Emacs. Your changes appear in the file itself only when you @dfn{save} the
buffer back into the file.
+@cindex files, remote
+@cindex remote files
+ Emacs is also able to handle ``remote files'' which are stored on
+other hosts. Not only is Emacs somewhat aware of the special issues
+involved with network file systems, but it can also use FTP and ssh (or
+rsh) to make local copies of the files, and refresh them on the remote
+host automatically when you save the buffer. The FTP interface is
+provided by the standard @samp{efs} package @ref{Top, EFS, , efs}. The
+ssh/rsh interface is provided by the optional @samp{tramp} package
+@ref{Top, TRAMP, , tramp}. These packages attempt to implement all of
+the operations described below, making remote file use transparent
+(except for unavoidable network delays).
+
In addition to visiting and saving files, Emacs can delete, copy, rename,
and append to files, and operate on file directories.
makes it easy to operate on that file with any of the Emacs file
commands.
+The syntax for accessing remote files unfortunately varies depending on
+the method used. The syntax for using FTP is
+@samp{/@var{user}@@@var{remote-host}:@var{path-on-remote-host}}. The
+syntax for using ssh is
+@samp{/[@var{user}@@@var{remote-host}]@var{path-on-remote-host}}.
+
+ In both cases the @samp{@var{user}@@} portion is optional (it defaults
+to your local user name). @var{path-on-remote-host} may use the
+@samp{~} notation to indicate @var{user}'s home directory on the remote
+host. The default file name will reflect the remote host information.
+
@vindex default-directory
Each buffer has a default directory, normally the same as the
directory of the file visited in that buffer. When Emacs reads a file
@samp{../.login} would stand for @file{/u/rms/.login}. @samp{new/foo}
would stand for the filename @file{/u/rms/gnu/new/foo}.
+ When visiting a remote file via EFS or TRAMP, the remote directory
+becomes the default directory (@pxref{Visiting}) for that buffer, just
+as a local directory would.
+
@vindex default-directory-alist
The variable @code{default-directory-alist} takes an alist of major
modes and their opinions on @code{default-directory} as a Lisp