Secondary Selection::Cutting without altering point and mark. * Mouse References:: Using the mouse to select an item from a list. * Menu Mouse Clicks:: Mouse clicks that bring up menus. * Mode Line Mouse:: Mouse clicks on the mode line. * Creating Frames:: Creating additional Emacs frames with various contents. * Multiple Displays:: How one Emacs job can talk to several displays. * Special Buffer Frames:: You can make certain buffers have their own frames. * Frame Parameters:: Changing the colors and other modes of frames. * Scroll Bars:: How to enable and disable scroll bars; how to use them. * Menu Bars:: Enabling and disabling the menu bar. * Faces:: How to change the display style using faces. * Modifying Faces:: How to change what a particular face looks like. * Misc X:: Iconifying and deleting frames. Region highlighting. File: emacs, Node: Mouse Commands, Next: Secondary Selection, Up: Frames Mouse Commands for Editing ========================== The mouse commands for selecting and copying a region are mostly compatible with the `xterm' program. You can use the same mouse commands for copying between Emacs and other X client programs. `Mouse-1' Move point to where you click (`mouse-set-point'). This is normally the left button. `Drag-Mouse-1' Set the region to the text you select by dragging, and copy it to the kill ring (`mouse-set-region'). You can specify both ends of the region with this single command. If you move the mouse off the top or bottom of the window while dragging, the window scrolls at a steady rate until you move the mouse back into the window. This way, you can select regions that don't fit entirely on the screen. `Mouse-2' Yank the last killed text, where you click (`mouse-yank-at-click'). This is normally the middle button. `Mouse-3' This command, `mouse-save-then-kill', has several functions depending on where you click and the status of the region. The most basic case is when you click `Mouse-1' in one place and then `Mouse-3' in another. This selects the text between those two positions as the region. It also copies the new region to the kill ring, so that you can copy it to someplace else. If you click `Mouse-1', scroll with the scroll bar, and then click `Mouse-3', it remembers where point was before scrolling (where you put it with `Mouse-1'), and uses that position as the other end of the region. This is so that you can select a region that doesn't fit entirely on the screen. More generally, if you do not have a highlighted region, `Mouse-3' selects the text between point and the click position as the region. It does this by setting the mark where point was, and moving point to where you click. If you have a highlighted region, or if the region was set just before by dragging button 1, `Mouse-3' adjusts the nearer end of the region by moving it to where you click. The adjusted region's text also replaces the old region's text in the kill ring. If you originally specified the region using a double or triple `Mouse-1', so that the region is defined to consist of entire words or lines, then adjusting the region with `Mouse-3' also proceeds by entire words or lines. If you use `Mouse-3' a second time consecutively, at the same place, that kills the region already selected. `Double-Mouse-1' This key sets the region around the word which you click on. `Double-Drag-Mouse-1' This key selects a region made up of the words that you drag across. `Triple-Mouse-1' This key sets the region around the line which you click on. `Triple-Drag-Mouse-1' This key selects a region made up of the lines that you drag across. The simplest way to kill text with the mouse is to press `Mouse-1' at one end, then press `Mouse-3' twice at the other end. *Note Killing::. To copy the text into the kill ring without deleting it from the buffer, press `Mouse-3' just once--or just drag across the text with `Mouse-1'. Then you can copy it elsewhere by yanking it. To yank the killed or copied text somewhere else, move the mouse there and press `Mouse-2'. *Note Yanking::. However, if `mouse-yank-at-point' is non-`nil', `Mouse-2' yanks at point. Then it does not matter precisely where you click; all that matters is which window you click on. The default value is `nil'. This variable also effects yanking the secondary selection. To copy text to another X window, kill it or save it in the kill ring. Under X, this also sets the "primary selection". Then use the "paste" or "yank" command of the program operating the other window to insert the text from the selection. To copy text from another X window, use the "cut" or "copy" command of the program operating the other window, to select the text you want. Then yank it in Emacs with `C-y' or `Mouse-2'. When Emacs puts text into the kill ring, or rotates text to the front of the kill ring, it sets the "primary selection" in the X server. This is how other X clients can access the text. Emacs also stores the text in the cut buffer, but only if the text is short enough (`x-cut-buffer-max' specifies the maximum number of characters); putting long strings in the cut buffer can be slow. The commands to yank the first entry in the kill ring actually check first for a primary selection in another program; after that, they check for text in the cut buffer. If neither of those sources provides text to yank, the kill ring contents are used. File: emacs, Node: Secondary Selection, Next: Mouse References, Prev: Mouse Commands, Up: Frames Secondary Selection =================== The "secondary selection" is another way of selecting text using X. It does not use point or the mark, so you can use it to kill text without setting point or the mark. `M-Drag-Mouse-1' Set the secondary selection, with one end at the place where you press down the button, and the other end at the place where you release it (`mouse-set-secondary'). The highlighting appears and changes as you drag. If you move the mouse off the top or bottom of the window while dragging, the window scrolls at a steady rate until you move the mouse back into the window. This way, you can mark regions that don't fit entirely on the screen. `M-Mouse-1' Set one endpoint for the "secondary selection" (`mouse-start-secondary'). `M-Mouse-3' Make a secondary selection, using the place specified with `M-Mouse-1' as the other end (`mouse-secondary-save-then-kill'). A second click at the same place kills the secondary selection just made. `M-Mouse-2' Insert the secondary selection where you click (`mouse-kill-secondary'). This places point at the end of the yanked text. Double or triple clicking of `M-Mouse-1' operates on words and lines, much like `Mouse-1'. If `mouse-yank-at-point' is non-`nil', `M-Mouse-2' yanks at point. Then it does not matter precisely where you click; all that matters is which window you click on. *Note Mouse Commands::. File: emacs, Node: Mouse References, Next: Menu Mouse Clicks, Prev: Secondary Selection, Up: Frames Following References with the Mouse =================================== Some Emacs buffers display lists of various sorts. These include lists of files, of buffers, of possible completions, of matches for a pattern, and so on. Since yanking text into these buffers is not very useful, most of them define `Mouse-2' specially, as a command to use or view the item you click on. For example, if you click `Mouse-2' on a file name in a Dired buffer, you visit the that file. If you click `Mouse-2' on an error message in the `*Compilation*' buffer, you go to the source code for that error message. If you click `Mouse-2' on a completion in the `*Completions*' buffer, you choose that completion. You can usually tell when `Mouse-2' has this special sort of meaning because the sensitive text highlights when you move the mouse over it. File: emacs, Node: Menu Mouse Clicks, Next: Mode Line Mouse, Prev: Mouse References, Up: Frames Mouse Clicks for Menus ====================== Mouse clicks modified with the CONTROL bring up menus. `C-Mouse-1' This menu is for specifying the frame's default font. `C-Mouse-2' This menu is for specifying faces and other text properties for editing formatted text. *Note Formatted Text::. `C-Mouse-3' This menu is mode-specific. For most modes, this menu has the same items as all the mode-specific menu bar menus put together. Some modes may specify a different menu for this button.(1) ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) Some systems use `Mouse-3' for a mode-specific menu. We took a survey of users, and found they preferred to keep `Mouse-3' for selecting and killing regions. Hence the decision to use `C-Mouse-3' for this menu. File: emacs, Node: Mode Line Mouse, Next: Creating Frames, Prev: Menu Mouse Clicks, Up: Frames Mode Line Mouse Commands ======================== You can use mouse clicks on window mode lines to select and manipulate windows. `Mouse-1' `Mouse-1' on a mode line selects the window above. By dragging `Mouse-1' on the mode line, you can move it, thus changing the height of the windows above and below. `Mouse-2' `Mouse-2' on a mode line expands that window to fill its frame. `Mouse-3' `Mouse-3' on a mode line deletes the window above. `C-Mouse-2' `C-Mouse-2' on a mode line splits the window above horizontally, above the place in the mode line where you click. `C-Mouse-2' on a scroll bar splits the corresponding window vertically. *Note Split Window::. File: emacs, Node: Creating Frames, Next: Multiple Displays, Prev: Mode Line Mouse, Up: Frames Creating Frames =============== The prefix key `C-x 5' is analogous to `C-x 4', with parallel subcommands. The difference is that `C-x 5' commands create a new frame rather than just a new window in the selected frame (*Note Pop Up Window::). If an existing visible or iconified frame already displays the requested material, these commands use the existing frame, after raising or deiconifying as necessary. The various `C-x 5' commands differ in how they find or create the buffer to select: `C-x 5 2' Create a new frame (`make-frame'). `C-x 5 b BUFNAME RET' Select buffer BUFNAME in another window. This runs `switch-to-buffer-other-frame'. `C-x 5 f FILENAME RET' Visit file FILENAME and select its buffer in another frame. This runs `find-file-other-frame'. *Note Visiting::. `C-x 5 d DIRECTORY RET' Select a Dired buffer for directory DIRECTORY in another frame. This runs `dired-other-frame'. *Note Dired::. `C-x 5 m' Start composing a mail message in another frame. This runs `mail-other-frame'. It is the other-frame variant of `C-x m'. *Note Sending Mail::. `C-x 5 .' Find a tag in the current tag table in another frame. This runs `find-tag-other-frame', the multiple-frame variant of `M-.'. *Note Tags::. `C-x 5 r FILENAME RET' Visit file FILENAME read-only, and select its buffer in another frame. This runs `find-file-read-only-other-frame'. *Note Visiting::. You can control the appearance of new frames you create by setting the frame parameters in `default-frame-alist'. You can use the variable `initial-frame-alist' to specify parameters that affect only the initial frame. *Note Initial Parameters: (elisp)Initial Parameters, for more information. File: emacs, Node: Multiple Displays, Next: Special Buffer Frames, Prev: Creating Frames, Up: Frames Multiple Displays ================= A single Emacs can talk to more than one X Windows display. Initially, Emacs uses just one display--the one specified with the `DISPLAY' environment variable or with the `--display' option (*note Initial Options::.). To connect to another display, use the command `make-frame-on-display': `M-x make-frame-on-display RET DISPLAY RET' Create a new frame on display DISPLAY. A single X server can handle more than one screen. When you open frames on two screens belonging to one server, Emacs knows they share a single keyboard, and it treats all the commands arriving from these screens as a single stream of input. When you open frames on different X servers, Emacs makes a separate input stream for each server. This way, two users can type simultaneously on the two displays, and Emacs will not garble their input. Each server also has its own selected frame. The commands you enter with a particular X server apply to that server's selected frame. Despite these features, people using the same Emacs job from different displays can still interfere with each other if they are not careful. For example, if any one types `C-x C-c', that exits the Emacs job for all of them! File: emacs, Node: Special Buffer Frames, Next: Frame Parameters, Prev: Multiple Displays, Up: Frames Special Buffer Frames ===================== You can make certain chosen buffers, for which Emacs normally creates a second window when you have just one window, appear in special frames of their own. To do this, set the variable `special-display-buffer-names' to a list of buffer names; any buffer whose name is in that list automatically gets a special frame, when an Emacs command wants to display it "in another window." For example, if you set the variable this way, (setq special-display-buffer-names '("*Completions*" "*grep*" "*tex-shell*")) then completion lists, `grep' output and the TeX mode shell buffer get individual frames of their own. These frames, and the windows in them, are never automatically split or reused for any other buffers. They continue to show the buffers they were created for, unless you alter them by hand. Killing the special buffer deletes its frame automatically. More generally, you can set `special-display-regexps' to a list of regular expressions; then a buffer gets its own frame if its name matches any of those regular expressions. (Once again, this applies only to buffers that normally get displayed for you in a separate window.) The variable `special-display-frame-alist' specifies the frame parameters for these frames. It has a default value, so you don't need to set it. For those who know Lisp, an element of `special-display-buffer-names' or `special-display-regexps' can also be a list. Then the first element is the buffer name or regular expression; the rest of the list specifies how to create the frame. It can be an association list specifying frame parameter values; these values take precedence over parameter values specified in `special-display-frame-alist'. Alternatively, it can have this form: (FUNCTION ARGS...) where FUNCTION is a symbol. Then the frame is constructed by calling FUNCTION; its first argument is the buffer, and its remaining arguments are ARGS. File: emacs, Node: Frame Parameters, Next: Scroll Bars, Prev: Special Buffer Frames, Up: Frames Setting Frame Parameters ======================== This section describes commands for altering the display style and window management behavior of the selected frame. `M-x set-foreground-color RET COLOR RET' Specify color COLOR for the foreground of the selected frame. `M-x set-background-color RET COLOR RET' Specify color COLOR for the background of the selected frame. This changes the foreground color of the `modeline' face also, so that it remains in inverse video compared with the default. `M-x set-cursor-color RET COLOR RET' Specify color COLOR for the cursor of the selected frame. `M-x set-mouse-color RET COLOR RET' Specify color COLOR for the mouse cursor when it is over the selected frame. `M-x set-border-color RET COLOR RET' Specify color COLOR for the border of the selected frame. `M-x list-colors-display' Display the defined color names and show what the colors look like. This command is somewhat slow. `M-x auto-raise-mode' Toggle whether or not the selected frame should auto-raise. Auto-raise means that every time you move the mouse onto the frame, it raises the frame. Note that this auto-raise feature is implemented by Emacs itself. Some window managers also implement auto-raise. If you enable auto-raise for Emacs frames in your X window manager, it should work, but it is beyond Emacs's control and therefore `auto-raise-mode' has no effect on it. `M-x auto-lower-mode' Toggle whether or not the selected frame should auto-lower. Auto-lower means that every time you move the mouse off of the frame, the frame moves to the bottom of the stack of X windows. The command `auto-lower-mode' has no effect on auto-lower implemented by the X window manager. To control that, you must use the appropriate window manager features. `M-x set-default-font RET FONT RET' Specify font FONT as the default for the selected frame. *Note Font X::, for ways to list the available fonts on your system. You can also set a frame's default font through a pop-up menu. Press `C-Mouse-1' to activate this menu. In Emacs versions that use an X toolkit, the color-setting and font-setting functions don't affect menus and the menu bar, since they are displayed by their own widget classes. To change the appearance of the menus and menu bar, you must use X resources (*note Resources X::.). *Note Colors X::, regarding colors. *Note Font X::, regarding choice of font. For information on frame parameters and customization, see *Note Frame Parameters: (elisp)Frame Parameters. File: emacs, Node: Scroll Bars, Next: Menu Bars, Prev: Frame Parameters, Up: Frames Scroll Bars =========== When using X, Emacs normally makes a "scroll bar" at the right of each Emacs window. The scroll bar runs the height of the window, and shows a moving rectangular inner box which represents the portion of the buffer currently displayed. The entire height of the scroll bar represents the entire length of the buffer. You can use `Mouse-2' (normally, the middle button) in the scroll bar to move or drag the inner box up and down. If you move it to the top of the scroll bar, you see the top of the buffer. If you move it to the bottom of the scroll bar, you see the bottom of the buffer. The left and right buttons in the scroll bar scroll by controlled increments. `Mouse-1' (normally, the left button) moves the line at the level where you click up to the top of the window. `Mouse-3' (normally, the right button) moves the line at the top of the window down to the level where you click. By clicking repeatedly in the same place, you can scroll by the same distance over and over. Aside from scrolling, you can also click `C-Mouse-2' in the scroll bar to split a window vertically. The split occurs on the line where you click. You can enable or disable Scroll Bar mode with the command `M-x scroll-bar-mode'. With no argument, it toggles the use of scroll bars. With an argument, it turns use of scroll bars on if and only if the argument is positive. This command applies to all frames, including frames yet to be created. You can use the X resource `verticalScrollBars' to control the initial setting of Scroll Bar mode. *Note Resources X::. To enable or disable scroll bars for just the selected frame, use the `M-x toggle-scroll-bar' command. File: emacs, Node: Menu Bars, Next: Faces, Prev: Scroll Bars, Up: Frames Menu Bars ========= By default, each Emacs frame has a menu bar at the top which you can use to perform certain common operations. There's no need to describe them in detail here, as you can more easily see for yourself; also, we may change them and add to them in subsequent Emacs versions. Each of the operations in the menu bar is bound to an ordinary Emacs command which you can invoke equally well with `M-x' or with its own key bindings. The menu lists one equivalent key binding (if the command has any) at the right margin. To see the command's name and documentation, type `C-h k' and then select the menu bar item you are interested in. You can turn display of menu bars on or off with `M-x menu-bar-mode'. With no argument, this command toggles Menu Bar mode, a minor mode. With an argument, the command turns Menu Bar mode on if the argument is positive, off if the argument is not positive. You can use the X resource `menuBarLines' to control the initial setting of Menu Bar mode. *Note Resources X::. File: emacs, Node: Faces, Next: Modifying Faces, Prev: Menu Bars, Up: Frames Using Multiple Typefaces ======================== When using Emacs with X, you can set up multiple styles of displaying characters. The aspects of style that you can control are the type font, the foreground color, the background color, and whether to underline. Emacs 19.29 does not support faces on MS-DOS, but future versions may support them partially (*note MS-DOS::.). The way you control display style is by defining named "faces". Each face can specify a type font, a foreground color, a background color, and an underline flag; but it does not have to specify all of them. The style of display used for a given character in the text is determined by combining several faces. Any aspect of the display style that isn't specified by overlays or text properties comes from the frame itself. Enriched mode, the mode for editing formatted text, includes several commands and menus for specifying faces. *Note Format Faces::, for how to specify the font for text in the buffer. *Note Format Colors::, for how to specify the foreground and background color. To see what faces are currently defined, and what they look like, type `M-x list-faces-display'. It's possible for a given face to look different in different frames; this command shows the appearance in the frame in which you type it. Here's a list of the standardly defined faces: `default' This face is used for ordinary text that doesn't specify any other face. `modeline' This face is used for mode lines. By default, it's set up as the inverse of the default face. *Note Display Vars::. `highlight' This face is used for highlighting portions of text, in various modes. `region' This face is used for displaying a selected region (when Transient Mark mode is enabled--see below). `secondary-selection' This face is used for displaying a secondary selection (*note Secondary Selection::.). `bold' This face uses a bold variant of the default font, if it has one. `italic' This face uses an italic variant of the default font, if it has one. `bold-italic' This face uses a bold italic variant of the default font, if it has one. `underline' This face underlines text. When Transient Mark mode is enabled, the text of the region is highlighted when the mark is active. This uses the face named `region'; you can control the style of highlighting by changing the style of this face (*note Modifying Faces::.). *Note Transient Mark::, for more information about Transient Mark mode and activation and deactivation of the mark. One easy way to use faces is to turn on Font-Lock mode. This minor mode, which is always local to a particular buffer, arranges to choose faces according to the syntax of the text you are editing. It can recognize comments and strings in most languages; in several languages, it can also recognize and properly highlight various other important constructs--for example, names of functions being defined. Font-Lock mode is a minor mode. The command `M-x font-lock-mode' turns the mode on or off. The function `turn-on-font-lock' unconditionally enables Font-Lock mode. This is useful in mode-hook functions. For example, to enable Font-Lock mode whenever you edit a C file, you can do this: (add-hook 'c-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock) To get the full benefit of Font-Lock mode, you need to choose a default font which has bold, italic, and bold-italic variants; or else you need to have a color or grayscale screen. The variable `font-lock-display-type' specifies whether Font-Lock mode should use font styles, colors, or shades of gray to distinguish the various kinds of text. Emacs chooses the default value according to the characteristics of your display. File: emacs, Node: Modifying Faces, Next: Misc X, Prev: Faces, Up: Frames Modifying Faces =============== Here are the commands for changing the font of a face: `M-x set-face-font RET FACE RET FONT RET' Change face FACE to use font FONT. *Note Font X::, for more information about font naming under X. `M-x make-face-bold RET FACE RET' Convert face FACE to use a bold version of its current font. `M-x make-face-italic RET FACE RET' Convert face FACE to use a italic version of its current font. `M-x make-face-bold-italic RET FACE RET' Convert face FACE to use a bold-italic version of its current font. `M-x make-face-unbold RET FACE RET' Convert face FACE to use a non-bold version of its current font. `M-x make-face-unitalic RET FACE RET' Convert face FACE to use a non-italic version of its current font. Here are the commands for setting the colors and underline flag of a face: `M-x set-face-foreground RET FACE RET COLOR RET' Use color COLOR for the foreground of characters in face FACE. `M-x set-face-background RET FACE RET COLOR RET' Use color COLOR for the background of characters in face FACE. On a black-and-white display, the colors you can use for the background are `black', `white', `gray', `gray1' and `gray3'. Emacs supports the gray colors by using background stipple patterns instead of a color. `M-x set-face-stipple RET FACE RET PATTERN RET' Use stipple pattern PATTERN for the background of characters in face FACE. `M-x list-colors-display' Display the defined color names and show what the colors look like. `M-x set-face-underline-p RET FACE RET FLAG RET' Specify whether to underline characters in face FACE. `M-x invert-face RET FACE RET' Swap the foreground and background colors of face FACE. `M-x modify-face RET FACE RET ATTRIBUTES...' Change various attributes of face FACE. This command prompts for all the attribute of the face, one attribute at a time. For the color and stipple attributes, the attribute's current value is the default--type just RET if you don't want to change that attribute. Type `none' if you want to clear out the attribute. You can also use X resources to specify attributes of particular faces. *Note Resources X::. File: emacs, Node: Misc X, Prev: Modifying Faces, Up: Frames Miscellaneous X Window Features =============================== The following commands let you create, delete and operate on frames: `C-z' To iconify the selected Emacs frame, type `C-z' (`iconify-or-deiconify-frame'). The normal meaning of `C-z', to suspend Emacs, is not useful under a window system, so it has a different binding in that case. If you type this command on an Emacs frame's icon, it deiconifies the frame. `C-x 5 0' To delete the selected frame, type `C-x 5 0' (`delete-frame'). This is not allowed if there is only one frame. `M-x transient-mark-mode' Under X Windows, when Transient Mark mode is enabled, Emacs highlights the region when the mark is active. This feature is the main motive for using Transient Mark mode. To toggle the state of this mode, use the command `M-x transient-mark-mode'. *Note Mark::.