Emacs is the king of all editors.
Emacs stands for Editor MACroS. (GNU)-Emacs was written and is maintained by Richard Stallman, the first version is form 1975. It has become a de facto standard alongside vi.
Emacs is more than just a text editor. It is a complete system for development, communications, file management, and things you wouldn’t even imagine.
Emacs has an active development community numbering in the hundreds, and runs on Windows , Linux and Unix.
Files, Buffers and Windows
Files:
C-x C-f Reads a file into an Emacs buffer C-x C-s Saves the current buffer C-x C-c Saves all modified buffers and exits Emacs
Buffers: In Emacs each open file is edited in a buffer.
Commands to switch between the different buffers
(there are also menu options):
C-x C-b Prints a list of the available buffers C-x b Asks you which buffer to select
Windows: Buffers are displayed in windows (you can also use the mouse):
C-x 2 Splits the current window vertically into two. C-x 3 Splits the current window horizontally into two. C-x 1 Deletes all windows except the one with the cursor C-x o Moves you into an other window on the screen
Modes, Commands and Help
In emacs there is a mode for each file type
(among other uses, there is also a doctor mode).
Each mode has its own commands and short-cut-keys.
Type “M-x” (M=Meta=Alt) then a command name.
You can use tab to complete or to get list of possible completions..
Use the command “describe-mode” for info of the mode of the current buffer.
Help:
C-h Displays help window C-h C-h Gives you help on help M-x help Displays help window (alternate method) C-h t Shows the tutorial C-h a Shows commands matching a string C-h i Enters the Gnu Info documentation browser A-x manual-entry Manual-entry for string under cursor A-x ispell-buffer Spell checker A-x doctor Doctor
Panic: When things run out of control try:
C-g Runs the command keyboard-quit C-_ Undo
Editing
Moving around in the buffer
| By char: | By word: | By line: | By S-exp: | By page: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward: | C-f |
M-f |
C-n |
C-M-f |
C-v |
| Backward: | C-b |
M-b |
C-p |
C-M-b |
M-v |
| Beginning: | C-a |
M-< |
|||
| End: | C-e |
M-> |
Deleting/Killing (cutting text)
| By char: | By word: | By line: | By S-exp: | By region: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward: | C-d |
M-d |
C-k |
C-M-k |
C-w |
| Backward: | Del |
M-Del |
Copy and Paste
C-k kill-line C-y insert C-Space mark A-w copy C-w cut
Search and Replace
C-s search C-r search-backward A-% query-replace A-x replace-string replace-string C-M-s isearch-forward-regexp C-M-r s isearch-backward-regexp C-M-% query-replace-regexp