Chapter Summary

You can precede many of the commands in the following tables with a numeric argument to make the command repeat the number of times specified by the argument. Precede a numeric argument with CONTROL-U to keep emacs from entering the argument as text.

Table 7-23 lists commands that move the cursor.

Table 7-23. Moving the cursor

Command	Result
CONTROL-F	Forward by characters
CONTROL-B	Backward by characters
META-f	Forward by words
META-b	Backward by words
META-e	To end of sentence
META-a	To beginning of sentence
META-}	To end of paragraph
META-{	To beginning of paragraph
META->	Forward to end of buffer
META-<	Backward to beginning of buffer
CONTROL-ESCAPE	To end of line
CONTROL-A	To beginning of line
CONTROL-N	Forward (down) one line
CONTROL-P	Backward (up) one line
CONTROL-V	Scroll forward (down) one window
META-v	Scroll backward (up) one window
CONTROL-L	Clear and repaint screen, and scroll current line to center of window
META-r	To beginning of middle line
CONTROL-U num META-r	To beginning of line number num (0 = top, = bottom)

Table 7-24 lists commands that kill and delete text.

Table 7-24. Killing and deleting text

Command	Result
CONTROL-DELETE	Deletes character under cursor
DELETE	Deletes character to left of cursor
META-d	Kills forward to end of current word
META-DELETE	Kills backward to beginning of previous word
META-k	Kills forward to end of sentence
CONTROL-X DELETE	Kills backward to beginning of sentence
CONTROL-K	Kills forward to, but not including, line-ending LINEFEED; if there is no text between the cursor and the LINEFEED, kills the LINEFEED
CONTROL-U 1 CONTROL-K	Kills from cursor forward to and including LINEFEED
CONTROL-U 0 CONTROL-K	Kills from cursor backward to beginning of line
META-z char	Kills forward to, but not including, next occurrence of char
META-w	Copies Region to Kill Ring (does not delete Region from buffer)
CONTROL-W	Kills Region (deletes Region from buffer)
CONTROL-Y	Yanks most recently killed text into current buffer at Point; sets Mark at beginning of this text, with Point and cursor at the end
META-y	Erases just-yanked text, rotates Kill Ring, and yanks next item (only after CONTROL-Y or META-y)

Table 7-25 lists commands that search for strings and regular expressions.

Table 7-25. Search commands

Command	Result
CONTROL-S	Prompts incrementally for a string and searches forward
CONTROL-S RETURN	Prompts for a complete string and searches forward
CONTROL-R	Prompts incrementally for a string and searches backward
CONTROL-R RETURN	Prompts for a complete string and searches backward
META-CONTROL-S	Prompts incrementally for a regular expression and searches forward
META- CONTROL-S RETURN	Prompts for a complete regular expression and searches forward
META-x isearch-backward-regexp	Prompts incrementally for a regular expression and searches forward
META-x isearch-backward-regexp RETURN	Prompts for a complete regular expression and searches backward

Table 7-26 lists commands that provide online help.

Table 7-26. Online help

Command	Result
CONTROL-H a	Prompts for string and displays a list of commands whose names contain string
CONTROL-H b	Displays a (long) table of all key bindings now in effect
CONTROL-H c key-sequence	Displays the name of the command bound to key-sequence
CONTROL-H k key-sequence	Displays the name of and documentation for the command bound to key-sequence
CONTROL-H f	Prompts for the name of a Lisp function and displays the documentation for that function
CONTROL-H i (lowercase "i")	Displays the top menu of info (page 32)
CONTROL-H l (lowercase "l")	Displays the last 100 characters typed
CONTROL-H m	Displays the documentation and special key bindings for the current Major mode
CONTROL-H n	Displays the emacs news file
CONTROL-H t	Starts an emacs tutorial session
CONTROL-H v	Prompts for a Lisp variable name and displays the documentation for that variable
CONTROL-H w	Prompts for a command name and displays the key sequence, if any, bound to that command

Table 7-27 lists commands that work with a Region.

Table 7-27. Working with a Region

Command	Result
META-W	Copies Region nondestructively to the Kill Ring
CONTROL-W	Kills (deletes) Region
META-x print-region	Copies Region to the print spooler
META-x append-to-buffer	Prompts for buffer name and appends Region to that buffer
META-x append-to-file	Prompts for filename and appends Region to that file
CONTROL-X CONTROL-U	Converts Region to uppercase
CONTROL-X CONTROL-L	Converts Region to lowercase

Table 7-28 lists commands that work with lines.

Table 7-28. Working with lines

Command	Result
META-x occur	Prompts for a regular expression and lists each line containing a match for the expression in a buffer named *Occur*
META-x delete-matching-lines	Prompts for a regular expression and deletes lines from Point forward that have a match for the regular expression
META-x delete-non-matching-lines	Prompts for a regular expression and deletes lines from Point forward that do not have a match for the regular expression

Table 7-29 lists commands that replace strings and regular expressions unconditionally and interactively.

Table 7-29. Commands that replace text

Command	Result
META-x replace-string	Prompts for two strings and replaces each instance of the first string with the second string from Mark forward; sets Mark at the start of the command
META-% or META-x query-replace	As above but queries for each replacement (see Table 7-30 for a list of responses)
META-x replace-regexp	Prompts for a regular expression and a string, and replaces each match for the regular expression with the string; sets Mark at the start of the command
META-x query-replace-regexp	As above but queries for each replacement (see Table 7-30 for a list of responses)

Table 7-30. Responses to replacement queries

Command	Result
RETURN	Quits searching (does not make or query for any more replacements)
SPACE	Makes this replacement and continues querying
DELETE	Does not make this replacement and continues querying
, (comma)	Makes this replacement, displays the result, and asks for another command
. (period)	Makes this replacement and does not make or query for any more replacements
! (exclamation point)	Replaces this and all remaining instances without querying

Table 7-30 lists responses to replacement queries.

Table 7-31 lists commands that work with windows.

Table 7-31. Working with windows

Command	Result
CONTROL-X b	Prompts for and displays a different buffer in current window
CONTROL-X 2	Splits current window vertically into two
CONTROL-X 3	Splits current window horizontally into two
CONTROL-X o (lowercase "o")	Selects other window
META-CONTROL-V	Scrolls other window
CONTROL-X 4b	Prompts for buffer name and selects it in other window
CONTROL-X 4f	Prompts for filename and selects it in other window
CONTROL-X 0 (zero)	Deletes current window
CONTROL-X 1 (one)	Deletes all windows except current window
META-x shrink-window	Makes current window one line shorter
CONTROL-X ^	Makes current window one line taller
CONTROL-X }	Makes current window one character wider
CONTROL-X {	Makes current window one character narrower

Table 7-32 lists commands that work with files.

Table 7-32. Working with files

Command	Result
CONTROL-X CONTROL-F	Prompts for a filename and reads its contents into a new buffer; assigns the file's simple filename as the buffer name.
CONTROL-X CONTROL-V	Prompts for a filename and reads its contents into the current buffer (overwriting the contents of the current buffer).
CONTROL-X 4 CONTROL-F	Prompts for a filename and reads its contents into a new buffer; assigns the file's simple filename as the buffer name. Creates a new window for the new buffer and selects that window. This command splits the screen in half if you begin with only one window.
CONTROL-X CONTROL-S	Saves the current buffer to the original file.
CONTROL-X S	Prompts for whether to save each modified buffer (y/n).
META-x set-visited-file-name	Prompts for a filename and sets the current buffer's "original" name to that filename.
CONTROL-X CONTROL-W	Prompts for a filename, sets the current buffer's "original" name to that filename, and saves the current buffer in that file.
META-~ (tilde)	Clears modified flag from the current buffer. Use with caution.

Table 7-33 lists commands that work with buffers.

Table 7-33. Working with buffers

Command	Result
CONTROL-X CONTROL-S	Saves current buffer in its associated file.
CONTROL-X CONTROL-F	Prompts for filename and visits (opens) that file.
CONTROL-X b	Prompts for buffer name and selects it. If that buffer does not exist, creates it.
CONTROL-X 4b	Prompts for buffer name and displays that buffer in another window. The existing window is not disturbed, although the new window may overlap it.
CONTROL-X CONTROL-B	Creates a buffer named *Buffer List* and displays it in another window. The existing window is not disturbed, although the new window may overlap it. The new buffer is not selected. In the *Buffer List* buffer, each buffer's data is displayed with its name, size, mode(s), and original filename.
META-x rename-buffer	Prompts for a new buffer name and assigns this new name to the current buffer.
CONTROL-X CONTROL-Q	Toggles the current buffer's readonly status and the associated %% Mode Line indicator.
META-x append-to-buffer	Prompts for buffer name and appends Region to the end of that buffer.
META-x prepend-to-buffer	Prompts for buffer name and prepends Region to beginning of that buffer.
META-x copy-to-buffer	Prompts for buffer name, deletes contents of that buffer, and copies the Region to that buffer.
META-x insert-buffer	Prompts for buffer name and inserts entire contents of that buffer in current buffer at Point.
CONTROL-X k	Prompts for buffer name and deletes that buffer.
META-x kill-some-buffers	Goes through the entire buffer list and offers the chance to delete each buffer.

Table 7-34 lists commands that run shell commands in the foreground. These commands may not work with all shells.

Table 7-34. Foreground shell commands

Command	Result
META-! (exclamation point)	Prompts for shell command, executes it, and displays the output
CONTROL-U META-! (exclamation point)	Prompts for shell command, executes it, and inserts the output at Point
META-| (vertical bar)	Prompts for shell command, supplies Region as input to that command, and displays output of command
CONTROL-U META-| (vertical bar)	Prompts for shell command, supplies Region as input to that command, deletes old Region, and inserts output of command in place of Region

Table 7-35 lists commands that run shell commands in the background.

Table 7-35. Background shell commands

Command	Result
META-x compile	Prompts for shell command and runs that command in the background, with output going to the buffer named *compilation*
META-x kill-compilation	Kills background process

Table 7-36 lists commands that convert text from uppercase to lowercase and vice versa.

Table 7-36. Case conversion commands

Command	Result
META-l (lowercase "l")	Converts word to right of Point to lowercase
META-u	Converts word to right of Point to uppercase
META-c	Converts word to right of Point to initial caps
CONTROL-X CONTROL-L	Converts Region to lowercase
CONTROL-X CONTROL-U	Converts Region to uppercase

Table 7-37 lists commands that work in C mode.

Table 7-37. C mode commands

Command	Result
CONTROL-META-f	Moves forward over expression
CONTROL-META-b	Moves backward over expression
CONTROL-META-k	Moves forward over expression and kills it
CONTROL-META-@	Sets Mark at the position CONTROL-META-f would move to, without changing Point
CONTROL-META-a	Moves to beginning of the most recent function definition
CONTROL-META-e	Moves to the end of the next function definition
CONTROL-META-h	Moves Point to beginning and Mark to end of current (or next, if between) function definition

Type META-x shell to create a buffer named *shell* and start a subshell. Table 7-38 lists commands that work on this buffer.

Table 7-38. Shell mode commands

Command	Result
RETURN	Sends current line to the shell
CONTROL-C CONTROL-D	Sends CONTROL-D to shell or its subshell
CONTROL-C CONTROL-C	Sends CONTROL-C to shell or its subshell
CONTROL-C CONTROL-\	Sends quit signal to shell or its subshell
CONTROL-C CONTROL-U	Kills text on the current line not yet completed
CONTROL-C CONTROL-R	Scrolls back to beginning of last shell output, putting first line of output at the top of the window
CONTROL-C CONTROL-O (uppercase "O")	Deletes last batch of shell output