This is Info file ../info/emacs, produced by Makeinfo-1.64 from the input file ../texi/emacs.texi. This is the thirteenth edition of the `GNU Emacs Manual', updated for Emacs version 20.3 Editors * Emacs: (emacs). The extensible self-documenting text editor. Published by the Free Software Foundation 59 Temple Place, Suite 330 Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 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 also that the sections entitled "The GNU Manifesto", "Distribution" and "GNU General Public License" are included exactly as in the original, and 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 the sections entitled "The GNU Manifesto", "Distribution" and "GNU General Public License" may be included in a translation approved by the Free Software Foundation instead of in the original English. ifinfo  File: emacs, Node: Rmail Summary Edit, Prev: Rmail Make Summary, Up: Rmail Summary Editing in Summaries -------------------- You can use the Rmail summary buffer to do almost anything you can do in the Rmail buffer itself. In fact, once you have a summary buffer, there's no need to switch back to the Rmail buffer. You can select and display various messages in the Rmail buffer, from the summary buffer, just by moving point in the summary buffer to different lines. It doesn't matter what Emacs command you use to move point; whichever line point is on at the end of the command, that message is selected in the Rmail buffer. Almost all Rmail commands work in the summary buffer as well as in the Rmail buffer. Thus, `d' in the summary buffer deletes the current message, `u' undeletes, and `x' expunges. `o' and `C-o' output the current message to a file; `r' starts a reply to it. You can scroll the current message while remaining in the summary buffer using SPC and DEL. The Rmail commands to move between messages also work in the summary buffer, but with a twist: they move through the set of messages included in the summary. They also ensure the Rmail buffer appears on the screen (unlike cursor motion commands, which update the contents of the Rmail buffer but don't display it in a window unless it already appears). Here is a list of these commands: `n' Move to next line, skipping lines saying `deleted', and select its message. `p' Move to previous line, skipping lines saying `deleted', and select its message. `M-n' Move to next line and select its message. `M-p' Move to previous line and select its message. `>' Move to the last line, and select its message. `<' Move to the first line, and select its message. `M-s PATTERN RET' Search through messages for PATTERN starting with the current message; select the message found, and move point in the summary buffer to that message's line. Deletion, undeletion, and getting new mail, and even selection of a different message all update the summary buffer when you do them in the Rmail buffer. If the variable `rmail-redisplay-summary' is non-`nil', these actions also bring the summary buffer back onto the screen. When you are finished using the summary, type `Q' (`rmail-summary-wipe') to delete the summary buffer's window. You can also exit Rmail while in the summary: `q' (`rmail-summary-quit') deletes the summary window, then exits from Rmail by saving the Rmail file and switching to another buffer.  File: emacs, Node: Rmail Sorting, Next: Rmail Display, Prev: Rmail Summary, Up: Rmail Sorting the Rmail File ====================== `M-x rmail-sort-by-date' Sort messages of current Rmail file by date. `M-x rmail-sort-by-subject' Sort messages of current Rmail file by subject. `M-x rmail-sort-by-author' Sort messages of current Rmail file by author's name. `M-x rmail-sort-by-recipient' Sort messages of current Rmail file by recipient's names. `M-x rmail-sort-by-correspondent' Sort messages of current Rmail file by the name of the other correspondent. `M-x rmail-sort-by-lines' Sort messages of current Rmail file by size (number of lines). `M-x rmail-sort-by-keywords RET LABELS RET' Sort messages of current Rmail file by labels. The argument LABELS should be a comma-separated list of labels. The order of these labels specifies the order of messages; messages with the first label come first, messages with the second label come second, and so on. Messages which have none of these labels come last. The Rmail sort commands perform a *stable sort*: if there is no reason to prefer either one of two messages, their order remains unchanged. You can use this to sort by more than one criterion. For example, if you use `rmail-sort-by-date' and then `rmail-sort-by-author', messages from the same author appear in order by date. With a numeric argument, all these commands reverse the order of comparison. This means they sort messages from newest to oldest, from biggest to smallest, or in reverse alphabetical order.  File: emacs, Node: Rmail Display, Next: Rmail Editing, Prev: Rmail Sorting, Up: Rmail Display of Messages =================== Rmail reformats the header of each message before displaying it for the first time. Reformatting hides uninteresting header fields to reduce clutter. You can use the `t' command to show the entire header or to repeat the header reformatting operation. `t' Toggle display of complete header (`rmail-toggle-header'). Reformatting the header involves deleting most header fields, on the grounds that they are not interesting. The variable `rmail-ignored-headers' holds a regular expression that specifies which header fields to hide in this way--if it matches the beginning of a header field, that whole field is hidden. Rmail saves the complete original header before reformatting; to see it, use the `t' command (`rmail-toggle-header'). This discards the reformatted headers of the current message and displays it with the original header. Repeating `t' reformats the message again. Selecting the message again also reformats. One consequence of this is that if you edit the reformatted header (using `e'; *note Rmail Editing::.), subsequent use of `t' will discard your edits. On the other hand, if you use `e' after `t', to edit the original (unreformatted) header, those changes are permanent. When the `t' command has a prefix argument, a positive argument means to show the reformatted header, and a zero or negative argument means to show the full header. When used with a window system that supports multiple fonts, Rmail highlights certain header fields that are especially interesting--by default, the `From' and `Subject' fields. The variable `rmail-highlighted-headers' holds a regular expression that specifies the header fields to highlight; if it matches the beginning of a header field, that whole field is highlighted. If you specify unusual colors for your text foreground and background, the colors used for highlighting may not go well with them. If so, specify different colors for the `highlight' face. That is worth doing because the `highlight' face is used for other kinds of highlighting as well. *Note Faces::, for how to do this. To turn off highlighting entirely in Rmail, set `rmail-highlighted-headers' to `nil'.  File: emacs, Node: Rmail Editing, Next: Rmail Digest, Prev: Rmail Display, Up: Rmail Editing Within a Message ======================== Most of the usual Emacs commands are available in Rmail mode, though a few, such as `C-M-n' and `C-M-h', are redefined by Rmail for other purposes. However, the Rmail buffer is normally read only, and most of the letters are redefined as Rmail commands. If you want to edit the text of a message, you must use the Rmail command `e'. `e' Edit the current message as ordinary text. The `e' command (`rmail-edit-current-message') switches from Rmail mode into Rmail Edit mode, another major mode which is nearly the same as Text mode. The mode line indicates this change. In Rmail Edit mode, letters insert themselves as usual and the Rmail commands are not available. When you are finished editing the message and are ready to go back to Rmail, type `C-c C-c', which switches back to Rmail mode. Alternatively, you can return to Rmail mode but cancel all the editing that you have done, by typing `C-c C-]'. Entering Rmail Edit mode runs the hook `text-mode-hook'; then it runs the hook `rmail-edit-mode-hook' (*note Hooks::.). It adds the attribute `edited' to the message. It also displays the full headers of the message, so that you can edit the headers as well as the body of the message, and your changes in the the headers will be permanent.  File: emacs, Node: Rmail Digest, Next: Out of Rmail, Prev: Rmail Editing, Up: Rmail Digest Messages =============== A "digest message" is a message which exists to contain and carry several other messages. Digests are used on some moderated mailing lists; all the messages that arrive for the list during a period of time such as one day are put inside a single digest which is then sent to the subscribers. Transmitting the single digest uses much less computer time than transmitting the individual messages even though the total size is the same, because the per-message overhead in network mail transmission is considerable. When you receive a digest message, the most convenient way to read it is to "undigestify" it: to turn it back into many individual messages. Then you can read and delete the individual messages as it suits you. To do this, select the digest message and type the command `M-x undigestify-rmail-message'. This extracts the submessages as separate Rmail messages, and inserts them following the digest. The digest message itself is flagged as deleted.  File: emacs, Node: Out of Rmail, Next: Rmail Rot13, Prev: Rmail Digest, Up: Rmail Converting an Rmail File to Inbox Format ======================================== The command `M-x unrmail' converts a file in Rmail format to inbox format (also known as the system mailbox format), so that you can use it with other mail-editing tools. You must specify two arguments, the name of the Rmail file and the name to use for the converted file. `M-x unrmail' does not alter the Rmail file itself.  File: emacs, Node: Rmail Rot13, Next: Movemail, Prev: Out of Rmail, Up: Rmail Reading Rot13 Messages ====================== Mailing list messages that might offend some readers are sometimes encoded in a simple code called "rot13"--so named because it rotates the alphabet by 13 letters. This code is not for secrecy, as it provides none; rather, it enables those who might be offended to avoid ever seeing the real text of the message. To view a buffer using the rot13 code, use the command `M-x rot13-other-window'. This displays the current buffer in another window which applies the code when displaying the text.  File: emacs, Node: Movemail, Prev: Rmail Rot13, Up: Rmail `movemail' and POP ================== When getting new mail, Rmail first copies the new mail from the inbox file to the Rmail file; then it saves the Rmail file; then it truncates the inbox file. This way, a system crash may cause duplication of mail between the inbox and the Rmail file, but cannot lose mail. If `rmail-preserve-inbox' is non-`nil', then Rmail will copy new mail from the inbox file to the Rmail file without truncating the inbox file. You may wish to set this, for example, on a portable computer you use to check your mail via POP while traveling, so that your mail will remain on the server and you can save it later on your workstation. In some cases, Rmail copies the new mail from the inbox file indirectly. First it runs the `movemail' program to move the mail from the inbox to an intermediate file called `~/.newmail-INBOXNAME'. Then Rmail merges the new mail from that file, saves the Rmail file, and only then deletes the intermediate file. If there is a crash at the wrong time, this file continues to exist, and Rmail will use it again the next time it gets new mail from that inbox. If Rmail is unable to convert the data in `~/.newmail-INBOXNAME' into Babyl format, it renames the file to `~/RMAILOSE.N' (N is an integer chosen to make the name unique) so that Rmail will not have trouble with the data again. You should look at the file, find whatever message confuses Rmail (probably one that includes the control-underscore character, octal code 037), and delete it. Then you can use `1 g' to get new mail from the corrected file. Some sites use a method called POP for accessing users' inbox data instead of storing the data in inbox files. `movemail' can work with POP if you compile it with the macro `MAIL_USE_POP' defined. `movemail' only works with POP3, not with older versions of POP. Assuming you have compiled and installed `movemail' appropriately, you can specify a POP inbox with a "file name" of the form `po:USERNAME'. `movemail' handles such a name by opening a connection to the POP server. The `MAILHOST' environment variable specifies the machine to look for the server on. Accessing mail via POP may require a password. If the variable `rmail-pop-password' is non-`nil', it specifies the password to use for POP. Alternatively, if `rmail-pop-password-required' is non-`nil', then Rmail asks you for the password to use. If you need to pass additional command-line flags to `movemail', set the variable `rmail-movemail-flags' a list of the flags you wish to use. Do not use this variable to pass the `-p' flag to preserve your inbox contents; use `rmail-preserve-inbox' instead. The `movemail' program installed at your site may support Kerberos and/or GSS-API authentication. If only Kerberos or GSS-API is supported, it is used by default whenever you attempt to retrieve POP mail when `rmail-pop-password' and `rmail-pop-password-required' are unset. If both are supported, then Kerberos is used by default; to use GSS-API instead, set `rmail-movemail-flags' to pass the flag `-g' to `movemail'.  File: emacs, Node: Dired, Next: Calendar/Diary, Prev: Rmail, Up: Top Dired, the Directory Editor *************************** Dired makes an Emacs buffer containing a listing of a directory, and optionally some of its subdirectories as well. You can use the normal Emacs commands to move around in this buffer, and special Dired commands to operate on the files listed. * Menu: * Enter: Dired Enter. How to invoke Dired. * Commands: Dired Commands. Commands in the Dired buffer. * Deletion: Dired Deletion. Deleting files with Dired. * Flagging Many Files:: Flagging files based on their names. * Visit: Dired Visiting. Other file operations through Dired. * Marks vs Flags:: Flagging for deletion vs marking. * Operating on Files:: How to copy, rename, print, compress, etc. either one file or several files. * Shell Commands in Dired:: Running a shell command on the marked files. * Transforming File Names:: Using patterns to rename multiple files. * Comparison in Dired:: Running `diff' by way of Dired. * Subdirectories in Dired:: Adding subdirectories to the Dired buffer. * Subdirectory Motion:: Moving across subdirectories, and up and down. * Hiding Subdirectories:: Making subdirectories visible or invisible. * Updating: Dired Updating. Discarding lines for files of no interest. * Find: Dired and Find. Using `find' to choose the files for Dired.  File: emacs, Node: Dired Enter, Next: Dired Commands, Up: Dired Entering Dired ============== To invoke Dired, do `C-x d' or `M-x dired'. The command reads a directory name or wildcard file name pattern as a minibuffer argument to specify which files to list. Where `dired' differs from `list-directory' is in putting the buffer into Dired mode so that the special commands of Dired are available. The variable `dired-listing-switches' specifies the options to give to `ls' for listing directory; this string *must* contain `-l'. If you use a numeric prefix argument with the `dired' command, you can specify the `ls' switches with the minibuffer before you enter the directory specification. To display the Dired buffer in another window rather than in the selected window, use `C-x 4 d' (`dired-other-window') instead of `C-x d'. `C-x 5 d' (`dired-other-frame') uses a separate frame to display the Dired buffer.  File: emacs, Node: Dired Commands, Next: Dired Deletion, Prev: Dired Enter, Up: Dired Commands in the Dired Buffer ============================ The Dired buffer is "read-only," and inserting text in it is not useful, so ordinary printing characters such as `d' and `x' are used for special Dired commands. Some Dired commands "mark" or "flag" the "current file" (that is, the file on the current line); other commands operate on the marked files or on the flagged files. All the usual Emacs cursor motion commands are available in Dired buffers. Some special-purpose cursor motion commands are also provided. The keys `C-n' and `C-p' are redefined to put the cursor at the beginning of the file name on the line, rather than at the beginning of the line. For extra convenience, SPC and `n' in Dired are equivalent to `C-n'. `p' is equivalent to `C-p'. (Moving by lines is so common in Dired that it deserves to be easy to type.) DEL (move up and unflag) is often useful simply for moving up.  File: emacs, Node: Dired Deletion, Next: Flagging Many Files, Prev: Dired Commands, Up: Dired Deleting Files with Dired ========================= The primary use of Dired is to "flag" files for deletion and then delete the files previously flagged. `d' Flag this file for deletion. `u' Remove deletion flag on this line. `DEL' Move point to previous line and remove the deletion flag on that line. `x' Delete the files that are flagged for deletion. You can flag a file for deletion by moving to the line describing the file and typing `d' (`dired-flag-file-deletion'). The deletion flag is visible as a `D' at the beginning of the line. This command moves point to the next line, so that repeated `d' commands flag successive files. A numeric argument serves as a repeat count. The files are flagged for deletion rather than deleted immediately to reduce the danger of deleting a file accidentally. Until you direct Dired to expunge the flagged files, you can remove deletion flags using the commands `u' and DEL. `u' (`dired-unmark') works just like `d', but removes flags rather than making flags. DEL (`dired-unmark-backward') moves upward, removing flags; it is like `u' with argument -1. To delete the flagged files, type `x' (`dired-expunge'). This command first displays a list of all the file names flagged for deletion, and requests confirmation with `yes'. If you confirm, Dired deletes the flagged files, then deletes their lines from the text of the Dired buffer. The shortened Dired buffer remains selected. If you answer `no' or quit with `C-g' when asked to confirm, you return immediately to Dired, with the deletion flags still present in the buffer, and no files actually deleted.  File: emacs, Node: Flagging Many Files, Next: Dired Visiting, Prev: Dired Deletion, Up: Dired Flagging Many Files at Once =========================== `#' Flag all auto-save files (files whose names start and end with `#') for deletion (*note Auto Save::.). `~' Flag all backup files (files whose names end with `~') for deletion (*note Backup::.). `&' Flag for deletion all files with certain kinds of names, names that suggest you could easily create the files again. `. (Period)' Flag excess numeric backup files for deletion. The oldest and newest few backup files of any one file are exempt; the middle ones are flagged. `% d REGEXP RET' Flag for deletion all files whose names match the regular expression REGEXP. The `#', `~', `&', and `.' commands flag many files for deletion, based on their file names. These commands are useful precisely because they do not themselves delete any files; you can remove the deletion flags from any flagged files that you really wish to keep. `&' (`dired-flag-garbage-files') flags files whose names match the regular expression specified by the variable `dired-garbage-files-regexp'. By default, this matches certain files produced by TeX, and the `.orig' and `.rej' files produced by `patch'. `#' (`dired-flag-auto-save-files') flags for deletion all files whose names look like auto-save files (*note Auto Save::.)--that is, files whose names begin and end with `#'. `~' (`dired-flag-backup-files') flags for deletion all files whose names say they are backup files (*note Backup::.)--that is, whose names end in `~'. `.' (period, `dired-clean-directory')) flags just some of the backup files for deletion: all but the oldest few and newest few backups of any one file. Normally `dired-kept-versions' (*not* `kept-new-versions'; that applies only when saving) specifies the number of newest versions of each file to keep, and `kept-old-versions' specifies the number of oldest versions to keep. Period with a positive numeric argument, as in `C-u 3 .', specifies the number of newest versions to keep, overriding `dired-kept-versions'. A negative numeric argument overrides `kept-old-versions', using minus the value of the argument to specify the number of oldest versions of each file to keep. The `% d' command flags all files whose names match a specified regular expression (`dired-flag-files-regexp'). Only the non-directory part of the file name is used in matching. You can use `^' and `$' to anchor matches. You can exclude subdirectories by hiding them (*note Hiding Subdirectories::.).  File: emacs, Node: Dired Visiting, Next: Marks vs Flags, Prev: Flagging Many Files, Up: Dired Visiting Files in Dired ======================= There are several Dired commands for visiting or examining the files listed in the Dired buffer. All of them apply to the current line's file; if that file is really a directory, these commands invoke Dired on that subdirectory (making a separate Dired buffer). `f' Visit the file described on the current line, like typing `C-x C-f' and supplying that file name (`dired-find-file'). *Note Visiting::. `RET' Equivalent to `f'. `o' Like `f', but uses another window to display the file's buffer (`dired-find-file-other-window'). The Dired buffer remains visible in the first window. This is like using `C-x 4 C-f' to visit the file. *Note Windows::. `C-o' Visit the file described on the current line, and display the buffer in another window, but do not select that window (`dired-display-file'). `Mouse-2' Visit the file named by the line you click on (`dired-mouse-find-file-other-window'). This uses another window to display the file, like the `o' command. `v' View the file described on the current line, using `M-x view-file' (`dired-view-file'). Viewing a file is like visiting it, but is slanted toward moving around in the file conveniently and does not allow changing the file. *Note View File: Misc File Ops.  File: emacs, Node: Marks vs Flags, Next: Operating on Files, Prev: Dired Visiting, Up: Dired Dired Marks vs. Flags ===================== Instead of flagging a file with `D', you can "mark" the file with some other character (usually `*'). Most Dired commands to operate on files, aside from "expunge" (`x'), look for files marked with `*'. Here are some commands for marking with `*', or for unmarking or operating on marks. (*Note Dired Deletion::, for commands to flag and unflag files.) `m' `* m' Mark the current file with `*' (`dired-mark'). With a numeric argument N, mark the next N files starting with the current file. (If N is negative, mark the previous -N files.) `* *' Mark all executable files with `*' (`dired-mark-executables'). With a numeric argument, unmark all those files. `* @' Mark all symbolic links with `*' (`dired-mark-symlinks'). With a numeric argument, unmark all those files. `* /' Mark with `*' all files which are actually directories, except for `.' and `..' (`dired-mark-directories'). With a numeric argument, unmark all those files. `* s' Mark all the files in the current subdirectory, aside from `.' and `..' (`dired-mark-subdir-files'). `u' `* u' Remove any mark on this line (`dired-unmark'). `DEL' `* DEL' Move point to previous line and remove any mark on that line (`dired-unmark-backward'). `* !' Remove all marks from all the files in this Dired buffer (`dired-unmark-all-files-no-query'). `* ? MARKCHAR' Remove all marks that use the character MARKCHAR (`dired-unmark-all-files'). The argument is a single character--do not use RET to terminate it. With a numeric argument, this command queries about each marked file, asking whether to remove its mark. You can answer `y' meaning yes, `n' meaning no, or `!' to remove the marks from the remaining files without asking about them. `* C-n' Move down to the next marked file (`dired-next-marked-file') A file is "marked" if it has any kind of mark. `* C-p' Move up to the previous marked file (`dired-prev-marked-file') `* t' Toggle all marks (`dired-do-toggle'): files marked with `*' become unmarked, and unmarked files are marked with `*'. Files marked in any other way are not affected. `* c OLD NEW' Replace all marks that use the character OLD with marks that use the character NEW (`dired-change-marks'). This command is the primary way to create or use marks other than `*' or `D'. The arguments are single characters--do not use RET to terminate them. You can use almost any character as a mark character by means of this command, to distinguish various classes of files. If OLD is a space (` '), then the command operates on all unmarked files; if NEW is a space, then the command unmarks the files it acts on. To illustrate the power of this command, here is how to put `*' marks on all the files that are unmarked, while unmarking all those that have `*' marks: * c * t * c SPC * * c t SPC `% m REGEXP RET' `* % REGEXP RET' Mark (with `*') all files whose names match the regular expression REGEXP (`dired-mark-files-regexp'). This command is like `% d', except that it marks files with `*' instead of flagging with `D'. *Note Flagging Many Files::. Only the non-directory part of the file name is used in matching. Use `^' and `$' to anchor matches. Exclude subdirectories by hiding them (*note Hiding Subdirectories::.). `% g REGEXP RET' Mark (with `*') all files whose *contents* contain a match for the regular expression REGEXP (`dired-mark-files-containing-regexp'). This command is like `% m', except that it searches the file contents instead of the file name. `C-_' Undo changes in the Dired buffer, such as adding or removing marks (`dired-undo').  File: emacs, Node: Operating on Files, Next: Shell Commands in Dired, Prev: Marks vs Flags, Up: Dired Operating on Files ================== This section describes the basic Dired commands to operate on one file or several files. All of these commands are capital letters; all of them use the minibuffer, either to read an argument or to ask for confirmation, before they act. All of them give you several ways to specify which files to manipulate: * If you give the command a numeric prefix argument N, it operates on the next N files, starting with the current file. (If N is negative, the command operates on the -N files preceding the current line.) * Otherwise, if some files are marked with `*', the command operates on all those files. * Otherwise, the command operates on the current file only. Here are the file-manipulating commands that operate on files in this way. (Some other Dired commands, such as `!' and the `%' commands, also use these conventions to decide which files to work on.) `C NEW RET' Copy the specified files (`dired-do-copy'). The argument NEW is the directory to copy into, or (if copying a single file) the new name. If `dired-copy-preserve-time' is non-`nil', then copying with this command sets the modification time of the new file to be the same as that of the old file. `D' Delete the specified files (`dired-do-delete'). Like the other commands in this section, this command operates on the *marked* files, or the next N files. By contrast, `x' (`dired-expunge') deletes all "flagged" files. `R NEW RET' Rename the specified files (`dired-do-rename'). The argument NEW is the directory to rename into, or (if renaming a single file) the new name. Dired automatically changes the visited file name of buffers associated with renamed files so that they refer to the new names. `H NEW RET' Make hard links to the specified files (`dired-do-hardlink'). The argument NEW is the directory to make the links in, or (if making just one link) the name to give the link. `S NEW RET' Make symbolic links to the specified files (`dired-do-symlink'). The argument NEW is the directory to make the links in, or (if making just one link) the name to give the link. `M MODESPEC RET' Change the mode (also called "permission bits") of the specified files (`dired-do-chmod'). This uses the `chmod' program, so MODESPEC can be any argument that `chmod' can handle. `G NEWGROUP RET' Change the group of the specified files to NEWGROUP (`dired-do-chgrp'). `O NEWOWNER RET' Change the owner of the specified files to NEWOWNER (`dired-do-chown'). (On most systems, only the superuser can do this.) The variable `dired-chown-program' specifies the name of the program to use to do the work (different systems put `chown' in different places). `P COMMAND RET' Print the specified files (`dired-do-print'). You must specify the command to print them with, but the minibuffer starts out with a suitable guess made using the variables `lpr-command' and `lpr-switches' (the same variables that `lpr-buffer' uses; *note Hardcopy::.). `Z' Compress the specified files (`dired-do-compress'). If the file appears to be a compressed file already, it is uncompressed instead. `L' Load the specified Emacs Lisp files (`dired-do-load'). *Note Lisp Libraries::. `B' Byte compile the specified Emacs Lisp files (`dired-do-byte-compile'). *Note Byte Compilation: (elisp)Byte Compilation. `A REGEXP RET' Search all the specified files for the regular expression REGEXP (`dired-do-search'). This command is a variant of `tags-search'. The search stops at the first match it finds; use `M-,' to resume the search and find the next match. *Note Tags Search::. `Q FROM RET TO RET' Perform `query-replace-regexp' on each of the specified files, replacing matches for FROM (a regular expression) with the string TO (`dired-do-query-replace'). This command is a variant of `tags-query-replace'. If you exit the query replace loop, you can use `M-,' to resume the scan and replace more matches. *Note Tags Search::. One special file-operation command is `+' (`dired-create-directory'). This command reads a directory name and creates the directory if it does not already exist.  File: emacs, Node: Shell Commands in Dired, Next: Transforming File Names, Prev: Operating on Files, Up: Dired Shell Commands in Dired ======================= The dired command `!' (`dired-do-shell-command') reads a shell command string in the minibuffer and runs that shell command on all the specified files. You can specify the files to operate on in the usual ways for Dired commands (*note Operating on Files::.). There are two ways of applying a shell command to multiple files: * If you use `*' in the shell command, then it runs just once, with the list of file names substituted for the `*'. The order of file names is the order of appearance in the Dired buffer. Thus, `! tar cf foo.tar * RET' runs `tar' on the entire list of file names, putting them into one tar file `foo.tar'. * If the command string doesn't contain `*', then it runs once *for each file*, with the file name added at the end. For example, `! uudecode RET' runs `uudecode' on each file. What if you want to run the shell command once for each file but with the file name inserted in the middle? Or if you want to use the file names in a more complicated fashion? Use a shell loop. For example, this shell command would run `uuencode' on each of the specified files, writing the output into a corresponding `.uu' file: for file in *; do uuencode $file $file >$file.uu; done The working directory for the shell command is the top-level directory of the Dired buffer. The `!' command does not attempt to update the Dired buffer to show new or modified files, because it doesn't really understand shell commands, and does not know what files the shell command changed. Use the `g' command to update the Dired buffer (*note Dired Updating::.).  File: emacs, Node: Transforming File Names, Next: Comparison in Dired, Prev: Shell Commands in Dired, Up: Dired Transforming File Names in Dired ================================ Here are commands that alter file names in a systematic way: `% u' Rename each of the selected files to an upper-case name (`dired-upcase'). If the old file names are `Foo' and `bar', the new names are `FOO' and `BAR'. `% l' Rename each of the selected files to a lower-case name (`dired-downcase'). If the old file names are `Foo' and `bar', the new names are `foo' and `bar'. `% R FROM RET TO RET' `% C FROM RET TO RET' `% H FROM RET TO RET' `% S FROM RET TO RET' These four commands rename, copy, make hard links and make soft links, in each case computing the new name by regular-expression substitution from the name of the old file. The four regular-expression substitution commands effectively perform a search-and-replace on the selected file names in the Dired buffer. They read two arguments: a regular expression FROM, and a substitution pattern TO. The commands match each "old" file name against the regular expression FROM, and then replace the matching part with TO. You can use `\&' and `\DIGIT' in TO to refer to all or part of what the pattern matched in the old file name, as in `replace-regexp' (*note Regexp Replace::.). If the regular expression matches more than once in a file name, only the first match is replaced. For example, `% R ^.*$ RET x-\& RET' renames each selected file by prepending `x-' to its name. The inverse of this, removing `x-' from the front of each file name, is also possible: one method is `% R ^x-\(.*\)$ RET \1 RET'; another is `% R ^x- RET RET'. (Use `^' and `$' to anchor matches that should span the whole filename.) Normally, the replacement process does not consider the files' directory names; it operates on the file name within the directory. If you specify a numeric argument of zero, then replacement affects the entire absolute file name including directory name. Often you will want to select the set of files to operate on using the same REGEXP that you will use to operate on them. To do this, mark those files with `% m REGEXP RET', then use the same regular expression in the command to operate on the files. To make this easier, the `%' commands to operate on files use the last regular expression specified in any `%' command as a default.  File: emacs, Node: Comparison in Dired, Next: Subdirectories in Dired, Prev: Transforming File Names, Up: Dired File Comparison with Dired ========================== Here are two Dired commands that compare specified files using `diff'. `=' Compare the current file (the file at point) with another file (the file at the mark) using the `diff' program (`dired-diff'). The file at the mark is the first argument of `diff', and the file at point is the second argument. `M-=' Compare the current file with its latest backup file (`dired-backup-diff'). If the current file is itself a backup, compare it with the file it is a backup of; this way, you can compare a file with any backup version of your choice. The backup file is the first file given to `diff'.  File: emacs, Node: Subdirectories in Dired, Next: Subdirectory Motion, Prev: Comparison in Dired, Up: Dired Subdirectories in Dired ======================= A Dired buffer displays just one directory in the normal case; but you can optionally include its subdirectories as well. The simplest way to include multiple directories in one Dired buffer is to specify the options `-lR' for running `ls'. (If you give a numeric argument when you run Dired, then you can specify these options in the minibuffer.) That produces a recursive directory listing showing all subdirectories at all levels. But usually all the subdirectories are too many; usually you will prefer to include specific subdirectories only. You can do this with the `i' command: `i' Insert the contents of a subdirectory later in the buffer. Use the `i' (`dired-maybe-insert-subdir') command on a line that describes a file which is a directory. It inserts the contents of that directory into the same Dired buffer, and moves there. Inserted subdirectory contents follow the top-level directory of the Dired buffer, just as they do in `ls -lR' output. If the subdirectory's contents are already present in the buffer, the `i' command just moves to it. In either case, `i' sets the Emacs mark before moving, so `C-u C-SPC' takes you back to the old position in the buffer (the line describing that subdirectory). Use the `l' command (`dired-do-redisplay') to update the subdirectory's contents. Use `k' to delete the subdirectory. *Note Dired Updating::.  File: emacs, Node: Subdirectory Motion, Next: Hiding Subdirectories, Prev: Subdirectories in Dired, Up: Dired Moving Over Subdirectories ========================== When a Dired buffer lists subdirectories, you can use the page motion commands `C-x [' and `C-x ]' to move by entire directories. The following commands move across, up and down in the tree of directories within one Dired buffer. They move to "directory header lines", which are the lines that give a directory's name, at the beginning of the directory's contents. `C-M-n' Go to next subdirectory header line, regardless of level (`dired-next-subdir'). `C-M-p' Go to previous subdirectory header line, regardless of level (`dired-prev-subdir'). `C-M-u' Go up to the parent directory's header line (`dired-tree-up'). `C-M-d' Go down in the directory tree, to the first subdirectory's header line (`dired-tree-down'). `<' Move up to the previous directory-file line (`dired-prev-dirline'). These lines are the ones that describe a directory as a file in its parent directory. `>' Move down to the next directory-file line (`dired-prev-dirline').  File: emacs, Node: Hiding Subdirectories, Next: Dired Updating, Prev: Subdirectory Motion, Up: Dired Hiding Subdirectories ===================== "Hiding" a subdirectory means to make it invisible, except for its header line, via selective display (*note Selective Display::.). `$' Hide or reveal the subdirectory that point is in, and move point to the next subdirectory (`dired-hide-subdir'). A numeric argument serves as a repeat count. `M-$' Hide all subdirectories in this Dired buffer, leaving only their header lines (`dired-hide-all'). Or, if any subdirectory is currently hidden, make all subdirectories visible again. You can use this command to get an overview in very deep directory trees or to move quickly to subdirectories far away. Ordinary Dired commands never consider files inside a hidden subdirectory. For example, the commands to operate on marked files ignore files in hidden directories even if they are marked. Thus you can use hiding to temporarily exclude subdirectories from operations without having to remove the markers. The subdirectory hiding commands toggle; that is, they hide what was visible, and show what was hidden.  File: emacs, Node: Dired Updating, Next: Dired and Find, Prev: Hiding Subdirectories, Up: Dired Updating the Dired Buffer ========================= This section describes commands to update the Dired buffer to reflect outside (non-Dired) changes in the directories and files, and to delete part of the Dired buffer. `g' Update the entire contents of the Dired buffer (`revert-buffer'). `l' Update the specified files (`dired-do-redisplay'). `k' Delete the specified *file lines*--not the files, just the lines (`dired-do-kill-lines'). `s' Toggle between alphabetical order and date/time order (`dired-sort-toggle-or-edit'). `C-u s SWITCHES RET' Refresh the Dired buffer using SWITCHES as `dired-listing-switches'. Type `g' (`revert-buffer') to update the contents of the Dired buffer, based on changes in the files and directories listed. This preserves all marks except for those on files that have vanished. Hidden subdirectories are updated but remain hidden. To update only some of the files, type `l' (`dired-do-redisplay'). This command applies to the next N files, or to the marked files if any, or to the current file. Updating them means reading their current status from the file system and changing the buffer to reflect it properly. If you use `l' on a subdirectory header line, it updates the contents of the corresponding subdirectory. To delete the specified *file lines*--not the files, just the lines--type `k' (`dired-do-kill-lines'). This command applies to the next N files, or to the marked files if any, or to the current file. If you kill the line for a file that is a directory, the directory's contents are also deleted from the buffer. Typing `C-u k' on the header line for a subdirectory is another way to delete a subdirectory from the Dired buffer. The `g' command brings back any individual lines that you have killed in this way, but not subdirectories--you must use `i' to reinsert each subdirectory. The files in a Dired buffers are normally listed in alphabetical order by file names. Alternatively Dired can sort them by date/time. The Dired command `s' (`dired-sort-toggle-or-edit') switches between these two sorting modes. The mode line in a Dired buffer indicates which way it is currently sorted--by name, or by date. `C-u s SWITCHES RET' lets you specify a new value for `dired-listing-switches'.  File: emacs, Node: Dired and Find, Prev: Dired Updating, Up: Dired Dired and `find' ================ You can select a set of files for display in a Dired buffer more flexibly by using the `find' utility to choose the files. To search for files with names matching a wildcard pattern use `M-x find-name-dired'. It reads arguments DIRECTORY and PATTERN, and chooses all the files in DIRECTORY or its subdirectories whose individual names match PATTERN. The files thus chosen are displayed in a Dired buffer in which the ordinary Dired commands are available. If you want to test the contents of files, rather than their names, use `M-x find-grep-dired'. This command reads two minibuffer arguments, DIRECTORY and REGEXP; it chooses all the files in DIRECTORY or its subdirectories that contain a match for REGEXP. It works by running the programs `find' and `grep'. See also `M-x grep-find', in *Note Compilation::. Remember to write the regular expression for `grep', not for Emacs. The most general command in this series is `M-x find-dired', which lets you specify any condition that `find' can test. It takes two minibuffer arguments, DIRECTORY and FIND-ARGS; it runs `find' in DIRECTORY, passing FIND-ARGS to tell `find' what condition to test. To use this command, you need to know how to use `find'. The format of listing produced by these commands is controlled by the variable `find-ls-option', whose default value specifies using options `-ld' for `ls'. If your listings are corrupted, you may need to change the value of this variable.  File: emacs, Node: Calendar/Diary, Next: Gnus, Prev: Dired, Up: Top The Calendar and the Diary ************************** Emacs provides the functions of a desk calendar, with a diary of planned or past events. To enter the calendar, type `M-x calendar'; this displays a three-month calendar centered on the current month, with point on the current date. With a numeric argument, as in `C-u M-x calendar', it prompts you for the month and year to be the center of the three-month calendar. The calendar uses its own buffer, whose major mode is Calendar mode. `Mouse-2' in the calendar brings up a menu of operations on a particular date; `C-Mouse-3' brings up a menu of commonly used calendar features that are independent of any particular date. To exit the calendar, type `q'. *Note Customizing the Calendar and Diary: (elisp)Calendar, for customization information about the calendar and diary. * Menu: * Calendar Motion:: Moving through the calendar; selecting a date. * Scroll Calendar:: Bringing earlier or later months onto the screen. * Counting Days:: How many days are there between two dates? * General Calendar:: Exiting or recomputing the calendar. * LaTeX Calendar:: Print a calendar using LaTeX. * Holidays:: Displaying dates of holidays. * Sunrise/Sunset:: Displaying local times of sunrise and sunset. * Lunar Phases:: Displaying phases of the moon. * Other Calendars:: Converting dates to other calendar systems. * Diary:: Displaying events from your diary. * Appointments:: Reminders when it's time to do something. * Daylight Savings:: How to specify when daylight savings time is active.  File: emacs, Node: Calendar Motion, Next: Scroll Calendar, Up: Calendar/Diary Movement in the Calendar ======================== Calendar mode lets you move through the calendar in logical units of time such as days, weeks, months, and years. If you move outside the three months originally displayed, the calendar display "scrolls" automatically through time to make the selected date visible. Moving to a date lets you view its holidays or diary entries, or convert it to other calendars; moving longer time periods is also useful simply to scroll the calendar. * Menu: * Calendar Unit Motion:: Moving by days, weeks, months, and years. * Move to Beginning or End:: Moving to start/end of weeks, months, and years. * Specified Dates:: Moving to the current date or another specific date.  File: emacs, Node: Calendar Unit Motion, Next: Move to Beginning or End, Up: Calendar Motion Motion by Standard Lengths of Time ---------------------------------- The commands for movement in the calendar buffer parallel the commands for movement in text. You can move forward and backward by days, weeks, months, and years. `C-f' Move point one day forward (`calendar-forward-day'). `C-b' Move point one day backward (`calendar-backward-day'). `C-n' Move point one week forward (`calendar-forward-week'). `C-p' Move point one week backward (`calendar-backward-week'). `M-}' Move point one month forward (`calendar-forward-month'). `M-{' Move point one month backward (`calendar-backward-month'). `C-x ]' Move point one year forward (`calendar-forward-year'). `C-x [' Move point one year backward (`calendar-backward-year'). The day and week commands are natural analogues of the usual Emacs commands for moving by characters and by lines. Just as `C-n' usually moves to the same column in the following line, in Calendar mode it moves to the same day in the following week. And `C-p' moves to the same day in the previous week. The arrow keys are equivalent to `C-f', `C-b', `C-n' and `C-p', just as they normally are in other modes. The commands for motion by months and years work like those for weeks, but move a larger distance. The month commands `M-}' and `M-{' move forward or backward by an entire month's time. The year commands `C-x ]' and `C-x [' move forward or backward a whole year. The easiest way to remember these commands is to consider months and years analogous to paragraphs and pages of text, respectively. But the commands themselves are not quite analogous. The ordinary Emacs paragraph commands move to the beginning or end of a paragraph, whereas these month and year commands move by an entire month or an entire year, which usually involves skipping across the end of a month or year. All these commands accept a numeric argument as a repeat count. For convenience, the digit keys and the minus sign specify numeric arguments in Calendar mode even without the Meta modifier. For example, `100 C-f' moves point 100 days forward from its present location.