Emacs for Linux

Contents

• Introduction xxix

• Chapter 1 How Emacs Differs from Other Software 3
  • Software and the User 4
  • Emacs Vocabulary and Conventions 7
  • Key Conventions 9
  • Emacs and Emacs-Lisp 11
  • How Emacs Evolves to Suit Your Needs 12
  • Conclusion 12
• Chapter 2 Acquiring and Installing Emacs 13
  • Source or Precompiled? 14
  • Binary Distributions of Emacs for Linux 16
  • Installation from the CD-ROM 18
  • The CD-ROM Binaries 19
  • Installation with Package Tools 19
  • Binary Problems 21
  • Source from the CD-ROM 22
  • Compiling XEmacs with GTK 26
  • XEmacs Packages 27
  • Additional Packages on the CD-ROM 28
  • Conclusion 30
• Chapter 3 Overview of Basic Emacs Skills 31
  • Two Basic Key Combinations 32
  • The Modeline and Minibuffer 33
  • Using the Help Keys 34
  • Loading and Saving Files 35
  • Tab Completion 36
  • Moving around in a Buffer 37
  • Buffers and the Buffer List 40
  • Regions, the Mark, and Point 41
  • Cutting, Copying, and Pasting 43
  • Searching 45
  • Regular Expressions in Searches 50
  • Formatting Commands 53
  • Windows, Frames, and Buffers 55
  • Shell Commands 56
  • Emacs As an Editing Server 58
  • Conclusion 60
• Chapter 4 Using the Built-in Customization Tools 61
  • Introduction to Customize 62
  • Reasons to Use Customize 62
  • How Customize Works 63
  • Using Customize 65
  • Customizing Faces 68
  • Emacs and X Resource Files 71
  • Limitations of Customize 71
  • Introducing Emacs Macros 71
  • Conclusion 76
• Chapter 5 Emacs-Lisp As an Entry Point to Configuration 77
  • The Origin of Lisp 78
  • How Emacs-Lisp Differs 79
  • A Mixture of C and Lisp 80
  • Why Not Perl or Java? 81
  • Conclusion 82
• Chapter 6 Learning the Vocabulary of Emacs-Lisp 83
  • Evaluation 84
  • Basic Emacs-Lisp Expressions 85
  • Functions 87
  • Variables 90
  • List Operations 92
  • How Parentheses Are Used 95
  • The Scratch Buffer 97
  • Common Errors 97
  • Conclusion 97
• Chapter 7 A Sample Emacs-Lisp File 99
  • New Lisp Features in Clipper 100
  • The Clipper.el File 104
  • Conclusion 119
• Chapter 8 Byte-Compiling for Efficiency 121
  • The Byte-Compiler 122
  • How to Run It 124
  • Interpreting Error Messages 126
  • Problems with Different Emacs Versions 128
  • Edits That Seem to Have No Effect 129
  • Conclusion 130

• Chapter 9 First Steps in Customization: Your .emacs File 133
  • This File Makes Your Editor Unique 134
  • Building Blocks of the File 134
  • Troubleshooting the File 135
  • Backing up Your .emacs File 137
  • Byte-Compiling .emacs 137
  • Splitting Your .emacs File 138
  • Loading the New Files 139
  • A Little Reassurance 140
  • Trying out the Sample Files 140
  • Copying Files from the CD-ROM 141
  • Sample .emacs Files 141
  • XEmacs, GNU Emacs, and Their .emacs Files 143
  • Conclusion 144
• Chapter 10 Changing Default Behavior 145
  • Puzzling Defaults 146
  • Your Own Keybindings 160
  • The Title Bar 164
  • Conclusion 165
• Chapter 11 Modes, Major and Minor 167
  • Introducing Modes 168
  • What a Mode Does for You 169
  • Minor Modes 172
  • Different Ways to Load a Mode 174
  • Deriving One Mode from Another 177
  • Modifying a Mode 179
  • Conclusion 180

• Chapter 12 Introduction to Packages 183
  • The Rationale behind Packaging 184
  • GNU Emacs Packages 185
  • The XEmacs Packaging System 189
  • Installation Methods 191
  • Conclusion 195
• Chapter 13 Text Processing Packages 197
  • Text Processing and Word Processing 198
  • When a Word Processor Is More Appropriate 199
  • LaTeX, HTML, and Lout As Alternatives 200
  • HTML Modes 201
  • LaTeX or Lout? 212
  • LaTeX 213
  • Lout 220
  • Conclusion 224
• Chapter 14 Built-in Convenience Packages 225
  • Abbreviation and Expansion 226
  • Bookmarks 229
  • Dired, the Emacs File Manager 233
  • Differences between Files 236
  • Spell Checking with ispell 241
  • Running a Shell in Emacs 245
  • Outline Mode 248
  • The Calendar and the Diary 253
  • Conclusion 256
• Chapter 15 External Convenience Packages 257
  • Clipper: A Persistent Clipboard 258
  • Notes Mode 259
  • Folding Mode 266
  • An Interface to Online Dictionaries 270
  • Emacs CD and MP3 Players 273
  • An ABC Mode for Musicians 275
  • The Remembrance Agent 276
  • Conclusion 282
• Chapter 16 Packages That Make Programming Easier 283
  • A Mode for Nearly Every Language 284
  • Dealing with Comments 285
  • A Mode for C, C++, and Java 286
  • JDE 293
  • CPerl-mode 300
  • Python Mode 303
  • Searching in Multiple Source Files 307
  • Emacs As an IDE 311
  • Conclusion 317
• Chapter 17 Different Approaches to E-Mail 319
  • First, a Warning 320
  • Writing E-Mail in Emacs 321
  • Rmail for Basic E-Mail 323
  • The VM Mailer 328
  • Emacs As an Editor for Other Mail Programs 336
  • Gnus as a Mail Client 340
  • Conclusion 342
• Chapter 18 Gnus Configuration and Usage 343
  • Starting Gnus for the First Time 344
  • The Five Gnus Buffers 348
  • Viewing Files and Directories with Gnus 362
  • Gnus as an E-Mail Client 365
  • Offline News Reading with the Gnus Agent 371
  • Miscellaneous Gnus Settings 375
  • Gnus, XEmacs, and GNU Emacs 21 377
  • Conclusion 378
• Chapter 19 Editing Files on a Remote Machine 379
  • ftp 380
  • Requesting a Remote File 381
  • netrc and Passwords 382
  • Binary and ASCII Transfers 383
  • Host Types 385
  • Hash in the Modeline 386
  • Sources of Further Information 386
  • Conclusion 387
• Chapter 20 Web-Browsing with W3 389
  • Installing and Setting up W3 390
  • Images, XEmacs, and GNU Emacs 391
  • Basic Commands 393
  • Stylesheets 395
  • Security 398
  • Masquerading 402
  • Downloading Files 402
  • Asynchronous Operation 403
  • Caching Web Sites 403
  • Conclusion 405
• Chapter 21 Emacs Games 407
  • Text-Based Games and Hacks 408
  • Xmine 420
  • The Gamegrid Games 422
  • Conclusion 426

• Chapter 22 Coping with Emacs Problems 429
  • Undo 430
  • The Message Log 431
  • Network Problems 433
  • Automatic File Backup 434
  • What to Do if You Find a Bug 436
  • Lisp Debugging Tools 440
  • Conclusion 444
• Chapter 23 Help Resources 445
  • The Emacs Help System 446
  • The Info Help System 454
  • Finding Help on the Net 460
  • Conclusion 464

• Appendix A Key Command Reference 467
  • Essential Commands 468
  • Movement Commands 468
  • Windows, Frames, and Buffers 469
  • Selecting a Region 470
  • Cut, Copy, and Paste 470
  • Transposition and Case 470
  • Searching and Replacing 471
  • Spelling Correction 472
  • The Dired File Manager 472
  • Word Wrapping 473
  • Keyboard Macros 473
  • Shell Commands 473
  • Rectangles and Registers 474
  • Bookmarks 474
  • Abbreviations 474
  • Sending Mail 475
  • Mouse Commands 475
  • The Help Keys 476
  • Quitting Emacs 477
• Appendix B Minibuffer Commands 479
• Appendix C Miscellaneous Mode Commands 483
• Appendix D Emacs and Internationalization 485
• Setting Up 486
• The Mule Project 489
• Glossary 491
• Index