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Info file elisp, produced by Makeinfo, -*- Text -*- from input file elisp.texi. This file documents GNU Emacs Lisp. This is edition 1.03 of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual, for Emacs Version 18. Published by the Free Software Foundation, 675 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA Copyright (C) 1990 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: Combining Conditions, Next: Iteration, Prev: Conditionals, Up: Control Structures Constructs for Combining Conditions =================================== This section describes three constructs that are often used together with `if' and `cond' to express complicated conditions. The constructs `and' and `or' can also be used individually as kinds of multiple conditional constructs. * Function: not CONDITION This function tests for the falsehood of CONDITION. It returns `t' if CONDITION is `nil', and `nil' otherwise. The function `not' is identical to `null', and we recommend using `null' if you are testing for an empty list. * Special Form: and CONDITIONS... The `and' special form tests whether all the CONDITIONS are true. It works by evaluating the CONDITIONS one by one in the order written. If any of the CONDITIONS evaluates to `nil', then the result of the `and' must be `nil' regardless of the remaining CONDITIONS; so the remaining CONDITIONS are ignored and the `and' returns right away. If all the CONDITIONS turn out non-`nil', then the value of the last of them becomes the value of the `and' form. Here is an example. The first condition returns the integer 1, which is not `nil'. Similarly, the second condition returns the integer 2, which is not `nil'. The third condition is `nil', so the remaining condition is never evaluated. (and (print 1) (print 2) nil (print 3)) -| 1 -| 2 => nil Here is a more realistic example of using `and': (if (and (consp foo) (eq (car foo) 'x)) (message "foo is a list starting with x")) Note that `(car foo)' is not executed if `(consp foo)' returns `nil', thus avoiding an error. `and' can be expressed in terms of either `if' or `cond'. For example: (and ARG1 ARG2 ARG3) == (if ARG1 (if ARG2 ARG3)) == (cond (ARG1 (cond (ARG2 ARG3)))) * Special Form: or CONDITIONS... The `or' special form tests whether at least one of the CONDITIONS is true. It works by evaluating all the CONDITIONS one by one in the order written. If any of the CONDITIONS evaluates to a non-`nil' value, then the result of the `or' must be non-`nil'; so the remaining CONDITIONS are ignored and the `or' returns right away. The value it returns is the non-`nil' value of the condition just evaluated. If all the CONDITIONS turn out `nil', then the `or' expression returns `nil'. For example, this expression tests whether `x' is either 0 or `nil': (or (eq x nil) (= x 0)) Like the `and' construct, `or' can be written in terms of `cond'. For example: (or ARG1 ARG2 ARG3) == (cond (ARG1) (ARG2) (ARG3)) You could almost write `or' in terms of `if', but not quite: (if ARG1 ARG1 (if ARG2 ARG2 ARG3)) This is not completely equivalent because it can evaluate ARG1 or ARG2 twice. By contrast, `(or ARG1 ARG2 ARG3)' never evaluates any argument more than once. File: elisp, Node: Iteration, Next: Nonlocal Exits, Prev: Combining Conditions, Up: Control Structures Iteration ========= Iteration means executing part of a program repetitively. For example, you might want to repeat some expressions once for each element of a list, or once for each integer from 0 to N. You can do this in Emacs Lisp with the special form `while': * Special Form: while CONDITION FORMS... `while' first evaluates CONDITION. If the result is non-`nil', it evaluates FORMS in textual order. Then it reevaluates CONDITION, and if the result is non-`nil', it evaluates FORMS again. This process repeats until CONDITION evaluates to `nil'. There is no limit on the number of iterations that may occur. The loop will continue until either CONDITION evaluates to `nil' or until an error or `throw' jumps out of it (*note Nonlocal Exits::.). The value of a `while' form is always `nil'. (setq num 0) => 0 (while (< num 4) (princ (format "Iteration %d." num)) (setq num (1+ num))) -| Iteration 0. -| Iteration 1. -| Iteration 2. -| Iteration 3. => nil If you would like to execute something on each iteration before the end-test, put it together with the end-test in a `progn' as the first argument of `while', as shown here: (while (progn (forward-line 1) (not (looking-at "^$")))) This moves forward one line and continues moving by lines until an empty line is reached. File: elisp, Node: Nonlocal Exits, Prev: Iteration, Up: Control Structures Nonlocal Exits ============== A "nonlocal exit" is a transfer of control from one point in a program to another remote point. Nonlocal exits can occur in Emacs Lisp as a result of errors; you can also use them under explicit control. * Menu: * Catch and Throw:: Nonlocal exits for the program's own purposes. * Examples of Catch:: Showing how such nonlocal exits can be written. * Errors:: How errors are signaled and handled. * Cleanups:: Arranging to run a cleanup form if an error happens. File: elisp, Node: Catch and Throw, Next: Examples of Catch, Prev: Nonlocal Exits, Up: Nonlocal Exits Explicit Nonlocal Exits: `catch' and `throw' -------------------------------------------- Most control constructs affect only the flow of control within the construct itself. The function `throw' is the sole exception: it performs a nonlocal exit on request. `throw' is used inside a `catch', and jumps back to that `catch'. For example: (catch 'foo (progn ... (throw 'foo t) ...)) The `throw' transfers control straight back to the corresponding `catch', which returns immediately. The code following the `throw' is not executed. The second argument of `throw' is used as the return value of the `catch'. The `throw' and the `catch' are matched through the first argument: `throw' searches for a `catch' whose first argument is `eq' to the one specified. Thus, in the above example, the `throw' specifies `foo', and the `catch' specifies the same symbol, so that `catch' is applicable. If there is more than one applicable `catch', the innermost one takes precedence. All Lisp constructs between the `catch' and the `throw', including function calls, are exited automatically along with the `catch'. When binding constructs such as `let' or function calls are exited in this way, the bindings are unbound, just as they are when the binding construct is exited normally (*note Local Variables::.). Likewise, the buffer and position saved by `save-excursion' (*note Excursions::.) are restored, and so is the narrowing status saved by `save-restriction' and the window selection saved by `save-window-excursion' (*note Window Configurations::.). Any cleanups established with the `unwind-protect' special form are executed if the `unwind-protect' is exited with a `throw'. The `throw' need not appear lexically within the `catch' that it jumps to. It can equally well be called from another function called within the `catch'. As long as the `throw' takes place chronologically after entry to the `catch', and chronologically before exit from it, it has access to that `catch'. This is why `throw' can be used in commands such as `exit-recursive-edit' which throw back to the editor command loop (*note Recursive Editing::.). Common Lisp note: most other versions of Lisp, including Common Lisp, have several ways of transferring control nonsequentially: `return', `return-from', and `go', for example. Emacs Lisp has only `throw'. * Special Form: catch TAG BODY... `catch' establishes a return point for the `throw' function. The return point is distinguished from other such return points by TAG, which may be any Lisp object. The argument TAG is evaluated normally before the return point is established. With the return point in effect, the forms of the BODY are evaluated in textual order. If the forms execute normally, without error or nonlocal exit, the value of the last body form is returned from the `catch'. If a `throw' is done within BODY specifying the same value TAG, the `catch' exits immediately; the value it returns is whatever was specified as the second argument of `throw'. * Function: throw TAG VALUE The purpose of `throw' is to return from a return point previously established with `catch'. The argument TAG is used to choose among the various existing return points; it must be `eq' to the value specified in the `catch'. If multiple return points match TAG, the innermost one is used. The argument VALUE is used as the value to return from that `catch'. If no return point is in effect with tag TAG, then a `no-catch' error is signaled with data `(TAG VALUE)'. File: elisp, Node: Examples of Catch, Next: Errors, Prev: Catch and Throw, Up: Nonlocal Exits Examples of `catch' and `throw' ------------------------------- One way to use `catch' and `throw' is to exit from a doubly nested loop. (In most languages, this would be done with a "go to".) Here we compute `(foo I J)' for I and J varying from 0 to 9: (defun search-foo () (catch 'loop (let ((i 0)) (while (< i 10) (let ((j 0)) (while (< j 10) (if (foo i j) (throw 'loop (list i j))) (setq j (1+ j)))) (setq i (1+ i)))))) If `foo' ever returns non-`nil', we stop immediately and return a list of I and J. If `foo' always returns `nil', the `catch' returns normally, and the value is `nil', since that is the result of the `while'. Here are two tricky examples, slightly different, showing two return points at once. First, two return points with the same tag, `hack': (defun catch2 (tag) (catch tag (throw 'hack 'yes))) => catch2 (catch 'hack (print (catch2 'hack)) 'no) -| yes => no Since both return points have tags that match the `throw', it goes to the inner one, the one established in `catch2'. Therefore, `catch2' returns normally with value `yes', and this value is printed. Finally the second body form in the outer `catch', which is `'no', is evaluated and returned from the outer `catch'. Now let's change the argument given to `catch2': (defun catch2 (tag) (catch tag (throw 'hack 'yes))) => catch2 (catch 'hack (print (catch2 'quux)) 'no) => yes We still have two return points, but this time only the outer one has the tag `hack'; the inner one has the tag `quux' instead. Therefore, the `throw' returns the value `yes' from the outer return point. The function `print' is never called, and the body-form `'no' is never evaluated. File: elisp, Node: Errors, Next: Cleanups, Prev: Examples of Catch, Up: Nonlocal Exits Errors ------ When Emacs Lisp attempts to evaluate a form that, for some reason, cannot be evaluated, it "signals" an "error". When an error is signaled, Emacs's default reaction is to print an error message and terminate execution of the current command. This is the right thing to do in most cases, such as if you type `C-f' at the end of the buffer. In complicated programs, simple termination may not be what you want. For example, the program may have made temporary changes in data structures, or created temporary buffers which should be deleted before the program is finished. In such cases, you would use `unwind-protect' to establish "cleanup expressions" to be evaluated in case of error. Occasionally, you may wish the program to continue execution despite an error in a subroutine. In these cases, you would use `condition-case' to establish "error handlers" to recover control in case of error. Resist the temptation to use error handling to transfer control from one part of the program to another; use `catch' and `throw'. *Note Catch and Throw::. * Menu: * Signaling Errors:: How to report an error. * Processing of Errors:: What Emacs does when you report an error. * Handling Errors:: How you can trap errors and continue execution. * Error Names:: How errors are classified for trapping them. File: elisp, Node: Signaling Errors, Next: Processing of Errors, Prev: Errors, Up: Errors How to Signal an Error ...................... Most errors are signaled "automatically" within Lisp primitives which you call for other purposes, such as if you try to take the CAR of an integer or move forward a character at the end of the buffer; you can also signal errors explicitly with the functions `error' and `signal'. * Function: error FORMAT-STRING &rest ARGS This function signals an error with an error message constructed by applying `format' (*note String Conversion::.) to FORMAT-STRING and ARGS. Typical uses of `error' is shown in the following examples: (error "You have committed an error. Try something else.") error--> You have committed an error. Try something else. (error "You have committed %d errors. You don't learn fast." 10) error--> You have committed 10 errors. You don't learn fast. `error' works by calling `signal' with two arguments: the error symbol `error', and a list containing the string returned by `format'. If you want to use a user-supplied string as an error message verbatim, don't just write `(error STRING)'. If STRING contains `%', it will be interpreted as a format specifier, with undesirable results. Instead, use `(error "%s" STRING)'. * Function: signal ERROR-SYMBOL DATA This function signals an error named by ERROR-SYMBOL. The argument DATA is a list of additional Lisp objects relevant to the circumstances of the error. The argument ERROR-SYMBOL must be an "error symbol"--a symbol that has an `error-conditions' property whose value is a list of condition names. This is how different sorts of errors are classified. The number and significance of the objects in DATA depends on ERROR-SYMBOL. For example, with a `wrong-type-arg' error, there are two objects in the list: a predicate which describes the type that was expected, and the object which failed to fit that type. *Note Error Names::, for a description of error symbols. Both ERROR-SYMBOL and DATA are available to any error handlers which handle the error: a list `(ERROR-SYMBOL . DATA)' is constructed to become the value of the local variable bound in the `condition-case' form (*note Handling Errors::.). If the error is not handled, both of them are used in printing the error message. (signal 'wrong-number-of-arguments '(x y)) error--> Wrong number of arguments: x, y (signal 'no-such-error '("My unknown error condition.")) error--> peculiar error: "My unknown error condition." Common Lisp note: Emacs Lisp has nothing like the Common Lisp concept of continuable errors. File: elisp, Node: Processing of Errors, Next: Handling Errors, Prev: Signaling Errors, Up: Errors How Emacs Processes Errors .......................... When an error is signaled, Emacs searches for an active "handler" for the error. A handler is a specially marked place in the Lisp code of the current function or any of the functions by which it was called. If an applicable handler exists, its code is executed, and control resumes following the handler. The handler executes in the environment of the `condition-case' which established it; all functions called within that `condition-case' have already been exited, and the handler cannot return to them. If no applicable handler is in effect in your program, the current command is terminated and control returns to the editor command loop, because the command loop has an implicit handler for all kinds of errors. The command loop's handler uses the error symbol and associated data to print an error message. When an error is not handled explicitly, it may cause the Lisp debugger to be called. The debugger is enabled if the variable `debug-on-error' (*note Error Debugging::.) is non-`nil'. Unlike error handlers, the debugger runs in the environment of the error, so that you can examine values of variables precisely as they were at the time of the error. File: elisp, Node: Handling Errors, Next: Error Names, Prev: Processing of Errors, Up: Errors Writing Code to Handle Errors ............................. The usual effect of signaling an error is to terminate the command that is running and return immediately to the Emacs editor command loop. You can arrange to trap errors occurring in a part of your program by establishing an "error handler" with the special form `condition-case'. A simple example looks like this: (condition-case nil (delete-file filename) (error nil)) This deletes the file named FILENAME, catching any error and returning `nil' if an error occurs. The second argument of `condition-case' is called the "protected form". (In the example above, the protected form is a call to `delete-file'.) The error handlers go into effect when this form begins execution and are deactivated when this form returns. They remain in effect for all the intervening time. In particular, they are in effect during the execution of subroutines called by this form, and their subroutines, and so on. This is a good thing, since, strictly speaking, errors can be signaled only by Lisp primitives (including `signal' and `error') called by the protected form, not by the protected form itself. The arguments after the protected form are handlers. Each handler lists one or more "condition names" (which are symbols) to specify which errors it will handle. The error symbol specified when an error is signaled also defines a list of condition names. A handler applies to an error if they have any condition names in common. In the example above, there is one handler, and it specifies one condition name, `error', which covers all errors. The search for an applicable handler checks all the established handlers starting with the most recently established one. Thus, if two nested `condition-case' forms try to handle the same error, the inner of the two will actually handle it. When an error is handled, control returns to the handler, unbinding all variable bindings made by binding constructs that are exited and executing the cleanups of all `unwind-protect' forms that are exited by doing so. Then the body of the handler is executed. After this, execution continues by returning from the `condition-case' form. Because the protected form is exited completely before execution of the handler, the handler cannot resume execution at the point of the error, nor can it examine variable bindings that were made within the protected form. All it can do is clean up and proceed. Error signaling and handling have some resemblance to `throw' and `catch', but they are entirely separate facilities. An error cannot be caught by a `catch', and a `throw' cannot be handled by an error handler (though if there is no `catch', `throw' will signal an error which can be handled). * Special Form: condition-case VAR PROTECTED-FORM HANDLERS... This special form establishes the error handlers HANDLERS around the execution of PROTECTED-FORM. If PROTECTED-FORM executes without error, the value it returns becomes the value of the `condition-case' form; in this case, the `condition-case' has no effect. The `condition-case' form makes a difference when an error occurs during PROTECTED-FORM. Each of the HANDLERS is a list of the form `(CONDITIONS BODY...)'. CONDITIONS is a condition name to be handled, or a list of condition names; BODY is one or more Lisp expressions to be executed when this handler handles an error. Each error that occurs has an "error symbol" which describes what kind of error it is. The `error-conditions' property of this symbol is a list of condition names (*note Error Names::.). Emacs searches all the active `condition-case' forms for a handler which specifies one or more of these names; the innermost matching `condition-case' handles the error. The handlers in this `condition-case' are tested in the order in which they appear. The body of the handler is then executed, and the `condition-case' returns normally, using the value of the last form in the body as the overall value. The argument VAR is a variable. `condition-case' does not bind this variable when executing the PROTECTED-FORM, only when it handles an error. At that time, VAR is bound locally to a list of the form `(ERROR-SYMBOL . DATA)', giving the particulars of the error. The handler can refer to this list to decide what to do. For example, if the error is for failure opening a file, the file name is the second element of DATA--the third element of VAR. If VAR is `nil', that means no variable is bound. Then the error symbol and associated data are not made available to the handler. Here is an example of using `condition-case' to handle the error that results from dividing by zero. The handler prints out a warning message and returns a very large number. (defun safe-divide (dividend divisor) (condition-case err ;; Protected form. (/ dividend divisor) ;; The handler. (arith-error ; Condition. (princ (format "Arithmetic error: %s" err)) 1000000))) => safe-divide (safe-divide 5 0) -| Arithmetic error: (arith-error) => 1000000 The handler specifies condition name `arith-error' so that it will handle only division-by-zero errors. Other kinds of errors will not be handled, at least not by this `condition-case'. Thus, (safe-divide nil 3) error--> Wrong type argument: integer-or-marker-p, nil Here is a `condition-case' that catches all kinds of errors, including those signaled with `error': (setq baz 34) => 34 (condition-case err (if (eq baz 35) t ;; This is a call to the function `error'. (error "Rats! The variable %s was %s, not 35." 'baz baz)) ;; This is the handler; it is not a form. (error (princ (format "The error was: %s" err)) 2)) -| The error was: (error "Rats! The variable baz was 34, not 35.") => 2 `condition-case' is often used to trap errors that are predictable, such as failure to open a file in a call to `insert-file-contents'. It is also used to trap errors that are totally unpredictable, such as when the program evaluates an expression read from the user. File: elisp, Node: Error Names, Prev: Handling Errors, Up: Errors Error Symbols and Condition Names ................................. When you signal an error, you specify an "error symbol" to specify the kind of error you have in mind. Each error has one and only one error symbol to categorize it. This is the finest classification of errors defined by the Lisp language. These narrow classifications are grouped into a hierarchy of wider classes called "error conditions", identified by "condition names". The narrowest such classes belong to the error symbols themselves: each error symbol is also a condition name. There are also condition names for more extensive classes, up to the condition name `error' which takes in all kinds of errors. Thus, each error has one or more condition names: `error', the error symbol if that is distinct from `error', and perhaps some intermediate classifications. In order for a symbol to be usable as an error symbol, it must have an `error-conditions' property which gives a list of condition names. This list defines the conditions which this kind of error belongs to. (The error symbol itself, and the symbol `error', should always be members of this list.) Thus, the hierarchy of condition names is defined by the `error-conditions' properties of the error symbols. In addition to the `error-conditions' list, the error symbol should have an `error-message' property whose value is a string to be printed when that error is signaled but not handled. If the `error-message' property exists, but is not a string, the error message `peculiar error' is used. Here is how we define a new error symbol, `new-error': (put 'new-error 'error-conditions '(error my-own-errors new-error)) => (error my-own-errors new-error) (put 'new-error 'error-message "A new error") => "A new error" This error has three condition names: `new-error', the narrowest classification; `my-own-errors', which we imagine is a wider classification; and `error', which is the widest of all. Naturally, Emacs will never signal a `new-error' on its own; only an explicit call to `signal' (*note Errors::.) in your code can do this: (signal 'new-error '(x y)) error--> A new error: x, y This error can be handled through any of the three condition names. This example handles `new-error' and any other errors in the class `my-own-errors': (condition-case foo (bar nil t) (my-own-errors nil)) The significant way that errors are classified is by their condition names--the names used to match errors with handlers. An error symbol serves only as a convenient way to specify the intended error message and list of condition names. If `signal' were given a list of condition names rather than one error symbol, that would be cumbersome. By contrast, using only error symbols without condition names would seriously decrease the power of `condition-case'. Condition names make it possible to categorize errors at various levels of generality when you write an error handler. Using error symbols alone would eliminate all but the narrowest level of classification. *Note Standard Errors::, for a list of all the standard error symbols and their conditions. File: elisp, Node: Cleanups, Prev: Errors, Up: Nonlocal Exits Cleaning up from Nonlocal Exits ------------------------------- The `unwind-protect' construct is essential whenever you temporarily put a data structure in an inconsistent state; it permits you to ensure the data are consistent in the event of an error. * Special Form: unwind-protect BODY CLEANUP-FORMS... `unwind-protect' executes the BODY with a guarantee that the CLEANUP-FORMS will be evaluated if control leaves BODY, no matter how that happens. The BODY may complete normally, or execute a `throw' out of the `unwind-protect', or cause an error; in all cases, the CLEANUP-FORMS will be evaluated. Only the BODY is actually protected by the `unwind-protect'. If any of the CLEANUP-FORMS themselves exit nonlocally (e.g., via a `throw' or an error), it is *not* guaranteed that the rest of them will be executed. If the failure of one of the CLEANUP-FORMS has the potential to cause trouble, then it should be protected by another `unwind-protect' around that form. The number of currently active `unwind-protect' forms counts, together with the number of local variable bindings, against the limit `max-specpdl-size' (*note Local Variables::.). For example, here we make an invisible buffer for temporary use, and make sure to kill it before finishing: (save-excursion (let ((buffer (get-buffer-create " *temp*"))) (set-buffer buffer) (unwind-protect BODY (kill-buffer buffer)))) You might think that we could just as well write `(kill-buffer (current-buffer))' and dispense with the variable `buffer'. However, the way shown above is safer, if BODY happens to get an error after switching to a different buffer! (Alternatively, you could write another `save-excursion' around the body, to ensure that the temporary buffer becomes current in time to kill it.) Here is an actual example taken from the file `ftp.el'. It creates a process (*note Processes::.) to try to establish a connection to a remote machine. As the function `ftp-login' is highly susceptible to numerous problems which the writer of the function cannot anticipate, it is protected with a form that guarantees deletion of the process in the event of failure. Otherwise, Emacs might fill up with useless subprocesses. (let ((win nil)) (unwind-protect (progn (setq process (ftp-setup-buffer host file)) (if (setq win (ftp-login process host user password)) (message "Logged in") (error "Ftp login failed"))) (or win (and process (delete-process process))))) This example actually has a small bug: if the user types `C-g' to quit, and the quit happens immediately after the function `ftp-setup-buffer' returns but before the variable `process' is set, the process will not be killed. There is no easy way to fix this bug, but at least it is very unlikely. File: elisp, Node: Variables, Next: Functions, Prev: Control Structures, Up: Top Variables ********* A "variable" is a name used in a program to stand for a value. Nearly all programming languages have variables of some sort. In the text for a Lisp program, variables are written using the syntax for symbols. In Lisp, unlike most programming languages, programs are represented primarily as Lisp objects and only secondarily as text. The Lisp objects used for variables are symbols: the symbol name is the variable name, and the variable's value is stored in the value cell of the symbol. The use of a symbol as a variable is independent of whether the same symbol has a function definition. *Note Symbol Components::. The textual form of a program is determined by its Lisp object representation; it is the read syntax for the Lisp object which constitutes the program. This is why a variable in a textual Lisp program is written as the read syntax for the symbol that represents the variable. * Menu: * Global Variables:: Variable values that exist permanently, everywhere. * Constant Variables:: Certain "variables" have values that never change. * Local Variables:: Variable values that exist only temporarily. * Void Variables:: Symbols that lack values. * Defining Variables:: A definition says a symbol is used as a variable. * Accessing Variables:: Examining values of variables whose names are known only at run time. * Setting Variables:: Storing new values in variables. * Variable Scoping:: How Lisp chooses among local and global values. * Buffer-Local Variables:: Variable values in effect only in one buffer. File: elisp, Node: Global Variables, Next: Constant Variables, Prev: Variables, Up: Variables Global Variables ================ The simplest way to use a variable is "globally". This means that the variable has just one value at a time, and this value is in effect (at least for the moment) throughout the Lisp system. The value remains in effect until you specify a new one. When a new value replaces the old one, no trace of the old value remains in the variable. You specify a value for a symbol with `setq'. For example, (setq x '(a b)) gives the variable `x' the value `(a b)'. Note that the first argument of `setq', the name of the variable, is not evaluated, but the second argument, the desired value, is evaluated normally. Once the variable has a value, you can refer to it by using the symbol by itself as an expression. Thus, x => (a b) assuming the `setq' form shown above has already been executed. If you do another `setq', the new value replaces the old one: x => (a b) (setq x 4) => 4 x => 4 File: elisp, Node: Constant Variables, Next: Local Variables, Prev: Global Variables, Up: Variables Variables that Never Change =========================== Emacs Lisp has two special symbols, `nil' and `t', that always evaluate to themselves. These symbols cannot be rebound, nor can their value cells be changed. An attempt to change the value of `nil' or `t' signals a `setting-constant' error. nil == 'nil => nil (setq nil 500) error--> Attempt to set constant symbol: nil File: elisp, Node: Local Variables, Next: Void Variables, Prev: Constant Variables, Up: Variables Local Variables =============== Global variables are given values that last until explicitly superseded with new values. Sometimes it is useful to create variable values that exist temporarily--only while within a certain part of the program. These values are called "local", and the variables so used are called "local variables". For example, when a function is called, its argument variables receive new local values which last until the function exits. Similarly, the `let' special form explicitly establishes new local values for specified variables; these last until exit from the `let' form. When a local value is established, the previous value (or lack of one) of the variable is saved away. When the life span of the local value is over, the previous value is restored. In the mean time, we say that the previous value is "shadowed" and "not visible". Both global and local values may be shadowed. If you set a variable (such as with `setq') while it is local, this replaces the local value; it does not alter the global value, or previous local values that are shadowed. To model this behavior, we speak of a "local binding" of the variable as well as a local value. The local binding is a conceptual place that holds a local value. Entry to a function, or a special form such as `let', creates the local binding; exit from the function or from the `let' removes the local binding. As long as the local binding lasts, the variable's value is stored within it. Use of `setq' or `set' while there is a local binding stores a different value into the local binding; it does not create a new binding. We also speak of the "global binding", which is where (conceptually) the global value is kept. A variable can have more than one local binding at a time (for example, if there are nested `let' forms that bind it). In such a case, the most recently created local binding that still exists is the "current binding" of the variable. (This is called "dynamic scoping"; see *Note Variable Scoping::.) If there are no local bindings, the variable's global binding is its current binding. We also call the current binding the "most-local existing binding", for emphasis. Ordinary evaluation of a symbol always returns the value of its current binding. The special forms `let' and `let*' exist to create local bindings. * Special Form: let (BINDINGS...) FORMS... This function binds variables according to BINDINGS and then evaluates all of the FORMS in textual order. The `let'-form returns the value of the last form in FORMS. Each of the BINDINGS is either (i) a symbol, in which case that symbol is bound to `nil'; or (ii) a list of the form `(SYMBOL VALUE-FORM)', in which case SYMBOL is bound to the result of evaluating VALUE-FORM. If VALUE-FORM is omitted, `nil' is used. All of the VALUE-FORMs in BINDINGS are evaluated in the order they appear and *before* any of the symbols are bound. Here is an example of this: `Z' is bound to the old value of `Y', which is 2, not the new value, 1. (setq Y 2) => 2 (let ((Y 1) (Z Y)) (list Y Z)) => (1 2) * Special Form: let* (BINDINGS...) FORMS... This special form is like `let', except that each symbol in BINDINGS is bound as soon as its new value is computed, before the computation of the values of the following local bindings. Therefore, an expression in BINDINGS may reasonably refer to the preceding symbols bound in this `let*' form. Compare the following example with the example above for `let'. (setq Y 2) => 2 (let* ((Y 1) (Z Y)) ; Use the just-established value of `Y'. (list Y Z)) => (1 1) Here is a complete list of the other facilities which create local bindings: * Function calls (*note Functions::.). * Macro calls (*note Macros::.). * `condition-case' (*note Errors::.). * Variable: max-specpdl-size This variable defines the limit on the number of local variable bindings and `unwind-protect' cleanups (*note Nonlocal Exits::.) that are allowed before signaling an error (with data `"Variable binding depth exceeds max-specpdl-size"'). This limit, with the associated error when it is exceeded, is one way that Lisp avoids infinite recursion on an ill-defined function. The default value is 600. File: elisp, Node: Void Variables, Next: Defining Variables, Prev: Local Variables, Up: Variables When a Variable is "Void" ========================= If you have never given a symbol any value as a global variable, we say that that symbol's global value is "void". In other words, the symbol's value cell does not have any Lisp object in it. If you try to evaluate the symbol, you get a `void-variable' error rather than a value. Note that a value of `nil' is not the same as void. The symbol `nil' is a Lisp object and can be the value of a variable just as any other object can be; but it is *a value*. A void variable does not have any value. After you have given a variable a value, you can make it void once more using `makunbound'. * Function: makunbound SYMBOL This function makes the current binding of SYMBOL void. This causes any future attempt to use this symbol as a variable to signal the error `void-variable', unless or until you set it again. `makunbound' returns SYMBOL. (makunbound 'x) ; Make the global value of `x' void. => x x error--> Symbol's value as variable is void: x If SYMBOL is locally bound, `makunbound' affects the most local existing binding. This is the only way a symbol can have a void local binding, since all the constructs that create local bindings create them with values. In this case, the voidness lasts at most as long as the binding does; when the binding is removed due to exit from the construct that made it, the previous or global binding is reexposed as usual, and the variable is no longer void unless the newly reexposed binding was void all along. (setq x 1) ; Put a value in the global binding. => 1 (let ((x 2)) ; Locally bind it. (makunbound 'x) ; Void the local binding. x) error--> Symbol's value as variable is void: x x ; The global binding is unchanged. => 1 (let ((x 2)) ; Locally bind it. (let ((x 3)) ; And again. (makunbound 'x) ; Void the innermost-local binding. x)) ; And refer: it's void. error--> Symbol's value as variable is void: x (let ((x 2)) (let ((x 3)) (makunbound 'x)) ; Void inner binding, then remove it. x) ; Now outer `let' binding is visible. => 2 A variable that has been made void with `makunbound' is indistinguishable from one that has never received a value and has always been void. You can use the function `boundp' to test whether a variable is currently void. * Function: boundp VARIABLE `boundp' returns `t' if VARIABLE (a symbol) is not void; more precisely, if its current binding is not void. It returns `nil' otherwise. (boundp 'abracadabra) ; Starts out void. => nil (let ((abracadabra 5)) ; Locally bind it. (boundp 'abracadabra)) => t (boundp 'abracadabra) ; Still globally void. => nil (setq abracadabra 5) ; Make it globally nonvoid. => 5 (boundp 'abracadabra) => t File: elisp, Node: Defining Variables, Next: Accessing Variables, Prev: Void Variables, Up: Variables Defining Global Variables ========================= You may announce your intention to use a symbol as a global variable with a definition, using `defconst' or `defvar'. In Emacs Lisp, definitions serve three purposes. First, they inform the user who reads the code that certain symbols are *intended* to be used as variables. Second, they inform the Lisp system of these things, supplying a value and documentation. Third, they provide information to utilities such as `etags' and `make-docfile', which create data bases of the functions and variables in a program. The difference between `defconst' and `defvar' is primarily a matter of intent, serving to inform human readers of whether programs will change the variable. Emacs Lisp does not restrict the ways in which a variable can be used based on `defconst' or `defvar' declarations. However, it also makes a difference for initialization: `defconst' unconditionally initializes the variable, while `defvar' initializes it only if it is void. One would expect user option variables to be defined with `defconst', since programs do not change them. Unfortunately, this has bad results if the definition is in a library that is not preloaded: `defconst' would override any prior value when the library is loaded. Users would like to be able to set the option in their init files, and override the default value given in the definition. For this reason, user options must be defined with `defvar'. * Special Form: defvar SYMBOL [VALUE [DOC-STRING]] This special form informs a person reading your code that SYMBOL will be used as a variable that the programs are likely to set or change. It is also used for all user option variables except in the preloaded parts of Emacs. Note that SYMBOL is not evaluated; the symbol to be defined must appear explicitly in the `defvar'. If SYMBOL already has a value (i.e., it is not void), VALUE is not even evaluated, and SYMBOL's value remains unchanged. If SYMBOL is void and VALUE is specified, it is evaluated and SYMBOL is set to the result. (If VALUE is not specified, the value of SYMBOL is not changed in any case.) If the DOC-STRING argument appears, it specifies the documentation for the variable. (This opportunity to specify documentation is one of the main benefits of defining the variable.) The documentation is stored in the symbol's `variable-documentation' property. The Emacs help functions (*note Documentation::.) look for this property. If the first character of DOC-STRING is `*', it means that this variable is considered to be a user option. This affects commands such as `set-variable' and `edit-options'. For example, this form defines `foo' but does not set its value: (defvar foo) => foo The following example sets the value of `bar' to `23', and gives it a documentation string: (defvar bar 23 "The normal weight of a bar.") => bar The following form changes the documentation string for `bar', making it a user option, but does not change the value, since `bar' already has a value. (The addition `(1+ 23)' is not even performed.) (defvar bar (1+ 23) "*The normal weight of a bar.") => bar bar => 23 Here is an equivalent expression for the `defvar' special form: (defvar SYMBOL VALUE DOC-STRING) == (progn (if (not (boundp 'SYMBOL)) (setq SYMBOL VALUE)) (put 'SYMBOL 'variable-documentation 'DOC-STRING) 'SYMBOL) The `defvar' form returns SYMBOL, but it is normally used at top level in a file where its value does not matter. * Special Form: defconst SYMBOL [VALUE [DOC-STRING]] This special form informs a person reading your code that SYMBOL has a global value, established here, that will not normally be changed or locally bound by the execution of the program. The user, however, may be welcome to change it. Note that SYMBOL is not evaluated; the symbol to be defined must appear explicitly in the `defconst'. `defconst' always evaluates VALUE and sets the global value of SYMBOL to the result, provided VALUE is given. *Note:* don't use `defconst' for user option variables in libraries that are not normally loaded. The user should be able to specify a value for such a variable in the `.emacs' file, so that it will be in effect if and when the library is loaded later. Here, `pi' is a constant that presumably ought not to be changed by anyone (attempts by the Indiana State Legislature notwithstanding). As the second form illustrates, however, this is only advisory. (defconst pi 3 "Pi to one place.") => pi (setq pi 4) => pi pi => 4 * Function: user-variable-p VARIABLE This function returns `t' if VARIABLE is a user option, intended to be set by the user for customization, `nil' otherwise. (Variables other than user options exist for the internal purposes of Lisp programs, and users need not know about them.) User option variables are distinguished from other variables by the first character of the `variable-documentation' property. If the property exists and is a string, and its first character is `*', then the variable is a user option. Note that if the `defconst' and `defvar' special forms are used while the variable has a local binding, the local binding's value is set, and the global binding is not changed. This would be confusing. But the normal way to use these special forms is at top level in a file, where no local binding should be in effect. File: elisp, Node: Accessing Variables, Next: Setting Variables, Prev: Defining Variables, Up: Variables Accessing Variable Values ========================= The usual way to reference a variable is to write the symbol which names it (*note Symbol Forms::.). This requires you to specify the variable name when you write the program. Usually that is exactly what you want to do. Occasionally you need to choose at run time which variable to reference; then you can use `symbol-value'. * Function: symbol-value SYMBOL This function returns the value of SYMBOL. This is the value in the innermost local binding of the symbol, or its global value if it has no local bindings. (setq abracadabra 5) => 5 (setq foo 9) => 9 ;; Here the symbol `abracadabra' ;; is the symbol whose value is examined. (let ((abracadabra 'foo)) (symbol-value 'abracadabra)) => foo ;; Here the value of `abracadabra', ;; which is `foo', ;; is the symbol whose value is examined. (let ((abracadabra 'foo)) (symbol-value abracadabra)) => 9 (symbol-value 'abracadabra) => 5 A `void-variable' error is signaled if SYMBOL has neither a local binding nor a global value.