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1 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
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2 @node Select and Move, Search and Replace, Other Customizations, Top
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3 @chapter Selecting and Moving Text
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4 @cindex region
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5 @cindex mark
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6
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7 Many Emacs commands operate on an arbitrary contiguous
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8 part of the current buffer. You can select some part of the buffer and
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9 edit only that part of the buffer. This selected buffer is called a
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10 @dfn{region}. You can select text in two ways:
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11
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12 @itemize @bullet
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13 @item
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14 You use special keys to select text by defining a region between the
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15 cursor and @dfn{the mark} (which you set).
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16 @item
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17 If you are running XEmacs under X, you can also select text
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18 with the mouse.
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19 @end itemize
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20
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21 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
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22 @menu
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23 * Selecting Text:: Select a region of text by setting the Mark
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24 * Mouse:: Selecting Text with Mouse
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25 * Region Operation:: Various ways to operate on a selected text
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26 * Moving Text:: Moving Text
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27 * Accumulating text:: Accumulating Text from several buffers
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28 @end menu
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29
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30 @node Selecting Text, Mouse, Select and Move, Select and Move
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31 @section Setting the Mark
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32 @kindex C-SPC
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33 @kindex C-x C-x
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34 @kindex C-<
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35 @kindex C->
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36 @findex set-mark-command
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37 @findex mark-beginning-of-buffer
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38 @findex mark-end-of-buffer
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39 @findex exchange-point-and-mark
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40 To define a region you need to set @dfn{the mark} at one end of it and
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41 move the cursor to the other end. Once you set the mark, it remains
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42 there until you set it again to some other place. Each buffer has its
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43 own @dfn{mark ring} (a place where Emacs remembers 16 previous
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44 locations of the mark). To set @dfn{the mark}, you can use the
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45 following commands:
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46
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47 @table @kbd
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48 @item C-@key{SPC}
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49 This command will set @dfn{the mark} at the position of your cursor
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50 (@code{set-mark-command}). You can move your cursor around and @dfn{the
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51 mark} will stay there.
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52 @item C-x C-x
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53 Interchange mark and point (@code{exchange-point-and-mark}). Since Emacs
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54 will have only one cursor, after you move the cursor it will be unable
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55 to show you where you set the @dfn{the mark}. In order to see @dfn{the
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56 mark} you can type the command @kbd{C-x C-x} which will put your cursor
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57 on the position of your mark and your mark on the position of your
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58 cursor. Use the command again to reset the positions of your cursor and
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59 mark.
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60 @item C-<
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61 This command will push the mark at the beginning of the buffer without
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62 changing the position of your cursor.
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63 @item C->
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64 This command will push the mark at the end of the buffer without
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65 changing the position of your cursor.
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66 @end table
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67 @noindent
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68 You can also give arguments to @kbd{C-<} or @kbd{C->}. @xref{The Mark
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69 and the Region,,,xemacs,XEmacs User's Manual}, for more information.
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70
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71 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
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72 @node Mouse, Region Operation, Selecting Text, Select and Move
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73 @section Selecting Text with Mouse
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74 @cindex mouse selection
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75 @cindex clipboard selection
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76 @cindex primary selection
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77 @cindex cursor shapes
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78 If you are using XEmacs under X, you can use the mouse to select
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79 text. The selected text will always be highlighted, so just by looking
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80 at the text you know what you have selected so far. To select a word
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81 just double-click with the left-mouse-button on the word. To select a
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82 whole line triple-click anywhere on the line with the
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83 left-mouse-button. You can also use the @b{Copy} item from the @b{Edit}
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84 menu on the menu-bar to select text. This kind of selection is called
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85 @b{Clipboard} selection, @xref{X Clipboard Selection,,,xemacs,XEmacs User's
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86 Manual}, for more information. To select an arbitrary region, follow
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87 these steps:
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88
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89 @enumerate
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90 @item
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91 Move the mouse cursor over the character at the beginning of the region of
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92 text you want to select.
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93 @item
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94 Press and hold the left mouse button.
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95 @item
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96 While holding the left mouse button down, drag the cursor to the
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97 character at the end of the region of text you want to select.
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98 @item
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99 Release the left mouse button.
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100 @end enumerate
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101 The selected region of text is highlighted.
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102
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103 @xref{Selecting Text with the Mouse,,,xemacs,XEmacs User's Manual}, for
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104 more information regarding the Mouse and additional mouse operations.
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105
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106 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
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107 @node Region Operation, Moving Text, Mouse, Select and Move
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108 @section Operating on the Region
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109 Once you have selected a region you can do a lot of things to the text
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110 in the region:
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111 @kindex C-w
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112 @kindex C-x C-u
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113 @kindex C-x C-l
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114 @kindex C-SPC
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115 @kindex C-x TAB
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116 @kindex C-M-\
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117 @findex print-region
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118 @itemize @bullet
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119 @item
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120 Kill the text with @kbd{C-w}. For example if you want to kill a
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121 paragraph, position the cursor to the beginning of the paragraph and
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122 type @kbd{C-SPC}. Then go to the end of the paragraph and type
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123 @kbd{C-w}. The entire paragraph will be deleted. You can also select the
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124 text with a mouse and type @kbd{C-w} to kill the entire
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125 region. @xref{Killing,,,xemacs,XEmacs User's Manual}, for more information.
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126
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127 @item
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128 Save the text in a buffer or a file (@pxref{Accumulating
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129 Text,,,xemacs,XEmacs User's Manual}).
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130 @item
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131 You can convert the case of the text with @kbd{C-x C-l} or @kbd{C-x C-u}
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132 If you type @kbd{C-x C-u} the selected text will become all
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133 upper-case. If you type @kbd{C-x C-l} the selected text will become all
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134 lower-case.
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135 @item
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136 Print hardcopy with @kbd{M-x
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137 print-region}. @xref{Hardcopy,,,xemacs,XEmacs User's Manual}, for more
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138 information. This command will print a hardcopy of only the selected
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139 text.
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140 @item
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141 Indent it with @kbd{C-x @key{TAB}} or @kbd{C-M-\}
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142 @xref{Indentation,,,xemacs,XEmacs User's Manual}, for more information.
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143 @end itemize
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144
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145
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146 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
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147 @node Moving Text, Accumulating text, Region Operation, Select and Move
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148 @section Moving Text
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149 @cindex yanking
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150 @cindex pasting
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151 @findex yank
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152 @cindex killing
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153 @cindex kill ring
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154 @cindex moving text
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155 @kindex C-y
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156 The most common way to move or copy text in Emacs is through
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157 @dfn{killing} or @samp{cutting} it and then @dfn{yanking} or
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158 @samp{pasting} it. You can also use the @b{Cut} or @b{Copy} option from
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159 the @b{Edit} menu for killing and copying respectively. @xref{Edit menu},
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160 for reviewing the commands for killing text. All the killed text
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161 in Emacs is recorded in the @dfn{kill ring}. Since there is only one
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162 kill ring in Emacs, you can kill text in one buffer and yank it in
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163 another buffer. To @samp{paste} or
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164 @samp{yank} the killed text you can use the following commands:
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165 @table @kbd
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166 @item C-y
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167 This command will yank or paste the last killed text (@code{yank}).
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168 @item M-w
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169 Save region as last killed text without actually killing it
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170 (@code{copy-region-as-kill}). You can use this command to copy a
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171 selected region and then yank (or paste) it without actually removing it
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172 from the buffer.
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173 @item C-M-w
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174 Append next kill to last batch of killed text
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175 (@code{append-next-kill}). This command will append whatever you killed
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176 last to what you kill now. Then later you will be able to yank the
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177 entire appended text from the @dfn{kill ring}.
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178 @end table
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179
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180 @comment node-name, next, previous, up
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181 @node Accumulating text, , Moving Text, Select and Move
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182 @section Accumulating Text
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183 @findex append-to-buffer
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184 @findex prepend-to-buffer
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185 @findex copy-to-buffer
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186 @findex append-to-file
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187 @cindex copying text
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188 @cindex accumulating text
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189 @cindex rectangle commands
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190 @cindex registers
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191 @cindex temporary storage
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192
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193 The following commands can be used for accumulating text from
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194 different buffers into one place or for copying one region of text into
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195 many buffers:
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196
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197 @table @kbd
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198 @item M-x append-to-buffer
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199 Append region to contents of specified buffer
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200 (@code{append-to-buffer}). After you type in this command and press
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201 @key{RET}, Emacs will prompt you for a buffer name. You will see a
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202 message in the echo area:
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203 @example
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204 Append to buffer: (default <buffer name>)
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205 @end example
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206 @noindent
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207 After you type in a buffer name, a copy of the region will be inserted
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208 at the location of the cursor into that buffer. If there is no buffer
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209 with the name given by you, Emacs will create a new buffer with that
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210 name. By default the cursor's position in the <buffer name> is at the end.
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211 @item M-x prepend-to-buffer
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212 Prepend region to contents of specified buffer. This command is similar
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213 to the above command except that the cursor in the buffer (by default)
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214 is at the beginning rather than at the end.
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215 @item M-x copy-to-buffer
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216 Copy region into specified buffer, deleting that buffer's old
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217 contents. This command will also prompt you for a buffer name.
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218 @item M-x insert-buffer
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219 Insert contents of specified buffer into current buffer at point. This
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220 command will prompt you for a buffer name which you want to be copied
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221 into the current buffer at the location of the cursor.
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222 @item M-x append-to-file
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223 This command will prompt you for a filename and append the region to
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224 the end of the contents of the specified file.
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225 @end table
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226
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227 @noindent
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228 @xref{Accumulating Text,,,xemacs,XEmacs User's Manual}, for more
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229 information regarding this topic.
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230
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231 You can also use @dfn{rectangle commands} for operating on rectangular
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232 areas of text. @xref{Rectangles,,,xemacs,XEmacs User's Manual}, for more
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233 information regarding rectangle commands.
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234
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235 Emacs also provides @dfn{registers} which serve as temporary storage for
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236 text or positions. Each register has a one character name and they can
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237 store @dfn{regions}, a @dfn{rectangle}, or a @dfn{mark} i.e. a cursor
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238 position. Whatever you store in register stays there until you store
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239 something else in that register. To find out about commands which
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240 manipulate registers @xref{Registers,,,xemacs,XEmacs User's Manual}.
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241
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