-\1f
-File: xemacs.info, Node: File Variables, Prev: Locals, Up: Variables
-
-Local Variables in Files
-------------------------
-
- A file can contain a "local variables list", which specifies the
-values to use for certain Emacs variables when that file is edited.
-Visiting the file checks for a local variables list and makes each
-variable in the list local to the buffer in which the file is visited,
-with the value specified in the file.
-
- A local variables list goes near the end of the file, in the last
-page. (It is often best to put it on a page by itself.) The local
-variables list starts with a line containing the string `Local
-Variables:', and ends with a line containing the string `End:'. In
-between come the variable names and values, one set per line, as
-`VARIABLE: VALUE'. The VALUEs are not evaluated; they are used
-literally.
-
- The line which starts the local variables list does not have to say
-just `Local Variables:'. If there is other text before `Local
-Variables:', that text is called the "prefix", and if there is other
-text after, that is called the "suffix". If a prefix or suffix are
-present, each entry in the local variables list should have the prefix
-before it and the suffix after it. This includes the `End:' line. The
-prefix and suffix are included to disguise the local variables list as
-a comment so the compiler or text formatter will ignore it. If you do
-not need to disguise the local variables list as a comment in this way,
-there is no need to include a prefix or a suffix.
-
- Two "variable" names are special in a local variables list: a value
-for the variable `mode' sets the major mode, and a value for the
-variable `eval' is simply evaluated as an expression and the value is
-ignored. These are not real variables; setting them in any other
-context does not have the same effect. If `mode' is used in a local
-variables list, it should be the first entry in the list.
-
- Here is an example of a local variables list:
- ;;; Local Variables: ***
- ;;; mode:lisp ***
- ;;; comment-column:0 ***
- ;;; comment-start: ";;; " ***
- ;;; comment-end:"***" ***
- ;;; End: ***
-
- Note that the prefix is `;;; ' and the suffix is ` ***'. Note also
-that comments in the file begin with and end with the same strings.
-Presumably the file contains code in a language which is enough like
-Lisp for Lisp mode to be useful but in which comments start and end
-differently. The prefix and suffix are used in the local variables
-list to make the list look like several lines of comments when the
-compiler or interpreter for that language reads the file.
-
- The start of the local variables list must be no more than 3000
-characters from the end of the file, and must be in the last page if the
-file is divided into pages. Otherwise, Emacs will not notice it is
-there. The purpose is twofold: a stray `Local Variables:' not in the
-last page does not confuse Emacs, and Emacs never needs to search a
-long file that contains no page markers and has no local variables list.
-
- You may be tempted to turn on Auto Fill mode with a local variable
-list. That is inappropriate. Whether you use Auto Fill mode or not is
-a matter of personal taste, not a matter of the contents of particular
-files. If you want to use Auto Fill, set up major mode hooks with your
-file file to turn it on (when appropriate) for you alone (*note Init
-File::). Don't try to use a local variable list that would impose your
-taste on everyone working with the file.
-
- XEmacs allows you to specify local variables in the first line of a
-file, in addition to specifying them in the `Local Variables' section
-at the end of a file.
-
- If the first line of a file contains two occurrences of ``-*-'',
-XEmacs uses the information between them to determine what the major
-mode and variable settings should be. For example, these are all legal:
-
- ;;; -*- mode: emacs-lisp -*-
- ;;; -*- mode: postscript; version-control: never -*-
- ;;; -*- tags-file-name: "/foo/bar/TAGS" -*-
-
- For historical reasons, the syntax ``-*- modename -*-'' is allowed
-as well; for example, you can use:
-
- ;;; -*- emacs-lisp -*-
-
- The variable `enable-local-variables' controls the use of local
-variables lists in files you visit. The value can be `t', `nil', or
-something else. A value of `t' means local variables lists are obeyed;
-`nil' means they are ignored; anything else means query.
-
- The command `M-x normal-mode' always obeys local variables lists and
-ignores this variable.
-
-\1f
-File: xemacs.info, Node: Keyboard Macros, Next: Key Bindings, Prev: Variables, Up: Customization
-
-Keyboard Macros
-===============
-
- A "keyboard macro" is a command defined by the user to abbreviate a
-sequence of keys. For example, if you discover that you are about to
-type `C-n C-d' forty times, you can speed your work by defining a
-keyboard macro to invoke `C-n C-d' and calling it with a repeat count
-of forty.
-
-`C-x ('
- Start defining a keyboard macro (`start-kbd-macro').
-
-`C-x )'
- End the definition of a keyboard macro (`end-kbd-macro').
-
-`C-x e'
- Execute the most recent keyboard macro (`call-last-kbd-macro').
-
-`C-u C-x ('
- Re-execute last keyboard macro, then add more keys to its
- definition.
-
-`C-x q'
- When this point is reached during macro execution, ask for
- confirmation (`kbd-macro-query').
-
-`M-x name-last-kbd-macro'
- Give a command name (for the duration of the session) to the most
- recently defined keyboard macro.
-
-`M-x insert-kbd-macro'
- Insert in the buffer a keyboard macro's definition, as Lisp code.
-
- Keyboard macros differ from other Emacs commands in that they are
-written in the Emacs command language rather than in Lisp. This makes
-it easier for the novice to write them and makes them more convenient as
-temporary hacks. However, the Emacs command language is not powerful
-enough as a programming language to be useful for writing anything
-general or complex. For such things, Lisp must be used.
-
- You define a keyboard macro by executing the commands which are its
-definition. Put differently, as you are defining a keyboard macro, the
-definition is being executed for the first time. This way, you see
-what the effects of your commands are, and don't have to figure them
-out in your head. When you are finished, the keyboard macro is defined
-and also has been executed once. You can then execute the same set of
-commands again by invoking the macro.
-
-* Menu:
-
-* Basic Kbd Macro:: Defining and running keyboard macros.
-* Save Kbd Macro:: Giving keyboard macros names; saving them in files.
-* Kbd Macro Query:: Keyboard macros that do different things each use.
-
-\1f
-File: xemacs.info, Node: Basic Kbd Macro, Next: Save Kbd Macro, Up: Keyboard Macros
-
-Basic Use
----------
-
- To start defining a keyboard macro, type `C-x ('
-(`start-kbd-macro'). From then on, anything you type continues to be
-executed, but also becomes part of the definition of the macro. `Def'
-appears in the mode line to remind you of what is going on. When you
-are finished, the `C-x )' command (`end-kbd-macro') terminates the
-definition, without becoming part of it.
-
- For example,
-
- C-x ( M-f foo C-x )
-
-defines a macro to move forward a word and then insert `foo'.
-
- You can give `C-x )' a repeat count as an argument, in which case it
-repeats the macro that many times right after defining it, but defining
-the macro counts as the first repetition (since it is executed as you
-define it). If you give `C-x )' an argument of 4, it executes the
-macro immediately 3 additional times. An argument of zero to `C-x e'
-or `C-x )' means repeat the macro indefinitely (until it gets an error
-or you type `C-g').
-
- Once you have defined a macro, you can invoke it again with the `C-x
-e' command (`call-last-kbd-macro'). You can give the command a repeat
-count numeric argument to execute the macro many times.
-
- To repeat an operation at regularly spaced places in the text,
-define a macro and include as part of the macro the commands to move to
-the next place you want to use it. For example, if you want to change
-each line, you should position point at the start of a line, and define
-a macro to change that line and leave point at the start of the next
-line. Repeating the macro will then operate on successive lines.
-
- After you have terminated the definition of a keyboard macro, you
-can add to the end of its definition by typing `C-u C-x ('. This is
-equivalent to plain `C-x (' followed by retyping the whole definition
-so far. As a consequence it re-executes the macro as previously
-defined.
-