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Getting help

This chapter tells you how to get help with Emacs

I'm just starting Emacs; how do I do basic editing?

Type C-h t to invoke the self-paced tutorial. Just typing C-h enters the help system.

Your system administrator may have changed C-h to act like DEL to deal with local keyboards. You can use M-x help-for-help instead to invoke help. To discover what key (if any) invokes help on your system, type M-x where-is RET help-for-help RET. This will print a comma-separated list of key sequences in the echo area. Ignore the last character in each key sequence listed. Each of the resulting key sequences invokes help.

Emacs help works best if it is invoked by a single key whose value should be stored in the variable help-char.

There is also a WWW-based tutorial for Emacs 18, much of which is also relevant for later versions of Emacs, available at

@uref{http://kufacts.cc.ukans.edu/cwis/writeups/misc/emacsguide.html}

How do I find out how to do something in Emacs?

There are several methods for finding out how to do things in Emacs.

The complete text of the Emacs manual is available on-line via the Info hypertext reader. Type C-h i to invoke Info. Typing h immediately after entering Info will provide a short tutorial on how to use it.
To quickly locate the section of the manual which discusses a certain issue, or describes a command or a variable, type C-h i m emacs RET i topic RET, where topic is the name of the topic, the command, or the variable which you are looking for. If this does not land you on the right place in the manual, press , (comma) repeatedly until you find what you need. (The i and , keys invoke the index-searching functions, which look for the topic you type in all the indices of the Emacs manual.)
You can list all of the commands whose names contain a certain word (actually which match a regular expression) using C-h a (M-x command-apropos).
The command C-h C-f (Info-goto-emacs-command-node) prompts for the name of a command, and then attempts to find the section in the Emacs manual where that command is described.
You can list all of the functions and variables whose names contain a certain word using M-x apropos.
You can list all of the functions and variables whose documentation matches a regular expression or a string, using M-x apropos-documentation.
You can order a hardcopy of the manual from the FSF. See section How do I get a printed copy of the Emacs manual?.
You can get a printed reference card listing commands and keys to invoke them. You can order one from the FSF for $1 (or 10 for $5), or you can print your own from the `etc/refcard.tex' or `etc/refcard.ps' files in the Emacs distribution. Beginning with version 21.1, the Emacs distribution comes with translations of the reference card into several languages; look for files named `etc/lang-refcard.*', where lang is a two-letter code of the language. For example, the German version of the reference card is in the files `etc/de-refcard.tex' and `etc/de-refcard.ps'.
There are many other commands in Emacs for getting help and information. To get a list of these commands, type `?' after C-h.

How do I get a printed copy of the Emacs manual?

You can order a printed copy of the Emacs manual from the FSF. For details see the @uref{http://www.gnu.org/order/order.html, GNU Web site} and the file `etc/ORDERS'.

The full Texinfo source for the manual also comes in the `man' directory of the Emacs distribution, if you're daring enough to try to print out this 620-page manual yourself (see section How do I print a Texinfo file?).

If you absolutely have to print your own copy, and you don't have TeX, you can get a PostScript version from

@uref{http://www.gnu.org/manual/emacs/ps/emacs.ps.gz}

An HTML version of the manual is at

@uref{www.gnu.org/manual/emacs/index.html}

See section How do I find out how to do something in Emacs?, for how to view the manual on-line.

Where can I get documentation on Emacs Lisp?

Within Emacs, you can type C-h f to get the documentation for a function, C-h v for a variable.

For more information, obtain the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual. Details on ordering it from FSF are on the @uref{http://www.gnu.org/order/order.html, GNU Web site} and in the file `etc/ORDERS'.

The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual is also available on-line, in Info format. Texinfo source for the manual (along with pregenerated Info files) is available at

@uref{ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-manual-21-2.6.tar.gz}

and all mirrors of `ftp.gnu.org' (for a list, see section Where can I get other up-to-date GNU stuff?). See section How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?, if you want to install the Info files, or section How do I print a Texinfo file?, if you want to use the Texinfo source to print the manual yourself.

An HTML version of the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual is available at

@uref{http://www.gnu.org/manual/elisp-manual-21-2.6/elisp.html}

How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?

First, you must turn the Texinfo files into Info files. You may do this using the stand-alone `makeinfo' program, available as part of the latest Texinfo package at

@uref{ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/texinfo/texinfo-4.0.tar.gz}

and all mirrors of `ftp.gnu.org' (for a list, see section Where can I get other up-to-date GNU stuff?).

For information about the Texinfo format, read the Texinfo manual which comes with the Texinfo package. This manual also comes installed in Info format, so you can read it on-line; type C-h i m texinfo RET.

Alternatively, you could use the Emacs command M-x texinfo-format-buffer, after visiting the Texinfo source file of the manual you want to convert.

Neither texinfo-format-buffer nor `makeinfo' installs the resulting Info files in Emacs's Info tree. To install Info files, perform these steps:

Move the files to the `info' directory in the installed Emacs distribution. See section What are `etc/SERVICE', `src/config.h', and `lisp/default.el'?, if you don't know where that is.
Run the install-info command, which is part of the Texinfo distribution, to update the main Info directory menu, like this:
```
 install-info --info-dir=dir-path dir-path/file
```
where dir-path is the full path to the directory where you copied the produced Info file(s), and file is the name of the Info file you produced and want to install. If you don't have the install-info command installed, you can edit the file `info/dir' in the installed Emacs distribution, and add a line for the top level node in the Info package that you are installing. Follow the examples already in this file. The format is:
```
* Topic: (relative-pathname).  Short description of topic.
```

If you want to install Info files and you don't have the necessary privileges, you have several options:

Info files don't actually need to be installed before being used. You can feed a file name to the Info-goto-node command (invoked by pressing g in Info mode) by typing the name of the file in parentheses. This goes to the node named "Top" in that file. For example, to view a Info file named `info-file' in your home directory, you can type this:
```
C-h i g (~/info-file) RET
```
You can create your own Info directory. You can tell Emacs where that Info directory is by adding its pathname to the value of the variable Info-default-directory-list. For example, to use a private Info directory which is a subdirectory of your home directory named `Info', you could put this in your `.emacs' file:
```
(setq Info-default-directory-list
      (cons "~/Info" Info-default-directory-list))
```
You will need a top-level Info file named `dir' in this directory which has everything the system `dir' file has in it, except it should list only entries for Info files in that directory. You might not need it if all files in this directory were referenced by other `dir' files. The node lists from all `dir' files in Info-default-directory-list are merged by the Info system.

How do I print a Texinfo file?

You can't get nicely printed output from Info files; you must still have the original Texinfo source file for the manual you want to print.

Assuming you have TeX installed on your system, follow these steps:

Make sure the first line of the Texinfo file looks like this:
```
\input texinfo
```
You may need to change `texinfo' to the full pathname of the `texinfo.tex' file, which comes with Emacs as `man/texinfo.tex' (or copy or link it into the current directory).
Type texi2dvi texinfo-source, where texinfo-source is the name of the Texinfo source file for which you want to produce a printed copy. The `texi2dvi' script is part of the GNU Texinfo distribution (see section How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?).
Print the DVI file `texinfo-source.dvi' in the normal way for printing DVI files at your site. For example, if you have a PostScript printer, run the dvips program to print the DVI file on that printer.

To get more general instructions, retrieve the latest Texinfo package (see section How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?).

Can I view Info files without using Emacs?

Yes. Here are some alternative programs:

info, a stand-alone version of the Info program, comes as part of the Texinfo package. See section How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?, for details.
Xinfo, a stand-alone version of the Info program that runs under X Window system. You can get it at @uref{ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/xinfo/xinfo-1.01.01.tar.gz} and all mirrors of `ftp.gnu.org' (see section Where can I get other up-to-date GNU stuff?, for a list of mirrors).
Tkinfo, an Info viewer that runs under X Window system and uses Tcl/Tk. You can get Tkinfo at @uref{http://math-www.uni-paderborn.de/~axel/tkinfo/}.

What informational files are available for Emacs?

This isn't a frequently asked question, but it should be! A variety of informational files about Emacs and relevant aspects of the GNU project are available for you to read.

The following files are available in the `etc' directory of the Emacs distribution (see section What are `etc/SERVICE', `src/config.h', and `lisp/default.el'?, if you're not sure where that is).

`COPYING': Emacs General Public License
`DISTRIB': Emacs Availability Information, including the popular "Free Software Foundation Order Form"
`FTP': How to get GNU Software by Internet FTP or by UUCP
`GNU': The GNU Manifesto
`INTERVIEW': Richard Stallman discusses his public-domain UNIX-compatible software system with BYTE editors
`LPF': Why you should join the League for Programming Freedom
`MACHINES': Status of Emacs on Various Machines and Systems
`MAILINGLISTS': GNU Project Electronic Mailing Lists
`NEWS': Emacs news, a history of recent user-visible changes
`SERVICE': GNU Service Directory
`SUN-SUPPORT': including "Using Emacstool with GNU Emacs"

Latest versions of the above files also available at

@uref{ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/}

More GNU information, including back issues of the GNU's Bulletin, are at

@uref{http://www.gnu.org/bulletins/bulletins.html} and

@uref{http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~trent/gnu/gnu.html}

Where can I get help in installing Emacs?

See section How do I install Emacs?, for some basic installation hints, and see section What should I do if I have trouble building Emacs?, or section Why does linking Emacs with -lX11 fail?, if you have problems with the installation.

The file `etc/SERVICE' (see section What are `etc/SERVICE', `src/config.h', and `lisp/default.el'?, if you're not sure where that is) lists companies and individuals willing to sell you help in installing or using Emacs. An up-to-date version this file is available on `ftp.gnu.org' (see section What informational files are available for Emacs?).

Where can I get the latest version of this FAQ?

The Emacs FAQ is available in several ways:

Inside of Emacs itself. You can get it from selecting the `Emacs FAQ' option from the `Help' menu of the Emacs menu bar at the top of any Emacs frame, or by typing C-h F (M-x view-emacs-FAQ).
Via USENET. If you can read news, the FAQ should be available in your news spool, in both the @uref{news:gnu.emacs.help} and @uref{news:comp.emacs} newsgroups. Every news reader should allow you to read any news article that is still in the news spool, even if you have read the article before. You may need to read the instructions for your news reader to discover how to do this. In `rn', this command will do this for you at the article selection level:
```
?GNU Emacs Frequently Asked Questions?rc:m
```
In Gnus, you should type C-u C-x C-s from the `*Summary*' buffer or C-u SPC from the `*Newsgroup*' buffer to view all articles in a newsgroup. If the FAQ articles have expired and have been deleted from your news spool, it might (or might not) do some good to complain to your news administrator, because the most recent FAQ should not expire for a while.
Via HTTP or FTP. You can always fetch the latest FAQ from @uref{http://www.lerner.co.il/emacs/} and @uref{ftp://ftp.lerner.co.il/pub/emacs/}
In the Emacs distribution. Since Emacs 18.56, the FAQ at the time of release has been part of the Emacs distribution as either `etc/FAQ' or `man/faq.texi' (see section What are `etc/SERVICE', `src/config.h', and `lisp/default.el'?).
Via the World Wide Web. A hypertext version is available at @uref{http://www.lerner.co.il/emacs/}
Via anonymous ftp and e-mail from `rtfm.mit.edu' (and its mirror in Europe), the main repository for FAQs and other items posted to news.answers. The Emacs FAQs are available at @uref{ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.emacs/} and @uref{ftp://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/pub/doc/FAQ/comp/emacs/} If you do not have access to anonymous FTP, you can access the archives using the `rtfm.mit.edu' mail server. The Emacs FAQ can be retrieved by sending mail to @email{mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu} with a blank subject and containing
```
send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/diffs
send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part1
send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part2
send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part3
send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part4
send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part5
```
For more information, send email to @email{mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu} with "help" and "index" in the body on separate lines.
As the very last resort, you can e-mail a request to @email{emacs-faq@lerner.co.il}. Don't do this unless you have made a good-faith effort to obtain the FAQ list via one of the methods listed above.

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