6 This file presents some general information about XEmacs. It is
7 primarily about the changes in recent XEmacs versions and its release
10 Use `C-c C-f' to move to the next equal level of outline, and
11 `C-c C-b' to move to previous equal level. `C-h m' will give more
12 info about the Outline mode. Many commands are also available through
15 Users who would like to know which capabilities have been introduced
16 in each release should look at the appropriate section of this file.
17 Starting with version 20.0, XEmacs includes ChangeLogs, which can be
18 consulted for a more detailed list of changes.
20 Users interested in some of the details of how XEmacs differs from GNU
21 Emacs should read the section "What's Different?" near the end of this
24 N.B. The term "GNU Emacs" refers to any release of Emacs Version
25 19 from the Free Software Foundation's GNU Project. (We do not
26 say just "Emacs" as Richard M. Stallman ["RMS"] prefers, because
27 it is clearly a more generic term.) The term "XEmacs" refers to
28 this program or to its predecessors "Era" and "Lucid Emacs". The
29 predecessor of all these program is called "Emacs 18". When no
30 particular version is implied, "Emacs" will be used.
33 * Changes in XEmacs 21.2
34 ========================
37 * Changes in XEmacs 21.0
38 ========================
40 ** XEmacs has been unbundled into constituent installable packages.
41 See the Info documentation under "Packages" for more information.
42 See the file `etc/PACKAGES' in the distribution for a partial list of
43 packages available at the time of the 21.0 release.
45 ** XEmacs is now supported under Microsoft Windows 95/98 and Windows
46 NT operating systems. For starters, look at the XEmacs on Windows FAQ
47 at <URL:http://jagor.srce.hr/~hniksic/xemacs-on-windows-faq.txt>. To
48 discuss Windows-specific issues, subscribe to the mailing list at
49 <xemacs-nt-request@xemacs.org>.
51 ** XEmacs will now use `XEmacs' as its application class if it finds
52 any `XEmacs' resources in the resource database. Otherwise, it will
53 continue to use the `Emacs' class.
55 ** The options menu has been ported to Custom.
56 This means that each entry in the options menu acts as if you had customized
57 the corresponding variable by hand. ### WARNING: there is currently no
58 upgrading function to help you port your old options settings to the new
59 format. Consequently, if you want to modify the options for XEmacs 21, you
60 will have to set them all again through the menu, and remove the code loading
61 .xemacs-options from your .emacs.
63 ** When the Zmacs region is active, `M-x query-replace' and the other
64 replace commands now operate on the region contents only.
66 ** Using the new `-private' option, you can make XEmacs use a private
69 ** The `imenu' package has been ported to XEmacs and is available as a
72 ** `echo-keystrokes' can now be a floating-point number, so that you
73 can set it to intervals shorter than one second.
75 (setq echo-keystrokes 0.1)
77 ** The new command `center-to-window-line' works like `recenter'
78 (bound to `C-l'), only it does not redisplay the whole display area.
80 ** The M-. command will now first search through exact tags matches,
81 and then through inexact matches, as one would expect.
83 ** The new variable `user-full-name' can be used to customize one's
84 name when using the Emacs mail and news reading facilities.
86 Normally, `user-full-name' is a function that returns the full name of
87 a user or UID, as specified by the system -- for instance,
88 (user-full-name "root") returns something like "Super-User". However,
89 when the function is called without arguments, it will return the
90 value of the `user-full-name' variable. The `user-full-name' variable
91 is initialized using the environment variable NAME and (failing that)
92 the user's system name.
94 The behaviour of the `user-full-name' function with an argument
95 specified is unchanged.
97 ** The new command `M-x customize-changed-options' lets you customize
98 all the options whose default values have changed in recent Emacs
99 versions. You specify a previous Emacs version number as argument,
100 and the command creates a customization buffer showing all the
101 customizable options whose default values were changed since that
104 If you don't specify a particular version number argument, then the
105 customization buffer shows all the customizable options for which
106 Emacs versions of changes are recorded.
108 ** The new command `add-log-convert' can be used to convert the
109 old-style (pre-20.3) ChangeLog buffers to new style, for
110 consistency. A reminder: if you wish to revert to old-style
111 ChangeLogs instead, customize the value of `add-log-time-format'
114 ** The new command `zap-up-to-char' is now available. It is similar
115 to `zap-to-char', except that it does not delete the searched-for
116 character. It is not bound to a key by default.
118 ** You can now store a number into a register with `C-u NUMBER C-x r n'
119 REG, increment it by INC with `C-u INC C-x r + REG' (to increment by
120 one, omit C-u INC), and insert it in the buffer with `C-x r g REG'.
121 This is useful for writing keyboard macros.
123 ** The M-: command, when given a prefix argument, will now insert its
124 result to the current buffer.
126 ** The `C-h c' command, when given a prefix argument, will now insert
127 the message into the current buffer.
129 ** Horizontally split windows may now be dragged using the mouse.
130 Because of this, the dividers between vertical windows are always
131 visible. To turn it off, set `vertical-divider-always-visible-p' to
134 ** XEmacs/Mule (internationalization) changes.
136 *** Mule support now works on TTY's. Use `set-terminal-coding-system'
137 and `set-keyboard-coding-system' to specify the coding system of your
138 display and keyboard.
140 *** Egg/SJ3 input method is now officially supported. Quail and
141 Egg/Skk have been available through the generalized Leim since 20.3.
143 *** Localized Japanese menubars are available if XEmacs is built with
144 XFONTSET and either the X11 libraries are built with X_LOCALE defined
145 or the native C libraries support Japanese localization. This has
146 been available since 20.3, only it hasn't been announced before.
148 ** Jamie Zawinski's `gdb-highlight' extension is now distributed with
149 the `debug' package. gdb-highlight makes most objects printed in a
150 gdb buffer be mouse-sensitive: as text shows up in the buffer, it is
151 parsed, and objects which are recognized have context-sensitive
152 commands attached to them. To use it, add the following to `.emacs':
154 (add-hook 'gdb-mode-hook (lambda () (require 'gdb-highlight)))
156 ** The package popper.el is now included in the edit-utils package.
157 It has been greatly enhanced with respect to the one once included
158 with the ilisp package and should work well under XEmacs 21.0.
162 *** Multiline macros are now handled, both as they affect indentation,
163 and as recognized syntax. New syntactic symbol cpp-macro-cont is
164 assigned to second and subsequent lines of a multiline macro
167 *** A new style "user" which captures all non-hook-ified
168 (i.e. top-level) .emacs file variable setings and customizations.
169 Style "cc-mode" is an alias for "user" and is deprecated. "gnu" style
170 is still the default however.
172 *** "java" style now conforms to Sun's JDK coding style.
174 *** There are new commands c-beginning-of-defun, c-end-of-defun which
175 are alternatives which you could bind to C-M-a and C-M-e if you prefer
176 them. They do not have key bindings by default.
178 *** New and improved implementations of M-a (c-beginning-of-statement)
179 and M-e (c-end-of-statement).
181 *** C++ namespace blocks are supported, with new syntactic symbols
182 namespace-open, namespace-close, and innamespace.
184 *** File local variable settings of c-file-style and c-file-offsets
185 makes the style variables local to that buffer only.
187 *** New indentation functions c-lineup-close-paren,
188 c-indent-one-line-block, c-lineup-dont-change.
190 *** Improvements (hopefully!) to the way CC Mode is loaded. You
191 should now be able to do a (require 'cc-mode) to get the entire
192 package loaded properly for customization in your .emacs file. A new
193 variable c-initialize-on-load controls this and is t by default.
195 ** In Text mode, now only blank lines separate paragraphs.
196 This makes it possible to get the full benefit of Adaptive Fill mode
197 in Text mode, and other modes derived from it (such as Mail mode).
198 TAB in Text mode now runs the command indent-relative; this makes a
199 practical difference only when you use indented paragraphs.
201 As a result, the old Indented Text mode is now identical to Text mode,
202 and is an alias for it.
204 If you want spaces at the beginning of a line to start a paragraph,
205 use the new mode, Paragraph Indent Text mode.
207 ** Changes to Gnus, the XEmacs newsreader.
209 *** New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
210 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See the
211 Gnus manual for the full story.
213 *** The nndraft backend has returned, but works differently than
214 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the nndraft
215 group, which is created automatically.
217 *** `gnus-alter-header-function' can now be used to alter header
220 *** `gnus-summary-goto-article' now accept Message-ID's.
222 *** A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
223 outside the region: `C-c C-v'.
225 *** You can now post to component group in nnvirtual groups with
228 *** `nntp-rlogin-program' -- new variable to ease customization.
230 *** `C-u C-c C-c' in `gnus-article-edit-mode' will now inhibit
231 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
233 *** New element in `gnus-boring-article-headers' -- `long-to'.
235 *** `M-i' symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
236 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
238 *** `L' and `I' in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
239 `a' to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
241 *** `gnus-simplify-subject-functions' variable to allow greater
242 control over simplification.
244 *** `A T' -- new command for fetching the current thread.
246 *** `/ T' -- new command for including the current thread in the
249 *** `M-RET' is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
251 *** \\1-expressions are now valid in `nnmail-split-methods'.
253 *** The `custom-face-lookup' function has been removed.
254 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
255 rewrite them to use `face-spec-set' instead.
257 *** Cancelling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
258 `a' forces normal posting method.
260 *** New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper text
263 *** For easier debugging of nntp, you can set `nntp-record-commands'
266 *** nntp now uses ~/.authinfo, a .netrc-like file, for controlling
267 where and how to send AUTHINFO to NNTP servers.
269 *** A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
272 *** A history of where mails have been split is available.
274 *** A new article date command has been added -- `article-date-iso8601'.
276 *** Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
277 `gnus-score-thread-simplify'.
279 *** A new function for citing in Message has been added --
280 `message-cite-original-without-signature'.
282 *** `article-strip-all-blank-lines' -- new article command.
284 *** A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
287 *** A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
288 `gnus-adaptive-word-minimum' variable.
290 *** The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
291 updated by the `gnus-start-date-timer' command.
293 *** Web listserv archives can be read with the nnlistserv backend.
295 *** Old dejanews archives can now be read by nnweb.
297 *** Byte-compilation of user-specs now works under XEmacs.
299 ** The `dir' files are no longer essential for functioning of the Info
300 subsystem. If the `dir' file does not exist in an Info directory, the
301 relevant information will be generated on-the-fly.
303 This behaviour can be customized, look for `Info-auto-generate-directory'
304 and `Info-save-auto-generated-dir' in the `info' customization group.
307 * Lisp and internal changes in XEmacs 21.0
308 ==========================================
310 ** It is now possible to build XEmacs with support for 31-bit Lisp
311 integers (normally, Lisp integers are only 28 bits wide on 32-bit
312 machines.) Configure with --use-minimal-tagbits to test. With this
313 change, the maximum buffer size on 32-bit machines is increased from
314 128M to 1G. This setting will be made default in a future XEmacs
317 ** Specifier changes.
319 *** When instantiating a specifier, the window locale now has a higher
320 precedence than the buffer locale. This is because the window locale
321 is more specific than the buffer locale.
323 *** The new macro `let-specifier' can be used to temporarily add
324 specifications to specifiers. See the documentation for details.
326 *** The new specifiers `vertical-scrollbar-visible-p' and
327 `horizontal-scrollbar-visible-p' may be used to control scrollbar
328 visibility. Previously, the only way to remove a scrollbar was to set
329 its size to 0. This method is still supported for backward
332 *** The new specifiers `scrollbar-on-left-p' and `scrollbar-on-top-p'
333 may be used to control the position of the vertical and horizontal
334 toolbar. Previously, their position could be changed only through the
337 *** The new draggable vertical dividers between windows may be turned
338 off using the `vertical-divider-always-visible-p' specifier. When
339 this is set to nil, the vertical dividers between windows are shown
340 only when needed, and they are not draggable.
342 Other properties of the vertical dividers may be controlled using
343 `vertical-divider-shadow-thickness', `vertical-divider-line-width' and
344 `vertical-divider-spacing' specifiers, which see.
346 ** Frame focus management changes.
348 *** When the variable focus-follows-mouse is non-nil, `select-frame'
349 no longer permanently selects a different frame. The frame selection
350 is temporary and is reverted when the current command terminates, much
351 like the buffer selected by `set-buffer'. This is the same as in FSF
354 *** The new function `focus-frame' sets the window system focus to
355 FRAME (and selects it), regardless of the value of
356 `focus-follows-mouse'. Doing this is not well behaved, so be
357 absolutely sure that you want this.
359 The code that uses `select-frame' only to get the window manager focus
360 should be changed to use `set-frame-focus' instead, so that they keep
361 working when `focus-follows-mouse' is non-nil.
363 *** The special forms `save-selected-frame' and `with-selected-frame'
364 can now be used to temporarily change selected frame.
366 *** The behavior of `other-frame' command (`C-x 5 o') is unaffected by
369 ** The function `select-window' now has an optional second argument
370 NORECORD which if non-nil inhibits the recording of a buffer change.
372 ** The function `vertical-motion' now correctly handles the second,
373 optional WINDOW argument. A new third argument PIXELS, if non-nil,
374 indicates that the returned motion should be in pixels.
376 ** The new function `vertical-motion-pixels' is similar to
377 vertical-motion but takes as input a vertical motion in pixels.
379 ** The new functions window-text-area-pixel-{width,height,edges} can
380 be used to obtain information about the text-displaying area of a
383 ** The new functions `shrink-window-pixels' and `enlarge-window-pixels'
384 can be used to adjust the size of a window by a pixel amount.
386 ** The new function `window-displayed-text-pixel-height' can be used
387 to determine the height of the text actually displayed in a window.
389 ** The arithmetic comparison functions <, >, =, /= now accept a
390 variable number of arguments.
392 This means that if you want to test whether A < B < C, you can write
393 it as (< A B C) instead of (and (< A B) (< B C)). Likewise,
394 (apply #'> LIST) now tests if LIST is monotonously increasing -- and
397 ** The XEmacs hashtables now have a consistent read/print syntax.
398 This means that a hashtable will be readably printed in a
401 #s(hashtable size 2 data (key1 value1 key2 value2))
403 When XEmacs reads this form, it will create a new hashtable according
404 to description. This allows you to easily dump hashtables to files
405 using `prin1', and read them back in using `read'.
407 If `print-readably' is non-nil, a more relaxed syntax is used; for
410 #<hashtable size 2/13 data (key1 value1 key2 value2) 0x874d>
412 ** It is now possible to build XEmacs with LDAP support.
413 You will need to install a LDAP library first. The following have
415 - LDAP 3.3 from the University of Michigan
416 (get it from <URL:http://www.umich.edu/~dirsvcs/ldap/>)
417 - LDAP SDK 1.0 from Netscape Corp.
418 (get it from <URL:http://developer.netscape.com/>)
420 ** When profiling is in effect, a call-count of all recorded functions
421 is now calculated. This information is stored in
422 `call-count-profile-table', and is utilized by `profile-results' as
423 well as the new command `profile-call-count-results'.
425 ** It is now an error to change the value of a symbol whose name
426 starts with a colon, if it is interned in the standard obarray.
428 However, setting such a symbol to its proper value, which is that
429 symbol itself, is not an error. This is for the sake of programs that
430 support pre-19.12 XEmacs and pre-20 GNU Emacs by explicitly setting
431 these variables to themselves.
433 ** The `concat' function no longer accepts integer arguments.
435 ** The new function `string' concatenates all its argument characters
436 and returns the resulting string. This is consistent with other
437 functions, like `list', `vector', etc.
439 ** The function `temp-directory' is now available to return the
440 directory to store temporary files. On Unix this will be obtained
441 from TMPDIR, defaulting to `/tmp'.
443 ** The function load-average now accepts an optional argument
444 USE-FLOATS. If it is non-nil, the load average values are returned as
445 floating point numbers, rather than as integers to be divided by 100.
447 ** The `make-event' function now supports the TYPE and PLIST
448 arguments, which can be used to create various events from Lisp. See
449 the documentation for details.
451 ** `function-interactive' is a new function that returns the
452 interactive specification of a funcallable object.
454 ** The new `lmessage' function allows printing of a formatted message
455 with a particular label.
457 (lmessage 'progress "Processing... %d" counter)
459 This function is more convenient than `display-message' because it
460 automatically applies `format' to its arguments.
462 ** The new `lwarn' function, analogous to `lmessage', allows printing
463 a formatted warning, with a non-default CLASS or LABEL.
465 ** The new function `split-path' can now be used to explode the
466 components of a colon-separated search path into a list.
468 (split-path "foo:bar")
471 ** Specifiers and symbols whose value is a specifier are now allowed
472 as modeline specifications.
474 ** defcustom now accepts the keyword `:version'. Use this to specify
475 in which version of Emacs a certain variable's default value changed.
478 (defcustom foo-max 34 "*Maximum number of foo's allowed."
483 This information is used to control the customize-changed-options
486 ** The line number tracking in modeline is now efficient, even for
487 very large buffers. This is achieved by caching the line numbers of
488 recent buffer positions, and reusing them. This cache is used only in
489 the buffers where `line-number-mode' is in effect.
491 ** When the new GNU Malloc aka Doug Lea Malloc is available, it will
492 be used. This should result in better performance on Linux systems
495 ** The code XEmacs uses to assemble its various paths into the
496 directory hierarchy has been rewritten to support the package system.
497 Look under "Startup Paths" in the Info documentation for more
500 *** site-lisp is now longer part of the load-path by default.
501 Its use is deprecated, but you can specify --with-site-lisp=yes at the
502 configure command line to get it back.
504 *** `Info-default-directory-list' is now obsolete. If you want to
505 change the path which XEmacs uses to search for info files, set
506 `Info-directory-list' instead.