Introduction to Emacs

What is Emacs?

In short it is the recommended editor for most of your editing needs unless you are a vi fanatic or you need to edit extremely large files. Actually it's much more than that. Its C(++), Fortran, LISP etc. modes plus built-in version control make it an excellent tool for programmers. TeX, LaTeX etc. modes make editing of papers & theses easier. Moreover it can even be used for sending/reading e-mail, for file manipulation (helpful in case of files whose filenames contain characters that are interpreted by the shell), as a calendar/diary, for reading Usenet News and many other things.

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How to start Emacs

The easiest way is to press the left mouse button and select it from the pop-down menu. Or, you can type "emacs &" in a shell.

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Special keys

There are two special keys that you will find yourself using over and over in Emacs. They are the "control" key and the "meta" key. The "control" key is easy to find - it's the key with "control" written on it. The control key is usually notated C-, so the notation C-x means "hold down the control key and press x".

The "meta" key is usually located near the space bar - it's the button with the diamond on top on Suns. For SGIs and other platforms it's denoted as "Alt". If you are logged in from a VT100-compatible terminal the ESC key (at the top left of your keyboard) serves as the "meta" key. This is generally true for other systems as well. The meta key is notated M-, so M-x means "hold down the meta key and press x"

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Typing text in Emacs

Just type some stuff. It will insert it. Like most other word processors, Emacs will insert text at the cursor. To delete stuff, use the delete key. Don't use backspace - it may get help depending on your keyboard bindings). Type return whenever you want to start a new line. If you want this to be done automatically for you by the editor then type M-x auto-fill-mode.

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Quitting Emacs

C-x C-c exits Emacs. Try it out.

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Basic cursor control

Usually the arrow keys and page-up/down keys will work as you would expect them to in Emacs. However, if they don't, you can always use these commands:

	C-v	Go down one page
	M-v	Go up one page
	C-f	Move forward (right) one character
	C-b	Move backward (left) one character
	C-n	Move to the next line
	C-p	Move to the previous line

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More advanced cursor control

If you really like moving around in Emacs, here's some more key bindings for you:

	
	M-f	Move forward a word
	M-b	Move backward a word
	C-a	Move to beginning of line
	C-e	Move to end of line
	M-a	Move back to beginning of sentence
	M-e	Move forward to end of sentence
	M-<	Go to beginning of file
	M->	Go to end of file

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Files

Here are the basic commands you need to load and save files:
• To view the name of the current file, look near the bottom of the Emacs screen.
• To load a file: type C-x C-f. This puts you in a mini-buffer in which you type the filename of the file you want to load. When you are finished typing the filename, hit return. Do NOT use the mouse to get out of the minibuffer.
• To save a file: type C-x C-s. Save often in case your computer crashes. (Emacs will usually auto-save for you as well).
• To create a file: Type C-x C-f as if you were loading an already existant file, and type the filename of the new file. Emacs will create the new file when you save it.
• To save a file to a new name: Type C-x C-w, and then type the new filename, followed by a return.



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Getting help in Emacs

There are several ways to find help in Emacs:

	C-h t        runs the tutorial
	C-h k        describe key (long)
	C-h c        descibe key (short)
	C-h C-h C-h  more info

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Miscellaneous commands

Listed below are some assorted commands that you may find useful for editing documents:

• Text deletion commands

  	DEL   delete the character just before the cursor
  	C-d   delete the next character after the cursor
  	M-DEL kill the word immediately before the cursor
  	M-d   kill the next word after the cursor
  	C-k   kill from the cursor position to end of line
  

• Whoops! (How to undo commands)

  	C-_ (or C-x u)	 Undo last change.
  	C-u 10 C-_	 Undo 10 last changes.
  	C-g		 Abort a partially typed or executing command
  	M-x recover-file Use this as a last resort to recover a lost 
  			 file (saved by the auto-save feature of Emacs. 
  			 These files appear in the same directory as 
  			 the edited file, perpended by a #.
  

• Inserting text

  	C-x i   Inserts a file into the buffer
  

• Searching for stuff

  	M-x goto-line   This jumps to a specified line in the file
  	(useful for debugging)
  	C-r,s   Search backwards and forwards in the file for pattern
  

• Fun stuff

  	M-x hanoi
  	M-x doctor
  

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Don't panic

If you've gotten this far, and you're still wondering how to use Emacs, don't worry. Be sure to run the tutorial. (To do this, type C-h t). It will teach you all the basic skills you need to use Emacs effectively.

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More information

If you're insterested in learning more about Emacs, you can try looking at these sites:
• GNU documentation on emacs
• The little Emacs reference card: [ postscript | text ]
• Emacs tutorial
• Emacs quick reference
• Another emacs help page