[chise/xemacs-chise.git.1] / info / lispref.info-2

This is ../info/lispref.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.0 from
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INFO-DIR-SECTION XEmacs Editor
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Lispref: (lispref).           XEmacs Lisp Reference Manual.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

   Edition History:

   GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual Second Edition (v2.01), May 1993 GNU
Emacs Lisp Reference Manual Further Revised (v2.02), August 1993 Lucid
Emacs Lisp Reference Manual (for 19.10) First Edition, March 1994
XEmacs Lisp Programmer's Manual (for 19.12) Second Edition, April 1995
GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual v2.4, June 1995 XEmacs Lisp
Programmer's Manual (for 19.13) Third Edition, July 1995 XEmacs Lisp
Reference Manual (for 19.14 and 20.0) v3.1, March 1996 XEmacs Lisp
Reference Manual (for 19.15 and 20.1, 20.2, 20.3) v3.2, April, May,
November 1997 XEmacs Lisp Reference Manual (for 21.0) v3.3, April 1998

   Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Free Software
Foundation, Inc.  Copyright (C) 1994, 1995 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Copyright (C) 1995, 1996 Ben Wing.

   Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
permission notice identical to this one.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a
translation approved by the Foundation.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also
that the section entitled "GNU General Public License" is included
exactly as in the original, and provided that the entire resulting
derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice
identical to this one.

   Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that the section entitled "GNU General Public License"
may be included in a translation approved by the Free Software
Foundation instead of in the original English.

\1f
File: lispref.info,  Node: Copying,  Next: Introduction,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
**************************

                         Version 2, June 1991

     Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
     675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
     
     Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
     of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

Preamble
========

   The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
freedom to share and change it.  By contrast, the GNU General Public
License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
software--to make sure the software is free for all its users.  This
General Public License applies to most of the Free Software
Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to
using it.  (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by
the GNU Library General Public License instead.)  You can apply it to
your programs, too.

   When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
price.  Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it
if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in
new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.

   To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights.
These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you
distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.

   For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether
gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that
you have.  You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the
source code.  And you must show them these terms so they know their
rights.

   We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software,
and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy,
distribute and/or modify the software.

   Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain
that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free
software.  If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we
want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so
that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original
authors' reputations.

   Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software
patents.  We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free
program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the
program proprietary.  To prevent this, we have made it clear that any
patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all.

   The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
modification follow.

    TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION

  0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains a
     notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed
     under the terms of this General Public License.  The "Program",
     below, refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on
     the Program" means either the Program or any derivative work under
     copyright law: that is to say, a work containing the Program or a
     portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or
     translated into another language.  (Hereinafter, translation is
     included without limitation in the term "modification".)  Each
     licensee is addressed as "you".

     Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are
     not covered by this License; they are outside its scope.  The act
     of running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the
     Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on
     the Program (independent of having been made by running the
     Program).  Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.

  1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's
     source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you
     conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate
     copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the
     notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any
     warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of
     this License along with the Program.

     You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy,
     and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange
     for a fee.

  2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion
     of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and
     distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1
     above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:

       a. You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices
          stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.

       b. You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that
          in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program
          or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge
          to all third parties under the terms of this License.

       c. If the modified program normally reads commands interactively
          when run, you must cause it, when started running for such
          interactive use in the most ordinary way, to print or display
          an announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and
          a notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you
          provide a warranty) and that users may redistribute the
          program under these conditions, and telling the user how to
          view a copy of this License.  (Exception: if the Program
          itself is interactive but does not normally print such an
          announcement, your work based on the Program is not required
          to print an announcement.)

     These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole.  If
     identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the
     Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate
     works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not
     apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate
     works.  But when you distribute the same sections as part of a
     whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of
     the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions
     for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each
     and every part regardless of who wrote it.

     Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or
     contest your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the
     intent is to exercise the right to control the distribution of
     derivative or collective works based on the Program.

     In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the
     Program with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on
     a volume of a storage or distribution medium does not bring the
     other work under the scope of this License.

  3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
     under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms
     of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the
     following:

       a. Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable
          source code, which must be distributed under the terms of
          Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for
          software interchange; or,

       b. Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three
          years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your
          cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete
          machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be
          distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a
          medium customarily used for software interchange; or,

       c. Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer
          to distribute corresponding source code.  (This alternative is
          allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you
          received the program in object code or executable form with
          such an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)

     The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for
     making modifications to it.  For an executable work, complete
     source code means all the source code for all modules it contains,
     plus any associated interface definition files, plus the scripts
     used to control compilation and installation of the executable.
     However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need
     not include anything that is normally distributed (in either
     source or binary form) with the major components (compiler,
     kernel, and so on) of the operating system on which the executable
     runs, unless that component itself accompanies the executable.

     If distribution of executable or object code is made by offering
     access to copy from a designated place, then offering equivalent
     access to copy the source code from the same place counts as
     distribution of the source code, even though third parties are not
     compelled to copy the source along with the object code.

  4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program
     except as expressly provided under this License.  Any attempt
     otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is
     void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this
     License.  However, parties who have received copies, or rights,
     from you under this License will not have their licenses
     terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.

  5. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not
     signed it.  However, nothing else grants you permission to modify
     or distribute the Program or its derivative works.  These actions
     are prohibited by law if you do not accept this License.
     Therefore, by modifying or distributing the Program (or any work
     based on the Program), you indicate your acceptance of this
     License to do so, and all its terms and conditions for copying,
     distributing or modifying the Program or works based on it.

  6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the
     Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the
     original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program
     subject to these terms and conditions.  You may not impose any
     further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights
     granted herein.  You are not responsible for enforcing compliance
     by third parties to this License.

  7. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent
     infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent
     issues), conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order,
     agreement or otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this
     License, they do not excuse you from the conditions of this
     License.  If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously
     your obligations under this License and any other pertinent
     obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the
     Program at all.  For example, if a patent license would not permit
     royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who
     receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only
     way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to refrain
     entirely from distribution of the Program.

     If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable
     under any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is
     intended to apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply
     in other circumstances.

     It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any
     patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of
     any such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting
     the integrity of the free software distribution system, which is
     implemented by public license practices.  Many people have made
     generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed
     through that system in reliance on consistent application of that
     system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is
     willing to distribute software through any other system and a
     licensee cannot impose that choice.

     This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed
     to be a consequence of the rest of this License.

  8. If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in
     certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces,
     the original copyright holder who places the Program under this
     License may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation
     excluding those countries, so that distribution is permitted only
     in or among countries not thus excluded.  In such case, this
     License incorporates the limitation as if written in the body of
     this License.

  9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new
     versions of the General Public License from time to time.  Such
     new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but
     may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.

     Each version is given a distinguishing version number.  If the
     Program specifies a version number of this License which applies
     to it and "any later version", you have the option of following
     the terms and conditions either of that version or of any later
     version published by the Free Software Foundation.  If the Program
     does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose
     any version ever published by the Free Software Foundation.

 10. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free
     programs whose distribution conditions are different, write to the
     author to ask for permission.  For software which is copyrighted
     by the Free Software Foundation, write to the Free Software
     Foundation; we sometimes make exceptions for this.  Our decision
     will be guided by the two goals of preserving the free status of
     all derivatives of our free software and of promoting the sharing
     and reuse of software generally.

                                NO WARRANTY

 11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO
     WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE
     LAW.  EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT
     HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT
     WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT
     NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND
     FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE
     QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU.  SHOULD THE
     PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY
     SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

 12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN
     WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY
     MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE
     LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL,
     INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR
     INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF
     DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU
     OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY
     OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN
     ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

                      END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS

How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs
=============================================

   If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest
possible use to the public, the best way to achieve this is to make it
free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these
terms.

   To do so, attach the following notices to the program.  It is safest
to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively
convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least
the "copyright" line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.

     ONE LINE TO GIVE THE PROGRAM'S NAME AND AN IDEA OF WHAT IT DOES.
     Copyright (C) 19YY  NAME OF AUTHOR
     
     This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
     modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
     as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
     of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
     
     This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
     but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
     MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
     GNU General Public License for more details.
     
     You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
     along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
     Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

   Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper
mail.

   If the program is interactive, make it output a short notice like
this when it starts in an interactive mode:

     Gnomovision version 69, Copyright (C) 19YY NAME OF AUTHOR
     Gnomovision comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details
     type `show w'.  This is free software, and you are welcome
     to redistribute it under certain conditions; type `show c'
     for details.

   The hypothetical commands `show w' and `show c' should show the
appropriate parts of the General Public License.  Of course, the
commands you use may be called something other than `show w' and `show
c'; they could even be mouse-clicks or menu items--whatever suits your
program.

   You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or
your school, if any, to sign a "copyright disclaimer" for the program,
if necessary.  Here is a sample; alter the names:

     Yoyodyne, Inc., hereby disclaims all copyright
     interest in the program `Gnomovision'
     (which makes passes at compilers) written
     by James Hacker.
     
     SIGNATURE OF TY COON, 1 April 1989
     Ty Coon, President of Vice

   This General Public License does not permit incorporating your
program into proprietary programs.  If your program is a subroutine
library, you may consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary
applications with the library.  If this is what you want to do, use the
GNU Library General Public License instead of this License.

\1f
File: lispref.info,  Node: Introduction,  Next: Lisp Data Types,  Prev: Copying,  Up: Top

Introduction
************

   Most of the XEmacs text editor is written in the programming
language called XEmacs Lisp.  You can write new code in XEmacs Lisp and
install it as an extension to the editor.  However, XEmacs Lisp is more
than a mere "extension language"; it is a full computer programming
language in its own right.  You can use it as you would any other
programming language.

   Because XEmacs Lisp is designed for use in an editor, it has special
features for scanning and parsing text as well as features for handling
files, buffers, displays, subprocesses, and so on.  XEmacs Lisp is
closely integrated with the editing facilities; thus, editing commands
are functions that can also conveniently be called from Lisp programs,
and parameters for customization are ordinary Lisp variables.

   This manual describes XEmacs Lisp, presuming considerable familiarity
with the use of XEmacs for editing.  (See `The XEmacs Reference
Manual', for this basic information.)  Generally speaking, the earlier
chapters describe features of XEmacs Lisp that have counterparts in many
programming languages, and later chapters describe features that are
peculiar to XEmacs Lisp or relate specifically to editing.

   This is edition 3.3.

* Menu:

* Caveats::             Flaws and a request for help.
* Lisp History::        XEmacs Lisp is descended from Maclisp.
* Conventions::         How the manual is formatted.
* Acknowledgements::    The authors, editors, and sponsors of this manual.

\1f
File: lispref.info,  Node: Caveats,  Next: Lisp History,  Up: Introduction

Caveats
=======

   This manual has gone through numerous drafts.  It is nearly complete
but not flawless.  There are a few topics that are not covered, either
because we consider them secondary (such as most of the individual
modes) or because they are yet to be written.  Because we are not able
to deal with them completely, we have left out several parts
intentionally.  This includes most information about usage on VMS.

   The manual should be fully correct in what it does cover, and it is
therefore open to criticism on anything it says--from specific examples
and descriptive text, to the ordering of chapters and sections.  If
something is confusing, or you find that you have to look at the sources
or experiment to learn something not covered in the manual, then perhaps
the manual should be fixed.  Please let us know.

   As you use this manual, we ask that you send corrections as soon as
you find them.  If you think of a simple, real life example for a
function or group of functions, please make an effort to write it up
and send it in.  Please reference any comments to the node name and
function or variable name, as appropriate.  Also state the number of
the edition which you are criticizing.

   This manual was originally written for FSF Emacs 19 and was updated
by Ben Wing (ben@xemacs.org) for Lucid Emacs 19.10 and later for XEmacs
19.12, 19.13, 19.14, and 20.0.  It was further updated by the XEmacs
Development Team for 19.15 and 20.1.  Please send comments and
corrections relating to XEmacs-specific portions of this manual to
     xemacs@xemacs.org

   or post to the newsgroup
     comp.emacs.xemacs

      --Ben Wing

\1f
File: lispref.info,  Node: Lisp History,  Next: Conventions,  Prev: Caveats,  Up: Introduction

Lisp History
============

   Lisp (LISt Processing language) was first developed in the late
1950's at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for research in
artificial intelligence.  The great power of the Lisp language makes it
superior for other purposes as well, such as writing editing commands.

   Dozens of Lisp implementations have been built over the years, each
with its own idiosyncrasies.  Many of them were inspired by Maclisp,
which was written in the 1960's at MIT's Project MAC.  Eventually the
implementors of the descendants of Maclisp came together and developed a
standard for Lisp systems, called Common Lisp.

   XEmacs Lisp is largely inspired by Maclisp, and a little by Common
Lisp.  If you know Common Lisp, you will notice many similarities.
However, many of the features of Common Lisp have been omitted or
simplified in order to reduce the memory requirements of XEmacs.
Sometimes the simplifications are so drastic that a Common Lisp user
might be very confused.  We will occasionally point out how XEmacs Lisp
differs from Common Lisp.  If you don't know Common Lisp, don't worry
about it; this manual is self-contained.

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File: lispref.info,  Node: Conventions,  Next: Acknowledgements,  Prev: Lisp History,  Up: Introduction

Conventions
===========

   This section explains the notational conventions that are used in
this manual.  You may want to skip this section and refer back to it
later.

* Menu:

* Some Terms::               Explanation of terms we use in this manual.
* nil and t::                How the symbols `nil' and `t' are used.
* Evaluation Notation::      The format we use for examples of evaluation.
* Printing Notation::        The format we use for examples that print output.
* Error Messages::           The format we use for examples of errors.
* Buffer Text Notation::     The format we use for buffer contents in examples.
* Format of Descriptions::   Notation for describing functions, variables, etc.

\1f
File: lispref.info,  Node: Some Terms,  Next: nil and t,  Up: Conventions

Some Terms
----------

   Throughout this manual, the phrases "the Lisp reader" and "the Lisp
printer" are used to refer to those routines in Lisp that convert
textual representations of Lisp objects into actual Lisp objects, and
vice versa.  *Note Printed Representation::, for more details.  You, the
person reading this manual, are thought of as "the programmer" and are
addressed as "you".  "The user" is the person who uses Lisp programs,
including those you write.

   Examples of Lisp code appear in this font or form: `(list 1 2 3)'.
Names that represent arguments or metasyntactic variables appear in
this font or form: FIRST-NUMBER.

\1f
File: lispref.info,  Node: nil and t,  Next: Evaluation Notation,  Prev: Some Terms,  Up: Conventions

`nil' and `t'
-------------

   In Lisp, the symbol `nil' has three separate meanings: it is a
symbol with the name `nil'; it is the logical truth value FALSE; and it
is the empty list--the list of zero elements.  When used as a variable,
`nil' always has the value `nil'.

   As far as the Lisp reader is concerned, `()' and `nil' are
identical: they stand for the same object, the symbol `nil'.  The
different ways of writing the symbol are intended entirely for human
readers.  After the Lisp reader has read either `()' or `nil', there is
no way to determine which representation was actually written by the
programmer.

   In this manual, we use `()' when we wish to emphasize that it means
the empty list, and we use `nil' when we wish to emphasize that it
means the truth value FALSE.  That is a good convention to use in Lisp
programs also.

     (cons 'foo ())                ; Emphasize the empty list
     (not nil)                     ; Emphasize the truth value FALSE

   In contexts where a truth value is expected, any non-`nil' value is
considered to be TRUE.  However, `t' is the preferred way to represent
the truth value TRUE.  When you need to choose a value which represents
TRUE, and there is no other basis for choosing, use `t'.  The symbol
`t' always has value `t'.

   In XEmacs Lisp, `nil' and `t' are special symbols that always
evaluate to themselves.  This is so that you do not need to quote them
to use them as constants in a program.  An attempt to change their
values results in a `setting-constant' error.  *Note Accessing
Variables::.

\1f
File: lispref.info,  Node: Evaluation Notation,  Next: Printing Notation,  Prev: nil and t,  Up: Conventions

Evaluation Notation
-------------------

   A Lisp expression that you can evaluate is called a "form".
Evaluating a form always produces a result, which is a Lisp object.  In
the examples in this manual, this is indicated with `=>':

     (car '(1 2))
          => 1

You can read this as "`(car '(1 2))' evaluates to 1".

   When a form is a macro call, it expands into a new form for Lisp to
evaluate.  We show the result of the expansion with `==>'.  We may or
may not show the actual result of the evaluation of the expanded form.

     (news-cadr '(a b c))
          ==> (car (cdr '(a b c)))
          => b

   Sometimes to help describe one form we show another form that
produces identical results.  The exact equivalence of two forms is
indicated with `=='.

     (cons 'a nil) == (list 'a)

\1f
File: lispref.info,  Node: Printing Notation,  Next: Error Messages,  Prev: Evaluation Notation,  Up: Conventions

Printing Notation
-----------------

   Many of the examples in this manual print text when they are
evaluated.  If you execute example code in a Lisp Interaction buffer
(such as the buffer `*scratch*'), the printed text is inserted into the
buffer.  If you execute the example by other means (such as by
evaluating the function `eval-region'), the printed text is displayed
in the echo area.  You should be aware that text displayed in the echo
area is truncated to a single line.

   Examples in this manual indicate printed text with `-|',
irrespective of where that text goes.  The value returned by evaluating
the form (here `bar') follows on a separate line.

     (progn (print 'foo) (print 'bar))
          -| foo
          -| bar
          => bar

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File: lispref.info,  Node: Error Messages,  Next: Buffer Text Notation,  Prev: Printing Notation,  Up: Conventions

Error Messages
--------------

   Some examples signal errors.  This normally displays an error message
in the echo area.  We show the error message on a line starting with
`error-->'.  Note that `error-->' itself does not appear in the echo
area.

     (+ 23 'x)
     error--> Wrong type argument: integer-or-marker-p, x

\1f
File: lispref.info,  Node: Buffer Text Notation,  Next: Format of Descriptions,  Prev: Error Messages,  Up: Conventions

Buffer Text Notation
--------------------

   Some examples show modifications to text in a buffer, with "before"
and "after" versions of the text.  These examples show the contents of
the buffer in question between two lines of dashes containing the buffer
name.  In addition, `-!-' indicates the location of point.  (The symbol
for point, of course, is not part of the text in the buffer; it
indicates the place _between_ two characters where point is located.)

     ---------- Buffer: foo ----------
     This is the -!-contents of foo.
     ---------- Buffer: foo ----------
     
     (insert "changed ")
          => nil
     ---------- Buffer: foo ----------
     This is the changed -!-contents of foo.
     ---------- Buffer: foo ----------

\1f
File: lispref.info,  Node: Format of Descriptions,  Prev: Buffer Text Notation,  Up: Conventions

Format of Descriptions
----------------------

   Functions, variables, macros, commands, user options, and special
forms are described in this manual in a uniform format.  The first line
of a description contains the name of the item followed by its
arguments, if any.  The category--function, variable, or
whatever--appears at the beginning of the line.  The description
follows on succeeding lines, sometimes with examples.

* Menu:

* A Sample Function Description::       A description of an imaginary
                                          function, `foo'.
* A Sample Variable Description::       A description of an imaginary
                                          variable,
                                          `electric-future-map'.

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File: lispref.info,  Node: A Sample Function Description,  Next: A Sample Variable Description,  Up: Format of Descriptions

A Sample Function Description
.............................

   In a function description, the name of the function being described
appears first.  It is followed on the same line by a list of parameters.
The names used for the parameters are also used in the body of the
description.

   The appearance of the keyword `&optional' in the parameter list
indicates that the arguments for subsequent parameters may be omitted
(omitted parameters default to `nil').  Do not write `&optional' when
you call the function.

   The keyword `&rest' (which will always be followed by a single
parameter) indicates that any number of arguments can follow.  The value
of the single following parameter will be a list of all these arguments.
Do not write `&rest' when you call the function.

   Here is a description of an imaginary function `foo':

 - Function: foo integer1 &optional integer2 &rest integers
     The function `foo' subtracts INTEGER1 from INTEGER2, then adds all
     the rest of the arguments to the result.  If INTEGER2 is not
     supplied, then the number 19 is used by default.

          (foo 1 5 3 9)
               => 16
          (foo 5)
               => 14

     More generally,

          (foo W X Y...)
          ==
          (+ (- X W) Y...)

   Any parameter whose name contains the name of a type (e.g., INTEGER,
INTEGER1 or BUFFER) is expected to be of that type.  A plural of a type
(such as BUFFERS) often means a list of objects of that type.
Parameters named OBJECT may be of any type.  (*Note Lisp Data Types::,
for a list of XEmacs object types.)  Parameters with other sorts of
names (e.g., NEW-FILE) are discussed specifically in the description of
the function.  In some sections, features common to parameters of
several functions are described at the beginning.

   *Note Lambda Expressions::, for a more complete description of
optional and rest arguments.

   Command, macro, and special form descriptions have the same format,
but the word `Function' is replaced by `Command', `Macro', or `Special
Form', respectively.  Commands are simply functions that may be called
interactively; macros process their arguments differently from functions
(the arguments are not evaluated), but are presented the same way.

   Special form descriptions use a more complex notation to specify
optional and repeated parameters because they can break the argument
list down into separate arguments in more complicated ways.
``[OPTIONAL-ARG]'' means that OPTIONAL-ARG is optional and
`REPEATED-ARGS...' stands for zero or more arguments.  Parentheses are
used when several arguments are grouped into additional levels of list
structure.  Here is an example:

 - Special Form: count-loop (VAR [FROM TO [INC]]) BODY...
     This imaginary special form implements a loop that executes the
     BODY forms and then increments the variable VAR on each iteration.
     On the first iteration, the variable has the value FROM; on
     subsequent iterations, it is incremented by 1 (or by INC if that
     is given).  The loop exits before executing BODY if VAR equals TO.
     Here is an example:

          (count-loop (i 0 10)
            (prin1 i) (princ " ")
            (prin1 (aref vector i)) (terpri))

     If FROM and TO are omitted, then VAR is bound to `nil' before the
     loop begins, and the loop exits if VAR is non-`nil' at the
     beginning of an iteration.  Here is an example:

          (count-loop (done)
            (if (pending)
                (fixit)
              (setq done t)))

     In this special form, the arguments FROM and TO are optional, but
     must both be present or both absent.  If they are present, INC may
     optionally be specified as well.  These arguments are grouped with
     the argument VAR into a list, to distinguish them from BODY, which
     includes all remaining elements of the form.

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File: lispref.info,  Node: A Sample Variable Description,  Prev: A Sample Function Description,  Up: Format of Descriptions

A Sample Variable Description
.............................

   A "variable" is a name that can hold a value.  Although any variable
can be set by the user, certain variables that exist specifically so
that users can change them are called "user options".  Ordinary
variables and user options are described using a format like that for
functions except that there are no arguments.

   Here is a description of the imaginary `electric-future-map'
variable.

 - Variable: electric-future-map
     The value of this variable is a full keymap used by Electric
     Command Future mode.  The functions in this map allow you to edit
     commands you have not yet thought about executing.

   User option descriptions have the same format, but `Variable' is
replaced by `User Option'.

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File: lispref.info,  Node: Acknowledgements,  Prev: Conventions,  Up: Introduction

Acknowledgements
================

   This manual was based on the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual, version
2.4, written by Robert Krawitz, Bil Lewis, Dan LaLiberte, Richard M.
Stallman and Chris Welty, the volunteers of the GNU manual group, in an
effort extending over several years.  Robert J. Chassell helped to
review and edit the manual, with the support of the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency, ARPA Order 6082, arranged by Warren A. Hunt,
Jr. of Computational Logic, Inc.

   Ben Wing adapted this manual for XEmacs 19.14 and 20.0, and earlier
for Lucid Emacs 19.10, XEmacs 19.12, and XEmacs 19.13.  He is the sole
author of many of the manual sections, in particular the XEmacs-specific
sections: events, faces, extents, glyphs, specifiers, toolbar, menubars,
scrollbars, dialog boxes, devices, consoles, hash tables, range tables,
char tables, databases, and others.  The section on annotations was
originally written by Chuck Thompson.  Corrections to v3.1 and later
were done by Martin Buchholz, Steve Baur, and Hrvoje Niksic.

   Corrections to the original GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual were
supplied by Karl Berry, Jim Blandy, Bard Bloom, Stephane Boucher, David
Boyes, Alan Carroll, Richard Davis, Lawrence R. Dodd, Peter Doornbosch,
David A. Duff, Chris Eich, Beverly Erlebacher, David Eckelkamp, Ralf
Fassel, Eirik Fuller, Stephen Gildea, Bob Glickstein, Eric Hanchrow,
George Hartzell, Nathan Hess, Masayuki Ida, Dan Jacobson, Jak Kirman,
Bob Knighten, Frederick M. Korz, Joe Lammens, Glenn M. Lewis, K. Richard
Magill, Brian Marick, Roland McGrath, Skip Montanaro, John Gardiner
Myers, Thomas A. Peterson, Francesco Potorti, Friedrich Pukelsheim,
Arnold D. Robbins, Raul Rockwell, Per Starback, Shinichirou Sugou, Kimmo
Suominen, Edward Tharp, Bill Trost, Rickard Westman, Jean White, Matthew
Wilding, Carl Witty, Dale Worley, Rusty Wright, and David D. Zuhn.

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File: lispref.info,  Node: Lisp Data Types,  Next: Numbers,  Prev: Introduction,  Up: Top

Lisp Data Types
***************

   A Lisp "object" is a piece of data used and manipulated by Lisp
programs.  For our purposes, a "type" or "data type" is a set of
possible objects.

   Every object belongs to at least one type.  Objects of the same type
have similar structures and may usually be used in the same contexts.
Types can overlap, and objects can belong to two or more types.
Consequently, we can ask whether an object belongs to a particular type,
but not for "the" type of an object.

   A few fundamental object types are built into XEmacs.  These, from
which all other types are constructed, are called "primitive types".
Each object belongs to one and only one primitive type.  These types
include "integer", "character" (starting with XEmacs 20.0), "float",
"cons", "symbol", "string", "vector", "bit-vector", "subr",
"compiled-function", "hash-table", "range-table", "char-table",
"weak-list", and several special types, such as "buffer", that are
related to editing.  (*Note Editing Types::.)

   Each primitive type has a corresponding Lisp function that checks
whether an object is a member of that type.

   Note that Lisp is unlike many other languages in that Lisp objects
are "self-typing": the primitive type of the object is implicit in the
object itself.  For example, if an object is a vector, nothing can treat
it as a number; Lisp knows it is a vector, not a number.

   In most languages, the programmer must declare the data type of each
variable, and the type is known by the compiler but not represented in
the data.  Such type declarations do not exist in XEmacs Lisp.  A Lisp
variable can have any type of value, and it remembers whatever value
you store in it, type and all.

   This chapter describes the purpose, printed representation, and read
syntax of each of the standard types in Emacs Lisp.  Details on how to
use these types can be found in later chapters.

* Menu:

* Printed Representation::      How Lisp objects are represented as text.
* Comments::                    Comments and their formatting conventions.
* Primitive Types::             List of all primitive types in XEmacs.
* Programming Types::           Types found in all Lisp systems.
* Editing Types::               Types specific to XEmacs.
* Window-System Types::         Types specific to windowing systems.
* Type Predicates::             Tests related to types.
* Equality Predicates::         Tests of equality between any two objects.

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File: lispref.info,  Node: Printed Representation,  Next: Comments,  Up: Lisp Data Types

Printed Representation and Read Syntax
======================================

   The "printed representation" of an object is the format of the
output generated by the Lisp printer (the function `prin1') for that
object.  The "read syntax" of an object is the format of the input
accepted by the Lisp reader (the function `read') for that object.
Most objects have more than one possible read syntax.  Some types of
object have no read syntax; except for these cases, the printed
representation of an object is also a read syntax for it.

   In other languages, an expression is text; it has no other form.  In
Lisp, an expression is primarily a Lisp object and only secondarily the
text that is the object's read syntax.  Often there is no need to
emphasize this distinction, but you must keep it in the back of your
mind, or you will occasionally be very confused.

   Every type has a printed representation.  Some types have no read
syntax, since it may not make sense to enter objects of these types
directly in a Lisp program.  For example, the buffer type does not have
a read syntax.  Objects of these types are printed in "hash notation":
the characters `#<' followed by a descriptive string (typically the
type name followed by the name of the object), and closed with a
matching `>'.  Hash notation cannot be read at all, so the Lisp reader
signals the error `invalid-read-syntax' whenever it encounters `#<'.

     (current-buffer)
          => #<buffer "objects.texi">

   When you evaluate an expression interactively, the Lisp interpreter
first reads the textual representation of it, producing a Lisp object,
and then evaluates that object (*note Evaluation::).  However,
evaluation and reading are separate activities.  Reading returns the
Lisp object represented by the text that is read; the object may or may
not be evaluated later.  *Note Input Functions::, for a description of
`read', the basic function for reading objects.

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File: lispref.info,  Node: Comments,  Next: Primitive Types,  Prev: Printed Representation,  Up: Lisp Data Types

Comments
========

   A "comment" is text that is written in a program only for the sake
of humans that read the program, and that has no effect on the meaning
of the program.  In Lisp, a semicolon (`;') starts a comment if it is
not within a string or character constant.  The comment continues to
the end of line.  The Lisp reader discards comments; they do not become
part of the Lisp objects which represent the program within the Lisp
system.

   The `#@COUNT' construct, which skips the next COUNT characters, is
useful for program-generated comments containing binary data.  The
XEmacs Lisp byte compiler uses this in its output files (*note Byte
Compilation::).  It isn't meant for source files, however.

   *Note Comment Tips::, for conventions for formatting comments.

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File: lispref.info,  Node: Primitive Types,  Next: Programming Types,  Prev: Comments,  Up: Lisp Data Types

Primitive Types
===============

   For reference, here is a list of all the primitive types that may
exist in XEmacs.  Note that some of these types may not exist in some
XEmacs executables; that depends on the options that XEmacs was
configured with.

   * bit-vector

   * buffer

   * char-table

   * character

   * charset

   * coding-system

   * cons

   * color-instance

   * compiled-function

   * console

   * database

   * device

   * event

   * extent

   * face

   * float

   * font-instance

   * frame

   * glyph

   * hash-table

   * image-instance

   * integer

   * keymap

   * marker

   * process

   * range-table

   * specifier

   * string

   * subr

   * subwindow

   * symbol

   * toolbar-button

   * tooltalk-message

   * tooltalk-pattern

   * vector

   * weak-list

   * window

   * window-configuration

   * x-resource

   In addition, the following special types are created internally but
will never be seen by Lisp code.  You may encounter them, however, if
you are debugging XEmacs.  The printed representation of these objects
begins `#<INTERNAL EMACS BUG', which indicates to the Lisp programmer
that he has found an internal bug in XEmacs if he ever encounters any
of these objects.

   * char-table-entry

   * command-builder

   * extent-auxiliary

   * extent-info

   * lcrecord-list

   * lstream

   * opaque

   * opaque-list

   * popup-data

   * symbol-value-buffer-local

   * symbol-value-forward

   * symbol-value-lisp-magic

   * symbol-value-varalias

   * toolbar-data

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File: lispref.info,  Node: Programming Types,  Next: Editing Types,  Prev: Primitive Types,  Up: Lisp Data Types

Programming Types
=================

   There are two general categories of types in XEmacs Lisp: those
having to do with Lisp programming, and those having to do with
editing.  The former exist in many Lisp implementations, in one form or
another.  The latter are unique to XEmacs Lisp.

* Menu:

* Integer Type::        Numbers without fractional parts.
* Floating Point Type:: Numbers with fractional parts and with a large range.
* Character Type::      The representation of letters, numbers and
                        control characters.
* Symbol Type::         A multi-use object that refers to a function,
                        variable, or property list, and has a unique identity.
* Sequence Type::       Both lists and arrays are classified as sequences.
* Cons Cell Type::      Cons cells, and lists (which are made from cons cells).
* Array Type::          Arrays include strings and vectors.
* String Type::         An (efficient) array of characters.
* Vector Type::         One-dimensional arrays.
* Bit Vector Type::     An (efficient) array of bits.
* Function Type::       A piece of executable code you can call from elsewhere.
* Macro Type::          A method of expanding an expression into another
                          expression, more fundamental but less pretty.
* Primitive Function Type::     A function written in C, callable from Lisp.
* Compiled-Function Type::      A function written in Lisp, then compiled.
* Autoload Type::       A type used for automatically loading seldom-used
                        functions.
* Char Table Type::     A mapping from characters to Lisp objects.
* Hash Table Type::     A fast mapping between Lisp objects.
* Range Table Type::    A mapping from ranges of integers to Lisp objects.
* Weak List Type::      A list with special garbage-collection properties.

\1f
File: lispref.info,  Node: Integer Type,  Next: Floating Point Type,  Up: Programming Types

Integer Type
------------

   The range of values for integers in XEmacs Lisp is -134217728 to
134217727 (28 bits; i.e., -2**27 to 2**27 - 1) on most machines.  (Some
machines, in particular 64-bit machines such as the DEC Alpha, may
provide a wider range.)  It is important to note that the XEmacs Lisp
arithmetic functions do not check for overflow.  Thus `(1+ 134217727)'
is -134217728 on most machines. (However, you _will_ get an error if
you attempt to read an out-of-range number using the Lisp reader.)

   The read syntax for integers is a sequence of (base ten) digits with
an optional sign at the beginning. (The printed representation produced
by the Lisp interpreter never has a leading `+'.)

     -1               ; The integer -1.
     1                ; The integer 1.
     +1               ; Also the integer 1.
     268435457        ; Causes an error on a 28-bit implementation.

   *Note Numbers::, for more information.

\1f
File: lispref.info,  Node: Floating Point Type,  Next: Character Type,  Prev: Integer Type,  Up: Programming Types

Floating Point Type
-------------------

   XEmacs supports floating point numbers.  The precise range of
floating point numbers is machine-specific.

   The printed representation for floating point numbers requires either
a decimal point (with at least one digit following), an exponent, or
both.  For example, `1500.0', `15e2', `15.0e2', `1.5e3', and `.15e4'
are five ways of writing a floating point number whose value is 1500.
They are all equivalent.

   *Note Numbers::, for more information.