M. File Handling

The operating system stores data permanently in named files, so most of the text you edit with Emacs comes from a file and is ultimately stored in a file.

To edit a file, you must tell Emacs to read the file and prepare a buffer containing a copy of the file's text. This is called visiting the file. Editing commands apply directly to text in the buffer; that is, to the copy inside Emacs. Your changes appear in the file itself only when you save the buffer back into the file.

In addition to visiting and saving files, Emacs can delete, copy, rename, and append to files, keep multiple versions of them, and operate on file directories.

M.1 File Names		How to type and edit file-name arguments.
M.2 Visiting Files		Visiting a file prepares Emacs to edit the file.
M.3 Saving Files		Saving makes your changes permanent.
M.4 Reverting a Buffer		Reverting cancels all the changes not saved.
M.5 Auto-Saving: Protection Against Disasters		Auto Save periodically protects against loss of data.
M.6 File Name Aliases		Handling multiple names for one file.
M.7 Version Control		Version control systems (RCS, CVS and SCCS).
M.8 File Directories		Creating, deleting, and listing file directories.
M.9 Comparing Files		Finding where two files differ.
M.10 Miscellaneous File Operations		Other things you can do on files.
M.11 Accessing Compressed Files		Accessing compressed files.
M.12 File Archives		Operating on tar, zip, jar etc. archive files.
M.13 Remote Files		Accessing files on other sites.
M.14 Quoted File Names		Quoting special characters in file names.
M.15 File Name Cache		Completion against a list of files you often use.
M.16 Convenience Features for Finding Files