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 ========================
36 *** You can now create an "indirect buffer", like in GNU Emacs. An
37 indirect buffer shares its text with another buffer ("base buffer"),
38 but has its own major mode, local variables, extents, and narrowing.
39 An indirect buffer has a name of its own, distinct from those of the
40 base buffer and all other buffers. An indirect buffer cannot itself
41 be visiting a file (though its base buffer can be). The base buffer
42 cannot itself be indirect.
44 Use (make-indirect-buffer BASE-BUFFER NAME) to make an indirect buffer
45 named NAME whose base is BASE-BUFFER. If BASE-BUFFER is an indirect
46 buffer, its base buffer is used as the base for the new buffer.
48 You can make an indirect buffer current, or switch to it in a window,
49 just as you would a non-indirect buffer.
51 The function `buffer-base-buffer', given an indirect buffer, returns
52 its base buffer. It returns nil when given an ordinary buffer (not
53 indirect). `buffer-indirect-children' returns a list of the indirect
54 children of a base buffer.
56 #### The library `noutline' has versions of Outline mode and Outline
57 minor mode which let you display different parts of the outline in
58 different indirect buffers.
61 * Changes in XEmacs 21.0
62 ========================
64 ** XEmacs has been unbundled into constituent installable packages.
65 See the Info documentation under "Packages" for more information.
66 See the file `etc/PACKAGES' in the distribution for a partial list of
67 packages available at the time of the 21.0 release.
69 ** XEmacs is now supported under Microsoft Windows 95/98 and Windows
70 NT operating systems. For starters, look at the XEmacs on Windows FAQ
71 at <URL:http://jagor.srce.hr/~hniksic/xemacs-on-windows-faq.txt>. To
72 discuss Windows-specific issues, subscribe to the mailing list at
73 <xemacs-nt-request@xemacs.org>.
75 ** XEmacs will now use `XEmacs' as its application class if it finds
76 any `XEmacs' resources in the resource database. Otherwise, it will
77 continue to use the `Emacs' class.
79 ** The options menu has been ported to Custom.
80 This means that each entry in the options menu acts as if you had customized
81 the corresponding variable by hand. ### WARNING: there is currently no
82 upgrading function to help you port your old options settings to the new
83 format. Consequently, if you want to modify the options for XEmacs 21, you
84 will have to set them all again through the menu, and remove the code loading
85 .xemacs-options from your .emacs.
87 ** When the Zmacs region is active, `M-x query-replace' and the other
88 replace commands now operate on the region contents only.
90 ** Using the new `-private' option, you can make XEmacs use a private
93 ** The `imenu' package has been ported to XEmacs and is available as a
96 ** `echo-keystrokes' can now be a floating-point number, so that you
97 can set it to intervals shorter than one second.
99 (setq echo-keystrokes 0.1)
101 ** The new command `center-to-window-line' works like `recenter'
102 (bound to `C-l'), only it does not redisplay the whole display area.
104 ** The M-. command will now first search through exact tags matches,
105 and then through inexact matches, as one would expect.
107 ** The new variable `user-full-name' can be used to customize one's
108 name when using the Emacs mail and news reading facilities.
110 Normally, `user-full-name' is a function that returns the full name of
111 a user or UID, as specified by the system -- for instance,
112 (user-full-name "root") returns something like "Super-User". However,
113 when the function is called without arguments, it will return the
114 value of the `user-full-name' variable. The `user-full-name' variable
115 is initialized using the environment variable NAME and (failing that)
116 the user's system name.
118 The behaviour of the `user-full-name' function with an argument
119 specified is unchanged.
121 ** The new command `M-x customize-changed-options' lets you customize
122 all the options whose default values have changed in recent Emacs
123 versions. You specify a previous Emacs version number as argument,
124 and the command creates a customization buffer showing all the
125 customizable options whose default values were changed since that
128 If you don't specify a particular version number argument, then the
129 customization buffer shows all the customizable options for which
130 Emacs versions of changes are recorded.
132 ** The new command `add-log-convert' can be used to convert the
133 old-style (pre-20.3) ChangeLog buffers to new style, for
134 consistency. A reminder: if you wish to revert to old-style
135 ChangeLogs instead, customize the value of `add-log-time-format'
138 ** The new command `zap-up-to-char' is now available. It is similar
139 to `zap-to-char', except that it does not delete the searched-for
140 character. It is not bound to a key by default.
142 ** You can now store a number into a register with `C-u NUMBER C-x r n'
143 REG, increment it by INC with `C-u INC C-x r + REG' (to increment by
144 one, omit C-u INC), and insert it in the buffer with `C-x r g REG'.
145 This is useful for writing keyboard macros.
147 ** The M-: command, when given a prefix argument, will now insert its
148 result to the current buffer.
150 ** The `C-h c' command, when given a prefix argument, will now insert
151 the message into the current buffer.
153 ** Horizontally split windows may now be dragged using the mouse.
154 Because of this, the dividers between vertical windows are always
155 visible. To turn it off, set `vertical-divider-always-visible-p' to
158 ** XEmacs/Mule (internationalization) changes.
160 *** Mule support now works on TTY's. Use `set-terminal-coding-system'
161 and `set-keyboard-coding-system' to specify the coding system of your
162 display and keyboard.
164 *** Egg/SJ3 input method is now officially supported. Quail and
165 Egg/Skk have been available through the generalized Leim since 20.3.
167 *** Localized Japanese menubars are available if XEmacs is built with
168 XFONTSET and either the X11 libraries are built with X_LOCALE defined
169 or the native C libraries support Japanese localization. This has
170 been available since 20.3, only it hasn't been announced before.
172 ** Jamie Zawinski's `gdb-highlight' extension is now distributed with
173 the `debug' package. gdb-highlight makes most objects printed in a
174 gdb buffer be mouse-sensitive: as text shows up in the buffer, it is
175 parsed, and objects which are recognized have context-sensitive
176 commands attached to them. To use it, add the following to `.emacs':
178 (add-hook 'gdb-mode-hook (lambda () (require 'gdb-highlight)))
180 ** The package popper.el is now included in the edit-utils package.
181 It has been greatly enhanced with respect to the one once included
182 with the ilisp package and should work well under XEmacs 21.0.
186 *** Multiline macros are now handled, both as they affect indentation,
187 and as recognized syntax. New syntactic symbol cpp-macro-cont is
188 assigned to second and subsequent lines of a multiline macro
191 *** A new style "user" which captures all non-hook-ified
192 (i.e. top-level) .emacs file variable setings and customizations.
193 Style "cc-mode" is an alias for "user" and is deprecated. "gnu" style
194 is still the default however.
196 *** "java" style now conforms to Sun's JDK coding style.
198 *** There are new commands c-beginning-of-defun, c-end-of-defun which
199 are alternatives which you could bind to C-M-a and C-M-e if you prefer
200 them. They do not have key bindings by default.
202 *** New and improved implementations of M-a (c-beginning-of-statement)
203 and M-e (c-end-of-statement).
205 *** C++ namespace blocks are supported, with new syntactic symbols
206 namespace-open, namespace-close, and innamespace.
208 *** File local variable settings of c-file-style and c-file-offsets
209 makes the style variables local to that buffer only.
211 *** New indentation functions c-lineup-close-paren,
212 c-indent-one-line-block, c-lineup-dont-change.
214 *** Improvements (hopefully!) to the way CC Mode is loaded. You
215 should now be able to do a (require 'cc-mode) to get the entire
216 package loaded properly for customization in your .emacs file. A new
217 variable c-initialize-on-load controls this and is t by default.
219 ** In Text mode, now only blank lines separate paragraphs.
220 This makes it possible to get the full benefit of Adaptive Fill mode
221 in Text mode, and other modes derived from it (such as Mail mode).
222 TAB in Text mode now runs the command indent-relative; this makes a
223 practical difference only when you use indented paragraphs.
225 As a result, the old Indented Text mode is now identical to Text mode,
226 and is an alias for it.
228 If you want spaces at the beginning of a line to start a paragraph,
229 use the new mode, Paragraph Indent Text mode.
231 ** Changes to Gnus, the XEmacs newsreader.
233 *** New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
234 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See the
235 Gnus manual for the full story.
237 *** The nndraft backend has returned, but works differently than
238 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the nndraft
239 group, which is created automatically.
241 *** `gnus-alter-header-function' can now be used to alter header
244 *** `gnus-summary-goto-article' now accept Message-ID's.
246 *** A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
247 outside the region: `C-c C-v'.
249 *** You can now post to component group in nnvirtual groups with
252 *** `nntp-rlogin-program' -- new variable to ease customization.
254 *** `C-u C-c C-c' in `gnus-article-edit-mode' will now inhibit
255 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
257 *** New element in `gnus-boring-article-headers' -- `long-to'.
259 *** `M-i' symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
260 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
262 *** `L' and `I' in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
263 `a' to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
265 *** `gnus-simplify-subject-functions' variable to allow greater
266 control over simplification.
268 *** `A T' -- new command for fetching the current thread.
270 *** `/ T' -- new command for including the current thread in the
273 *** `M-RET' is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
275 *** \\1-expressions are now valid in `nnmail-split-methods'.
277 *** The `custom-face-lookup' function has been removed.
278 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
279 rewrite them to use `face-spec-set' instead.
281 *** Cancelling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
282 `a' forces normal posting method.
284 *** New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper text
287 *** For easier debugging of nntp, you can set `nntp-record-commands'
290 *** nntp now uses ~/.authinfo, a .netrc-like file, for controlling
291 where and how to send AUTHINFO to NNTP servers.
293 *** A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
296 *** A history of where mails have been split is available.
298 *** A new article date command has been added -- `article-date-iso8601'.
300 *** Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
301 `gnus-score-thread-simplify'.
303 *** A new function for citing in Message has been added --
304 `message-cite-original-without-signature'.
306 *** `article-strip-all-blank-lines' -- new article command.
308 *** A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
311 *** A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
312 `gnus-adaptive-word-minimum' variable.
314 *** The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
315 updated by the `gnus-start-date-timer' command.
317 *** Web listserv archives can be read with the nnlistserv backend.
319 *** Old dejanews archives can now be read by nnweb.
321 *** Byte-compilation of user-specs now works under XEmacs.
323 ** The `dir' files are no longer essential for functioning of the Info
324 subsystem. If the `dir' file does not exist in an Info directory, the
325 relevant information will be generated on-the-fly.
327 This behaviour can be customized, look for `Info-auto-generate-directory'
328 and `Info-save-auto-generated-dir' in the `info' customization group.
331 * Lisp and internal changes in XEmacs 21.0
332 ==========================================
334 ** It is now possible to build XEmacs with support for 31-bit Lisp
335 integers (normally, Lisp integers are only 28 bits wide on 32-bit
336 machines.) Configure with --use-minimal-tagbits to test. With this
337 change, the maximum buffer size on 32-bit machines is increased from
338 128M to 1G. This setting will be made default in a future XEmacs
341 ** Specifier changes.
343 *** When instantiating a specifier, the window locale now has a higher
344 precedence than the buffer locale. This is because the window locale
345 is more specific than the buffer locale.
347 *** The new macro `let-specifier' can be used to temporarily add
348 specifications to specifiers. See the documentation for details.
350 *** The new specifiers `vertical-scrollbar-visible-p' and
351 `horizontal-scrollbar-visible-p' may be used to control scrollbar
352 visibility. Previously, the only way to remove a scrollbar was to set
353 its size to 0. This method is still supported for backward
356 *** The new specifiers `scrollbar-on-left-p' and `scrollbar-on-top-p'
357 may be used to control the position of the vertical and horizontal
358 toolbar. Previously, their position could be changed only through the
361 *** The new draggable vertical dividers between windows may be turned
362 off using the `vertical-divider-always-visible-p' specifier. When
363 this is set to nil, the vertical dividers between windows are shown
364 only when needed, and they are not draggable.
366 Other properties of the vertical dividers may be controlled using
367 `vertical-divider-shadow-thickness', `vertical-divider-line-width' and
368 `vertical-divider-spacing' specifiers, which see.
370 ** Frame focus management changes.
372 *** When the variable focus-follows-mouse is non-nil, `select-frame'
373 no longer permanently selects a different frame. The frame selection
374 is temporary and is reverted when the current command terminates, much
375 like the buffer selected by `set-buffer'. This is the same as in FSF
378 *** The new function `focus-frame' sets the window system focus to
379 FRAME (and selects it), regardless of the value of
380 `focus-follows-mouse'. Doing this is not well behaved, so be
381 absolutely sure that you want this.
383 The code that uses `select-frame' only to get the window manager focus
384 should be changed to use `set-frame-focus' instead, so that they keep
385 working when `focus-follows-mouse' is non-nil.
387 *** The special forms `save-selected-frame' and `with-selected-frame'
388 can now be used to temporarily change selected frame.
390 *** The behavior of `other-frame' command (`C-x 5 o') is unaffected by
393 ** The function `select-window' now has an optional second argument
394 NORECORD which if non-nil inhibits the recording of a buffer change.
396 ** The function `vertical-motion' now correctly handles the second,
397 optional WINDOW argument. A new third argument PIXELS, if non-nil,
398 indicates that the returned motion should be in pixels.
400 ** The new function `vertical-motion-pixels' is similar to
401 vertical-motion but takes as input a vertical motion in pixels.
403 ** The new functions window-text-area-pixel-{width,height,edges} can
404 be used to obtain information about the text-displaying area of a
407 ** The new functions `shrink-window-pixels' and `enlarge-window-pixels'
408 can be used to adjust the size of a window by a pixel amount.
410 ** The new function `window-displayed-text-pixel-height' can be used
411 to determine the height of the text actually displayed in a window.
413 ** The arithmetic comparison functions <, >, =, /= now accept a
414 variable number of arguments.
416 This means that if you want to test whether A < B < C, you can write
417 it as (< A B C) instead of (and (< A B) (< B C)). Likewise,
418 (apply #'> LIST) now tests if LIST is monotonously increasing -- and
421 ** The XEmacs hashtables now have a consistent read/print syntax.
422 This means that a hashtable will be readably printed in a
425 #s(hashtable size 2 data (key1 value1 key2 value2))
427 When XEmacs reads this form, it will create a new hashtable according
428 to description. This allows you to easily dump hashtables to files
429 using `prin1', and read them back in using `read'.
431 If `print-readably' is non-nil, a more relaxed syntax is used; for
434 #<hashtable size 2/13 data (key1 value1 key2 value2) 0x874d>
436 ** It is now possible to build XEmacs with LDAP support.
437 You will need to install a LDAP library first. The following have
439 - LDAP 3.3 from the University of Michigan
440 (get it from <URL:http://www.umich.edu/~dirsvcs/ldap/>)
441 - LDAP SDK 1.0 from Netscape Corp.
442 (get it from <URL:http://developer.netscape.com/>)
444 ** When profiling is in effect, a call-count of all recorded functions
445 is now calculated. This information is stored in
446 `call-count-profile-table', and is utilized by `profile-results' as
447 well as the new command `profile-call-count-results'.
449 ** It is now an error to change the value of a symbol whose name
450 starts with a colon, if it is interned in the standard obarray.
452 However, setting such a symbol to its proper value, which is that
453 symbol itself, is not an error. This is for the sake of programs that
454 support pre-19.12 XEmacs and pre-20 GNU Emacs by explicitly setting
455 these variables to themselves.
457 ** The `concat' function no longer accepts integer arguments.
459 ** The new function `string' concatenates all its argument characters
460 and returns the resulting string. This is consistent with other
461 functions, like `list', `vector', etc.
463 ** The function `temp-directory' is now available to return the
464 directory to store temporary files. On Unix this will be obtained
465 from TMPDIR, defaulting to `/tmp'.
467 ** The function load-average now accepts an optional argument
468 USE-FLOATS. If it is non-nil, the load average values are returned as
469 floating point numbers, rather than as integers to be divided by 100.
471 ** The `make-event' function now supports the TYPE and PLIST
472 arguments, which can be used to create various events from Lisp. See
473 the documentation for details.
475 ** `function-interactive' is a new function that returns the
476 interactive specification of a funcallable object.
478 ** The new `lmessage' function allows printing of a formatted message
479 with a particular label.
481 (lmessage 'progress "Processing... %d" counter)
483 This function is more convenient than `display-message' because it
484 automatically applies `format' to its arguments.
486 ** The new `lwarn' function, analogous to `lmessage', allows printing
487 a formatted warning, with a non-default CLASS or LABEL.
489 ** The new function `split-path' can now be used to explode the
490 components of a colon-separated search path into a list.
492 (split-path "foo:bar")
495 ** Specifiers and symbols whose value is a specifier are now allowed
496 as modeline specifications.
498 ** defcustom now accepts the keyword `:version'. Use this to specify
499 in which version of Emacs a certain variable's default value changed.
502 (defcustom foo-max 34 "*Maximum number of foo's allowed."
507 This information is used to control the customize-changed-options
510 ** The line number tracking in modeline is now efficient, even for
511 very large buffers. This is achieved by caching the line numbers of
512 recent buffer positions, and reusing them. This cache is used only in
513 the buffers where `line-number-mode' is in effect.
515 ** When the new GNU Malloc aka Doug Lea Malloc is available, it will
516 be used. This should result in better performance on Linux systems
519 ** The code XEmacs uses to assemble its various paths into the
520 directory hierarchy has been rewritten to support the package system.
521 Look under "Startup Paths" in the Info documentation for more
524 *** site-lisp is now longer part of the load-path by default.
525 Its use is deprecated, but you can specify --with-site-lisp=yes at the
526 configure command line to get it back.
528 *** `Info-default-directory-list' is now obsolete. If you want to
529 change the path which XEmacs uses to search for info files, set
530 `Info-directory-list' instead.