+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
+init 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.
+
+\1f
+File: xemacs.info, Node: Save Kbd Macro, Next: Kbd Macro Query, Prev: Basic Kbd Macro, Up: Keyboard Macros
+
+Naming and Saving Keyboard Macros
+---------------------------------
+
+ To save a keyboard macro for longer than until you define the next
+one, you must give it a name using `M-x name-last-kbd-macro'. This
+reads a name as an argument using the minibuffer and defines that name
+to execute the macro. The macro name is a Lisp symbol, and defining it
+in this way makes it a valid command name for calling with `M-x' or for
+binding a key to with `global-set-key' (*note Keymaps::). If you
+specify a name that has a prior definition other than another keyboard
+macro, Emacs prints an error message and nothing is changed.
+
+ Once a macro has a command name, you can save its definition in a
+file. You can then use it in another editing session. First visit the
+file you want to save the definition in. Then use the command:
+
+ M-x insert-kbd-macro <RET> MACRONAME <RET>
+
+This inserts some Lisp code that, when executed later, will define the
+same macro with the same definition it has now. You need not
+understand Lisp code to do this, because `insert-kbd-macro' writes the
+Lisp code for you. Then save the file. You can load the file with
+`load-file' (*note Lisp Libraries::). If the file you save in is your
+initialization file (*note Init File::), then the macro will be defined
+each time you run Emacs.
+
+ If you give `insert-kbd-macro' a prefix argument, it creates
+additional Lisp code to record the keys (if any) that you have bound to
+the keyboard macro, so that the macro is reassigned the same keys when
+you load the file.
+
+\1f