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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <!-- Created by GNU Texinfo 6.8, https://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/ --> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <!-- This manual is for Stand-alone GNU Info (version 6.8, 22 November 2020), a program for viewing documents in Info format (usually created from Texinfo source files). Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License" in the Texinfo manual. This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license. --> <title>The Echo Area (Stand-alone GNU Info 6.8)</title> <meta name="description" content="The Echo Area (Stand-alone GNU Info 6.8)"> <meta name="keywords" content="The Echo Area (Stand-alone GNU Info 6.8)"> <meta name="resource-type" content="document"> <meta name="distribution" content="global"> <meta name="Generator" content="texi2any"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1"> <link href="index.html" rel="start" title="Top"> <link href="Index.html" rel="index" title="Index"> <link href="index.html#SEC_Contents" rel="contents" title="Table of Contents"> <link href="Window-Commands.html" rel="up" title="Window Commands"> <link href="Basic-Windows.html" rel="prev" title="Basic Windows"> <style type="text/css"> <!-- a.copiable-anchor {visibility: hidden; text-decoration: none; line-height: 0em} a.summary-letter {text-decoration: none} blockquote.indentedblock {margin-right: 0em} div.display {margin-left: 3.2em} div.example {margin-left: 3.2em} kbd {font-style: oblique} pre.display {font-family: inherit} pre.format {font-family: inherit} pre.menu-comment {font-family: serif} pre.menu-preformatted {font-family: serif} span.nolinebreak {white-space: nowrap} span.roman {font-family: initial; font-weight: normal} span.sansserif {font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: normal} span:hover a.copiable-anchor {visibility: visible} ul.no-bullet {list-style: none} --> </style> </head> <body lang="en"> <div class="section" id="The-Echo-Area"> <div class="header"> <p> Previous: <a href="Basic-Windows.html" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Window Commands</a>, Up: <a href="Window-Commands.html" accesskey="u" rel="up">Manipulating Multiple Windows</a> [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Index.html" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p> </div> <hr> <span id="The-Echo-Area-1"></span><h3 class="section">9.3 The Echo Area</h3> <span id="index-echo-area"></span> <p>The <em>echo area</em> is a one line window which appears at the bottom of the screen. It is used to display informative or error messages, and to read lines of input from you when that is necessary. Almost all of the commands available in the echo area are identical to their Emacs counterparts, so please refer to that documentation for greater depth of discussion on the concepts of editing a line of text. The following table briefly lists the commands that are available while input is being read in the echo area: </p> <dl compact="compact"> <dt id='index-C_002df_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>C-f</kbd> (<code>echo-area-forward</code>)<a href='#index-C_002df_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dt><span><tt class="key">RIGHT</tt> (an arrow key)</span></dt> <dd><span id="index-RIGHT_002c-in-the-echo-area"></span> <span id="index-echo_002darea_002dforward"></span> <p>Move forward a character. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-LEFT_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>C-b</kbd> (<code>echo-area-backward</code>)<a href='#index-LEFT_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dt><span><tt class="key">LEFT</tt> (an arrow key)</span></dt> <dd><span id="index-C_002db_002c-in-the-echo-area"></span> <span id="index-echo_002darea_002dbackward"></span> <p>Move backward a character. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-C_002da_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>C-a</kbd> (<code>echo-area-beg-of-line</code>)<a href='#index-C_002da_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dbeg_002dof_002dline"></span> <p>Move to the start of the input line. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-C_002de_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>C-e</kbd> (<code>echo-area-end-of-line</code>)<a href='#index-C_002de_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dend_002dof_002dline"></span> <p>Move to the end of the input line. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-M_002df_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>M-f</kbd> (<code>echo-area-forward-word</code>)<a href='#index-M_002df_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dt><span><kbd>C-<span class="key">RIGHT</span></kbd> (DOS/Windows only)</span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dforward_002dword"></span> <p>Move forward a word. </p> <span id="index-C_002dRIGHT_002c-in-the-echo-area"></span> <p>On DOS/Windows, <kbd>C-<span class="key">RIGHT</span></kbd> moves forward by words. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-M_002db_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>M-b</kbd> (<code>echo-area-backward-word</code>)<a href='#index-M_002db_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dt><span><kbd>C-<span class="key">LEFT</span></kbd> (DOS/Windows only)</span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dbackward_002dword"></span> <p>Move backward a word. </p> <span id="index-C_002dLEFT_002c-in-the-echo-area"></span> <p>On DOS/Windows, <kbd>C-<span class="key">LEFT</span></kbd> moves backward by words. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-C_002dd_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>C-d</kbd> (<code>echo-area-delete</code>)<a href='#index-C_002dd_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002ddelete"></span> <p>Delete the character under the cursor. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-DEL_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><tt class="key">DEL</tt> (<code>echo-area-rubout</code>)<a href='#index-DEL_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002drubout"></span> <p>Delete the character behind the cursor. </p> <p>On some keyboards, this key is designated <tt class="key">BS</tt>, for ‘<samp>Backspace</samp>’. Those keyboards will usually bind <tt class="key">DEL</tt> in the echo area to <code>echo-area-delete</code>. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-C_002dg_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>C-g</kbd> (<code>echo-area-abort</code>)<a href='#index-C_002dg_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dabort"></span> <p>Cancel or quit the current operation. If completion is being read, this command discards the text of the input line which does not match any completion. If the input line is empty, it aborts the calling function. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-RET_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><tt class="key">RET</tt> (<code>echo-area-newline</code>)<a href='#index-RET_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dnewline"></span> <p>Accept (or forces completion of) the current input line. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-C_002dq_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>C-q</kbd> (<code>echo-area-quoted-insert</code>)<a href='#index-C_002dq_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dquoted_002dinsert"></span> <p>Insert the next character verbatim. This is how you can insert control characters into a search string. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-M_002dTAB_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>M-TAB</kbd> (<code>echo-area-tab-insert</code>)<a href='#index-M_002dTAB_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dt><span><kbd>Shift-<span class="key">TAB</span></kbd> (on DOS/Windows only)</span></dt> <dd><span id="index-Shift_002dTAB_002c-in-the-echo-area"></span> <span id="index-echo_002darea_002dtab_002dinsert"></span> <p>Insert a TAB character. </p> <span id="index-Shift_002dTAB_002c-in-the-echo-area-1"></span> <span id="index-BackTab_002c-in-the-echo-area"></span> <p>On DOS/Windows only, the <kbd>Shift-<span class="key">TAB</span></kbd> key is an alias for <kbd>M-<span class="key">TAB</span></kbd>. This key is sometimes called ‘<samp>BackTab</samp>’. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-C_002dt_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>C-t</kbd> (<code>echo-area-transpose-chars</code>)<a href='#index-C_002dt_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dtranspose_002dchars"></span> <p>Transpose the characters at the cursor. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-printing-characters_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><var>printing character</var><a href='#index-printing-characters_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><p>Insert the character. </p> </dd> </dl> <p>The next group of commands deal with <em>killing</em>, and <em>yanking</em> text. (Sometimes these operations are called <em>cut</em> and <em>paste</em>, respectively.) For an in-depth discussion, see <a data-manual="emacs" href="../emacs/Killing.html#Killing">Killing and Deleting</a> in <cite>the GNU Emacs Manual</cite>. </p> <dl compact="compact"> <dt id='index-M_002dd_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>M-d</kbd> (<code>echo-area-kill-word</code>)<a href='#index-M_002dd_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dkill_002dword"></span> <p>Kill the word following the cursor. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-M_002dDEL_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>M-<span class="key">DEL</span></kbd> (<code>echo-area-backward-kill-word</code>)<a href='#index-M_002dDEL_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dt><span><kbd>M-<span class="key">BS</span></kbd></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dbackward_002dkill_002dword"></span> <p>Kill the word preceding the cursor. </p> <span id="index-M_002dBS_002c-in-the-echo-area"></span> <p>On some keyboards, the ‘<samp>Backspace</samp>’ key is used instead of <code>DEL</code>, so <code>M-<span class="key">Backspace</span></code> has the same effect as <code>M-<span class="key">DEL</span></code>. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-C_002dk_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>C-k</kbd> (<code>echo-area-kill-line</code>)<a href='#index-C_002dk_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dkill_002dline"></span> <p>Kill the text from the cursor to the end of the line. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-C_002dx-DEL_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>C-x <span class="key">DEL</span></kbd> (<code>echo-area-backward-kill-line</code>)<a href='#index-C_002dx-DEL_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dbackward_002dkill_002dline"></span> <p>Kill the text from the cursor to the beginning of the line. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-C_002dy_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>C-y</kbd> (<code>echo-area-yank</code>)<a href='#index-C_002dy_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dyank"></span> <p>Yank back the contents of the last kill. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-M_002dy_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><kbd>M-y</kbd> (<code>echo-area-yank-pop</code>)<a href='#index-M_002dy_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dyank_002dpop"></span> <p>Yank back a previous kill, removing the last yanked text first. </p></dd> </dl> <span id="index-completion"></span> <p>Sometimes when reading input in the echo area, the command that needed input will only accept one of a list of several choices. The choices represent the <em>possible completions</em>, and you must respond with one of them. Since there are a limited number of responses you can make, Info allows you to abbreviate what you type, only typing as much of the response as is necessary to uniquely identify it. In addition, you can request Info to fill in as much of the response as is possible; this is called <em>completion</em>. </p> <p>The following commands are available when completing in the echo area: </p> <dl compact="compact"> <dt id='index-TAB_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><tt class="key">TAB</tt> (<code>echo-area-complete</code>)<a href='#index-TAB_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dcomplete"></span> <p>Insert as much of a completion as is possible. Otherwise, display a window containing a list of the possible completions of what you have typed so far. For example, if the available choices are: </p> <div class="example"> <pre class="example">bar foliate food forget </pre></div> <p>and you have typed an ‘<samp>f</samp>’, followed by <tt class="key">TAB</tt>, this would result in ‘<samp>fo</samp>’ appearing in the echo area, since all of the choices which begin with ‘<samp>f</samp>’ continue with ‘<samp>o</samp>’. </p> <p>Now if you type <tt class="key">TAB</tt> again, Info will pop up a window showing a node called ‘<samp>*Completions*</samp>’ which lists the possible completions like this: </p> <div class="example"> <pre class="example">3 completions: foliate food forget </pre></div> <p>i.e., all of the choices which begin with ‘<samp>fo</samp>’. </p> <p>Now, typing ‘<samp>l</samp>’ followed by ‘<samp>TAB</samp>’ results in ‘<samp>foliate</samp>’ appearing in the echo area, since that is the only choice which begins with ‘<samp>fol</samp>’. </p> </dd> <dt id='index-ESC-C_002dv_002c-in-the-echo-area'><span><tt class="key">ESC C-v</tt> (<code>echo-area-scroll-completions-window</code>)<a href='#index-ESC-C_002dv_002c-in-the-echo-area' class='copiable-anchor'> ¶</a></span></dt> <dd><span id="index-echo_002darea_002dscroll_002dcompletions_002dwindow"></span> <p>Scroll the completions window, if that is visible, or the “other” window if not. </p></dd> </dl> </div> <hr> <div class="header"> <p> Previous: <a href="Basic-Windows.html">Window Commands</a>, Up: <a href="Window-Commands.html">Manipulating Multiple Windows</a> [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Index.html" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p> </div> </body> </html>
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