Debra Cameron - Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition

Here's a list of some features you might want to learn about on a rainy day:

• How to use multiple Emacs buffers, windows, and frames ( Chapter 4)

• Word abbreviation mode ( Chapter 3 Chapter 3. Search and Replace The commands we discussed in the first two chapters are enough to get you started, but they're certainly not enough to do any serious editing. If you're using Emacs for anything longer than a few paragraphs, you'll want the support this chapter describes. In this chapter, we cover the various ways that Emacs lets you search for and replace text. Emacs provides the traditional search and replace facilities you would expect in any editor; it also provides several important variants, including incremental searches, regular expression searches, and query-replace. We also cover spell-checking here, because it is a type of replacement (errors are sought and replaced with corrections). Finally, we cover word abbreviation mode; this feature is a type of automatic replacement that can be a real timesaver. )

• Macros ( Chapter 6)

• How to map function keys to Emacs commands ( Chapter 10)

• How to issue (and edit) shell commands ( Chapter 5 Chapter 5. Emacs as a Work Environment Many of the everyday things you do from a command prompt can be done from within Emacs. You can execute commands, work with directories, and print files—all without leaving Emacs. Changing tasks is as simple as jumping between buffers. What's important about this? Of course, it's nice to be able to move between tasks easily. What's even more important is that you have the same editing environment no matter what you're doing: you can use all of the Emacs editing commands to work on a file, give shell commands, then start up Dired, the directory editor, to do some file maintenance. It is simple to move text from one window to another. You can execute a command and then use Emacs commands to cut and paste the results into a file. If you're trying to compile a program and keep getting error messages, you can save the interactive session as a file and confer with someone about the problem. Despite the many advantages of modern window systems, Emacs often provides the best way to integrate the many kinds of work you do daily. Much of the information in this chapter involves integration between Emacs and the operating system. Emacs is most commonly a Unix editor, so forgive us for a bias in that direction. But we are happy to report that for users of GNU Emacs on other platforms, integration with the operating system is still available; you can use shell mode to run commands and can edit directories with Dired. There's no reason to leave Emacs no matter what your platform is. )

• How to organize files in Emacs ( Chapter 5 Chapter 5. Emacs as a Work Environment Many of the everyday things you do from a command prompt can be done from within Emacs. You can execute commands, work with directories, and print files—all without leaving Emacs. Changing tasks is as simple as jumping between buffers. What's important about this? Of course, it's nice to be able to move between tasks easily. What's even more important is that you have the same editing environment no matter what you're doing: you can use all of the Emacs editing commands to work on a file, give shell commands, then start up Dired, the directory editor, to do some file maintenance. It is simple to move text from one window to another. You can execute a command and then use Emacs commands to cut and paste the results into a file. If you're trying to compile a program and keep getting error messages, you can save the interactive session as a file and confer with someone about the problem. Despite the many advantages of modern window systems, Emacs often provides the best way to integrate the many kinds of work you do daily. Much of the information in this chapter involves integration between Emacs and the operating system. Emacs is most commonly a Unix editor, so forgive us for a bias in that direction. But we are happy to report that for users of GNU Emacs on other platforms, integration with the operating system is still available; you can use shell mode to run commands and can edit directories with Dired. There's no reason to leave Emacs no matter what your platform is. )

• Using ediff to compare files ( Chapter 12)

Here's a quick summary of what's in each chapter:

Chapter 1 Chapter 1. Emacs Basics Some of you out there are probably dying to get your hands on the keyboard and start typing. We won't try to stop you; turn to the section called "Starting Emacs" and you can go ahead. But do read the beginning of this chapter later when you're ready for a break. Emacs is much easier to learn if you understand some of the basic concepts involved, which we discuss in the following introduction. , Emacs Basics , tells you how to start Emacs and how to work with files. It also provides a quick introduction to the online help system.

Chapter 2, Editing , explains commands for moving around, copying and pasting text, and undoing changes. It also introduces very basic customization.

Chapter 3 Chapter 3. Search and Replace The commands we discussed in the first two chapters are enough to get you started, but they're certainly not enough to do any serious editing. If you're using Emacs for anything longer than a few paragraphs, you'll want the support this chapter describes. In this chapter, we cover the various ways that Emacs lets you search for and replace text. Emacs provides the traditional search and replace facilities you would expect in any editor; it also provides several important variants, including incremental searches, regular expression searches, and query-replace. We also cover spell-checking here, because it is a type of replacement (errors are sought and replaced with corrections). Finally, we cover word abbreviation mode; this feature is a type of automatic replacement that can be a real timesaver. , Search and Replace , covers more editing features, including search and replace, word abbreviation mode, and spell checking.

Chapter 4, Using Buffers, Windows, and Frames , describes how to use multiple buffers and windows, both Emacs-style windows (that divide a single OS window) and traditional OS windows (which Emacs refers to as frames ). It also discusses how to bookmark your place in large files.

Chapter 5 Chapter 5. Emacs as a Work Environment Many of the everyday things you do from a command prompt can be done from within Emacs. You can execute commands, work with directories, and print files—all without leaving Emacs. Changing tasks is as simple as jumping between buffers. What's important about this? Of course, it's nice to be able to move between tasks easily. What's even more important is that you have the same editing environment no matter what you're doing: you can use all of the Emacs editing commands to work on a file, give shell commands, then start up Dired, the directory editor, to do some file maintenance. It is simple to move text from one window to another. You can execute a command and then use Emacs commands to cut and paste the results into a file. If you're trying to compile a program and keep getting error messages, you can save the interactive session as a file and confer with someone about the problem. Despite the many advantages of modern window systems, Emacs often provides the best way to integrate the many kinds of work you do daily. Much of the information in this chapter involves integration between Emacs and the operating system. Emacs is most commonly a Unix editor, so forgive us for a bias in that direction. But we are happy to report that for users of GNU Emacs on other platforms, integration with the operating system is still available; you can use shell mode to run commands and can edit directories with Dired. There's no reason to leave Emacs no matter what your platform is. , Emacs as a Work Environment , talks about issuing commands from within Emacs, working with files and directories, and using basic time management tools such as the calendar and diary.