NAME

EMACS − display editor

SYNOPSIS

EMACS filename

DESCRIPTION

EMACS is a display editor used primarily for writing and modifying documents, programs, or any other type of text.  To interact with the user, EMACS uses a display which provides an accurate representation of the text as it is being changed.  EMACS differs from other text editors in that the user can dynamically change it to suit his own needs. 

EMACS divides a screen into several areas called windows, thus allowing more than one file to be edited at one time.  At the bottom of the terminal screen is a one-line area used for messages and questions from EMACS. 

EMACS commands usually consist of a combination of characters, prefaced either by the control key (^) or the escape key (ESC).  Each command has a long name that is bound to a particular key.  For example, forward-character may be bound to the keys control-F (^F). 

To get help when using EMACS, the user can type the keys control and underscore (^_), which will cause EMACS to list the available help options.  These include a list of all functions and variables that include a given key word (much like the Unix command apropos ), a list of the available key bindings, and detailed descriptions of EMACS features. 

EMACS also has a tutorial for beginning users.  To run this tutorial, start EMACS as shown below, and then type the help character (^_) followed by ‘t’. 

For detailed information on how to use EMACS and for the complete list of available commands, see the following documents:

EMACS User’s Guide
EMACS Reference Manual

OPTIONS

EMACS recognizes the following command line options.  Switches and file names can be intermixed on the command line, so to avoid ambiguity no spaces are allowed between switches and their arguments. 

-t<ttyname>causes EMACS to do its IO to the named tty.  <ttyname> is given without the "/dev" prefix. 

-e<funcname>causes EMACS to execute the named function when it starts up. 

-l<filename>causes EMACS to load the named file when it starts up (this is done before the processing for -e).  Such files are loaded even if the -f switch is given. 

-ffast start.  Inhibits loading of all default startup files.  Files explicitly specified with -l switch are still loaded. 

-Rall files are read-only. 

-Lnnnspecify the number of screen lines EMACS should use.  Useful if you are on a slow dialup.  This overrides all other ideas EMACS may have had about how big your screen is, except under some window managers (e.g., Suntools) where Emacs automatically sizes its own windows to fit the window in which it is running. 

-Cnnnspecify the number of screen columns EMACS should use.  This overrides all other ideas EMACS may have had about how big your screen is, except under some window managers (e.g., Suntools) where Emacs automatically sizes its own windows to fit the window in which it is running. 

-h[<1|0>]Turns the EMACS variable tty-mode-rare on or off.  Omitting the number turns it on.  If tty-mode-rare is on, EMACS will use a terminal input mode (loosely called "rare" mode) that allows it to recognize an interrupt character (^G), and can potentially use ^S/^Q for flow control if the terminal needs it (see the -x option).  Flow control will actually be used only if the EMACS variable xon/xoff-flow-control is turned on in some initialization file, e.g. .emacs_init, or by the -x option.  The interrupt character allows you to interrupt long operations, such as searches through large files, and to halt runaway MLisp code.  If tty-mode-rare is zero, EMACS will use a "raw" input mode, in which neither the interrupt character nor the flow control characters ^S and ^Q are treated specially.  NOTE: On 4.2bsd systems, "rare" mode uses the CBREAK mode of the terminal driver.  This implies that the eighth bit (the "meta" bit) is stripped off all input characters.  System V does not have this problem; all eight bits are available in both raw and rare modes.  In rare mode, some systems interpret BREAK as an additional interrupt character, which may make it impossible to type ^@ (NUL) at EMACS (^@ is normally bound to push-mark). 

-x[<1|0>]Turns both tty-mode-rare and xon/xoff-flow-control on or off.  Omitting the number turns them on.  Thus, the -x option implies the -h option (because flow control will work only in "rare" mode).  If EMACS behaves as if you have typed ^S at it when you have done no such thing (usually it displays "Search for:" in the minibuffer) then your terminal or local net is probably typing ^S for you; try invoking EMACS with the -x option.  This causes EMACS to instruct the terminal driver to use XON/XOFF flow control, so that typing ^S suspends output until ^Q is typed.  (Normally, you wouldn’t type those characters yourself; your terminal sends them automatically when it needs time to catch up with the output.  Many local networks also use this method of flow control.)  In this mode, ^S and ^Q are not available as EMACS commands, since the terminal driver never lets them get through to EMACS.  Even if the -x option is given, an initialization file may still disable the use of flow control by explicitly turning off xon/xoff-flow-control. 

+nnnstart editing at line nnn. 

+/patternlook for string (RE if full Emacs). 

SEE ALSO

Several "helper" utilities are provided with EMACS.  Some are intended to be invoked directly by users to manipulate EMACS databases.  Others are intended to be invoked by EMACS, invisibly to the user. 

loadst(1)time, load statistics, new mail indication.  Used by clock.ml package. 

emacsedit(1)editor for use by programs run under EMACS shell windows.  Used by process.ml package. 

Version 2.5r1  —  December 06, 1986