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(Text): Simplify introduction. Discard mention of `M-x

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edit-picture', since that is just an alias for picture-mode.
(Sentences): Note that repeated M-@ extends the region.
(Pages): Make terminology more consistent.  Link to Regexps node.
(Longlines): Discuss relationship with Visual Line mode.
(Text Mode): Remove extraneous discussion of other modes, since they
were already introduced in the parent node.
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Chong Yidong 2008-11-24 04:05:45 +00:00
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240
doc/emacs/text.texi
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@ -7,26 +7,19 @@
@cindex text
@cindex manipulating text
The term @dfn{text} has two widespread meanings in our area of the
computer field. One is data that is a sequence of characters. Any file
that you edit with Emacs is text, in this sense of the word. The other
meaning is more restrictive: a sequence of characters in a human language
for humans to read (possibly after processing by a text formatter), as
opposed to a program or binary data. This chapter is concerned with
editing text in the narrower sense.
This chapter describes Emacs commands that act on @dfn{text}, by
which we mean sequences of characters in a human language (as opposed
to, say, a computer programming language). These commands act in ways
that take into account the syntactic and stylistic conventions of
human languages: conventions involving words, sentences, paragraphs,
and capital letters. There are also commands for @dfn{filling}, which
means rearranging the lines of a paragraph to be approximately equal
in length. These commands, while intended primarily for editing text,
are also often useful for editing programs.
Human languages have syntactic/stylistic conventions that can be
supported or used to advantage by editor commands: conventions involving
words, sentences, paragraphs, and capital letters. This chapter
describes Emacs commands for all of these things. There are also
commands for @dfn{filling}, which means rearranging the lines of a
paragraph to be approximately equal in length. The commands for moving
over and killing words, sentences and paragraphs, while intended
primarily for editing text, are also often useful for editing programs.
Emacs has several major modes for editing human-language text. If the
file contains text pure and simple, use Text mode, which customizes
Emacs in small ways for the syntactic conventions of text. Outline mode
Emacs has several major modes for editing human-language text. If
the file contains ordinary text, use Text mode, which customizes Emacs
in small ways for the syntactic conventions of text. Outline mode
provides special commands for operating on text with an outline
structure.
@iftex
@ -34,15 +27,15 @@ structure.
@end iftex
For text which contains embedded commands for text formatters, Emacs
has other major modes, each for a particular formatter. Thus, for
input to @TeX{}, you would use @TeX{}
has other major modes, each for a particular formatter. For instance,
La@TeX{} mode is used for editing La@TeX{}
@iftex
mode (@pxref{TeX Mode,,@TeX{} Mode}).
documents (@pxref{LaTeX,,La@TeX{} Mode}),
@end iftex
@ifnottex
mode.
documents,
@end ifnottex
For input to groff or nroff, use Nroff mode.
while Nroff mode is used for editing groff or nroff files.
Instead of using a text formatter, you can edit formatted text in
WYSIWYG style (``what you see is what you get''), with Enriched mode.
@ -53,8 +46,8 @@ Then the formatting appears on the screen in Emacs while you edit.
@cindex ASCII art
If you need to edit pictures made out of text characters (commonly
referred to as ``ASCII art''), use @kbd{M-x edit-picture} to enter
Picture mode, a special major mode for editing such pictures.
referred to as ``ASCII art''), use Picture mode, a special major mode
for editing such pictures.
@iftex
@xref{Picture Mode,,, emacs-xtra, Specialized Emacs Features}.
@end iftex
@ -120,24 +113,24 @@ cognate to @kbd{C-@@}, which is an alias for @kbd{C-@key{SPC}}.
@findex backward-word
The commands @kbd{M-f} (@code{forward-word}) and @kbd{M-b}
(@code{backward-word}) move forward and backward over words. These
Meta characters are thus analogous to the corresponding control
characters, @kbd{C-f} and @kbd{C-b}, which move over single characters
in the text. The analogy extends to numeric arguments, which serve as
repeat counts. @kbd{M-f} with a negative argument moves backward, and
@kbd{M-b} with a negative argument moves forward. Forward motion
stops right after the last letter of the word, while backward motion
stops right before the first letter.
@key{Meta}-based key sequences are analogous to the key sequences
@kbd{C-f} and @kbd{C-b}, which move over single characters. The
analogy extends to numeric arguments, which serve as repeat counts.
@kbd{M-f} with a negative argument moves backward, and @kbd{M-b} with
a negative argument moves forward. Forward motion stops right after
the last letter of the word, while backward motion stops right before
the first letter.
@kindex M-d
@findex kill-word
@kbd{M-d} (@code{kill-word}) kills the word after point. To be
precise, it kills everything from point to the place @kbd{M-f} would
move to. Thus, if point is in the middle of a word, @kbd{M-d} kills
just the part after point. If some punctuation comes between point and the
next word, it is killed along with the word. (If you wish to kill only the
next word but not the punctuation before it, simply do @kbd{M-f} to get
the end, and kill the word backwards with @kbd{M-@key{DEL}}.)
@kbd{M-d} takes arguments just like @kbd{M-f}.
just the part after point. If some punctuation comes between point
and the next word, it is killed along with the word. (If you wish to
kill only the next word but not the punctuation before it, simply do
@kbd{M-f} to get the end, and kill the word backwards with
@kbd{M-@key{DEL}}.) @kbd{M-d} takes arguments just like @kbd{M-f}.
@findex backward-kill-word
@kindex M-DEL
@ -160,12 +153,13 @@ more on transposition.
@kindex M-@@
@findex mark-word
To operate on the next @var{n} words with an operation which applies
between point and mark, you can either set the mark at point and then move
over the words, or you can use the command @kbd{M-@@} (@code{mark-word})
which does not move point, but sets the mark where @kbd{M-f} would move
to. @kbd{M-@@} accepts a numeric argument that says how many words to
scan for the place to put the mark.
To operate on the next @var{n} words with an operation which acts on
the region, use the command @kbd{M-@@} (@code{mark-word}). This
command does not move point, but sets the mark where @kbd{M-f} would
move to. Once the mark is active, each additional @kbd{M-@@} advances
the mark by one additional word. @kbd{M-@@} also accepts a numeric
argument that says how many words to scan for the place to put the
mark.
The word commands' understanding of word boundaries is controlled
by the syntax table. Any character can, for example, be declared to
@ -207,18 +201,18 @@ punctuation that ends the sentence. Neither one moves over the
whitespace at the sentence boundary.
@kindex M-k
@kindex C-x DEL
@findex kill-sentence
Just as @kbd{C-a} and @kbd{C-e} have a kill command, @kbd{C-k}, to
go with them, @kbd{M-a} and @kbd{M-e} have a corresponding kill
command: @kbd{M-k} (@code{kill-sentence}) kills from point to the end
of the sentence. With a positive numeric argument @var{n}, it kills
the next @var{n} sentences; with a negative argument @minus{}@var{n},
it kills back to the beginning of the @var{n}th preceding sentence.
@kindex C-x DEL
@findex backward-kill-sentence
Just as @kbd{C-a} and @kbd{C-e} have a kill command, @kbd{C-k}, to go
with them, so @kbd{M-a} and @kbd{M-e} have a corresponding kill command
@kbd{M-k} (@code{kill-sentence}) which kills from point to the end of
the sentence. With minus one as an argument it kills back to the
beginning of the sentence. Larger arguments serve as a repeat count.
There is also a command, @kbd{C-x @key{DEL}}
(@code{backward-kill-sentence}), for killing back to the beginning of a
sentence. This command is useful when you change your mind in the
middle of composing text.
The @kbd{C-x @key{DEL}} (@code{backward-kill-sentence}) kills back
to the beginning of a sentence.
The sentence commands assume that you follow the American typist's
convention of putting two spaces at the end of a sentence; they consider
@ -234,7 +228,7 @@ too. These commands do not stop for periods that indicate abbreviations.
@vindex sentence-end-double-space
If you want to use just one space between sentences, you can set the
variable @code{sentence-end-double-space} to @code{nil} to make the
sentence commands stop for single spaces. However, this mode has a
sentence commands stop for single spaces. However, this has a
drawback: there is no way to distinguish between periods that end
sentences and those that indicate abbreviations. For convenient and
reliable editing, we therefore recommend you follow the two-space
@ -243,13 +237,12 @@ affects filling (@pxref{Fill Commands}) in related ways.
@vindex sentence-end
The variable @code{sentence-end} controls how to recognize the end
of a sentence. If non-@code{nil}, it is a regexp that matches the
last few characters of a sentence, together with the whitespace
following the sentence. If the value is @code{nil}, the default, then
Emacs computes the regexp according to various criteria such as the
value of @code{sentence-end-double-space}. @xref{Regexp Example}, for
a detailed explanation of one of the regular expressions Emacs uses
for this purpose.
of a sentence. If non-@code{nil}, its value should be a regular
expression, which is used to match the last few characters of a
sentence, together with the whitespace following the sentence
(@pxref{Regexps}). If the value is @code{nil}, the default, then
Emacs computes sentence ends according to various criteria such as the
value of @code{sentence-end-double-space}.
@vindex sentence-end-without-period
Some languages do not use periods to indicate the end of a sentence.
@ -297,17 +290,17 @@ all lines which don't start with the fill prefix. @xref{Filling}.
@kindex M-h
@findex mark-paragraph
When you wish to operate on a paragraph, you can type @kbd{M-h}
(@code{mark-paragraph}) to set the region around it. Thus, for
example, @kbd{M-h C-w} kills the paragraph around or after point.
@kbd{M-h} puts point at the beginning and mark at the end of the
paragraph point was in. If point is between paragraphs (in a run of
blank lines, or at a boundary), the paragraph following point is
surrounded by point and mark. If there are blank lines preceding the
first line of the paragraph, one of these blank lines is included in
the region. If the region is already active, the command sets the
mark without changing point; furthermore, each subsequent @kbd{M-h}
further advances the mark by one paragraph.
When you wish to operate on a paragraph, type @kbd{M-h}
(@code{mark-paragraph}) to set the region around it. For example,
@kbd{M-h C-w} kills the paragraph around or after point. @kbd{M-h}
puts point at the beginning and mark at the end of the paragraph point
was in. If point is between paragraphs (in a run of blank lines, or
at a boundary), the paragraph following point is surrounded by point
and mark. If there are blank lines preceding the first line of the
paragraph, one of these blank lines is included in the region. If the
region is already active, the command sets the mark without changing
point; furthermore, each subsequent @kbd{M-h} further advances the
mark by one paragraph.
@vindex paragraph-start
@vindex paragraph-separate
@ -332,15 +325,15 @@ pages.
@section Pages
@cindex pages
@cindex formfeed
Files are often thought of as divided into @dfn{pages} by the
@dfn{formfeed} character (@acronym{ASCII} control-L, octal code 014).
When you print hardcopy for a file, this character forces a page break;
thus, each page of the file goes on a separate page on paper. Most Emacs
commands treat the page-separator character just like any other
character: you can insert it with @kbd{C-q C-l}, and delete it with
@key{DEL}. Thus, you are free to paginate your file or not. However,
since pages are often meaningful divisions of the file, Emacs provides
@cindex formfeed character
Within some text files, text is divided into @dfn{pages}, which are
delimited by the @dfn{formfeed character} (@acronym{ASCII} code 12,
sometimes denoted as @key{control-L}). When you print hardcopy for a
file, the formfeed character forces a page break: each page of the
file goes on a separate page on paper. Most Emacs commands treat the
formfeed character just like any other character: you can insert it
with @kbd{C-q C-l}, and delete it with @key{DEL}. However, since
pages are often meaningful divisions of the file, Emacs provides
commands to move over them and operate on them.
@table @kbd
@ -377,8 +370,8 @@ elsewhere. If you move to another page delimiter with @kbd{C-x [} and
delimited once again. The reason @kbd{C-x C-p} includes only the
following page delimiter in the region is to ensure that.
A numeric argument to @kbd{C-x C-p} is used to specify which page to go
to, relative to the current one. Zero means the current page. One means
A numeric argument to @kbd{C-x C-p} specifies which page to go to,
relative to the current one. Zero means the current page. One means
the next page, and @minus{}1 means the previous one.
@kindex C-x l
@ -398,9 +391,10 @@ beginning of a line.
@vindex page-delimiter
The variable @code{page-delimiter} controls where pages begin. Its
value is a regexp that matches the beginning of a line that separates
pages. The normal value of this variable is @code{"^\f"}, which
matches a formfeed character at the beginning of a line.
value is a regular expression that matches the beginning of a line
that separates pages (@pxref{Regexps}). The normal value of this
variable is @code{"^\f"}, which matches a formfeed character at the
beginning of a line.
@node Filling
@section Filling Text
@ -768,34 +762,45 @@ completely unfilled if you edit them without Longlines mode.
@cindex word wrap
@cindex Long Lines minor mode
Long Lines mode is a minor mode for @dfn{word wrapping}; it lets you
edit ``unfilled'' text files, which Emacs would normally display as a
bunch of extremely long lines. Many text editors, such as those built
into many web browsers, normally do word wrapping.
Sometimes, you may come across ``unfilled'' text files, which Emacs
normally displays as a bunch of extremely long lines. Comfortably
reading and editing such files normally requires ``word wrap'', a
feature that breaks up each long text line into multiple screen lines
in a readable manner---by putting the breaks at word boundaries. Many
text editors, such as those built into many web browsers, perform word
wrapping by default.
There are two different minor modes in Emacs that perform word
wrapping. The first is Visual Line mode, which does it by altering
the behavior of screen line continuation. @xref{Visual Line Mode},
for information about Visual Line mode.
@findex longlines-mode
To enable Long Lines mode, type @kbd{M-x longlines-mode}. If the
text is full of long lines, this will ``wrap'' them
immediately---i.e., break up to fit in the window. As you edit the
text, Long Lines mode automatically re-wraps lines by inserting or
deleting @dfn{soft newlines} as necessary (@pxref{Hard and Soft
Newlines}.) These soft newlines won't show up when you save the
buffer into a file, or when you copy the text into the kill ring,
clipboard, or a register.
Instead of using Visual Line mode, you can use a minor mode called
Long Lines mode. Long Lines mode wraps lines by inserting or deleting
@dfn{soft newlines} as you type (@pxref{Hard and Soft Newlines}).
These soft newlines won't show up when you save the buffer into a
file, or when you copy the text into the kill ring, clipboard, or a
register. Unlike Visual Line mode, Lone Lines mode breaks long lines
at the fill column (@pxref{Fill Commands}), rather than the right
window edge. To enable Long Lines mode, type @kbd{M-x
longlines-mode}. If the text is full of long lines, this also
immediately ``wraps'' them all.
@findex longlines-auto-wrap
Word wrapping is @emph{not} the same as ordinary filling
(@pxref{Fill Commands}). It does not contract multiple spaces into a
single space, recognize fill prefixes (@pxref{Fill Prefix}), or
perform adaptive filling (@pxref{Adaptive Fill}). The reason for this
is that a wrapped line is still, conceptually, a single line. Each
soft newline is equivalent to exactly one space in that long line, and
vice versa. However, you can still call filling functions such as
@kbd{M-q}, and these will work as expected, inserting soft newlines
that won't show up on disk or when the text is copied. You can even
rely entirely on the normal fill commands by turning off automatic
line wrapping, with @kbd{C-u M-x longlines-auto-wrap}. To turn
automatic line wrapping back on, type @kbd{M-x longlines-auto-wrap}.
The word wrap performed by Long Lines mode is @emph{not} the same as
ordinary filling (@pxref{Fill Commands}). It does not contract
multiple spaces into a single space, recognize fill prefixes
(@pxref{Fill Prefix}), or perform adaptive filling (@pxref{Adaptive
Fill}). The reason for this is that a wrapped line is still,
conceptually, a single line. Each soft newline is equivalent to
exactly one space in that long line, and vice versa. However, you can
still call filling functions such as @kbd{M-q}, and these will work as
expected, inserting soft newlines that won't show up on disk or when
the text is copied. You can even rely entirely on the normal fill
commands by turning off automatic line wrapping, with @kbd{C-u M-x
longlines-auto-wrap}. To turn automatic line wrapping back on, type
@kbd{M-x longlines-auto-wrap}.
@findex longlines-show-hard-newlines
Type @kbd{RET} to insert a hard newline, one which automatic
@ -935,19 +940,6 @@ mode, Outline mode, and Mail mode. Hook functions on
@code{text-mode-hook} can look at the value of @code{major-mode} to see
which of these modes is actually being entered. @xref{Hooks}.
@ifnottex
Emacs provides two other modes for editing text that is to be passed
through a text formatter to produce fancy formatted printed output.
@xref{Nroff Mode}, for editing input to the formatter nroff.
@xref{TeX Mode,,@TeX{} Mode}, for editing input to the formatter TeX.
Another mode is used for editing outlines. It allows you to view the
text at various levels of detail. You can view either the outline
headings alone or both headings and text; you can also hide some of the
headings at lower levels from view to make the high level structure more
visible. @xref{Outline Mode}.
@end ifnottex
@node Outline Mode
@section Outline Mode
@cindex Outline mode